Exploring the Mangroves and Bay

Today is the ten year anniversary of the terrorist attacks, and Facebook and TV is buzzzing with "I was cleaning my toilet when I heard the news" accounts, as well as the false patriotism of those who think passing "I love America" messages to everyone makes a bit of difference.

My take is far more skeptical. A group of racist psychopaths pulled a STUNT, and they DID succeed in changing everything about America. Every time I take off my shoes at the airport or see how our economy is still reeling from the effects of 2 unnecessary wars, I'm reminded how fragile our society is.

Sure, there were heroes that day, just like there are hereoes everyday, who pull folks out of car wrecks on I-95. But unless you lost a family member that day (and thankfully we knew no one personally who died) hearing about how "I saw the buildings burning from Brooklyn" or "I was across the Potomac when the plane hit the Pentagon" strikes me as absurd, somehow. Our brains need to find reasons when bad things happen. But, in the same way that awful things DO happen, like innocent kids getting killed by pedophiles, or wonderful people getting terminal cancer, or happy collegians (think Va Tech) get mowed down by nutty Asians students, to me the awful truth is that shit DOES happen, and there's usually just cold randomness to it, and the best one can do is be thankful HE wasn't in the building, or college campus, or Colombine High, or OJ Simpson's front walkway...and move on.

For the record, I was meeting with clients who were signing closing papers on a multimillion dollar case, and my partner Paul and our former boss and co counsel Ed were at Morton's on Brickell, watching TV from the bar after we all made sure our kids were home safe with our wives. We ate NY Strips and drank Stoli martinis, as I recall...

So anyway, Wifey arose at 7, and suggested we take a bike ride. Our plan was to visit a little Cuban place, but after our trip down the Old Cutler path, we found it closed. But, the Palm Grill (no E, so you know they have breakfast) was open in the Old Cutler Town Center, and we enjoyed Sunday eggs.

On the way home, we stopped at the Thanatta Estate, which is an old house Palmetto Bay bought, and opened for social events. The grounds were gorgeous --rolling green down to Biscayne Bay. Might we pry D1 away from her dream of marrying at the Biltmore? These are the thoughts about the future that gladden us...

We then passed the Deering Estate, and learned that there's a WONDERFUL path that runs to the north of it, including a "Chinese Bridge" over a canal, that apparently Deering himself had built. We might as well have been back in early 1900s -- no buildings of cars in sight. Wifey proclaimed "This is better than Shark Valley!"

The path ends at 156 street, and then we took 72 avenue to 152 Street,and then east, past Westminster Christian School.

The area was crowded with far more serious bicyclists, with their tight fitting gear, and helmets, and high protein snacks.

As we travelled north on Ludlam, I fell into a fantasy that I was Lance Armstrong, on the Tour de South Dade, and Sheryl Crow was biking ahead of me, naked...

When I looked back, Wifey had fallen far behind, so I waited for her near the Old Cutler/Ludlam/136 Street intersection right by our house. I told her that I thought one of the large groups had kidnapped her, and taken her back to their compound, where they fed her all natural granola, and vitamin water...

I came home, and stripped naked, and dove into our cool watered pool. It only gets parial sun, and so the water never gets much hotter than the mid 80s, which, on a 90 degree day, feels like a mountain stream...

This is why I can never live anywhere but a house, it occurred to me. If I dove into some sort of community pool naked, I'd get arrested, after getting a lot of laughs...

And so I enjoyed the supreme freedom of being an American today.

I just don't see, unfortunately, how folks dying in buildings 10 years ago, has anything to do with it.