The Levine's of Florida

Uncle George with Ira and his nephews. He adopted Florida as his home.

Our drive to David's neighborhood from West Palm Beach airport was not at all like driving down the New Jersey Turnpike with smoking factories on the right and a big blue IKEA on the left. You know you are in New Jersey when you land in Newark. Here, we drove along quiet, wide streets dotted with Italian villas. Each community announced their presence in a grand way, focusing our attention on stone archways, beautiful waterfalls, sparkling fountains, and lush tropical leaves. I am not sure why they all have Italian names. We saw Valencia Shores, Valencia Palms and Valencia Bay. There were variations of communities named after Villas, Venetians, and Villaggios. The Italians must really enjoy the letter V and the Floridian Jews must really love the Italians. If it weren't for the palm trees, I would have thought the pilot took us out of the country.

We also passed a neighborhood with the unfortunate title of Journey's End. Floridians, as well as every human from every other state, will eventually meet their journey's end. We all will. But why rub it in? Journey's End might be a great place to live, but I am sorry, that is not a good name. Nor is The Falls. Completely missing the reference to its waterfalls, I immediately thought of the commercial with the lady who falls and can't get up. Don't you think there could be some more upbeat communities for the sunshine state?

Uncle George moved down to Florida years ago with his family. He did meet his journey's end here, but his legend lives on. Just yesterday at the pool, Norman met a man he knew from the Board of Ed, another legend in his own right, and they were reminiscing about Uncle George. Like my husband, his uncle's reputation precedes him. All who know of him, love him. A New York City gym teacher from Canarsie High School, Uncle George will live on forever as a Floridian, basking in the sun at his pool and remembering a life that touched many.

Visiting with Uncle George's family.
Richie and his wife, Gracie

Aunt Sonia and Paula

There are many who now call Florida home, just like this branch of the Levine family tree. But there are also many native to this area, including a vast population of earth's creatures. My favorite activity besides painting animals, is taking a walk and seeing animals. Florida has scores of nature preserves and wetlands, each with an abundance of wildlife and forestry. Green Cay is such a place. This trail gave us a reason to fall in love with Florida beyond the appeal of a warm winter or a warm hug from the people we have been missing.

Norman's friend Brian introduced us to Green Cay. A narrow boardwalk raised above lakes and grassy swamps meanders through the preserved land, offering many opportunities to bird watch or take a photograph. Norm was so excited to see his friend and they spent the 3 mile trek catching up. Once we said goodbye to Brian, the two of us set out again on a much more leisurely pace just to absorb the beauty before us. Many Floridians come to walk in Green Cay, but most do not come for exercise, they come with tripods and cameras slung over the necks. I am assuming those impossibly huge back lenses were telescopic to capture a rare bird on a distance tree. My brother would know this better than I would and I hope he could come one day with his equipment and enjoy the wildlife that abounds here.

How ironic. We came down to Florida to see people we've been missing, and I spent the morning thinking about my brother, a photographer who lives in New York. When you experience something this spectacular, you want to share it with the people you love. I am glad Norman and I got to walk this path together.

The animals of Green Cay call this place home. We are intruding on their world with our foot path, yet they seemed not to care. Some of the birds perched on the railing and did not fly away even as we approached. How lovely that some creatures can get along with each other in such sweet symbiosis. The people of this country should take a lesson from them, hopefully before we kill them all off. The Earth is a beautiful place to live.

So is Florida... something Uncle George knew very well.