Fort Lauderdale Beach and Florida weather

This weekend, we did not go far. Instead, we opted to go to the beach. Well since Florida is a peninsula, we had our pick. There is pompano beach, Deerfield beach, Hillsboro beach, and Ft. Lauderdale beach all close to us. We chose fort Lauderdale beach.

Laila's leaving had me a little depressed because I knew that now, I would be really lonely at work. The bosses never called all weekend and I suppose they are angry with me because they think I knew all along, which I did. Normally, they would call already to ask me to work on the days that laila usually works. See, laila did not mention to them anything about me knowing from before...Thankfully, and I guess they think that she told me and I did not tell them. Really, I was told in confidence. Well anyway, the bosses not calling me did not depress me...That part made me happy. It meant that they would finally see how much their employees meant to them and their business...And I know that many of the customers liked laila. The part that depressed me is that they would probably treat me differently because they felt as if it was my duty to report back to them the news of laila's leaving.. So in short, I was a little bit worried....Anyway...Back to the beach -------------> -------------->

Ami suggested that we go to the beach on Saturday evening. All of us were going. From the islands, it is a sort of thing one does with a lot of people. We call it a "lime" (it roughly translates to "hang out" in American English.....Refer to my blog on trini dialect) it makes it all the better. As we say in the islands, 'the more the merrier.' Vin and Nan came with us and Vin suggested Hillsboro Beach because he said it was cleaner than Pompano Beach. We went up there and it was raining so we decided to travel more south where there was less rain. it's very funny how the rain falls in florida. you can tell by the clouds and if the grayness of the clouds seem to make a sheet of gray from the sky to the ground. that's how you know it's raining ahead. the I-95, or any other north-south road, is probably the most likely road to see it on. like my dad says, "yuh driving through one place that go be dry like biscuit and suddenly yuh gone in heavy heavy rain!" the picture at the side shows how the rain looks from the I-95. It resembles a mal-formed tornado (photo: courtesy furgie).

We traveled down A1A (the road alongside the beach) and we were able to look at all the really large, mansion-like houses of the rich and famous. Before we knew it, we were in Fort Laudy (my ghetto name for Ft. Lauderdale) at the beach. The waters were a bit choppy though and we were in the water for only five minutes when it started to rain and i saw lightning flashing in the rain clouds. It was our cue to get out of the water.

In trinidad, when we went to the beach, we stayed in the water when it rained. but then again, lightning was not something that happened everytime it rained there. In florida, we are famous for the spectacular displays of lightning...and boy do we have incidents of people being struck by it! In fact, one has greater chances of being struck by lightning than winning the lottery. So we got out, and like trinis, we stood waiting for the rain to stop, hoping that we would be able to go back in the water. I guess all of us are beach crazy. We decided to leave when the thunder immediately followed the lightning. Vin swore it struck right in front of him! I can laugh at it now but yesterday, it was a little bit frightening.

Today, we had better luck. We went back to ft. laudy. I have never seen the beach this beautiful. In fact, I do not think I have ever seen a beach more perfect than the waters we were in today! it was absolutely beautiful. the water was a little bit cold though but i found that if I stayed in the line of the sun (there were clouds today also but no rain, thankfully!), the water was warmer. Usually, you only have to walk like five feet into the water and you are in chest deep water but today Nan and I walked a little further and realized that we were standing on a sandbar. It was so cool! we went out a good distance in the water today. It seemed almost unreal. we are used to having to compete with seaweed and seagrapes sometimes but today, we could see our feet on the sand at the bottom of the water. it was that clear! we stayed in the water for over an hour until our toes started to look like raisins and then we got out. all the while, there was no rain! the good thing about going to the beach here is that you don't need to carry clothes to change. just a towel and some plastic to sit on in the car so the seats do not get wet. we live only ten-fifteen minutes away. the beach is everywhere!

Lately, I guess I was a bit depressed. today, I felt happy. Maybe I am the kind of person who gets happy when the beach is in sight. I get "beach happy" --I see the beach and I need to be in there! when we were younger, in t'dad, my dad would take us to the beach on sundays. in Trinidad, the beach is in the country and we take country roads to get there. therefore, a 20 minute drive becomes almost an hour long. I remember the people who used to sell honey at the side of the road and driving alongside the cocoa plantations. It's the major difference between the beaches here in S.Fl and in Trinidad. There are no high-rise condominiums or any other business establishments. Oh, and the waves are bigger in t'dad. so anyway, my dad always says, if there is any kind of affliction, mental or physical, and one takes a bath in the beach, it will go away....or if one was visiting sick people... (my dad believes in positive and negative vibrations). I only remembered that today when i was feeling happy. maybe, it is because it is one sure place that one can soak up the sun and there has been lots to say about the pinneal gland, about serotonin release and about depression in people who are unable to be in the sunlight.