key biscayne

that's stiltsville in biscayne bay, a series of houses built at the edge of the florida channel through a barely submerged reef a mile off cape florida at the south end of key biscayne

and fowey rocks lighthouse (1875), the lighter of the two objects on the horizon, seven miles off the cape

cape florida lighthouse (1825)

views of downtown miami from rickenbacker causeway, before and as a big-ass thunderstorm was rolling through

gaudy colors

one of the botanists at the everglades told me that almost any gaudy flowering tree or shrub is not native to south florida --- purty anyway

birding

the birds are great at royal palm this time of year, wood storks, herons, anhinga, cormarants, egrets ---- the alligators were also lurking, waiting to eat them, which happened while i was there, although i didn't witness the actual event

royal palm

established as a state park in 1916, royal palm was the first part of the everglades to be protected from exploitation --- one of my favorite places

the everglades

a whole lot of the everglades was destroyed over the last 100+ years so we could have vegetables out of season --- that fact and the massive irrigation aside, the fields west of homestead and florida city are purty impressive

another place

panorama of miami, beach to port to downtown, from hobie island on the rickenbacker causeway

late winter spring

love the mockingbirds

an impression of the garden

friday friday

book signing at paris on ponce, inside of which i had never been --- quite the mess --- thnx andrew and greg

and we convened our monthly 106 supper club at cardamon hill on northside drive --- a different kind of good --- A departure from the typical Indian restaurant, Cardamom Hill highlights the cuisine of Kerala-a lush coastal state of South India rich in spices, coconut and seafood.

ponce city market

demolition of the parking garage along glen iris is well underway --- being replaced with landscaped surface parking, which, minus the landscaping, is what was there before the parking decks ---

cypress street

dog and i find a significant amount of clothing on the streets of midtown --- from unmentionables to high-heel shoes to whatever --- usually it's just lying on the sidewalk, but this sweater was hung very neatly on the parking meter ---

wheeeee!

uglying up peachtree

after destroying the elegant intersection of p'tree and p'tree circle on the north side of colony square, now they're doing the same thing for the not-quite-so-elegant but still great intersection of p'tree and ponce de leon --- the residents of the ponce apartments are irate --- part of a city historic district, the ponce was designed specifically for the curve of that intersection, which dates to construction of a mule-drawn streetcar to ponce de leon springs in 1874 --- you just can't have nothing nice in this city ---

the flowers

i gave this little unit to my ma a while back and it continued to bloom for over nine months! --- it will be interesting to see if it repeats that performance here ---

new eats

lime fresh is hiring and is nearing completion, as is the new italian restaurant on piedmont, which has had its furniture delivered --- meanwhile, cafe agora continues to drag ass --- they've been at it since last summer and it's still a mess ---they'll all be acceptable additions to my grocery choices

guinness!

still at it

the occupy atlanner people are still at it, now on the sidewalk along w. p'tree at at&t --- good for them --- they're having a "slumber party" on walton street downtown for the "arrestees" from last fall, who go to trial friday ---

penguin cam

Live broadcast by Ustream
a 24/7 live stream ----

good lighting is everything

well, not everything, but still . . .

sometimes we succeed . . .

sometimes we fail . . . .

sunshine and flowers

an excellent day to view the botanicals --- cool and windy --- in a couple of weeks, the stench of hyacinths will fill the air

picasso to warhol

a great day in upper midtown atlanner --- the exhibit was ok --- warhol's taped "screen tests" with bob dylan, cass elliot, and a dozen others were great

my personal favorite was this piece by léger