Florida in Images and More Images
A Crocodile Rock - A beautiful female crocodile jutting out from a rock outcrop, as she suns herself. She was about 8 ft. long and probably the mate of much larger male that occupies the same territory. That's why I believe she, is a she. A larger male probably wouldn't tolerate competition in what is a relatively small area. Her langud repose leads me to think she was powering up for the nights festivities, of hunting, eating, and mating with big daddy.
Tropical Acres est. 1949 - That's ancient history for Florida, America's oldest bit of tourist real estate, aka, La Florida "Land of the Flowers" as it was known, way back in 1513 when Ponce De Leon first showed up here. Some 400 years later, by no coincidence, I might add, Tropical Acres steakhouse was established. Back in those days there was no air conditioning, making La Florida a blistering hellhole in the summer. But, the rest of the year, Florida, home to alligators, crocodiles, panthers, poisonous snakes, and seasonal hurricanes, was damned near paradise. This old sign is a vestigial reminder of Florida's past. The restaurant is still open for business, some 70 years after this sign was first erected, offering fine steak, with a weekly clintelle that was probably of drinking age, even back then. But young folk eat there, as well, offering a cross section chow-hounds, just waiting to fulfill their carnivorous bloodlust. Black and White seemed fitting for the subject matter.
The Medusa Tree - Art deco goes with anything, as long as it's sleek and has that neo Modern look, whatever that means. This house has a fine 1930's vibe about it. But it's that damned tree, reaching out with it's sinewy limbs, part perennial plant, woody and alive, just waiting for you to fall asleep. This picture exudes Florida, hot, sexy, and deadly, manicured, but still unmanageable, like a Samuael Beckett play written with arboreal splendor. Waiting For Godot has nothing on this tree.
The Blue Art Deco House - This house is so cool, it almost needs no words, but I will write them anyways, because I can, plus I see no reason to deny my self-indulgent ambition. Let's face it, blue skies and green palms are seductive enough on their own, but throw a blue art deco house into the mix, and you just may have to remove all your clothes and dance naked in the sun. This beauty is nestled in a historic neighborhood in Hollywood Florida. Not Hollywood California. No, this dandy is within walking distance of both the beach and downtown, where the swingers swing like kids flocking to a recreational heaven, part yesterday, part today, always tomorrow.
"Blackbird Singing In The Dead of Night" - Or, "Aqua Was The Color of My True Loves Hair." Take your pick.
Arches - arches, arches, and more arches. These arches open portals to another universe, existing in time and space. The time? Now. The space? Between my ears, as I return to the 1970's, a decade of opulent, decadence and homespun entertainment. Of talking cars and The Son of Sam. Could you ask for more? Sure! But should you??!!
The Alcove - Palm Beach, the island side, rich as any place in the world. Old Money. New Money. But people with some money, even if very little, are stll welcome there. Come by, check out the quaint shoe repair shop, sitting in the midst of billionaires row. Check out the hamburger joint, right next to the exotic, hundred dollar a plate eating establishment . Bungalows, old, but still beautiful apartment buildings, which have largely been untouched for more than a half century. Real estate is simply too expensive here to create tear-downs. Thus, it is a city lost in time. It's always old-money America, in Palm Beach.
The Grasshopper - Everything is alive with color in South Florida, even bugs on asphalt.
The Alligator - Florida's mascot, dark and carnivorous, scaly and beautiful, shines like a light, sparked by the sun.
The Everglades at Morning - Haunting and dangerous, but strangely inviting, like a bird of prey or a set of angry jaws. Fish, but don't swim, and stay a few feet back from the water's edge, just in case.
The Door - Spanish Revival style architecture is right up there with art deco, as a distinctive Florida style, albeit by the way of California and Spain. Here, however, the style has it's own unique qualities, being that Florida is the sub-tropics, America's gateway to Islands in the stream, the Caribbean, Cuba, as well as other hot, humid, places where people of all colors congregate willfully.
The Gables - Coral Gables, to be exact, as beautiful a city as exists. Built to resemble a combination of Venice, with it's canals that lead out to the ocean, and Spanish kingdom, with its Spanish revival style architecture. There are a number of other styles of architecture, there, as well, creating a city like no other. You can see the Biltmore Hotel in the distance with its jutting spire. It's easy enough to imagine Cole Porter and George Gershwin trading fours at the piano, while stars of stage and screen mingle, sipping cocktails, while listening to that new music called jazz.
The Venetian Pool - a one of a kind pool in the heart of Coral Gables, carved out of coral rock and fed by a burbling spring lying just beneath the rock, offering natural, cool, spring water. It's under repair during the winter, waiting for spring to be sprung, and the children and their parents to frolic in its soothing water, while investigating the man-made caves that can be seen in the distance.
Goodbye Coral Gables - We leave The Gables, the most beautiful city in Florida, if not the world, as gorgeous in sepia, as color.
Wynwood Miami - Street art at it's finest, art galleries, thrift stores, food trucks galore, art-house cinema, pan-handlers, upscale eateries, tourists, filmmakers and super models, all, seek their space, and find it, in Wynwood.
Ducks in Blue
There is everything in South Florida - Everything
Air-boats - Lot's of air-boats, as they glide upon the black effluvium. Alligators, fearsome and daring, swim in its wake. Sea serpents the length of a bus wait in high grass. People fish. Dogs run free and bark. And waiting, just beneath the surface, is an ancient reptile, ancestor to the dinosaur. Bulletproof. Of the same order as the mighty T Rex, looking for its latest meal. If not today, then, tomorrow, or the next day, it is patient.
The Laughing Crocodile - Closes out my little picture show, smiling, sunning, waiting. For what? Ask her! She doesn't bite. She told me so. Would she lie? Do crocodiles lie? In wait, they lie. In wait, for you, to come close enough to ask.
Mark Magula
Mark Magula