A Lovely Encounter

So Wifey met D1 in the Grove for a family discounted nutrition consult, and I went to Mike's to watch our Canes battle Louisville.  Great game, but the better Cardinals pulled it out late.

We met back at Villa Wifey, and Wifey suggested we enjoy the cool evening breeze and walk the animals.  We took Bo the crippled Spaniel for a short walk, and then dropped him back home to take the strange rescue for a longer stroll.

We were walking down our 'hood's nicest street, one that winds and has amazing foliage, and a car waited for us to turn into her driveway.  It was Dorothy, a nice widow we've met at meetings, but never really spoke with.  She stopped, and we said hello, and then she asked us to come in and see her garden.  I reminded her I had a beast with me, but she said that was ok.

Dorothy is from South Africa, and has a lilting, soft voice coupled with that lovely accent.  We followed her into the house, and she took us out back -- indeed she had a lovely garden -- staghorn ferns and palms around a small and curvy pool.  She said it was planted in the 80s by the terrifically named landscaper Raymond Jungles.  I've heard of him -- I actually visited his orchid farm in the Redlands when I was searching for koi and cichlids to buy for my pond.  Then we went in, and chatted.

Dorothy is the product of a Polish and German Jewish family who emigrated to South Africa after WW I, stopping on the way in Palestine.  Her family has many famous rabbis, and there was a picture of an imposing fellow, all dressed in the Hasid way.  It was her grandfather.  Dorothy and her husband came to the US in 1978 -- fearing the changes coming in SA after the government changed.  She and her husband were both fashion designers -- and he opened a factory in Hialeah, making zippers and mesh nets for industry.

They moved to Devonwood in 1983 -- buying a fixer upper with cedar roof shingles that needed a lot of work.  Dorothy joked that they replaced the roof with cedar, and it failed again 10 years later -- cedar roofs need to dry out, which never happens in tropical Miami.  She raised her kids here, and her husband died 15 years ago. Clearly the family business left her financially fine...

And then we noticed old maps -- lots of them.  Turns out Dorothy collects them, and is also a famous colorist of old maps. She has a studio upstairs -- I'd noticed the skylight when walking past and wondered if an artist used that room -- and it's where Dorothy does her work.

Both Wifey and I loved speaking with her.  Since Wifey's from Brooklyn, and the product of parents whose voices are not exactly, well, melodic, she has an appreciation for people who speak well and softly.  I do, too, and listening to Dorothy was just lovely.

We walked home and reunited the dogs, and then sat outside to enjoy the glorious full moon -- the "Snow Moon" it's called, even though it was about 69 degrees.  Wifey Googled Dorothy and then South Africa Jewry, and chatted away about Dorothy's profiles in Map Journals -- apparently she's something of a big deal in map collecting and coloring.  Also, she was profiled in the Wall Street Journal in an article about Jews modernizing their Passover seders -- Dorothy is old school, and has them conducted in Hebrew, and they're long.

That's not surprising -- as Wifey read -- South African Jews tend to be pretty orthodox.  We joked that we'd politely beg off if Dorothy ever invited us for Passover...

So -- another point in favor of staying in our delightful hood.  Wifey has let up for now on the talk about moving -- she's willing to wait until we see if there are grandkids, and move near them.  We both agree that if we are so blessed, we WILL see them several times a week -- like my in laws were with D1.  It was sometimes ponderous, but also terrific knowing we had built in babysitters.  And when we'd travel later on, when D2 joined the tribe, my in laws happily came from Pembroke Pines to stay with our girls.  We hope to do the same.

But for now, I look forward to more lovely encounters.  And maybe we'll have our sweet voiced neighbor over for some tea...