Last but one walk on the beach

It was cloudy today but the beach is always worth a visit. Saw this Seagull he is, I think, rather Puffinesce.

Diet Interlude

Ryan & I had pancakes at Oliver's on West and 10th Avenue. They were amazing, full of bananas and walnuts and Ryan even had chocolate chips in his because he is extreme. They were served with maple syrup and whipped cream. I could only eat one but it was incredible, might have to try harder next time.

Perspective

Lazy day on the beach. Now trying to decide between two movies, Gatsby or Scatter My Ashes At Bergdorf Goodman....  I mean I will see both but which one first ? 

I Don't Want Your I D

Richard mentioned that Straycat was looking rough these days and its true that when I got here he did look skinny and mangy. However over the last 10 days he has perked up and is back to looking his hottest ( which is all honesty is only ever warm ) I looked in Publix today for some over the counter parasite medication but have not found any so far. Anyway he was very happy this morning , looking his best having survived last nights storms.

It is as though clouds were never invented

Blue is the colour of peace of mind

Appearances Can Be Deceptive

While this looks more like a scene from a 1950's nuclear test that an ideal day on South Beach it was actually quite warm late this morning as I lay under the blackening sky at the northern end of the shore. Very Morticia does SoBe but the sun is so strong that its still 75 degrees and you will still get a tan.

Home Again Home Again

Back in London in the ice and snow. Posting on Poison Iris . I could not suppress my delight when Richard told me a Great White Shark had been spotted off the coast of Florida. I was able to use my all time favourite response.

'I told you so.' 

Loosing My Religion

I am flying home on BA via Boston today. I took a connecting flight to save £100. Its done now but I wish I hadn't. I can't check in on line as I keep being redirected to the AA website as part of the journey is operated by them. Very annoying. Also I realised that I have to change terminal at Boston by waiting for a bus and its -3 degrees up there. I don't like the idea of having to collect my suitcase and re check in, I am afraid of long lines and being late. It will probably be fine, I mean millions of people do this everyday successfully, why not me?  Next time I am just sticking to direct flights I like the simplicity.

A Poets Perspective

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods;
There is a rapture on the lonely shore;
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roars:
I love not man the less, but Nature more...

Byron 

Flowers Of Romance

Things I will miss about Miami

• The sun
• The sea
• North Point
• South Point
• The Mustard Seed AA Group
• Stray cat and the other stray cats
• Richard
• The crazy launderette
• Ice Box German Chocolate Cake

Richard told me to leave my clothes here since I only brought summer clothes and I won't be needing them in London till June and I intend to return in April. 

I See You Baby

I spotted a little Eleggua symbol stuck on a lamp post in Coral Gables this afternoon. Although many Cubans practice Santeria & Yoruba there is not much evidence of it on the whole. I don't know much about it but I spotted this spirit from across the street.

Dance With Me

Tangled Up In Blue

I love the North part of Miami Beach, its really wild and unfederated up there. The stretch of sand is really quite narrow and there are no organised sun bed vendors or hotel umbrella's. The people I see there more like me. Quite people, sitting on the rocks staring at the waves, women sunbathing alone, maybe some doing yoga, trying to meditate - well they may actually be very good at it, I try to meditate because I am a spaghetti head.

Lunch

I had another Swiss Cheese & Salad croissant for lunch today on the beach. I love them. I weigh 122 pounds. I don't eat much here its easy to loose a few pounds. I think the best diet for me is to have one thing for lunch or dinner that I really like and just soup and fruit for the other meals. I doubt my life would be in the state it is if I were any good at denying myself but I can 'balance the books' by eating, coffee for breakfast, salad for lunch and German Chocolate Cake for dinner. It my version of the South Beach diet.

Paradise Lost

I can feel peace and goodwill slipping away as I prepare to return to London. I love London, my friends and my dog but the thought of the city is exhausting. I am worried about everything including

• what am I going to do with my life
• how am I going to make money 
• how will I manage to decorate my flat
• when can I come back to Miami
• will everything go ok with the connecting flight in Boston

I don't want the holiday to end. I want my whole life to be a holiday. 

AA Related Announcements

I have been downgraded from a tornado to a warm breeze.

And The Drugs Don't Work

I wonder if this will ....

Bring Me Your Poor & Your Wounded

Yes I have been on public transport this morning. Liz in the meeting explained to me about The South Beach Local a little bus that for 25c will take you all around the area. I need to go to a precinct on 5th and Alton which is a bit of a schlep so I thought I would give it a go. The TJ MAXX fairies were on my side and I managed to get the trousers I was hoping to find. Hurray because I am not going back. I got a pre-packed salad thing from Publix for lunch and some whitening toothpaste. Now I am going to get changed and go to the beach.

AA Related Announcements

I was Al Coholic I thought I was Al Capone

What Are We Going To Do

Union City Square Blues. Another wonderful instagram from Richard. I want instagram I need a mini iPad as I can't upgrade my phone until June. 

Fire Walk With Me

Although going by my pictures Miami is empty except for me and my cats. Actually I just photograph it that way - perhaps because I would prefer it to be so. In fact you are never far away from some gobshite American talking 20 to the dozen about nothing and loudly. 'So I was like, yeah so that's like a  problem? And he was like yeah cuz ...' I wonder about going over and letting them know that they are using way too many words to convey the point - as though they have one. I wonder about the people who play ball on a huge empty beach near  to the sunbathers. I kind of want the ball to hit me so I can vent my rage on them, so I can explain that to play 'football' although they don't use their feet near naked relaxed people is aggressive and ignorant. I feel that the fundamental difference between English and American people is that Americans want to be noticed and English want to be left alone.

So I walked up to North Point and watched the ocean hit the rocks for an hour or two. It is a full elemental experience, Earth, Air , Fire & Water all coming on strong at the same point. Its transformative , I feel really happy here. It's not that I don't want to come home its just that peace is so much harder to access in London. I feel brittle  in the city, held together by Starbucks and chocolate.

I see a man standing on the rocks. Probably homeless, probably from Haiti. They have a difficult time settling in by the sound of it. He is looking out at the ocean. I was reading about Vodou the other day about the elemental gods and the guardian of the crossroads Legba. The writer was talking about the gods revealing themselves to us in nature and that Legba could be anyone and about the importance of recognising god in all things and all people.

There is beauty everywhere and its easy to notice here, since I am not rushing around avoiding it like I can do at home. 

I like to walk home along the boardwalk. I need to see another sunset before I leave on Thursday.

Packed Lunch

For lunch I got a sandwich from the Sandwicheria on 14th Street / Collins. Best sandwiches in Miami. French staff so very brisk rude service, long queues but worth it. This a Swiss Cheese with salad on croissant (extra 75 cents) I ate it on the beach. Divine.

Stray Cat 2

Here is my second stray cat. He is a bit shy but agreed to pose for one photograph. We actually have four, two black, one black and white and a tabby. 

Treat Time

Had the best frozen yogurt mix on the way home from the beach. Salted Caramel, Chocolate, Tart Plain Yogurt and Coconut. All my favourites.

Little Birds

Late afternoon these little miniature Seagulls appear on the beach. They are super cute and dash about by the waves looking for food. All the birds come to the shore as that's when the food comes close. It makes sense to me that any Sharks would come in around this time also but people seem very complacent about that. Ryan says they have Bull Sharks off the Miami coast and although its unlikely that they would come right up to the shore its not impossible. Talking of Sharks the university have messed up my pay check yet again. I can't even get annoyed as 1. they always do it, 2. they will have to pay as its their fault and 3. I am lying on the beach and I can't force myself to get annoyed at their bog standard incompetence.

Perfect Night In

Priceless, Coffee and German Chocolate Cake.
I am very pro Europe these days.

New York

I am definitely coming back to Miami via New York in spring. Look at this picture Richard just sent, even the road works look exciting.

What Have I Done To Myself?

Ryan is an extremely bad influence on me, there I was eating a healthy salad and he nipped back into Wholefoods for his 3rd slice of pizza and asked me if I wanted one .... Of course I did and now I have to live with the fact I ate a slice of pizza and on top of that I am craving chocolate cake. Maybe I will just have cake for dinner and get it all out of the way. Not a great day in my quest for the unattainable .... Speaking of eating issues , Richard and I watched this fab documentary on Bridget Berlin called
Pie In The Sky  you can watch the whole thing in America on You Tube not sure about at home.

Take Heart

'Life shrinks or expands in proportion to ones courage. '

Anais Nin

Things I Miss About London Part 2

Earl Grey tea with warm scones and cream. LOVE

You Will Know Peace

When I heard that line in the AA Promises I interpreted it to mean 'you will know boredom' which is what I was kind of worried about. In fact peace is the least boring of all the experiences I have had.

Alone With The Alone

I stayed home last night. I did change my clothes and get ready to leave the apartment but in the end as in the beginning I sat back on the stool and continued my reading. My book is called Alone With The Alone (how apt) by Henry Corbin it is about Sufi Prayer and 'Mundus Imaginalis'. In short it is about accessing the God who is beyond and within, not a particularly easy thing to do apparently. Anyway I became aware of the term 'theopathy' which means when we turn 'man into God' I had to laugh at that point since most people I know have had a run in with that concept.