around here ...

"Summertime,
And the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high"
~ from 'Porgy & Bess' by George Gershwin

One of my roommate's photos, shot on
our balcony at the Hyatt in 2013 ...

jumping up and down with delight in anticipation of the Integrity Toys Convention in Orlando in November! (Attended my first convention last year in Los Angeles and had the most wonderful time! Wrote about it on my travel blog, here.)

designing a brochure for our network of environmental educators to share with returning teachers in August

crocheting a sock which I have undone three times, so far ... can't seem to get the tension quite right ... yet

dealing with a pulled muscle in my back (ouch! ouch! ouch!)

catching up on the ironing; I'm always amazed how quickly it piles up!

experimenting with salad recipes for summer meals

planning for "Tea with Barbie" in July ... this is our fourth year doing this event; it's been sold out every year and it appears this year will be no exception! It's a delightful afternoon of little girls dressed in their finest fashions accompanied by their moms, grandmothers and aunts and, of course, Barbie!

sorting photos I've shot over the past 7 years along Viele Road, a 1.5 mile stretch of rural road in the middle of a growing metropolitan area that I drive every day on my way to work ... been thinking about making a book. The entire road is a veritable feast for the eyes!

scanning Public Theatre photos from pre-digital days (1992-2000) and sharing them on Facebook in a "secret" group ... here, from the Public's production of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" by Tennessee Williams 

So, what have you been up to?

Viele Road

It's Friday again and it's been a really busy week.

I am a creature of habit. I drive to work every morning, five days a week and I use the same route to get to my office 99% of the time.

Why in the world would I write about it? Because for four minutes every Monday through Friday I drive along Viele Road, also known as SW 70 Avenue between Griffin and Stirling Roads.

The roads in Davie are named after the pioneer families of Davie, those early Everglades settlers who were tough enough to live in the mosquito infested sawgrass prairies and smart enough to see what southern Florida could be. The Griffin Brothers ran barges up and down the New River, utilizing the newly dug canal between Davie and Fort Lauderdale and bought lots of land. Frank Stirling was Davie's first mayor and a horticultural genius who knew how to grow anything in the fertile muck of the River of Grass. They both made their fortunes here. And, their descendants continue to be active in the community, which I think is really cool. It gives you a sense of the place, which I like a lot.

So, there your are. That's my offering to the writing gods for today. I've taken lots of pictures of Viele Road over the years, so here are a few.

Enjoy!

The S-11 Canal runs along the west side of Viele Road,
which runs north-south between Stirling and Griffin Roads.

Most of the homes and horse ranches along Viele Road
are one acre or more. There are a lot of small lakes.

This section is what I call "a manicured lawn." The birds
seem to love this section -- there is almost always a bird here.

A Woodstork, just hanging out on the manicured lawn!

This is my girlfriend, Norma, with Lonnie Quinn from NBC6.
He was the meteorologist who was assigned to report on the
relocation of the 1912 Viele House, which sat at the corner of
Griffin Road & SW 70 Avenue. The house was moved to save it
from demolition in 2003 and what a media circus it was!

This is my personal favorite photo, shot on a cool and foggy January morning
in 2007. The geese acted like they owned the road, and, for these few minutes
they did! It's available to purchase on Veer, here!

Carpe diem!