David versus Goliath?

David versus Goliath was the first thought that entered my mind as we drove into the parking lot by  Café Cita on the beach in Hallandale Beach. 

 For there it was dwarfed by those monstrous high rises!

La Cita (blue building in center) dwarfed by high rises

I have never been to this place before or even to Hallandale Beach, but when our new friend Rosa from Guatemala who we had met on a recent camping trip, suggested we get together, Sonja picked this spot. 

Campers and friends

And it was perfect. 

Here was this little café on the beach, surrounded by huge high-rise apartments.

I have seen many sob movies about little establishments rejecting offers to be bought out by huge corporations who want to swallow them up in the interest of development. 

Some even use dirty tricks in these movies. 

That’s my David versus Goliath scenario!

I have no idea if it is so in this case, but that was the first thought that crossed my mind.

It’s a nice little place. Not elaborate dining but it has everything you could want if you are going to the nearby beach.

And what we ordered, tasted good.

The South City Beach Park establishment led by Mayor Joy Cooper and her deputies, could do the public a favor by organizing proper and regular cleaning of the restroom next door however. 

They have been quick to put up their plaque promoting their existence, but wouldn’t it be better if they concentrated on organizing to keep the public facility in good condition, wouldn’t you say?

For it is right beside this nice little 'food place 😡

But back to la Cita.

The service is a bit slow but it is understandable as only one gentleman was inside doing everything.

He also expanded my knowledge in a big way.

It was Sonja who asked him why the palm trees had metal strips around the trunk, and the explanation was most welcome.

For he told us that it was to keep the iguanas out of the trees!

I celebrate anyone who will keep iguanas at bay.

For, if it is one thing I hate, it is lizards.

 Big lizards, little lizards, all lizards.

 They make my skin crawl. Yuk.

Can you also imagine if he hadn’t put that metal around the trunk of the tree and an iguana had climbed up and fallen out of the tree near us! 

Or worse, if its feces had fallen out the and landed on our table! 

That would for me, have been a fate worse than death. 

So, I was happy the operator of Cafe Cita saved us from that possibility. 

I did find the little curled up tail lizards hanging around for food, a bit too friendly for my liking. 

And they wouldn’t move when I tried to shoo them away.😡

In front of the café is the beach and its ok as Florida beaches go.

Cold and rough.

You probably don’t know my bias, but coming from Jamaica, my standards are super-high when it comes to beaches.

So, I am not too impressed with Florida’s beaches and have only ever entered one!

But Cafe Cita by Hallandale Beach is a nice place to hang out with friends.

                                                  FOND MEMORIES

Battle of the posters

For decades, American leaders have been tramping all over the world and touting their democracy, even on occasion, waging wars on others they say are not walking down the same path!

However, in recent times, the hypocrisy and madness that passes for democracy in that country has been exposed for all to see.

A sea of posters of unknown people at Tamarac Library

For, indeed, the emperor has no clothes.

While the Donald Trump fiasco has played out for the world to see and the sickening polarization which stops all progress at the federal level dominates, even at the important local level, what is passing for politics is somewhat discombobulating.

But it seems that is what the voters want.

But in my book, if your city is not properly run, your entire existence can be difficult if not impossible.

It is in Tamarac where I currently reside where I have seen a kind of bureaucratic madness at the local level that would make all other administrations throughout the world appear to be super-efficient.

This involved the department that is in charge of building permits.

In this instance, a condo association was given a run around for seven months, to get the approval to repair a small 2x4 opening in a condo.

Yup, SEVEN MONTHS!

That’s probably the time it would take to get approval to build an entire complex or a duplex in an efficient municipality!

It’s this kind of madness at the local level why people need to be conscious and vigilant about who they elect to run the affairs of their city.

I don’t know if Tamarac City has a staff shortage in the building permit department, but it certainly couldn’t be because they have a shortage of funds to hire adequate staff. For they charge so much for a permit and you need one to do the simplest thing on the very inside of your condo.

I can see why this happens though, as clearly those who are running for office in this municipality do not take their jobs seriously. Most don’t even bother to try and meet their constituents and find out what their concerns are.😡

All they all seem to do is to depend on posters to convince people to vote for them! 

I am new to this city and for the upcoming election, only one candidate bothered to visit to tell my household about himself and answer questions. Two others sent around informational material, but look at the hordes of posters of persons unknown, asking constituents to vote for them!

I guess it works for them though, for most people seem to vote according to party, not for candidate they know from information gathered, will do the best job.

So, when they fail to perform, we the voters can only put the blame on the posters, not ourselves.

No wonder we get such underperformance at the city level.

Country life nice😊

I love the countryside. Country areas anywhere in the world. 

Maybe its my love of animals which causes me to find these parts so attractive. Problem is, this love only exists in the daytime, as being in the country at night is quite scary.  

When you live there, I mean, not when visiting with lots of friends around.

Phoebe Snow

It never used to be this way with me before I had a traumatic break-in and had no neighbors with lights to illuminate the darkness outside.

 Not a little light anywhere. 

So now if I can’t see a neighbor’s light outside, such places are not for me to live in.

Even driving in the country areas alone at night is quite discombobulating. For I always think that if I get a puncture or some other problem, some serial killer is going to come along and make my live miserable.

That’s what happens when you are addicted to shows like Criminal Minds, CSI, Forensic Files, Dateline etc.  

These programs I enjoy but they can be hazardous to your peace of mind.😊

Sandy

Why am I rambling so much, you may very well ask?😏

I just had another few wonderful days with friends in the country- side, that’s why.

This was in Sebring, Northern Florida, where a friend and I drove to for three hours, to surprise another friend on her birthday. (22/10/). 

When I go to places like that in the USA, I always hope to see a black bear or two, but never have such luck. On this trip, my disapointment was made even worse, when another friend showed me that her security camera had picked one up a few days before, right across the street.

There's a black bear behind the SUV!

Well, I saw no bears, but I met two very nice horses. 

The white one is Phoebe Snow and the darker one Sandy.

They are so friendly that when my host Cardiff called them and just held out his hand with some grass, they came trotting rapidly towards him. 

They even allow his grandson to ride them, I hear.

 Lovely horses. Pity I can’t ride, as the last time I mounted a horse, the saddle was slack, I slid off and he nearly stepped in my head.

Now I play with them but resist the temptation to mount!

It was good to see that Sebring escaped the devastation of hurricane Ian. It did pass through but only tore down some branches and added some water to the creeks and lakes.

Where I stayed with friends, I had previously avoided going down to the creek on the property because it is a hangout for wild boars, rattle snakes and other unfriendly types. 

Since my host recently acquired an ATV though, we got a proper tour of the back of his large, forested property, and all was well.

There were fallen trees and others were missing branches, but nothing serious and the creek actually had a good amount of water in it this time.

Yup, those few days in the countryside with friends around were really refreshing.

Occasions like this always make me want to move from the city.

Then night falls. 😊

A PICTORIAL TOUR

 

Jamaican Culture

Jamaican culture is so exotic, contagious and endearing, that the world just doesn’t seem able to get enough of it.

This includes our language, so now many typical Jamaican words like irie, dem, nevva etc are now in dictionaries on line.

Our language also sports many other expressive and catchy words which successive iidiat Jamaican governments have continued to censor and fine persons for using them.

This is a hangover from the actions of oppressive British colonialists, who had banned their use, as they thought they were being used to curse them. 

They probably were but we have been independent for 60 years and have seen these words become part of our normal language, not to curse but because they are so descriptive.

Parsons use them, police use them, judges use them etc. But they remain banned in our law books.

You can journey to Guyana, Antigua etc. where every second adjective you hear being used is the harmless Raass. Yet in your own country you can still be dragged off to court and fined by a judge for saying it.😡

The same applies to my favorite word to express surprise. That is bumbo.

Many years ago, when my grandson was in prep school I heard him saying bumbo. Horrified, I inquired how he learnt the word only to have him present me with his school book entitled; “ Bumbo the Elephant.”

We have always known the elephant to be Dumbo in kid’s books, so I immediately realized it was probably a misprint. I therefore went to his teacher the next day to point out that if a police heard him talking about Bumbo, he could be in trouble. 

She however informed me that all their books were sanctioned by the Ministry of Education so she could do nothing.

This was over twenty years ago, yet Bumbo still remains a tool of oppression by police.

In fact, it was probably twenty years before that incident that the late, great Peter Tosh (singer/musician,) recorded the classic chant; ‘Oh bumbo claat, oh raass claat.’ (Listen to it on you tube at; https://youtu.be/tYDfqIhPxCw.) 

He however probably suffered the most oppression in Jamaica under what he appropriately described as the shitstem!

Now, while aspects of our precious language are designated bad and censored by iidiat governments, the rest of the world embraces and profits from them.

How stupid can that be?

So, now if you want a shirt to explain the meaning of bumboclaat, you have to enrich the foreign-owned Amazon, while poor people in my bumboclaat country are being oppressed for using it.

Tell me I am dreaming!

 

 

A happy ending!

I love cats. Big cats, little cats, all cats.

So, it was  pleasant when I arrived at Black Creek Park and Trails and saw quite a few beautiful cats, especially the one I christened “Cleo” (after Cleopatra as she was so exotic and welcoming).

As you probably know, even highly domesticated cats can be anti-social and hostile to strangers. But, as we arrived at the Park, Cleo came to rub against us and the rest hung around. 

Black Creek Park is beside Camp Chowenwah in Clay County, Florida where we had gone to enjoy nature. The campsite is on the creek which is fed by the St. John’s River. There is a long bridge over the river, which takes you into Jacksonville.

Cleo

When we heard there was a bike lane on the bridge which joined our property to the park next door, we decided to walk over. However, the bike lane faded just over the bridge and we were left exposed as an unendeing number of cars were whisking rapidly on the road beside us. That left some of us very edgy and uncomfortable. 

We were an exuberant, multinational group of hikers/campers from; Jamaica, Dom Rep, Guatemala and the USA. 

Thankfully, we made it safely across the busy bridge.

Then as we entered the park, a welcoming party of cats met us.

Cats seem to have a special status in that Park, for there is even a trail named ‘9 Lives.’ 

That is however to honor one special cat. 

That celebrity  cat had reportedly sighted some raw chicken down by the creek and although a large gator was eating it, she decided she wanted some.

Stephanie the camper

That happened 11 years ago, and would you believe that neither did the gator not eat her but also, he actually crawled away, leaving her to finish the chicken!

That’s the reason for the title of this blog, for that was one crazy but lucky cat! So there was indeed a happy ending.😊

When I saw the You tube video of that encounter, I still held my breath although I had been told beforehand that the cat was not eaten! (phew). 

Watch the heart-stopping video on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/DiyWXQyAJ44.

Creek where the gator drama took place

This is the creek where this jaw dropping encounter took place. Fellow hiker and local resident Stephanie brought us up to speed on that heart-warming story.

On the hike, I was a bit curious to see a sign saying mountain biking trail but was assured that it was erected in jest, as there were no mountains there. 

Wishful thinking?😂

The hike through the forest was pleasant and a good introduction to the area. We heard lots of birds but saw no animals as some crazies had approved a housing scene near the camp. 

I guess that made the animals scatter.

A dismantled deer feeder

We did see a deer trap however although it was dismantled by rangers no doubt, as it is illegal. This  is used by evil hunters who put corn inside of it and when the deer come to eat it, they shoot them. 

Kinda like catching fish in a bowl.😡

There were a few trees that had been downed by Hurricane Ian, and one could see how far up into the park the creek had come when the river rose, but there was no serious damage. Just a few fallen trees and the water marks.

Black Creek Park is a well maintained and family-oriented trail park with water fountains, rest areas and restrooms. 

Not much of a challenge for hikers but a pleasant place to hang out.

The cats are the icing on the cake.💓

Selah.

Links; Joan, my views: A hill at last! (joan-myviews.blogspot.com)

              Joan, my views: No more cruising! (joan-myviews.blogspot.com)

             Joan, my views: Glamping (joan-myviews.blogspot.com

             Joan, my views: Anti immigrant crap (joan-myviews.blogspot.com)

                                     MORE MEMORIES