Gumbo Limbo (ha ha ha)

So Wifey and I stopped for some gourmet sandwiches at Joanna's, and then drove to the Grove to see our friend Diane.  She brought over her neighbors, a lovely older couple, and the boyfriend was a retired long time producer of radio shows here in town. I loved his stories of working with local greats like Mike Reinieri, Rick Weaver, and Neil Rogers. The ladies talked about more important things -- like decorating colors...

On the way home, around 9, Wifey got a call from Pinecrest Police. It was the community affairs officer -- reporting a serious incident in our neighborhood. A HUGE tree was down, and the officer wanted Wifey to spread the word that the tree couldn't be removed yet -- it had a big active beehive in it, and Wifey needed to warn our neighbors against letting kids or dogs get too close -- lest they be stung.

We drove home, and went to the site -- sure enough it was a hive of activity. Ha. The tree was down from Greg's house -- we still call the houses after the owners we met when we first moved here -- close to 19 years ago.

Greg was a nice fellow -- old Miami real estate money. As far as I could tell, he spent his time rescuing dogs, training them to run alongside his bicycle, and collecting rents from his family's holdings in Hialeah and Medley. Greg was long divorced, had a grown son in California trying to make it as an actor, and always met me with a hearty "Hello Dave!" when we'd see each other, to be returned by my hearty "What's up, Greg?!"

And then there was no more Greg. He died in his mid 50s of pancreatic cancer. His son took over the house and did some remodeling and then rented it out for years. Last year, another neighbor bought it -- also a very nice fellow, from Iran (or as he says, Persia), and set about rehabbing the place.

The problem is the house is located across the street from our neighborhood yenta and gadfly, and word has it she has complained about improper tree removal going on. Our hood takes our trees seriously.

I love trees as much as the next guy, but it seems to me they do pretty well for themselves. Less than two years ago, Hurricane Irma knocked a lot of them down, and today you can't even tell. I know that we should save OLD trees, and native ones, but I can't imagine I would ever rat out a neighbor to the local government about trees...

So Wifey had me dictate an email about the issue. Turns out, it was a gumbo limbo, the red barked trees native to our area. I LOVE saying that name -- I always hear it followed by "ha ha ha" spoken in a deep voice with a Jamaican accent -- like Geoffrey Holder's.

The email, of course, had to end with "... and that's the latest buzz." Wifey even had a bee emoji...

The Pinecrest cop said he would be calling a bee removal company. We suggested Willie the Bee Man, owned by a man named Willie who does bee stuff.

I met Willie about 15 years ago.  About 5 years after we moved in, I noticed a gooey, odorless substance on our stairway railing. I thought the stuff was some kind of oil or lubricant -- but there was no machinery in the attic above the staircase. One handyman thought it might be a dead and liquifying iguana -- but it had no smell.

Finally, one of my smarter friends realized it was melted honeycomb -- we had bees! I called Willie, and he came out. Old school Miami guy -- hippie type -- and he knew his bees. He poked around and said I was lucky -- indeed there had been a good sized hive, but the intense heat had killed the bees, and the comb was largely gone -- melted stuff seeping through a hole where the chandelier was hung. Nothing to do, said Willie, and the goo stopped.

A few years later, I saw a bunch of bees outside that same area of the roof, and I called Willie again. This time he sent out his protege -- a nice, young, Jamaican fellow. I don't recall if I asked him to say "gumbo limbo" for me.  He said I was lucky again -- these were scout bees, looking to return to where they had set up their community before. He caulked off some openings, sprayed anti-bee potion, and that was it. I really dig Willie and his company.

So hopefully I referred him a job, and they can remove the hive, and then the tree. I walked past it today during my morning constitutional -- indeed the tree was a good 75 feet tall, and completely blocking the street. Adios, gumbo limbo (ha ha ha).

I'm happy these are the kinds of things we deal with in our 'hood.  And that's the latest buzz...