Ft. Lauderdale

Ft. Lauderdale was the place we came to when we were very young. Sometimes we would drive. This interminable drives down 95 in the car. It seemed to take ages. We would play who could spot South of the Border first. When my parents became more affluent, we would fly down. My Grandparents lived there as did my my Grandmother and an aunt and uncle. I have a lot of cousins and they would be down therre as well. I can remember being down there in 1973 when there were all these rumors of a Beatles reunion. I was just discovering rock n' roll. I was vaguely aware that the Beatles were this famous thing but wasn't quite sure. That week we were down there the radio played countless hours of Beatles song. Also at that particular time Bennie and the Jets by Elton John was a big hit. I can remember being in the car with my older cousins and that song would come on and we would all sing it. Elton John too was this larger than life character with funky glasses and outfits.

There was hours and hours down on the beach. It seemed like I would just get lost in my head in these deep fantasies and imaginations that seemed to last centuries. I can vivivly sense the salt sensation in my nostrils and the abrasiive sand against my young flesh. We had secret passage ways and would play hide and seek. There was my cousin George and my younger brother Jeff. It was like the children had this secret diaglogue that only we understood and never the parents. Going to the movies was a big event and one memorable time was seeing the Escape from the Planet of the Apes.

It was the time of the hippies and I remember asking my parents what were all these weird derelict people doing down here. They would say stay away, that they were dangerous, and so we did, staring at them with their long hair and ripped clothes.

I can remember wondering what all these old people were doing down here. Now I'm down here with my parents, my Dad legally blind and my mother seeming to shrink as the days go on. Dawn just expploded here, a big orange ball. The coffee is strong in Starbucks as the morning workers come in for their fix, most likely grateful to have a job in such a messed up time.

I had to escape the hum of the tv. I have a progressive left perspective and can't stand to listen to what I feel are the lies presented by the corporate media. It is fun to think about other times when things weren't so complex.