Dominoes forever🙃

 Only a domino lover can appreciate, not only the joy of the game, but also how much it keeps the brain active. 

Last night's game, organized by my bosom friend Carolyn to help me mark my 8th decade on this planet, was a timely reminder. 

Uncle Leslie bows, as his pleased partner Uncle Ruddy looks on.

For as I tried to follow 96 year old Uncle Leslie's strategic plays, it was so obvious that dominoes had played a major role in keeping him and even 90 year old Uncle Ruddy, young. 

Unfortunately, the game is only being kept prominent by us older folk, as the younger generation is showing little interest. 

 But it is what it is. 

Uncle Ruddy, Clover's widower.

It remains one of my favorite activities and everyone knows that.

Host Carolyn in background 

No one more than Carolyn,  the daughter of the late, great Jamaican, Doctor Clover Thompson,  an outstanding public servant and  educator, whose other life revolved around dominoes. 

So yes, it was a great night, and my fellow Taurean Horace and I kept our flag flying by dropping a six love.🙃

It was a wonderful way to spend a significant birthday.

Black Forrest, one of my favorites😋

Good friends, delicious fare, great brain activity and camaderie. 

Thanks guys.

Afro Carib festival

 I love Steel Pulse and not having seen them for around 10 years, when I got the info that they would be the stars of the Afro Caribbean festival to close out Black History Month in Miramar, wild horses couldn't prevent me from attending.

Despite the close to an hour commute 

and the long, sometimes tedious wait for them to perform, it was worth every minute.

They must have read my mind as they performed hit after hit from the moment they hit the stage!👏👏👏💞.

It was like a musical explosion in slow motion.⚡🌄🌅🌪️✨

 Oh what a night.

Beautiful Nigerian prints on display 

The Nigerians were the only Africans who had displays at this festival. (Never saw any Caribbean booths beside Jamaica's either!😡)

This Nigerian mother and daughter showed off their outfits.

Jollof rice from Nigeria 

Sonia cops a pose

This band delivered some good African drumming 

Shuga from Montego Bay was good

This dancer kicked off the show. It started almost an hour late though😡.

Vincentian Soca warrior Skinny Fabulous got us out of our seats.

The covered area was eventually fairly full but overall, I expected a larger crowd.

You see, it was promoted as a free event for those wanting to sit on the grass or bring their own chairs.

 However, the covered area up front was being sold for $150.00. Very few people took up that offer though, so they eventually opened up that area to all us 'plebians.' Hence it looks crowded now!

Teflon tried his best but people were tired of having to wait too long for Steel Pulse.

Its actually the first time I ever attended an outdoor event at Miramar.

It is a much larger city than my own Tamarac and with a population twice the size as ours. And the fact that it is dominated by Jamaicans is obvious, based on their apparent love of Jamaica time.😁👍.

The festival was quite good though, although some performers could have been left out.

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But what the heck, Steel Pulse saved the day.

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.

I love art😍

 I love art galleries so visiting MOMA (museum of Modern art,) in various cities is a must.

is

San Francisco's MOMA is by far the best I have seen though.

And guess what? A Jamaican artist ' big bout ya,.😬

Entrance to Ebony''s exhibit.

His name is Ebony Patterson of Kingston, Jamaica and he was born in 1981.

Her series depict black men in the USA awaiting their fate😡.

Here are some other pieces I love.

Haitian market

The background is real greenery 

                 How did these get in?

If these three made it, my pencil piece below should too😡!

The sculptures were good too

These two are in front of the Art academy.

There was also a production called  "The Visitors,,"which depicted various artists playing and chanting from different places. I found myself chanting along after a while.

Art is so diverse, intriguing and calming.

Yup, I am part of art too 😊