We stand between two storms. Gustav is a hurricane and it is giving us some rain and a little wind. Hanna is still a tropical storm and it just seems to meander. The weatherman has no idea of what this storm will do the feature. 
For most of my life our family had seven houses in Coral Gables. My parents had one and there brothers and sisters had the others. When this house was in the family it was painted in an off white. I can't say that I like the Mamey color. The city allows this and calls it a historic color. The true historic colors never looked like this.
The more that I looked at this house, the less I could figure it out. Does the front door open to a little room and then to a very large room with a very big window near the ceiling or is that window in a bedroom on the second floor. I give up.
Coral Gables Elementary has a nice pergola. When I brought my lunch to school I could eat out there. Back then there was no fence or pavement, just grass and shade, and a lot of running and noise.
This auditorium and the one at Miami High School were used as public meeting places until the late 40's. After that we had a large auditorium for the whole county. Now we have a state of the art complex that is a gem.
This orchid is growing on a tree. Once it is established on the tree it's on it's own. It blooms every year and I don't have to do anything.
This was my school in the 40's. But things have changed. The iron fence is new. When I went there, most rooms had one wall that would open up to allow the fresh air in to the room. Now they have AC and almost no windows. I remember looking out and seeing people walk by, the birds flying about, and the leaves moving in the breeze. The students may be cooler but I doubt if they are happier.
With a new court yard, covered walkway and extra bedroom, the house will look new. Well maybe.
Not a single 'Lizzie' fell out of the trees during the tropical storm Fay.
I guess I like the porch more then the owner. There is not one chair on the porch.
While cleaning up from Fay, the tropical storm, I found this orchid hiding behind some palm fronds. This is a natural hybrid of two species and it was found in the jungle. The 'x' in the name is placed there to let you know that it is a natural hybrid.
It kept us in the house all day, but it wasn't a hurricane. It was no worse then a normal rain storm, only longer. My water gage is not precise.
A tropical storm is giving us a steady rain. So far we haven't seen any wind, but that should start this afternoon. It looks like we will not have any damage, just a lot of rain and some wind.
The lotus leaves are magic. Unfortunately they are dormant in the winter. But now we will have the beauty all year around with this painting. Notice the Miltonia flowers in the tree.
On the right side of the second floor you will see a sleeping porch. These houses were built before air conditioning. The porch was usually on the second floor, and facing the south east to get to breeze from the ocean. The homes had cross ventilation - that means a room would have windows on at least two walls. With such a system you don't have to use the air condition until it is really hot. Some of the neighbors never open their windows and their air conditioner is on all of the time. Some time I can't figure if they are warming or cooling.
One of my first girl friends lived in this house. It's so long ago that I could not tell you what she looked like, other then she had long dark hair. But I can tell you about the living room, It's directly behind the water mark. It was a large room with a white carpet. The nap was so tall that the carpet cleaner left lines all through the room. When we went into the room all you would see was our foot prints. The carpet would capture any little bit the dirt that happened to be on your shoes. I don't remember any foot prints in that room except the ones that we left behind. The family moved to California when I was 13 years old.
One of our neighbors has a interest in bamboo. In there side yard there are 4 plants and more in the back. Surely one of them would suite a panda.
This orchid makes a beautiful show every summer. The plant has 16 flowers.
Last week this avocado tree lost a good sized branch due to the large crop of avocados.
You can see the fruit in the branch. These avocados would not ripen until October if they had stayed on the tree.
And today another branch broke. It's a total lose of three bushels of fruit.
This is new to me. The leaves and trunk look like a papaya, but the flowers are something else. This plant may be from Madagascar. I have absolutely no idea what this is. Can anyone give me a name?
The crop on our early avocado is fantastic, it's the best in 20 years. We don't even worry about the squirrels eating so many avocados. A small piece of fruit is near the squirrels back leg.
1 house has an open front yard(see yesterday).
