Spatter

Are You Ready For Some Football?

Football fans here in south Florida sure are.  And they just might get it...next year.  The Miami Dolphins' 2007 season record is a horrid 1-13.  The one and only win to date came last week. You'd have thought from the celebrating that they had won the Super Bowl.

Just when there looked like there was no hope...just when people were starting to wonder if the team would be sold and/or leave Miami, the hapless Dolphins have gotten an early Christmas present: Bill Parcells. 

It's been announced that the two-time Super Bowl champion coach signed a four year contract to head operations of the Dolphins...one day after turning down essentially the same role with the Atlanta Falcons. He'll be running the entire show and he'll be reporting straight to owner Wayne Huizenga.

This is quite the coup, and his coming has given south Florida renewed hope for better times.

Parcells...most recently of the Dallas Cowboys...has a long history of taking losing teams and transforming them into winners...Super Bowl winners at that. His game by game win-loss statistics aren't as impressive as you might expect given his reputation. But look at his teams' rankings and trips to the Super Bowl and you start to understand. 

Can he do it again?  He'll have his hands full, that's for sure. 

 

Mrs. McRay

I happened to pass by what used to be my elementary school. It stopped being an elementary school many years ago...becoming some sort of special education center.  I'm not sure where the little ones who live in that area go to school now. 

The building actually looks very much the same as it did in 1958-1963...pretty incredible for this neck of the woods...and seeing it brought up a myriad of memories...

• Being a safety patrol officer.  How proud I was!

• Walking home via the neighborhood drug store and candy counter.

• My first book report. I was inspired to use a pull down map as a visual aid in giving my book report on the exploration of the Mississippi River.

• Growing little plants in milk cartons and making macaroni laden pencil holders out of empty frozen juice cans. These and similarly made ashtrays were proudly presented to my parents as gifts.

• Walking single file wherever we went.  Do they still do that?

• Being selected to be interviewed by a Sun-Sentinel columnist.

• Watching the reaction of my favorite teacher when the news of President Kennedy's assassination came to her via a whisper in the ear.

• Coming to realize how much I loved to learn.

But there's one memory that really stands out of my time at Pine Ridge Elementary:  my first grade class with Mrs. McRay. 

That's me in the first row on the right side...sitting next to my first boyfriend...at least that's what I thought.  It's worth clicking on the picture to see it larger. 

In many ways, this was a typical class.  We had cigar boxes on our desks to hold our supplies, and we sang songs and wrote our letters with that paper that was lined to help us know how.  But something else took place in Mrs. McRay's class. Children who misbehaved got tied up.  You read that correctly. 

Good ole Mrs. McRay actually sat unruly children in a chair and tied them up. Of course, I never, ever had to be tied up.  I was  your typical  white middle class white girl with a German streak who had a love affair with rules and  an innate need for approval to boot.  No, my experience was different.  I was the one that was often called upon to go to get the milk for our lunches - no cafeterias back then - and then feed the milk to the tied up child.  Can you imagine that happening today?!

I often joke that between my being a safety patrol officer and doing this, it's no wonder I ended up in the career I did.

Post Note
Here's my interview with the columnist.  Click on it to get to a text you can read.  I think he played up some of my responses to make for good reading...I was never this flippant.  Still, I do remember thinking that this guy was an idiot.  Excuse the dark background on page 2...the article was laminated on a green background by my dad.

Weather Or Not

Lake Okeechobee is down to about 10 feet.  Water restrictions have been further tightened. While away for the summer I had thought that south Florida had gotten a lot of rain, but evidently not.

I don't think we're in as bad shape as Atlanta and Lake Lanier, but we're not well by any means. This weekend rain was called for...even at the lake...thanks to the remnants of Olga and a cold front converging.  But so far, and typical of late, the amount that's fallen has been disappointing...certainly not the deluge needed. 

I look up and watch the gray clouds passing.  I call to them...asking in my most polite manner to please stay a while and empty themselves on us...but they just move on, snubbing us below.

Gray clouds passing by
Without leaving any rain -
Wet would feel so good.

 

Staying Fit

Last May I placed my gym membership on hold in anticipation of being in Floyd for six months.  Now that I'm back in Florida, I've had restarting it on my "to-do" list.  But, wait a minute...not so fast.   

I've discovered my city's community center. For $25 a year I can go to a variety of classes...including fitness classes like yoga and jazzercise...for the entire year. Heck, my Floyd yoga class wasn't even that good a deal! 

I went for my first session this morning, and it gave me a good workout.  Sure, I'm the youngest person there, but some of "my elders" can run circles around me, so who cares! My gym membership of $45 a month is a thing of the past.

How To Age

Florida has more than its fair share of people over 65 and being around them gives you a wonderful opportunity to  learn valuable lessons on aging. Some teach by showing how...others by showing how not.

I'm lucky and privileged to have friends who fall into the first category. In addition to teaching me through their vigor and grace, I've picked up a few good lines from them that keep life in perspective as the skin sags and the bones creak. Humor, after all is critical.

Here are a few of the most commonly heard:

• "what was, was"
• "it is what it is"
• "it's good enough"
• "growing old ain't for cowards" 
  

They're not exactly quotes, but in their way, they're profound philosophical affirmations. I like them because they're easily remembered and so, easily called upon.   

Here are some famous people's advice on aging:

• We don't stop playing because we grow old...we grow old because we stop playing.  - Author Unknown

• Age is an issue of mind over matter.  If you don't mind, it doesn't matter. - Mark Twain

• Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.  - Samuel Ullman

• You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair.  - Douglas MacArthur

• You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get old. - George Burns

• When I get up in the morning, I can choose to be happy or I can choose to be sad. You might as well be happy. - Author Unknown

 

Start Your Engines!

South Florida streets are known for their danger. Just check our auto insurance rates! But this time of year, it gets especially nerve-wracking as the normal chaos is exasperated by people rushing to get holiday shopping done.

Looking at all the cars weaving in and out of lanes, I could've just as easily been on the local speedway. You'd think someone had called out "gentlemen, start your engines".  Driving becomes a competition sport.

Take last night.  I was driving on a surface street on the way home from a bite to eat.  In a flash, a car zoomed up behind me, then veered into the lane beside me.  The driver...let's call him Mr. Crazy...sped up.  I knew he was going to cut back in front of me.  What happened next nearly stopped my heart.  The truck that was in front of Mr. Crazy started to brake for a turn.  Mr. Crazy was busy looking back at me to see when he could cut back in without clipping me.  Well, you can't look backward and forward at the same time so Mr. Crazy missed noticing that the truck was slowing down.  Mr. Crazy's initial calculation for the space he had changed and he didn't know it.  If I tell you his car cleared the truck by inches, I wouldn't be exaggerating.  It could've gotten real ugly...for him...and even for me.  Certainly, the result would've been more than a fender bender...and more than a dent.

I got home and immediately upon exiting my car, "kissed the earth". No, I sure don't miss commuting to and from Miami every day! 

Drive-In Movies

Who (if you're over 40) can forget the drive-in movie! It was consummate Americana in the 50s and 60s, though the first one actually opened in 1933 in Camden, New Jersey.  Here it is:

 

Ah...
                            Listening to the tinny sound coming from speakers hanging on the door...

                                            Burning a mosquito repellent coil on the floor...

                                   Walking to the concession stand through rows of cars...

                                   Finding just the right angle for your car on the hump...

                      Looking through the steering wheel or the windshield wipers...

                                            Watching Doris Day-Rock Hudson movies...

One of my memories of going to the drive-in was falling asleep on the shelf at the rear window.  I fit perfectly and it became my special place.  It was a sad day when I grew too big for it!

Eventually, and like all things, the drive-in movie ran its course. Land became too valuable for a summer only type of business and the adoption of daylight saving time made starting times too late for families.

Some drive-in sites can still be found as testaments to another time...most though, have been completely bull-dozed away.  But believe it or not, a few remain active.  One in particular  is alive and well: the Florida Swap Shop.

First opened in 1963 as the Thunderbird Drive-In Theater, it had one screen and a reputation for showing adult movies. Since the screen could be seen from the road, people - teens mostly - drove by to get a free peek. And here's a somber note: its parking lot was divided by a fence to separate white customers from the black customers. 

Over the years it added more screens, a flea market, a circus, and a stage where the likes of Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn, and 3 Dog Night appeared.  It finally stopped growing at 14 screens (only 13 in use thanks to Hurricane Wilma), and now has the honor of bein the largest drive-in theater in the world with movies (general fare now) playing every night.

If you're ever in Fort Lauderdale, check it out!