Above, Hollywood City Hall last week, May 2019, before going in for a Hollywood CRA meeting that I felt left more questions asked than properly answered.
Last year I left Hollywood the first week of last August to get away and travel a bit and see and spend some quality time with some friends around the country I hadn't seen in a long time. Towards the end, I spent a LOT of time with my Mother up in Babson Park in Central Florida, where she has lived for the past twenty-plus years. There, I helped her deal with some issues, both new and longstanding, as well as spent a lot of time being a sounding board, editor-in-chief and Time travel machine as she talked and wrote a lot about some family history in Texas, now that she is working on a memoir.
My maternal ancestors were Pioneer settlers in Bandera, the Hill Country of Texas, and so parts of my family have lived there since 1854.
I got a tremendous amount of writing done in Babson Park for a very important project I've been working on for some time now, and that time in semi-rural Central Floridar also provided me with an opportunity to relax and breathe far from any of the incessant traffic and congestion that I'd become used to in South Florida from living near US-1 for roughly 15 years.
Doing lots of walking, especially early in the morning and early evening, along county roads like Scenic 17 that do not have street lights, gave me time to think long and hard about what I wanted to do when I returned. And look at the stars in the night sky without any light pollution
My maternal ancestors were Pioneer settlers in Bandera, the Hill Country of Texas, and so parts of my family have lived there since 1854.
I got a tremendous amount of writing done in Babson Park for a very important project I've been working on for some time now, and that time in semi-rural Central Floridar also provided me with an opportunity to relax and breathe far from any of the incessant traffic and congestion that I'd become used to in South Florida from living near US-1 for roughly 15 years.
Doing lots of walking, especially early in the morning and early evening, along county roads like Scenic 17 that do not have street lights, gave me time to think long and hard about what I wanted to do when I returned. And look at the stars in the night sky without any light pollution
I even thought about whether I should consider moving back up to the Washington, D.C. area before the end of the year, where I lived and worked for 15 years before returning to South Florida to be a care giver and look after my Dad in Hallandale Beach, following his myriad health problems: quadruple bypass operation and later, his multiple strokes, which necessiated his being placed in an ALF in Hollywood, where I spent hours a day, especuially at night.
I've never fully acknowledged how much all those years of worry really wore me out emotionally, especially the ever-present stress. So much stress!
As honest and open as I am with my family and friends, I never really thought seriously before about how much of my time down here really was never fully my own.
Not that I have a magic wand to undo any of that, of course.
Above, looking west towards Crooked Lake, Babson Park, from one of the highest points in Florida, near the Ridge.
Below, on a slow Sunday afternoon, looking east from the shady picnic table at the small Bob's Landing boat marina on Ohlinger Road in Babson Park I frequently used as my "creative writing space."
Even when I was in Central Florida, though, I was always writing and thinking of what was going on down here -and in DC and in London and in Stockholm- even when I really should have been concentrating on other more important things.
I returned to Hollywood in mid-April via AmTrak and immediately noticed that more had changed in South Florida than I had expected, and NOT always in positive ways.
Sunrises and sunsets on Hollywood Beach are still amazing...
In several important ways, though, some things seem to have regressed, especially with respect to things that i had thought were moving in a positive direction right before I left last August.
This was both discouraging and something to think about after months of friends suggesting that I consider moving back to live and work in Washington, D.C.
Just so you know, while I've been getting reacquainted with the myriad noises, rhythms, smells and often strange ways of Hollywood and Hallandale Beach and South Florida again after being away for the past nine months, I have also been busy at work writing and cobbling together some very useful and informative fact and photo-filled blog posts for you to read on issues like the controversial and Sunrises and sunsets on Hollywood Beach are still amazing...
Everyone has to live somewhere -this is where I live: #HollywoodFL #USA.
There are very few things in nature better than the pink sunrises and sunsets we experience here. :-)
In several important ways, though, some things seem to have regressed, especially with respect to things that i had thought were moving in a positive direction right before I left last August.
This was both discouraging and something to think about after months of friends suggesting that I consider moving back to live and work in Washington, D.C.
ridiculous Young Circle Roadway Project being pushed by the Hollywood CRA.
Yes, that infuriating top-down plan that aims to transform Young Circle is largely supported by a very small sliver of Hollywood's residents and Establishment -probably less than 50 people actually- yet it seems to keep lurching forward at Hollywood City Hall despite all the self-evident logic and reason that would make you wonder how anyone could support it, since it doesn't actually solve the existing problems that are, in fact, present and self-evident.
From my perspective means, that means, for starters, that it both wastes time and opportunities we don't have to waste, plus, wastes Hollywood CRA money that could be MUCH BETTER spent.
Because of this and several other factors, a few weeks ago, I filed a formal Public Records Request with the Hollywood CRA seeking certain documents and records involving this project over the past three years, documents that I will soon be sharing with you that highlight this glaring policy disconnect. The lack of attention to detail on basic aspects of the project will astound you!
Since I've been back I've been very busy writing working on those blog posts and been sending emails with links to it to a large number of friends, concerned Hollywood neighbors, local elected officials and people I know in the Downtown Hollywood Small Business community regarding some troubling issues affecting the greater Hollywood community. especially the Small Business community in Downtown Hollywood on US-1, Hollywood Blvd. and environs because while the Young Circle project sounds great in the abstract, it falters as soon as you apply, well, logic and human behavior to the equation, two pretty useful things.
I believe it has great potential to cause great harm to the Downtown business community, which as most of you know, I believe is already suffering, as I tweeted about in December, https://twitter.com/
Yes, in the view of myself and many other people I know and trust who are longtime stakeholders in the Downtown Hollywood area, the Hollywood CRA is NOT exactly winning friends and influencing people these days.
It's alienating lots of people, including many of the very visitors the area needs most -Hollywood and Hallandale Beach residents who won't visit at night.
I've also got some blog posts to come on the recent fight before the Broward County Commission over placing a 911 radio antenna at West Lake Park, and what, if anything, comes next in that fight to relocate that tower to the Circ Hotel building at Young Circle. I will even have video of that contentious meeting that was full of condescending and patronizing comments by County Commissioners who have wasted years and now suddenly want to appear to be diligent to the public, a pretense that all the facts show is indeed false.
And no, I've also got forthcoming posts on the upcoming trial of former Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper, #Broward - No, I haven't forgotten abt ex-#HallandaleBeach Mayor #JoyCooper's upcoming trial on #MoneyLaundering/corruption/exceeding campaign finance contribution$ limits.— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) March 30, 2019
I plan on being in court DayOne & comparing what I see & hear there to what I saw her do for YEARS 🤨😠#FL pic.twitter.com/z1jtXTDHEs
Yes, I've got that covered, too.
Sounds like perfect media opportunity to ask why #Broward's electeds/#transit bureaucrats let #Brightline STRANGLE idea of a much-needed, long-promised FEC Coastal commuter train line connecting populous cities #Miami to #WPB.https://t.co/WdSsSZSeH5 @FixMetroMDT @transitmiami— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) May 13, 2019
@FixMetroMDT @JeffreyBrandes MT @Florida_Bulldog Did #Broward #transit officials hide buses fm #DOT auditors?— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) May 2, 2019
Transit chief Walton repeatedly said he didn’t know the answers, cld not provide requested docs, apparently made no effort to obtain answers. 🤨🤔https://t.co/L0GOLEnlVp
The #Ultra2019 debacle in #Miami = sober reminder that #transit chaos in #SoFL never ends! No matter where we look, nothing but jokers: #Brightline, #TriRail & #Broward & #MiamiDade MPO's.— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) April 3, 2019
The MPO's? Forget believing that they care what you think or want.https://t.co/aR2TThyuEt pic.twitter.com/toIFgJgPk7
But no matter how much I'm always thinking of the new content that I want to share woth you here, I also have to take a breath now and then and leave public policy, politics and current events behind and write about something that doesn't generate frustration and consternation in me or you.
So, today is one of theose days to hit the pause button and share something with you that makes me happy and may give you some ideas of your own about what makes you calm on hot and humid days like we are going thru now, frequently punctuated by thunderstorms...
On hot and humid days like today during the beginning of South Florida's rainy season -where I've been caught and drenched in a downpour twice since returning to Hollywood one month ago-
I think of the other-worldly calm and serenity of the sound of thin ice on a few frozen lakes I know near beautiful #Stockholm.
Yes, I would like to, literally, be on thin ice there, as opposed to here.
Not that there is any ice in southern Sweden right now, per se, as it's mostly sunny and beautiful with temperatures between 40 and 60, but when you see the video below, you'll get the idea.
And likely agree with me.
Above, Stockholm, as seen thru the lens of Johan Moeschlin, aka @swede_snap
Once I get to thinking about that I think about how much I'd like to just jump on a @flysas flight out of Miami, maybe even a flight captained by my friend, Björn Lundström, an A330/340 Captain at SAS and recent author, who has so frequently tweeted me so many amazing photos and information over the years, especially on his way from his base airport for Scandinavian Airlines, Kastrup, i.e. #CPH/Copenhagen, to and while in South Florida, which he and his family just love.
Flying to a warm place tomorrow @SAS . Nice! @hbbtruth 😎🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/DfGM7jUyO3— bjornpilot (@bjornpilot) March 25, 2019
Welcome to Miami with @SAS . I‘ll spend a couple hours on the beach today @hbbtruth 👌🏼🌊😎🏖 pic.twitter.com/7p8krMGXa3— bjornpilot (@bjornpilot) January 2, 2019
See more photos and tweets at:
Yes, I'd be there there now with some very creative and talented friends in the music industry over there, and eat a delicious meal with them over an open fire with them after we go skating for a few hours, and record lots of mini-videos, though none probably as good as this one.
Everyone has an idea of what heaven on Earth is like, but for me, perhaps largely because I grew up in the heat and humidity of South Florida, Sweden, and Stockholm in particular, are always going to be among them, regardless of the weather.
And when it's cold there, it can truly be #heaven
NEWS
Hear the Otherworldly Sounds of Skating on Thin Ice
ICESOUND
January 30, 2018 - This small lake outside Stockholm, Sweden, emits otherworldly sounds as Mårten Ajne skates over its precariously thin, black ice. “Wild ice skating,” or “Nordic skating,” is both an art and a science. A skater seeks out the thinnest, most pristine black ice possible—both for its smoothness, and for its high-pitched, laser-like sounds.
Black ice is recently frozen, and can be as thin as 2 inches and still support the weight of a skater. Like a dome or arch, the support comes from the sides rather than the top, and the water underneath prevents the ice from breaking. But, experience and careful advance planning are key. Factors including temperature, atmospheric conditions, and even satellite images of the Earth’s surface are considered. It’s complicated, but appealing to mathematicians like Ajne. Even with preparation, there’s a risk of falling in… So it’s best done in groups, for safety.
Read "How Skating on Thin Ice Creates Laser-Like Sounds."
Just like how it was the last time I was there...
