Hurricane Harbor: March 2020

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

As we Sail Into April ... Inspiring Stories, Looking Back at How We Roared Back AFTER the Spanish Flu in the Roaring 20s.

As we all watch the hospital ship sail into NYC Harbor.

We are all in awe of this larger than life drama going on.

Both in our personal lives and collective lives.

The size and scope of this shows in this picture.

That's a huge ship... a huge hospital.

Trying to post every day as we get closer to the Hurricane Season and to be honest it kind of saves my sanity to write every day. My brother, the author, says I need to proofread more. I know, he's right, but this is my off season when few read the blog and I think of it more like an online diary. I'll try to be more on top of that proofreading and trying to be more uplifting rather than depressing as we work our way through this part of 2020 when quarantining is all the rage today. Rage really isn't a popular word anymore ...now that I think on that but it was all the rage in the 1920s that were much more fun if you were a flapper and danced til dawn.

For those of you not as much into the history of the Roaring 20s as I have always been and unaware of the social demographic issues that led up to this raucous period infamous for young kids climbing flagpoles, swallowing gold fish and girls raising their skirts and bobbing their hair up and so let me explain it to this way... they were exhaling, reacting, breathing and having fun after the hard times of World War 1 where sons, brothers and lovers marched off to war and then tragically on their way home many of those soldiers died on ships from the Spanish Flu. It wasn't the happiest of times and when the flu ebbed away and a short term 2 year mini depression from the after effects of WW1 and the Pandemic wore off people bounced back as they always do with a dizzying array of changes that impacted music, fashion and travel and the world was never the same. The Model T Ford led to people wanting to travel further from home and the hospitality business opened up road side "motels" and the US government began for the first time to really give people paid vacations and Americans hit the road looking for Tin Can Motels and a beach somewhere with pretty girls and handsome guys looking to have fun again.

Many students of history are wondering on the parallels and this graph is from the link below that discusses it in more detail than I am here today. Note even Wikipedia mentions the Spanish Flu as one hard time that people endured before the 1920s really began to roar with music, laughter and jazz.

I'm out of bananas and I don't see any in my future unless I break down and get some from the store so ... this song so resonated with me. I'm guessing it resonates with many here as well.

Nuff said on the Roaring 20s for now, but there are parallels, because people do tend to bounce back in the same way the England did after theaters were open again and life, literature and theater went on again. I read online that Shakespeare wrote the play King Lear during a plague. I'll have to run that past Snopes to see if it's true or very early urban legend!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_theatre_closure_1642

Next I wanted to show a video that is so inspiring and shows how even a tragic, deadly pandemic can bring the best out in people just trying to help make a difference for someone in need. I read about this last Saturday in the local paper that did a beautiful uplifting story and been meaning to mention it online. Seems the movement has gone viral (good use of that term) and spread to other cities so it shows you that good deeds can spread fast too!

That is so beautiful and I suggest you share that video with someone who feels down, depressed and hopeless and that pretty much describes most of us at some point of our day when reading about people in need of prayer or who have died. I'm really trying to balance my time between prayer and taking time to breathe, refresh my mind and soul and then I go back to praying with friends in Crown Heights and Florida who are in prayer groups for relatives. You gotta do what you gotta do and if my allergies weren't an issue I'd take a long walk along the golf course across the street and stare in wonder at the flowers in bloom ... but the pollen wouldn't be good for my system so I probably won't. A friend and distant cousin posted this beautiful picture the other day in honor of the medical and public service people who are risking their lives to help us all.

That says it all for Raleigh, North Carolina.

Another uplifting story I read recently is below.

I also read it this past Saturday.

A pop up sort of place to help the homeless.

Let people take showers..

...cut their hair.

Uplift their spirit.

It uplifted mine.

People are trying to help...

... not easy.

I worked as a librarian.

Some of our nicest patrons were the homeless.

They hung out reading, going online.

Librarians get to know them well.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/24/libraries-

homelessness-deter-landscape-designs-san-francisco

Often patrons don't appreciate them as much...

...as the librarians do.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-23

/san-francisco-fights-coronavirus-by-finding-the-homeless-a-home

Lastly a few pictures of how we are all doing.

Doing as in surviving and thriving emotionally.

While staying home or isolating.

Key West NWS is awesome to follow.

As is another NWS on the opposite side of the USA

There's a close up of their forecast drawing.

Speaking of crayons I love color.

I love make up because I'm coloring.

That's what I told my friend Chana yesterday.

She lives in Israel.

She's a Make Up Artist... weddings, parties.

Not a lot of work these days ...

..so she tries to cheer us up online.

Playfully doing cute, fun things.

You can follow her on Instagram.

She's one of my daughter's best friends.

Kind of a child from another mother.

Monday, March 30, 2020

Ode to Miami History. Roasted Nuts & White Chocolate, Caramels & Cashews. Cocaine Cowboys. Films Music & What We Learn From History as we Deal with Covid 19.

Roasted nuts and white chocolate.

Caramels and cashews...

Music from the carousel

off in the distance out of view.

In a half empty mall...

in my memories bright but small.

Deep in the recesses of my mind..

sharing them with my brother

one memory at a time.

Once upon a time ...
and what a time it was...
There was a Mall next to a Hotel.
The rooms over looked Biscayne Bay.
In the mall parents shopped and kids played.
Teenagers hung out in record shops buying music.
Cocaine Cowboys made deals out in the parking lots.
Miami Vice came to down riding neon lit streets outside.
Miami was a boom town once again and then......
Time moved on, bigger hotels and fancier malls.
Aventura Florida was built in the early 1990s
They drained a swamp..
They paved paradise and built a bigger mall.
People drove up Collins Avenue to shop and dine.
Luxury Hotels were built in nearby Sunny Isles
And Omni Mall became a ghost town.
A has been waiting to be torn down.

For me Omni was a place to escape to after work before the kids came home after I moved back to Miami from LA and I loved that it was quiet and I could wander through the adjacent Jordan Marsh department store that I grew up in as we went there at least twice a week after my Grandma went to the doctor across the street and the store was our treat for being quiet in the waiting room. The Ice Cream Parlor, the Raggedy Ann and Andy Dolls suspended from the ceiling on swings during the holidays or the ever popular Biscayne Dining room looking out of beautiful Biscayne Bay. For my younger brother it was a happening alive place that he escaped to just across the Venetian Causeway that he watched go from popular to closing up one store at a time a decade latter.

A little bit of poetry here to start off the morning, mixing it up a bit as I'm looking back at a little bit of Miami history after a long talk with my brother this morning as we shared memories of the Mall closest to Miami Beach in the 1980s. Lincoln Road wasn't popular then as a shopping, dining venue it was where our father worked in his office and we played pinhall in Mike's Cigar Shop that father said was probably a front for a bookie joint; not sure but something was going in that busy room behind the curtain behind the Ballyhoo Pin Ball Machines ;)

My brother wrote a book, buy it on Amazon online it's good and germ free ;) he lives in Greece in a city locked down he could use the money and you could use the poetry and prose to get you through another day in Quarantine ... whatever day this might be as we all have lost count. He used the "roasted nuts and white chocolate" line this morning in Messenger and it inspired me to write this morning's blog. The rest of the poem above is mine ;) but inspired by our talk.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1980911312

History repeats and whether you are studying the history of dead, defunct malls before Big Box Houses like Macys and Sears currently dying even before people started dying from Covid-19 that came along putting the final nail into a world that we grew up in and thought would last forever. Spoiler alert: Nothing lasts forever. We are born to die. Enjoy the moments, the hours of fun in the sun and love ever lasting ... enjoy your moments while you got em cause time never stands still.

Then Miami became popular again as another BOOM TIME hit the city as we painted every building on Miami Beach in shades of Art Deco colors (the City Council seriously had to approve the shade of paint you chose for your house) and the party moved back to Miami Beach and Lincoln Road now a popular place to play, dine or just hang out under the palm trees where the parrots squawked and Miami moved again to another rhythm.

Bayside was built bit by bit and my ex-husband and I would take long, slow rides across Venetian Causeway always ending up at the old Bayside where Sonny Crockett's boat was docked and Hard Rock Cafe was the only show in town before they kept adding on bit by bit. Tracing that ride we watched on TV so often driving back and forth at night across the Venetian Causeway, windows down, music up as we stared out at the neon lights of Miami. The first time I saw the scene below I lived in LA and our night time drives were down Santa Monica Boulevard to La Cienega to Sunset Drive past the Chateau and back again... but now I was home in my Miami.

Fast Forward to 2020.

There's always a little bit of history repeating.

New song, new movie.

Miami popular again as always.

Amazing.

That movie nailed every one of my favorite place...

...where I'd go to wander and get lost and hide.

How did they do that......

.......but I digress.

What we learn from history is this.

Viruses are not just a computer hack....

....they change everything.

Some people die, some people live.

The Spanish Flu hit and things shut down.

Then in the Roaring 20s we roared back.

Dancing the Charleston and having fun again.

A good blog on genealogy teaches us this.

https://larasgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/03/my-family-in-cholora-pandemic-of-1848.html

If you do genealogy, and I do, you will notice that many ancestors lost family members from the measles and cholera as if it was the most normal thing in the world and it was back then. But, hey a little bit of history repeating and then "we beat on, boats against the current borne back ceaselessly into the past" and we look back, remember and we smile. We learn from the past, we get inspired from the past and then we move on creating a new future, a brave new world.

Time Magazine (remember that one?)

Wrote off Miami as Paradise Lost.

The news media said Miami was dead.

And then it roared back again.

Wrapped up in neon pink.

Ecologically odd.

Aesthetically beautiful.

One of my favorite people.

Paul George the Miami Historian.

And an incredible friend always says..

Miami always has a 2nd Act!

So be like Miami!!

Stay inside, stay home, stay healthy.

Stay alive and then..

Have a Beautiful Second Act!

Again and again.

Besos BobbiStorm

@bobbistorm on Twitter and Instagram.

Ps. If the nonstop news gets too much for you. Turn it off.

Put on some music. Let go, relax, breathe and enjoy.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article225472800.html

Labels: art, artdeco, coronavirus, film, genealogy, History, literature, miami, miamivice, music, poetry, tv

Sunday, March 29, 2020

Mother Nature Refuses to Shut Down.. Pandemic Problems Shut Down Drama. NY Says NO! Florida Keys Says Yes! Governors Squabble ... Death Toll Rises in NY

Today above.

Damage from yesterday below.

Just heartbreaking.

🚨NEW VIDEO:🚨 Our field crews are on the ground in #Jonesboro #Arkansas after a devastating #tornado tore through last night. Here are some of the sights they're seeing. pic.twitter.com/wdUjJsXv8h
— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) March 29, 2020

Pay attention to your local weather today.

Yesterday was awful.

Hoping today is quieter.

But when you have highs in the 80s..

..and a front coming through.

It can get wild fast!

Mother Nature didn't get the Memo...

...to shut down the weather machine.

To be honest I couldn't sleep last night. I'm pretty sure at most I slept about an hour and fifteen minutes, but hard to say exactly. I rested... I debated getting up and having some kind of Sleepy Time tea and doing things and trying to go to sleep again but I was too sleepy to do that yet not sleepy enough to actually fall asleep. Around 6 AM I kind of gave up, watered some plants on the balcony before the heat sets in and talked to my brother in Thessaloniki on the computer. Always good to talk to him... cause this Covid 19 Darma is driving some of us up the wall literally...

We all need to do what we need to do. I needed to write this to #share & laugh & share a laugh. You need to move but also #StayAtHomeAndStaySafe. #AmWriting #WordPorn #SpilledInk #Covid_19 #Art #poetry #SundayMorning #lockdown #SideEffectsOfQuarantineLife https://t.co/39Jyx518NS
— Jay Leonard Schwartz (@jschwartz63) March 29, 2020

There was no real reason for my lack of sleep other than my allergy bothering me and probably as I took a nap late in the day Saturday and then had some tea ... who knows. I also realized when I went to water the pansies on the balcony that I had left the sliding glass door open with the screen closed but allowing pollen in and had sat watching TV on the sofa by the sliding glass door. Okay, note to self to make sure that door is closed tight during pollen season. And, to be honest, aside from the allergy mystery solved, more likely the Pandemic changing out world, rearranging our lives and too much on my mind though I wasn't particularly in a bad mood or sad though trying to list everyone I am close to in my prayers may have kept me up too late. Being honest here, it's the off season when few read my blog except my best friends and so it's more a diary of this event than a blog on hurricanes. But today's blog will feature a tropical topic so stay tuned. So today's blog is for you know who you are and anyone else who happens in in late March...64 days before the start of the Atlantic Hurricane Season.

Before I go further the weather yesterday was lousy and today should be a repeat of more lousy weather at a time when no one wants to see tornadoes ripping up homes where people are trying to stay safe and seek shelter from Covid-19. Pathetic but Mother Nature is refusing to stay locked down and quiet as she seems on a rampage across the Deep South for now... may be coming your way soon also.

And the beat went on and on yesterday.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/17-reported-tornadoes-hit-central-us-severe-weather/story?id=69860565

Unbelievable live stream of the Jonesboro, Arkansas tornado.

Incredible job by @ZachHolderWx & team at @Region8News. (https://t.co/OLG9gg9xvP) pic.twitter.com/9Hm0YjXAZm
— Dakota Smith (@weatherdak) March 28, 2020

There's the video from that image that really tells it all though the video is compelling. What's more compelling is I don't know how we are going to evacuate people during the Hurricane Season if it comes early (and it may ... in May) if we still have this virus that spread like wildfire running wild around the hurricane coastline. Too much to even think on though we are all thinking on that in the weather community.

As for the controversy on New York State...

Sorry I like Cuomo but he's wrong.

New York State currently has more cases than Iran.

And just a few less than Germany.

Seriously, sadly... check it out.

By this afternoon NY will probably the 5th worst region.

A lock down needs to be a lock down.

To get this under control even a little.

Because currently it's out of control.

The State of Washington has about 4,000 ish cases.

They shut things down early on.

Time for New York State to step up too.

This is beginning to remind of the song where Amy refused to go to rehab.... spoiler alert ... it had a really sad ending. A beautiful voice died... too young.

Speaking of favorite pots of call for hurricanes... the Florida Keys is having a problem with tourists from far away places like New York that fly into FLL, rent a car and drive down to see the sights in paradise as well as many Miamians trying to escape what's going on in Miami. The problem is of course, they bring their germs with them even if they don't realize they are because "they feel fine" or whatever reason they have but they have shut down the only road in by car and closed it to residents. Personally, coming from an old Conch family that lived in the Florida Keys in the 1800s, I'm all for the checkpoint. We do it after hurricanes and seriously this is much worse than any hurricane and much more DEADLY and yet amazingly the Governor who refused to postpone the Florida Primaries even though other states did and who has posted check points on

I-10 and I-95 doesn't think the road into the Keys should be shut down. Seriously this man is all over the place on what should and shouldn't be done. He was upset the airports were open but it was okay to have an election in the state where more people are retirees and where poll workers are often elderly doing their civic duty. You'll remember I was really upset on Twitter and the reason is I knew it was a bad idea and note poll workers ended up getting Covid-19 after the election. They have asked people who may have voted at those locations (3 at least) to take "appropriate actions" but the appropriate action was NOT to have had the primary.

https://keysnews.com/article/story/u-s-1-checkpoint-could-close-down/

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2020/03/26/coronavirus-broward-poll

-workers-test-positive-for-covid-19/

Really you cannot make stupid up.

He seems naive sadly.

I'm not happy.

That's not a partisan comment.

It's a logical one.

A republican governor in another state shut them down.

Let's talk on another Tropical Port of Call...

New Orleans, a city I love very much.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/coronavirus-new-orleans-mardi-gras/2020/03/26/8c8e23c8-6fbb-11ea-b148-e4ce3fbd85b5_story.html

Seriously? The last time I looked Mardi Gras is not a National Holiday and it's a local event and she should have been paying attention to the news and she had to know that many people in Seattle and San Francisco travel to New Orleans as well as people from the world travel to Mardi Gras she should have shut it down. Covid-19 exploded in New Orleans after Mardi Gras and it has continued to explode since then exponentially. I get the "buck stops here" but as it was an event held in New Orleans the buck landed on her desk and she ignored it hoping for publicity and revenue and I guess one last party; did she think it was just hype and panic and everything would be fine, fine, fine? Don't even know what political party she is and I don't care, I care she didn't do HER job and it was her city and she made a poor call.

This is not rocket science. It spreads like wild fire by human contact... humans need to stop spreading it around and hunker down and show some grit. I've had one too many people tell me they have yet to shop for basic, non-perishables and are insisting on using Uber Eats and are sure they will be fine and it will go away soon enough. When I suggested buying tuna, pasta and rice they told me they'd rather eat Sushi and Tacos and Uber Eats is delivering. Do they not understand this is a slow motion disaster and it won't be over and if they are nervous on money as they say they are ...stop eating fast food and use your money wisely.

The same people that every hurricane season refuse to shop for hurricane supplies when they are on sale or when a hurricane is North of Puerto Rico headed WNW with a strong High to the North are the same ones who refuse to understand they have to get to the Dollar Store for the 2 lb bags of white rice, big boxes of mashed potatoes and pasta they can buy for under $10 while stocking up are spending more than $10 every time they order from Uber Eats. The usual suspects complaining and the usual suspects stockpiling supplies before the aisles at Publix are empty of their favorite peanut butter. This isn't rocket science. Yes, it's human nature I know.

Well I have to tell you something. Mother Nature is not on vacation and neither is she on lock down and at any point the President can pull rank on a Governor with a National Emergency and really shut things down and when you finally get around to getting to the store to stock up the store may be closed temporarily, Uber Eats may not deliver and who you going to blame?

Sorry to be so blunt but this is a rolling disaster not a snow storm or a hurricane ... it's going to go on and on and on. Wish I could say it won't and trust me I'm praying it won't but this is really a worst case scenario where you need to really prepare for the worst while praying for the best.

Prayer is good.

Stocking up on cheap basics that won't go back with time such as tuna, ramen, pasta, peanut butter, rice, lentils, canned foods won't set you back much money wise and your money will go further if and when the lock down is more of a lock down.

Maybe New York State should secede.... they seem to have their own way of doing things and a huge budget the size of a country and they have more cases of Covid-19 than many countries. The Florida Keys seceded more as a publicity stunt to make a point but many of us believe it really is it's own nation and I'm all for them trying to secede again. Personally I'm a Conch so I have rights as my family was Naturalized as "Citizens of Key West" so I vote for secession! Ironically they rebelled because of a blockade, this time they should secede because the Governor doesn't want them to ....even though he put check posts at I-10 and I-95 into Florida. Can't make this stuff up.

Stay tuned, watch the weather ...wash your hands, STAY HOME... STAY SAFE.

BobbiStorm

@bobbistorm on Twitter and Instagram.

Ps...not proofing my official diary right now.....

Yep... Key West... Love you.

Miss you.

Hope to see you again ...

Thursday, March 26, 2020

Remember When... Corona Meant a Beer at the End of a Day... Weather, Memories, Hurricane Moments and

Listening to Alan Jackson this morning to keep my sanity going and giving me some continuity for my thoughts and staying focused. So much that can topple our well set out plans for the day so you gotta stay on track and push through and try and get it all done. Okay, blogging wasn't on my list for this morning but going with it because I have a tons of creativity that has to come out before it explodes like a Category 5 Hurricane. The struggle of an artist and today I'm using words to paint the scenery of the world and my mind.

Remember when.......

When I woke up to check out the loops?

Yeah... I did. I did today...

And I'll do it again.

As long as I'm breathing.

It's who I am.

#remember when we watched loops for the #weather and when everything wasn’t shades of gray. pic.twitter.com/cDu3X8rUnG
— BobbiStorm (@BobbiStorm) March 26, 2020

Loved weather since as early as I can..

Remember.

Sat on the porch in the afternoon.

Waiting for a breeze blow.

Watching the clouds.

Hurricanes stole my heart...

Almost blew me away.

Spent a lifetime...

...trying to understand them.

Because there's so much more to learn.

Even in the off season but.....

This has been one heck of an off season.

Look at that wild feature way off the coast now.

Kind of a name that image ink blot test today.

Cranky is doing this thing.

Thank God.

Owe him really.

Think long rambling messages...

..saved my sanity this morning.

Feel fresh even though it's still gray outside.

Ironic love Seattle Gray.

Hate Raleigh Gray.

It's more poetic in Seattle.

So listening to music.

Alan Jackson. Country.

Alan Jackson looks like half the boys I grew up way down in the deep Southwest of Miami in a place known as Westchester or Bird Road or West Miami depending on which side of Coral Way you lived on but I learned how to swim and learned who I was ... a little about living and a lot about love. I'm a Southern Girl... made of grit, sweet tea and drop biscuits because they are way easier and I hate rolling dough; they taste the same with lots of butter really does it matter? Probably not anymore because the meme that got me the most was the one that said on day 1 they were going to breathe, do Zen and by day 4 they were pouring ice cream on their pasta. Notice the Keto Memes have done been dumped in the trash. Seems in this age of conserving what we got and trying to make it last carbs are suddenly good and may get a prize if we make it through this ... never had a planning just living for the minute and by the way if you HAVE to "Instant Grits" may just get you through the aftermath of a hurricane or Corona Days. (Okay Instant Grits might be best washed down with a Corona and Lime.... but you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes.)

Speaking of Country Boys...

www.spaghettimodels.com

Nope no tropical weather today.

We be in Spring Severe Storms Season now.

If you ain't checked your calendar...

It's late March.

Then comes April.

When this makes a Tornado looking image.

It's usually not a good sign.

Yes, there's bad weather coming.

Life goes on....

Hurricane Season is coming to our world soon.

I'd take a hurricane over Covid-19 anytime.

Would love to be out there on the beach....

...in a Tropical Wind right now.

Nothing make you feel more alive.

Okay ..thinking.. it's way up there.

I took that picture.

Took that pic of them taking pics.

We had fun that day.

I may be a bit of a bully.

But I got my way.

Not much debris...

But lots of wind.

Best kind of Tropical Storm.

I thought of it last night.

One of my best friends called.

She was driving back from work.

She decided it was the last day.

She drove back up Collins Avenue...

to NMB leaving Flamingo Drive.

And the streets were empty.

Kind of like in a hurricane.

She said is was nice cruising along.

True Confessions.

We once drove that road late at night.

After a huge wedding at the Deauville Hotel.

Her just 16 year old daughter drove the car.

We were drunk.....great wedding.

Pretty sure her daughter remembers that.

Insert hand over my face image :)

She was a good driver!

Always good to have a designated driver!

(Before Uber)

That's what I taught my kids.

Yup... before Uber.

Before Corona didn't mean .....

....a beer at the end of the day.

Great song.

Making bologna for dinner.

Shhhhh don't tell ;)

My mother loved bologna.

It'll work it's way out.

I pray a lot these days.

For my kids, my friend's kids.

For my kids...their kids.

So at 5 PM...

Take a break, have a drink.

Of whatever you like even if just cold water.

And keep on doing what you need to do.

Keep doing what you love.

I'm blogging.

Watching loops....

....and trying not to stare at that map.

You know the John Hopkins one...

I'd rather take a hurricane any day.

Apparently so would Alan Jackson.

(it's in the video......)

Everyone do what you got to do to survive.

In a hurricane you can hide from the wind...

..and run from the water.

If it means hunkering down and listening to Alan Jackson.

Talking to my friends, reading kid's WhatsApp Group.

Praying in my way as I do most the day.

That's easier than being in Hurricane Andrew.

But hurricanes move on

and then you pick up the pieces.

There's a time line and a manual.

I'd take a hurricane any time.

And it's forecast to be a busy season.

I'd take weather any day...

...there wasn't a forecast for Corona coming.

Yet it came at us just the same.

Or Covid-19 ... your choice

It is what it is by any name.

What is in a name anyway?

Take care, stay safe.

Stay inside and remember when...

Besos BobbiStorm

@bobbistorm on Twitter and Instagram

As it's a National Emergency.

I'm not proofing this today...

...gonna find me a better way.

Ps... yup...

That's my son's favorite way to end any day.

Watching the sunset on the water on his boat.

Seems I raised him well after all ;)

A guy once downloaded that song the day it came out for me

...to impress me.

Smart man, he did.

I remember when...

Hurricane Harbor