I am going to try to post a little bit later or tomorrow about "what I did on my four days in Miami" escapade last week, which included some really inspiring stuff and a visit to the Coral Castle... pics to follow <g>.
As promised, my report on my Miami adventures, having nothing whatsoever to do with HW. Please do feel free to skip if not interested. Ok, so last week I went to Miami, Florida for four days (Friday through Monday). A friend of ours, Dr. Melissa Abdo, is one of the two directors of the Old Growth Forest Network. They find and dedicate land all over the U.S. (18 states so far) where they find trees, etc. which are over 100 years old and haven't been messed with or managed by human beings. So there's an 8-acre park smack in the middle of downtown Miami, Simpson Park, which meets these criteria, even though it is surrounded by very tall office buildings.
The dedication of Simpson Park as an Old Growth Forest gave it another level of protection and conservation, and the ceremony was Saturday morning. We thought it would be a little affair, low-profile, only to find the Mayor of Miami there (in shorts and with his very young son), the Parks Commissioner (with his little daughter, he in chinos and a t-short and cap), and the superintendent of Miami's parks. What surprised me was they were passionate and spoke from their hearts at the dedication of the park, and hung around to chat with people in a very relaxed, casual way, really connecting and talking, and NOT being political in any way other than showing up. It was very refreshing and suprising. I know nothing about Miami's politics, but I respected how they showed up and how they were with everyone.
Here's a very short video the city of Miami posted on its FB page of the event:
https://www.facebook.com/CityOfMiamiGov/videos/567131587062547/ FYI, I am not in the group shot with their arms raised ("branches up!" for the kiddies), I was standing next to the videographer talking still shots.
Then on Monday morning, Melissa dedicated two separate plots of land, both sizeable, in the Everglades. One was Long Pine Key and the other was Flamingo Key (I think), which was accessible only by boat, so we didn't go there that day. Following the dedication with top officials of the Everglades and the National Parks Service, we were led on a 45 minute walk through the Everglades that had just been dedicated, with the botanists, naturalists, and rangers pointing out all kinds of really interesting flora there and facts about the terrain and ecology there, etc. We were a small group, maybe 12 people on the walk, and it was fascinating and a really cool experience!
Monday afternoon we went to see the Coral Castle in Homestead, going north from the Everglades back towards Miami. I'll post about that in my next post so this won't be too long.
