A writer and a tropical muse. A funky Lubavitcher who enjoys watching the weather, hurricanes, listening to music while enjoying life with a sense of humor and trying to make sense of it all!
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.
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...
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.
10 PM. Updated! Harvey Remnants at 70% of Reforming & The Eclipse. 92L and Florida. Models. Forecasts. Famous Writers That Look Like Harvey...
Just a note on models.
These could verify....
IF...
92L forms..
My concern at this point is not IF 92L becomes Irma before South Florida .... my concern is that the rain from a tropical wave that has traveled across the Atlantic (even a weak wave/Invest) can cause huge flooding problems in South Florida if the system moves towards Florida and steering currents fall apart for a few days. Eventually a front IS coming down, but until then it can take long drives going nowhere up and down A1A and I95 causing massive misery just being a strong, tropical wave. I have confidence that should anything close off and develop then the NHC would (in theory) post some sort of warning. The NWS posts watches and warnings but it's like a tree falling in the forest and no one is listening. So please watch this situation as the set up is ripe for locally heavy flooding and I sure hope all those drains are unclogged and the pumps are working. We will know soon enough. It could in theory slip up the Treasure Coast and ignore South Florida after all. It's a fluid situation and models do show development close in... as in home grown. Well like a transplanted tourist from Dakar.
...and if Harvey comes back to life.
Update on Ex Harvey and 92L
First 92L as it's moving towards Florida.
IF only the large African wave formed.
There's a big, huge ULL
Black Cane there devouring it with shear.
But as for 92L... really impt to watch.
Just keep watching.
Knowledge is power..
This is what Jim said about that.
And you don't mess around with Jim.
He KNOWS when to keep his eyes on it!
So you better too!
NHC gave it 30% at 2 PM.
Hmnnn
Harvey below looks like a dark knight.
Moving West slowly.
As for Harvey and his remnants..
As Harvey Spins West...
The NHC has raised it's odds of reforming.
Currently up to 70%
RED Alert
Another way of looking at it is below.
The odds are in it's favor.
92L has odds too.
Lower odds but ... watching.
And why wouldn't you?
92L could form and be Irma.
Or at the very least #PTCTEN
(long day are we on ten yet?)
(I had some wine ..wink wink)
Models show Florida...
Twice actually.
Moves over Florida.
Moves back into the Atlantic?
Maybe 92L had some wine..
...the models definitely are drunk!
Told you before..
Can't make this stuff up.
Over the very warm waters of the Bahamas..
..the Gulfstream.
Irma could start dancing.
Great dress... I want it.
Looks very like Evita there.
See scene from Evita below!
Take my word on it.
I studied acting when young.
Musical comedy.
Set, dance, make up..
... very Evita-ish
I know patterns.
I know theater.
I know weather.
So I had a really wonderful day today going to the Farmers Market In Raleigh (don't laugh) which is like a fair but without the noise and everyone is friendly tasting fresh figs from the Outer Banks, peaches from the sandhills, German and Cherokee Tomatoes from Johnston County and Scuppernong grapes in season finally. And when you see figs and scuppernong grapes around these parts you know summer is almost over. Bought Dixie Lee Shelled Peas to cook with rice and greens later this week.
Then we went to Trader Joes to get some Empire Kosher Chicken. Really. Trader Joes is having a 50th Birthday Party in their stores. Lots of food to sample and by the way wine is involved, you might want to check it out. I remember Trader Joes from Los Angeles when I lived there in the 80s...who knew they'd be what they are today. Yes, give me coffee and wine and I'm a happy camper, especially after being on a sugar rush from the peaches, watermelon and scuppernong grape tastings before Trader Joes.
Again red is the theme of the day.
Harvey is red again.
Happy Birthday Trader Joe's
50 years!
As for Irma...she is yet to be born.
Needs to form...
Keep watching.
In that vein who knows what will be with 92L that the NHC is still following across the Atlantic despite having polar vortex streamers shot at it with blocking by King Tutt. I mean it's still plugging WNW towards Florida or the Carolinas.. or both.
As for me I bought me an Eclipse viewing device. No one sent me a pair of glasses :( And as someone round here wants me to wear hats more often. I'm modeling the latest in Eclipse Fashion for y'all. Supposedly you take it off your head, put it above your head (not with your head blocking it) and then put paper down or just look at the pavement and the shadows will show you the sun as bites are taken out of it by the moon's shadow; like the bites of peaches and watermelon being served at the Farmers Market. Oh and according to the big board that shows temperature there it said it was 100 degrees but pretty sure the NWS won't agree. As it's the State Farmer's Market I think they should get a vote.
I'll let you know how this science experiment comes out tomorrow...
If you are going to be in Raleigh
And it's not the dead of Winter.
Go to the Farmer's Market.
2 Incredible restaurants.
Free samplings.
Friendly talk.
Candy.
Besos BobbiStorm
Continue reading for your eclipse forecast!
Starting off with the Eclipse.
Totality is less than 3 minutes.
Good luck!
Choose your spot wisely..
Now on to the Tropics.
Below is a REAL Image of Harvey.
Wow, you can't make this stuff up. It's the stuff great plays and award winning movies are made of in Hollywood except this is Hurricane Season and of late it's prone to great come backs and has been named storms. You know Sean Connery was hot, then he wasn't and then he did a comeback like Frank Sinatra when he was older. Happens. I don't want to give away the ending here just yet so I'll just mention that the storm with many names (now Ex Harvey) is still out there, traveling west bound and ignoring it's reviews. Think of it as disconnected from social media; it doesn't watch Morning Joe or The Five and pays no attention to what they say about him at the NHC. It just keeps on doing it's thing. He's sort of like a great writer who holes himself away from the world to write a masterpiece. Tennessee Williams had a small studio on his property and no one was allowed to disturb him until he came out. He woke up every morning, went for a swim, came back and wrote. I became friends with the woman who took care of his sister who lived with him; I can confirm that legend as she was not allowed to disturb him when he was writing.
Great things come from isolation sometimes.
I'm not sure how William Shakespeare got so much done back in those Elizabethan Days where it took forever to get dressed before leaving the house but perhaps he had a writing getaway like Tennessee Williams did. In fact I'm really thinking we should take a DNA Ancestry test today from some rain in Harvey to see if he could be distantly related to Old Will as I'm seeing a strong resemblance myself.
And soon, if Harvey survives the hate campaign against him from the NHC, he will go off and fight the wind shear just as the Man of La Mancha fought with the windmills. He needs to be a bit more macho I think and bulk it up a bit more for them to give him back his name officially. Currently he is trying to get some sort of official status from the NHC, but will they give it to him? Oh such drama... Harvey really needs a good soundtrack.
Today's 5 day looks as if the CMC went on a diet. Same 3 systems they have been showing however not as hearty as the Canadian Model has been showing them on every model run. Maybe they meant East of Florida? I'm sure with time the plot will thicken and we will know what they are implying in their Tropical Discussion. Link is shown below so you know I didn't make this up.
Satellite image below of the 3 above.
It is worth noting the GFS doesn't see these three systems, but does eject a Low off of Florida around the 25th and it slides NE along the SE Coastline. Perhaps 92L gets in the GOM after crossing Florida and then swinging back? It's a possible plot line, not sure if that will work or a totally new character shows up but we aren't talking hurricane so really who cares? It's a model.
Just go to www.tropicaltidbits.com for the model runs.. it's easiest. Interactive game, new updated version every twelve hours or so.. Or just go to www.spaghettimodels.com and do the Cliff Notes version. It's 2017.. "it's all good!!" "No worries" (this is not a time that will produce great #classic lit..it seems)
If you believe bad things come from an eclipse then you might want to blame that on Mark Twain who may have started a lot of the legends in his story. Yes there is a link.
Mark Twain was interestingly born when Halley's Comet appeared and died when it reappeared. Something to think on if the models are giving you a headache and you are tired of the nonstop hyped coverage of the Great American Eclipse or as they are calling it here in Carolina the Great Carolina Eclipse ;) I mean even Nick Saban is talking about the eclipse and the coverage by the TWC. See he's a weather nerd it seems. See Mark Twain below, another distant relative of Tropical Storm Harvey it seems if pictures don't lie...
As for the official forecast for tomorrow.
The eclipse.
Just remember while we all go crazy about the eclipse and the NHC debates whether to upgrade Harvey or not .. the weather previously associated with Harvey is moving West. 92L is moving WNW towards South Florida and may cross Florida or may curve up along the coast. 93L is out there somewhere... trying to get attention and a supporting role of any kind in this tropical drama. If you believe they put a man on the moon..........you'd think they could get a better group of models to help with this forecasting thing... Just my thoughts. Have a wonderful Sunday. I'll update as new plot twists pops up suddenly or are advertised on the ongoing coverage of the Great Eclipse.
Besos BobbiStorm
@bobbistorm... follow me on Twitter for live updates in real time.
Oh and if Charleston doesn't get to see the eclipse and you drove in traffic there just to see it, relax and have some good eats. One of the best parts of the South to eat your way through as well as awesome scenery so all will not be lost. I'll be in Raleigh with my handy hand grater seeing what I can see without totality.
Ps... Have a wonderful weekend and whatever you do tomorrow...do not look directly at the sun, really. They showed a great idea on TWC earlier... you can take a grater and position it in front of you with the sun above it and it will show you lots of little eclipses images all day. If you only have a food processor you may be screwed on that one :( well unless you still have the grater attachment and don't only have the S blade. A lesson to the NHC...never discard things you may later need.
Updated 11 AM -Cindy 50 MPH Tropical Storm - Not Your Normal Storm. Weather Way to the East of Track. More a Weather Event Brought To You By the Hurricane Season Rather Than a True Tropical Storm
Cindy
This post in particular may appeal to the literary types who I know follow my blog. Those of us who hear scenes from our favorite plays or passages from our favorite novel will understand this post. We all have our favorites. Students of meteorology have that one storm that sucked them in to the deeper study behind the hows and whys and wherefore art thou of weather as a science as well as a passion. I've seen a scientist read passages from a book about a hurricane as if he was reading Shakespeare. We are all a mix of left brain and right brain as rivers of thoughts flow around inside our brain. And those of us who try hard to stay centered and convey facts do not like having to call a goose a duck or a chicken a turkey. It's just not right. I love dark thigh meat of turkey way better than a white chicken breast so don't tell me they are the same because they are both poultry and have feathers, wings and they can fly short distances. So I'm going to post one of the greatest scenes in one of my all time favorite plays below and let you figure it out. Tennessee Williams was a great writer, way ahead of his time and not afraid to talk on topics that in his day were considered a third rail. And he hated lies and pretense and he drew that anger out in his writing from his hopelessly, real characters in honest, gut wrenching situations.
Cindy is a storm that was formed from moisture in the tropics in June and moved as an entity North into the Gulf of Mexico. Cindy is taking aim on the Northern Gulf of Mexico coastline as storms tend to do caught up in the flow of the atmosphere. Usually a storm needs to be bigger, reaching up into the atmosphere to feel the tug of the Northern call of dipping frontal boundaries and the call of the North Pole. Weakly formed systems usually go NW across the Yucatan and slither off to Mexico slamming some small town with heavy rain. This year weather features far away have messed up the usual flow of life on the planet this year especially in the tropics. Extreme heat in the Southwest a bit early for this time of year has created a stronger ridge in the SW and the doorway to Mexico and the adjacent BOC was not readily available. Cindy is trying to pull more to the west with every moment that passes but that door is closed tighter than normal with an "out of order" sign hanging in the tropical breeze.
Cindy is the white arrow of moisture from the Yucatan...
..moving North into the Panhandle of Florida.
Curving a bit to the NW trying hard to gain longitude.
Last night that tail was temporarily displaced.
It almost split into two parts.
Before
After or really currently this morning
Dry Air
Wind Shear
ULL
All factors here in the odd appearance of Cindy
The seemingly endless supply of moisture is being cut off.
Remnants of Bret are making it past that trench.
Refueling it a bit. Trying to...
I'm not sure why the NHC went with the Tropical Storm designation for Cindy as most meteorologists I know (and I know a lot of meteorologists) will easily say this is Subtropical at best. There are many terms for storms that the NHC provides watches and warnings for and they are not all "tropical" and go by many names. Subtropical, extratropical, baroclinic are just a few of the names we use to describe a storm that is moving from the tropics out of the tropics with dangerous weather, high winds and associated dangers such as tornadoes some even have storm surge! Perhaps with all the attention on the new Potential Tropical Cyclone word usage they did not want to keep changing names from PTC3 to Subtropical Storm Cindy to Tropical Storm Cindy when and if she got her act together. Perhaps they thought it would confuse the general public so trying to be positive here but spoiler alert Cindy never has gotten her act together. Cindy may pull it together seconds before landfall near Texas around the Sabine River, but her rain is displaced very, very far to the East kicking up high seas and pounding Mississippi and delivering squalls with tornadoes to Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. So I don't want to post any cones and discussions on landfall regarding where the "center" of Cindy will cross land as it's not relevant right now. I said days ago the Sabine River area between Texas and Louisiana would most likely be the landfall. That area includes places like Beaumont Texas as well as areas as far West as Houston that can and will see some heavy rain. Then there is a huge gap between that area and the area being impacted over the last few days and tomorrow by the huge, plume of moisture from the depths of the Caribbean.
Mike from Spaghetti Models is awesome.
Know why?
Nice family, fun to talk to and ....
...he has his finger on the pulse of humanity.
He's deceiving as he is way deeper than he pretends.
He knows exactly what people want and need to see.
These graphics are at the top of his page.
Sort of like a meteorological pirate map.
X marks the spot.
No cone today gang.
Well maybe later today I'll post the updated cone.
Check back for updates often...
Today I gave you Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams and loops.
Who needs a cone for a storm that is hard to define?
So I'll just say this about Cindy this morning. Let's drop the pretense of it being a Tropical Storm as currently it looks like a Dragon lying on it's side with a dangerous tail. A very dangerous tail, and the extent of that danger will play out over the next few days in real time depending on fast changing atmospheric conditions. One town up the road, far inland may get massive flooding and another area that thought they would get flooding may escape weather altogether. So this is a set up that deserves a name with it's watches, warnings and heightened public awareness but if you live somewhere in the SE from Houston to the beaches of the Carolina including towns deep up towards the Appalachians and it's foothills YOU NEED TO PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR LOCAL WEATHER and the NWS. The NWS covers the information for all of the towns, hamlets and cities along the path of Cindy.
You have a choice for that information.
Or put in your town and the word weather into Google.
You can ask Alexa but she might try to sell you a time share..
"What is the weather now in Biloxi Mississippi"
Try that ... let me know how it turns out.
http://www.spaghettimodels.com/localweather
Or check back here or on TWITTER.
Please join twitter.
You never have to post anything.
You just get instant news, weather and sports.
Come on how awesome is that for introverts?
Really meteorologists want to do their best to warn you...
...of approaching, dangerous weather.
And sometimes it's hard to explain the dangers.
And frustrating.
Cause people ask for the cone and the weather is ....
.....................way over there.
East of the center that is still trying to form.
Someone said this looks more like a Noreaster..
I can't even spell it right.
Southern girl...
Warning video a bit bloody but...
..sometimes life is ugly.
Sometimes a storm looks bad but it's still a storm.
And the effects of weak Cindy could be very ugly.
Time will tell.
Trying to make some sense of it all.
Best thing I can do is warn you to pay attention...
..to fast changing weather.
Mark Sudduth is where Cantore probably wishes he was ...
Location: Miami, Raleigh, Crown Heights, Florida, United States
Weather Historian. Studied meteorology and geography at FIU. Been quoted in Wall Street Journal, Washington Post & everywhere else... Lecturer, stormchaser, writer, dancer. If it's tropical it's topical ... covering the weather & musing on life. Follow me on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/#!/BobbiStorm
