Revisiting Old Haunts

---

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Yesterday we had lunch with the senior citizens at the rec center. Mom sits with some real characters and we shared a lot of laughs. Mom and I had a marathon Skip-Bo contest most of the afternoon and until late last night. I’ve learned to play her version of cut throat Skip-Bo and we were pretty evenly matched.

Today we went to Key Biscayne and Cape Florida State Park. The light house is still pretty, even though Kerry complains that it isn’t supposed to be painted white, preferring the natural brick from his youth. The beach was nice and not very crowded. Of course it is a weekday. We enjoyed walking on the beach and the breeze and sunshine made it a perfect day weather-wise. On the way home we drove past Kerry’s childhood home on NW 32 St. It looks nothing like it did back then. All the houses in the neighborhood had those wrought iron fences around the yards and iron bars on the windows. It did have a certain fortress look. The old aviation building on 27^th Avenue was either gone or hidden by the juvenile detention center that now takes up the whole block where Kerry played ball as a kid. My mom’s house in Miami Springs looks pretty much the same, except that she has colorful flowers in the front flower beds instead of the crotons my father preferred. Some things don’t change much, but most change a good bit. Downtown Miami’s skyline is as unfamiliar as a foreign country would be. Apropos, I guess.

---