Thursday, April 7, 2011

Miami con mi Familia

Got in late last night after four wonderful days at Miami Beach. The weather cooperated, giving us sunny mid-80’s afternoons and warm evenings, perfect for enjoying beautiful South Beach. We stayed at one of the classic Art Deco hotels on Ocean Avenue directly across from Lummus Park and the beach beyond. If you have never been, I highly recommend it – Ocean Avenue in the Art Deco district is lined with outdoor cafes (perfect for people watching) and dance clubs (bursting with the energy of Spanish/Caribbean or current club-scene music). Our hotel provided comfortable lounge chairs and towels on the beach and, for a modest fee, we rented big umbrellas to protect our tan-deprived hides.


Rob, David and I also took a day trip to Everglades National Park where we saw plenty of alligators and anhingas (large southern cormorants), while Vicki stayed at the beach to rest, read and prep herself for the coming flurry of college visits.

For me, one of the highlights of this trip was a visit to Peter Lik’s photo gallery. His work is absolutely amazing and all shot with – dare I say? – film. As a lover of nature photography, I must say that his color and composition are incredible. He also prints his work on glassy tablets, not paper, which give them a luminescence that reminds me of the rich, vibrant look of old Kodak 64 slides. But his work is on a very large scale – with images typically 2 by 4 feet in dimension – crystal clear and bursting with detail. The image for this post is one of his but it just doesn’t do justice as a thumbnail. Here’s a link to his website: http://www.peterlik.com/

Now we are back and the schedule is jammed with admitted students tours. I get tired just thinking about it – I hope Vicki doesn’t get overwhelmed too quickly with all the info the schools will throw at her. We’re doing NY area schools this weekend with DC and Boston area trips in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, I had a CT scan and bloods today and have my follow up with Dr. S next Tuesday. I suspect that my “chemotherapy-free interval” will be declared over, but if he so decides, I am going to ask for a three week reprieve so that I won’t have to start until the college touring is over.

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