Tranquility

I am happy that in the middle of the hassle of moving, getting people to clean and paint today (3rd December 2022, my Guatamalan, nature loving friend Rosa, called to tell me she was going to Wakodahatchee Park to look at the birds.

You know me. Just say outdoors and I am there!

So, I told her give me two hours. 

Thankfully she did and it was a really a great afternoon. 

The Wakodahachee Wetlands, opened in 1996 are in Delroy Beach, Florida. 

It has a three-quarter mile boardw​alk that crosses between open water areas and islands with shrubs and snags to foster nesting and roosting.

 This site is part of the Great Florida Birding Trail and offers many opportunities to observe birds in their natural habitats. 

Over 178 bird species have been identified there, along with turtles, alligators, rabbits, fish, frogs and raccoons and the words that come to mind are peace, beauty and tranquility. 

 I had the feeling I might have been there before with a Meet Up group, but nothing quite rung a bell. But I did, for I found the blog I did on that visit. 

Joan, my views: Alligator mating call (joan-myviews.blogspot.com)

Anyway this is the type of place you visit over and over again if you can. 

In fact we met a retired federal officer who is an amateur photographer and he admitted he had been visiting this park for 47 years! 

We thought this stork was a dried branch! Great camoflage

I suspect he is not the only one, since all around you see dozens of photographers, amateur and professional, toting huge expensive cameras,  just hoping to get that special shot!

This is not just a place for leisure seekers and bird watchers though, for it is reported that each day, the Southern Region Water Reclamation Facility pumps approximately two million gallons of highly treated wastewater into the Wakodahatchee Wetlands, which in turn acts as a percolation pond, returning billions of gallons of fresh water back into the water table.

For us though, it is a place to enjoy nature and find peace and tranquility.

A colorful iguana

A tree covered with storks

George, the Park's mascot!

 

It’s Christmas 😊

I don’t normally go to church, unless its Christmas or if a very special person passes. 

Then I go to be with their family.

This is not because I am an atheist, but because I hate religion. For in my book, religion is the root of all the evils in the world, having caused most of the bloodshed over the centuries.

In my search for a civilized, non-violent religion, I had even looked into Buddhism one time. Then chaos reigned in Myanmar, and we saw the terrible images of Buddhist Monks, chasing out Rohingya Muslims, killing them and burning their villages.😡

That cured me instantly.

Obviously, the common thread among most religions seems to be vicious dogmatism which dictates that only my religion is the true one, so no one must enjoy this planet unless they subscribe to MY particular religious beliefs!

However I make the exception about avoiding religion and go to churches during Christmas, because I love Christmas music.

 In fact, not just Christmas music but Gospel music in general…….a hangover from the days when I was dragged into boring church services and the music was the only respite.😏

So, when in Jamaica, I even caroling with my friends in Lauristan, Spanish Town, on  Christmas mornings. 

This despite the community’s terrible reputation for violence. However, that problem only applies to small section on the banks of the Rio Cobre River, where squatters have settled.

The rest of the community has solid citizens and my friend Audley Nain, formerly of the Jamaica Folk Singers who is also president of the Citizens Association, started a Christmas ritual years ago whereby we would start at 5 am on Christmas morning,  knocking on peoples’ gates and singing carols loudly.

Then we all converge at the Community Centre where everyone would bring a dish, curried goat, jerk pork, turned cornmeal, hot chocolate, roast breadfruit and on and on😊.

After a sumptuous meal, the kids have their entertainment and we our dominoes, whatever.

How I miss those sessions, although I had the pleasure of joining them to celebrate Jamaica 60 this year. Joan, my views: Memories of Jamaica's 60th Anniversary celebrations. (joan-myviews.blogspot.com)

But I am rambling aren’t I?

This was just a preamble to say how much I enjoyed the Christmas Concert at United Methodist Church in Plantation, Florida, which kicked off the season for me.

This was a Steve Higgins Production, in conjunction with the Consul General of Jamaica, featuring the South Florida Caribbean Chorale.

Steve Higgins as you probably know, is an excellent Jamaican tenor and cultural ambassador.

I enjoyed the entire concert, the interaction between the MC and audience, the music, and even the bits that the Jamaican Consul General to Miami performed.

He seems to be quite charismatic and talented.

I loved too how the choir and other performers switched from traditional Christmas Carols to Jamaican Christmas Carols written by the late, great, Noel Dexter and even one perforemd by Jamaican performer Pluto Shervington.

So, I have saved quite a few clips below for posterity. 

For posterity

 

Beehive

 The Beehive musical currently running at the  Lake Worth playhouse in Florida is a delight. 

It features outstanding female chart toppers from the 60’s including Diana Ross and the Supremes, Tina Turner, Aretha Frankly, Janice Joplin and many more. 

And the actresses who performed are super talented.

It’s a high energy performance from start to finish and the dress and hairstyles brought back fond memories 😊. 

Nostalgia all the way.  

The playhouse itself is quaint and charming, having been built in 1924. 

And it has maintained it’s character. 

I was particularly fascinated by the ceiling and the stage.     

The box office is tiny and dated and so was the bathroom I hear!

 

I attended the performance with a group from the Tamarac Senior Center.

 We went to the performance after a pleasant sit-down dinner nearby. 

As usual, I enjoyed the camaraderie. 

Lake Worth, or rather what I saw of it, seems to be a little historical town which comes to life on a Friday night when people flock to the sidewalk restaurants, some of which have live bands.  

I was rather curious about the lack of street lights once we left the main area though.

 Actually I had believed some residential areas were having power cuts until I realized that the houses had lights and it was just the streets that were dark😡. 

However, It was a wonderful outing, professionally organized and we all returned home safely, having been 

taken there and back by a competent driver.

Tamarac Seniors

 

 

Hypocrisy to the nth degree!

 When I heard the hullabaloo coming out of the Peoples National Party (PNP), private sector and a few other hypocritical mouths, because MP Warmington declared that opposition Leader Mark Golding’s color should disqualify him from becoming prime minister of Jamaica, I had a good laugh.

For wasn’t this the same party that was able to remain in power for eighteen years, not because they had good policies, but because they were able to convince most Jamaicans that Seaga, a white man could not lead Jamaica because of his color?

How the world turns!

P.J. Patterson, who led probably the most corrupt regime in the history of my poor beleaguered country, could never have stayed in power for 14 years, were it not for the race card that the PNP played consistently.

Where were all those people who are now protesting about Warmingiton’s comments, during that period?

Jamaica’s motto is “Out of many one people” is strictly aspirational in my view, as race baiting is an integral part of our culture.

I am not saying I support racism now, any more than I supported it when Seaga was head of the Jamaican Opposition JLP. 

Of course not.

What is double amusing too, is to hear some well-known apologists even trying to promote Mark Golding on the basis of what his late father did for the country.

The late Professor Sir John Golding, was an orthopedic surgeon who was key to helping to contain the polio epidemic that hit Jamaica in the 1950's. When he saw the level of disability that it caused especially among the poor, he established the Hope Institute to make and supply prosthetics for those affected.

In addition, he opened the Hope Valley Experimental School which was the first and only school in the Caribbean to integrate disabled and normally able children. Other initiatives included a company to employ the disabled, a farm for the handicapped, a Cheshire village a fairground to employ the handicapped and to raise money for a rehabilitation center, a prosthetics and orthotics center, a physiotherapy school and a hospice.

So yes, the late Professor John Golding was a great man.

However, the last time we Jamaicans elected a prime minister on the basis of what his father had done, it proved to be a great disaster and even thrust us in a civil war.

Yes, I am referring to the late Michael Manley, who sailed to leadership of the PNP on the coattail of his father, National Hero Norman Manley.

Oh, how we lived to regret it!

Let’s not do the same crap again, as that damage was too devastating and long lasting.

Out of many one people is a great aspiration yes.

But judge Mark Golding on his ability and policies and stop the hypocritical nonsense about not bringing people's color into political discussions.

The PNP started the trend, now they and their apologists need to cut out the hilarious side show about color and demonstrate to the country what they are capable of doing.

Return to Flamingo Gardens

The first time I ever visited Flamingo Gardens in Davie, Florida, was in September 2017, when they were about to reopen. For a few months before, Hurricane Irma had devastated that urban paradise, downing trees and destroying much of the flora.

Sonja left Rosa right

I only returned there Sunday November 5^th 2022, along with friend Rosa, to spend quality time with Sonja, who was celebrating her birthday.

It was a wonderful day, despite the rain which kept coming down regularly, followed by brilliant sunshine, as if to remind us that it was still hurricane season. And of course, I had left my umbrella in the car, so got wet despite my two well prepared friends sharing theirs with me on occasion.😊

Flamingo Gardens is a 60-acre tropical oasis, which is popular among families and also as a wedding avenue.

The Wray home is now a museum

It was originally the property of Floyd L. and Jane Wray, who in 1927 built a weekend home there. They established a botanical collection of rare and unusual plants and eventually willed the property to future generations.

Their home is now a museum.

Today, the gardens boast more than 3,000 species of tropical and subtropical plants, including 200-year-old Southern live oaks, and 300 plus species of palms. It is an absolute paradise which you can tour in a tram with knowledgeable drivers imparting valuable information all along the way.

Flamingos galore

In addition to the flora, the Gardens has a fully developed aviary with a wide variety of birds common to the Everglades. In addition, it is a sanctuary for animals which have been hurt and have to be rehabilitated before being let back into to the wild. 

Some cannot however be returned, so they have to stay there for life.

Beautiful peacocks hang out in a tree covered with orchids

An interesting attraction, is the animal show which is extremely popular among children, but I too learnt a great deal about Owls, snakes and falcons.

 I was especially impressed with the courageous young man who volunteered to assist in the demonstration, with a small boa around his neck.

As one who has also developed a love for that very maligned reptile, I was impressed how easily he fulfilled the role.

The only animal I saw on this trip was a Florida Panther, although I hear there is also a Bobcat and a Black Bear there. We never saw those but did get to interact quite a few friendly domestic cats.

No only were the Gardens themselves refreshing and wonderful, but so was the camaraderie among us. 

It was even more enjoyable when the visiting band started to play reggae music.

That certainly got me in the spirit!

Unfortunately, the intermittent rain kept people away from where they were, but the band played on!

Another pleasant surprise was the Gallery. Here we saw the most amazingly detailed black and white photographs of sections of the Everglades, which had been taken by what is now a very ancient camera.

This ancient camera takes amazing pics!

Flamingo Gardens is an absolutely marvelous place in the middle of metropolitan Fort Lauderdale, where one can enjoy some treasures of nature and learn so much.

I am happy Rosa suggested that we celebrate there with Sonja.

GREAT MEMORIES 

 

 

I hate socialism!

 It is almost impossible to turn on television these days and not hear some shrill accusation about some politician being a socialist.

 Of course, these charges are being widely thrown at Democrats, who are trying to hold on to the House and Senate in the upcoming mid-term elections.

And the label is sticking, to their detriment.

Every time I hear the accusations, I realize more how ignorant some Americans are. Or maybe they are not as stupid as they pretend to be but are simply hoping  to deceive the uneducated.

For in all the years I have been following politics, I have never heard a sensible leader in the democratic party, claim to be a socialist.

I deliberately said sensible as that immediately eliminates Bernie Sanders who in my book is moving rapidly towards senility.

For Socialism is a system whereby the government controls the economy so market forces do not prevail.

This is what former Prime Minister of Jamaica Michael Manley tried to foist on us, causing me to have to endanger my life and join the fight against socialism there.

For I am totally opposed to a government controlling the so-called “Commanding heights of the economy” as he espoused.😡

That has never worked. Not in Cuba, North Korea, Russia nowhere.

Even China never started to grow until they loosened the reins and allowed market forces to prevail.

So effective has the Repubican propaganda become that I have even heard some ignorant people claiming that Justin Trudeau is a socialist and Canada is a socialist country! 

They had long thrown countries such as Sweden, Finland, Denmark etc. into that bag too!

Pure ignorance.

What these countries which all operate well established market economies have in common, is something called Humanity.

For, they do not believe people should starve and be trampled on, simply because they are poor.

That is what even the US based Social Security System was to prevent.

This was established in 1935 by President Roosevelt during the Great Depression, when poverty rates among senior citizens exceeded 50 percent.

I can just imagine the hullabaloo by the rich in 1935, when that government tried to prevent the poor from starving!

That’s whats so clear about American politics.

Republicans just do not believe in helping the poor in any way, although their supporters benefit from programs designed to alleviate poverty.

What bothers me is that the Democrats do not understand the damage the socialist label does to them, especially among immigrants from countries where they actually had to contend with the evils of socialism.

It is therefore not surprising that the polls are now showing that Latin Americans, many of whom have seen or experienced socialism, have bought into the rhetoric and are moving to the Republican party in droves.

The democrats often utter the phrase “Words matter” but I wonder if they realize how true that is!

Maybe they themselves really don’t know what socialism is, so that is why they are allowing the label to stick.

It is to their detriment.

 Link; 2020 DECISION: SOCIALIM, RACISM OR HAPPINESS?: Williams, Joan, Williams, Joan, Bridgestone, Carol: 9781696578523: Amazon.com: Books

CARRIED IN SUN SENTINEL 7/11/2022