Florida's cold spells

 I love the cold spells in Florida. Not because I like to freeze🥶, but because I hate iguana lizards.

Actually I hate all lizards, but iguanas have a special place in my hate gene😡.

The good news is, during the (infrequent) cold spells in Florida, they fall out of trees and some actually die.

I used to rejoice until one fell out of the tree I normally park under, and was laying right beside the driver's door!

Omg, I nearly stepped on it too and was sure I was going to fall, before I quicky regained my balance. 

I could have had a heart attack too!😡

Luckily for me, my neighbor, who had never  looked anything like a hero,💪 was just coming out of his vehicle and rescued me by taking it up by the tail and throwing it away.

It clearly was not dead as it moved slightly when I tiptoed over to look at it.

I thought that would be the last of my terrible experiences with stinking lizards since winter is over. However, this morning as I approached my vehicle, I was overwhelmed by the stinkiest smell.

As I walked around the vehicle to see the cause, I nearly stepped on a huge, dead, rotting iguana monster, right by my passenger door!

Omg. What next? An iguana lying stunned or dead on my car top or horror of horrors, one falling out of the tree right on my head?😭😭

 No, this is getting too much for me.😡

I have to find a warm lizard-free state to move to.

Any suggestions?

 

The procedure

 I hate hospitals and all things medical. But I guess if you live long enough you have to learn to put up with a few.

 Old age sucks😡.)

Having developed a few Arrhythmias, (https://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/2026/01/reflections-on-biology.html?m=1) including AFib and SVT, the cardiologist thought it more prudent that I  have an ablation rather than add more  drugs to my growing list. 

When I heard the procedure was no worse that filling teeth, I said run with it, despite the $134, 000 price tag. (Thanks President Obama, for without Obamacare, people like me would just have to watch the heart deteriorating as the drugs became ineffective. In Canada a similar procedure is around $21,000  and maximum $15, 000 in Mexico I hear!)

So here am I doing a report on the procedure while waiting on my daughter in law to pick me up.

 She had to drive down from West Palm as my grandson was at work, so I took an Uber to Cleveland Clinic. For its their policy that while you can take Uber or whatever to get there, you must be picked up by a known and trusted person as you remain groggy afterwards.

When they prepped me at the hospital, I had an all Caribbean nursing team, one Jamaican, one Trini and one Haitian, all caring and pleasant professionals.

Another nurse who took me to the operation theatre was also Jamaican.

So I felt at home until I got into the theater (it was extra cold😶‍🌫️) where four or five nurses were inside waiting. But I never got the opportunity to delve into their ancestries as they immediately got to work strapping me down to the bed, even tying arms and legs and I was almost immediately out of it!

 My cardiologist Dr. Parishit Sharma, is a specialist Electrophysiology from India. He is reputed to be one of the best in the fields of  Atrial Fibrillation, PSVT, Arrhythmia and pacemaker implantation.

The fact that it all went smoothly and I feel on top of the world a few hours later, proves it.

In fact,  my only discomfort was having to lay totally still on my back for 3 hours in recovery.

My biggest problem will be staying reasonably inactive for around 10  days while the holes in my groin heals.

All's well that ends well🙏.

Link: https://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/2026/01/reflections-on-biology.html?m=1.

Note

Heart ablation (catheter ablation) is a generally safe, minimally invasive procedure to fix heart rhythm disorders, considered effective but carries low risks of complications like bleeding, infection, blood clots, or minor heart/vessel damage, with severe issues  experienced electrophysiology team significantly lowers these risks. 

In Summary: It's a serious procedure with potential risks, but often a very effective treatment with a favorable safety profile compared to the risks of living with afib.

Suffering in Cuba

 I was really touched by the recent Observer story "Mexico to send food aid to Cuba while seeking end to oil siege — Sheinbaum." 

I must say President Claudia Sheinbaum has gone up 100% in my book, for not only her humanity but also her courage.

We all know life is not fair, but what is particularly despicable about politics is the fact that all over the world,  millions of people consistently suffer and die because of the actions of a few people.

Nowhere is this being played played out more before our eyes than in our nearest neighbor, Cuba.

I am no Cuban apologist, for I despise communism and for a few years in the 70's I even assumed an activist role when the Cubans, under their patron Michael Manley, appeared to be close to introducing their alien ideology and attempted influence into Jamaica. 

 (This is all recorded in my best seller, Looking Back, the struggle to preserve our freedoms. See Jamaica Observer review at: https://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/2017/12/joan-williams-former-local-host-looks.html).

But the reality is, the vast majority of ordinary Cuban people have suffered immensely for decades, first under the dictator Batista, then under successive dictators from the Castro family and their successors. And I like so many Jamaicans have close relatives there.

More than a century ago,  Cuba provided an escape valve for many of our ancestors and some of us remain in touch with our kit and kin living in penury there.

For in case you forgot, when slavery was abolished and thousands of "freed" slaves had no means of survival, it was to Cuba they fled  to seek employment. For as that beautiful big island is only 90 miles away at its closest point, Jamaicans could escape there in crude vessels that were barely sea worthy. So when you go to areas in Santiago, Holguin and Guantanamo Bay, there are hundreds of thousands of Cubans there of Jamaican ancestry.

 I  still remember well the old man I met in Guantanamo Bay (The Cuban side), decades ago. He had never been to Jamaica or even met or been in touch with his family here, but he listened to Jamaican radio everyday, spoke a fair amount of patois, knew everything about us, including the price of a lot of basic products and longed to meet his Jamaican family.

Our history with the Cuban government has not always been cordial, but many family ties have remained close. 

When I think of the plight of our families and others there who are today without viable incomes, light, power, basic foods, medicine etc, since the latest threat of increased sanctions from the Americans on any country that provides them with fuel, my heart goes out to them. 

This is after sections were devastated by hurricane Melissa and a recent 5.5 earthquake. 

Worse, tourism, which had remained fairly vibrant with guests coming every winter from Canada and Europe,  came to a virtual halt in late 2025, due to the power cuts and increasing shortages.

So you know that with increased sanctions to deprive them of even fuel,  things can only get worse each day.

After the Manley government era, the Cubans went from interfering in our internal affairs to assisting in many areas, especially education and health.

The reality is that neither Mexico nor Jamaica can defy the Americans as far as these threats are concerned. 

However, President Sheinbaum was not prepared to just walk away and do nothing, hence her determination to use diplomacy while sending food aid to the beleaguered people.

What is the Jamaican government doing?

 

Culturally awake

 While Governor Ron Desantist does everything to downplay/hide black history in the schools in Florida, our city Tamarac, led by activist Mayor Michelle Gonzalez, does the opposite.

So everywhere you turn at the Senior Center, there are reminders that February is Black History Month. Then valuable information about the positive role black activists played in the development of the country, is posted all around.

 The overarching cultural event is the annual Multicultural Festival.

I have been attending these festivals almost every year since I moved to Tamarac in 2016 and really appreciate and enjoy them.

Last night's was not so well attended though.

 Maybe it was the cold spell we have been having. Maybe it is because ICE has been making life miserable for us immigrants. 

I don't know.

I was fully prepared for the cold spell though, carrying 3 jackets/sweaters, one pair of leggings, a scarf and even a pair of gloves. 😁.

All I had to don though was two sweaters as the coldest it got to was 62°.

There was lots for the kids to do. The most popular attraction seemed to be the rock climbing. 

It looked like fun👍.

My favorite was the Maori warrior. He was good as he demonstrated his fighting moves.

Maori warrior 

There were not as many costumed dancers from various countries as normal but what was new was the Chinese dancers/fighters in their colorful costumes.

Costumed Venezuelan dancers.

Then we moved over to the main stage for the star performance by Kevin Little, the Vincentian Soca warrior.

He wasn't bad but when you grew up with performers like the Mighty Sparrow and Calypso Rose, you maintain high expectations😊.

I enjoyed the offerings though.