Floridated - Parte Dos

[Ed. note: As I write this, the entire world is engulfed by the social distancing, many deaths and general misery resulting from the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. It feels trite to recap the second part of our trip to southern Florida. Even so, my inner voice tells me to never mind because memories are the best souvenir to bring back from a trip. And fond memories are a salve amid unhappy times.]

Miami Nice

During our first day in Miami the Rising Daughters™ went to Jungle Island with their mum. I’d been digitally waylaid by a work thing and was marooned in our hotel room. They returned, elated by the warm air, animals, and outdoor fun. We decided drive around and view the sunset, and gawk at the beautiful houses and wild vegetation of Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood. It’s a place of tropical greenery framing houses and verdant undergrowth. We saw enclosed quasi-mansions with roundabout driveways lining the parkway next to the ocean. Driving toward the shoreline was a revelation: Latin flair while a moist Yuletide spirit flavored the air.

Christmas with alligators and the ocean

Our Christmas morning was spent searching for alligators in the Everglades west of Miami. We arrived at the safari park early, around 0930. Our airboat to the swamps was filled with a diverse crowd of rapt Asian tourists. We saw nine alligators! 

Lady E. and M. enjoyed the post-tour baby alligator petting experience. We watched the gators loll around in the sun. Jolly good fun. No Santa Claus sightings, though.

We motorvated eastward to spend the afternoon in south Miami Beach. Who says no to the beaming sun and salt water on Christmas? I reveled in the seascape and observed the beautiful people walking up and down the beach. Later in the evening, we took a night cruise in the Rogue to view Miami at night. Saw the affluent, saw the poor. It felt like homage to Michael Mann.

More anecdotes...

Viva Boxing Day

Even when traveling we seek out flea markets; it’s part of the Rising Family® DNA. We soon sniffed out Flea Market USA. There were plenty of sundresses on sale. Marina bought one for a good price. Then we drove down to Key Biscayne to round out the afternoon. We stopped at a Winn-Dixie supermarket to buy lunch. The parking lot was packed with people driving around in golf carts. We drove to the Bill Baggs State Park and discovered its parking lot was populated by overfed raccoons. 

M. and Naomi fed the round little rascals and, later at our beach spot, Marina pitched pieces of bread to the seagulls. 

My main memories of this day are thus rich retirees and raccoons.

Not the high seas

We joined the Millionaire's Row Cruise offered by Island Queen Cruises. It was a pleasant tour of the artificial islands and the multimillion dollar homes of famous Miami-based actors/actresses, singers, athletes and criminals. My favorite was seeing the mansion where the movie Scarface was filmed. While onboard the ship, a guy named Alex picked me out of the crowd because I had filled out an info card on a lark to see what would happen. It was catnip for a condo buying marketing promo. The lure was a family trip to Cancun. We got excited by the well-established bait of getting something for nothing (greed!). It’s easy to grasp how these things can suck people in. I think the salesman sensed we wouldn't bite on anything he said and suddenly our “interview” wasn't possible. I got my interview deposit back. We backed away from each other with wary smiles.

Tropicana Flea market

This is a true local flea market; usually they’re the best kind. I bought a beach towel, Marina found a Lego set she liked, and that provoked her budget crisis. (We denied her credit request.) 

Afterward, we drove north to the Opa Lacka Flea market. How best to describe it? Expansive space, rock-bottom prices, and loud mariachi music spun by an overweight DJ trying hard to get the crowd into it. Truly fun!

Zoo Lights Miami

We spent our last night before returning to Tennessee at the Miami Zoo. It was quite a pleasant experience to visit the zoo at night. Basically, Zoo Lights Miami is a night illumination trek around the zoo grounds without seeing the animals, which were off-duty. It involved walking around the Zoo compound decorated with LED animal figures adopting Christmas fashion. 

We saw lots of eye candy LED sculptures, my ladies ate free ice cream as we left, and thus the family indulged in good post-Christmas harmony. It was another warm night voyage, windows down, as we returned to south Miami. A fitting way to say goodbye to Miami. We instinctively knew we’d miss the warm air.

Hammy in Heaven

It is with sadness that I inform you our hamster, Hammy, has died.

Hammy 

March 2018 (?) – March 23, 2020

We first met Hammy at a pet store when he was almost six months old. He was jumpy, a frenetic white ball of energy with light brown patches around his red eyes.  Hammy lived with us for 592 days. Those days were all good ones because he was a funny, amiable little guy.

At first we set Hammy up in a small, simple bachelor’s cage. M. decided that wasn’t good enough. Naomi agreed, so we bought him a rodent’s equivalent to Graceland as Marina’s Christmas present. His palatial cage had an exercise wheel, a basement and two levels. Multi-colored piping connected each section. It kept him busy. Like most nocturnal animals and college students, he partied at night and slept a good part of the day. We often heard his scratching and cage-bar-gnawing at night when we were trying to sleep. He liked to stuff several chunky food pellets into his cheeks, then scatter them around the cage and forget where he left them. We’d put them back in his food tray. He always looked surprised and delighted when the food pellets reappeared, like he’d won the lottery.

In his younger days Hammy would hop on the wheel and run a hamster marathon or two. In middle age, rearranging his bedding and staying warm during the cooler months were his hobbies. He loved stretching his body through those colorful connector tubes and sleeping inside his little turquoise-roofed cottage.

He would poke his nose out the window when I blew coffee flavored breath his way; it was his way of saying hi. He was a calm hamster, never bit anyone --not once-- even the many times the kids were being rough and he had every right to nibble back in defense.

We like to think that Hammy waited for our return from spring break vacation before leaving us. As though he wanted to hang with us for a little bit more before his final goodbye.

We sensed Hammy had lost his sight during the last few weeks he was alive when he had trouble scampering about. The Rising Daughters were gentle and sweet, touching him frequently and making sure he could find his water bottle. Showing love and compassion.

Hammy died on the evening of March 23, 2020. Naturally we were sad when he passed. We had a little wake for him that night. The next day, we stood in the rain and gently placed him in his beloved tiny house, then buried it in a spot picked by the girls in the backyard.  He brought this Rising Family™ much joy, and taught the girls about responsibility and life. Hammy will be missed.

M. said: “I miss you, Hammy. I hope you see your family and friends in heaven! I love you because you were nice, gentle and you were always smiling.”

“Hammy was an energetic hamster who we all loved. He was always very gentle and we want him to have the best in heaven. We love you, Hammy,” said Lady E.

“Thanks, Hammy, for helping me psychologically,” said Naomi.

Adios, amigo.