Categories
History Shopping

Monday Night Countdown

TODAY – the 01ST of December – is my 21ST anniversary of living aqui en el Sur de Florida. I arrived at Homestead Air Force Base during the wee early-morning hours of the 01ST of December in 1987. Aside from the 19 months immediately following the destruction of the Homestead area by Hurricane Andrew I’ve been here ever since. This is my home. This is where I belong. These are my TOP 5 favourite shopping malls of all-time here in South Florida:

5.  Cutler Ridge Mall / Southland Mall
It’s much nicer (and safer) today than it’s ever been. It’s officially the first shopping mall I ever visited here in South Florida back in December 1987. I had been going there a few times a year over the past 14 years or so. I’ll be visiting more often since they have a nice movie theatre there now.

4.  Miami International Mall
Before the Dolphin Mall ever existed this was the shopping mall to visit on my way to the airport, the Flagler Dog Track, Miami, or the Beaches. This is your basic standard neighbourhood Simon mall. Sometimes you just need to go back to basics and shop the simple life.

3.  Dolphin Mall
If I lived in the neighbourhood then I’m afraid that I’d be there every single day shopping, eating, drinking, and watching movies. This is as close as it gets to Downtown Disney West Side. It’s a good thing that I don’t live in the neighbourhood. There could be trouble.

2.  The Falls
A stroll through this luxurious outdoor shopping mall is like a stroll down memory lane for me. This was the cool place to hang out a generation ago. When I was a kid I used to hang out there. Of course for me ‘kid’ means early-20s. 

1.  The Shops At Sunset Place
I watched this jumpin’ joint get built a decade ago, and once it opened for business in 1999 I planned entire Saturdays around it. If you couldn’t find me in Homestead on any given Saturday from 1999 to 2005 then I was probably hiding out at the Virgin Megastore, the Barnes & Noble, or the AMC-24.

Categories
Weather

Homestead Cold Weather Alert

14 days in a row of below normal temperatures in the 70s late in the afternoon and in the 50s early in the morning – that’s what we enjoyed here in Homestead from the 16TH through the 29TH of November. It all came to a screeching halt today as it felt more like tropical summertime rather than arid wintertime.

But the cold air from the continental north shall return on Monday night. Get ready for early-morning temperatures on Tuesday morning in the lower-50s with wind-chills in the upper-40s. Wednesday morning will be even colder with some pockets of the Homestead area dipping down into the upper-40s with wind chills in the lower-40s !

Warmer air returns on Thursday. Until then bundle up Homestead !

Categories
God People

Life Pointe Church Sunday Morning Tossed Salad

It’s a warm, windy, and muggy final Sunday morning of November here in Homestead, and we are the church that meets at the movie theatre in the heart of the city. Catch one of our three services every Sunday morning. They start promptly with ‘Praise & Worship’ as we all sing to Him at 8:30, 9:45, and 11:00. We also have a 6:00 PM service every Sunday night at our Plantation Key campus.

Pastor Paul led this morning’s services for the final time. He and his family will soon be on their way to a new Life in Tennessee as they continue their ministries there. Paul and his family may be leaving us physically, but they are still – and will always be – on God’s fantastic journey with us. I’ve personally learned a lot from Paul about God and His journey and purpose for me over the past 18 months. I’ve learned more from Paul than from anyone else. Paul has been a mentor for me. Paul has encouraged and inspired me to be less like the world and more like a Disciple of Jesus Christ.

But here on the journey one should never be comfortable. If you’re comfortable then you’re not growing. You’re not moving forward. You’re stagnant. You’re dying.

Jonah 3 – Jonah Goes To Nineveh (NLT, 2ND Ed.)

1  Then the LORD spoke to Jonah a second time:
2  “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.”
3  This time Jonah obeyed the LORD’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all.
4  On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed !”
5  The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.
6  When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes.
7  Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city: “No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all.
8  People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence.
9  Who can tell ?  Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.”
10  When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.

Categories
Home Music Travel

Saturday Night Retro

I’m back home in Homestead. I landed at FLL a good 30 minutes ahead of schedule, and I took the Miami GO GO Turnpike straight to Homestead. Now I’m relaxing and getting ready for a big day ahead at Life Pointe Church. I can’t wait to see everyone bright and early tomorrow morning. It’ll sort of be like a Reunion – and speaking of ‘Reunion’ – that’s the name of this assembled group of studio musicians that recorded this cool hit song from 1974. You may remember it if you’re old enough. If not then just listen, watch, and enjoy. There’s no way that you can sing along to it !

Ladies & Gentlemen – I present to you for your ‘Retro’ review – “Life Is A Rock (But The Radio Rolled Me)”. It’s one of my favourite songs of all-time !

Wikipedia Entry