JUST IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

MY FINE ART PHOTOS OF LITTLE HAVANA

Dozens of fine art images are available for sale at the Art Deco Museum Miami Beach, Ocean Drive and 10th Street.

Large photos from exhibit $60-$400.
Small matted in adjacent gift shop $20-$40.

My photo exhibit has been extended to Dec. 31. The gallery and gift shop are open 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Free museum admission for Miami-Dade Residents.

50% of sales support the Miami Design Preservation League.

Buy local and support Miami artists when you do you Holiday Shopping.

https://mdpl.org/blog/2023/12/save-my-little-havana-exhibit-photographs-on-sale-through-december-31st/

THE HOLIDAYS ARE ABOUT FAMILY

CATS ARE OUR FAMILY

HoneyBear

Little Havana has a lot of good things going for it, but one of the down sides is that it has to be one of Miami’s most-favored place by cruel people dumping unwanted pets.

We turned bad behavior into great opportunity.

Now, for nearly a decade, we have gotten dozens of cats into Miami-Dade County’s Trap/Neuter/Release program that helps cut down on the population of feral cats.

We have adopted HoneyBear, our Siamese mature cat that lives inside 24/7, divides her days between our work from home stations and spends a good bit of the night in my bed.

We have built outdoor houses, plus feeding and watering stations, for dozens of cats.

We currently have four main cats that spend most of their time on our small urban lot.

Moe is a shy Tuxie. Ginger is a ginger cat that is everyone's mom and caregiver.

CoCo Kitty is HoneyBear's Tortie daughter, too feral to want to be picked up or brought in to live with mom.

Baby is our newest love.

Sadly, his love and trust that allowed us to take him to the vet -- produced a blood test result that indicates he has feline leukemia.

He’s very healthy, a still growing not quite one-year-old boy, but we need to monitor things.

Baby spends a good chunk of the day with us inside while we continue to work from home.

He has just enough wild in him that he cries to go out at night.

We focus on the love we share with Baby and the good shelter and care we give to all the cats that pass through our lives.

Baby

For the full story, visit:

https://stevewright-1964.medium.com/the-holidays-are-about-families-86260835b245

HOMELESS IN PARADISE

DO SOMETHING CHARITABLE AND LOVING FOR THE HOLIDAYS

You have cabin fever.

You can’t get used to wearing a mask.

Your candidate lost.

Your cruise to the Caribbean got canceled due to COVID.

The toilet flushes during your work from home Zoom.

The company cut your pay by a fraction due to the pandemic.

These are minor problems. 

They are fractional reductions in quality of life while we heal physically, psychologically and politically.

People have lost their lives.

Households have lost every job that support them.

Vulnerable people are living each day in fear.

Back off the attitude.

Stop griping.

Search your soul for bias and bigotry -- erase whatever it is that’s causing those destructive thoughts and behaviors.

Do someone a favor.

Buy a grocery gift card for someone in need. Bonus points, do it anonymously.

Embrace life.

Embrace people.

Find something enchanting and interesting and life-affirming in someone who is completely different than you – It’s very easy to do.

Work to make the world a better place.

Do something hands-on to help those who are homeless, jobless, hopeless.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah and Super Solstice.

About the image: This was taken in the early morning in Downtown Miami. In the postcards boasting sun, sea and sand – Miami is a paradise. To the eyes of anyone who walks the Central Business District between the Miami River and Biscayne Bay – sidewalks, overhangs, vacant storefronts and space under bridges is home to hundreds of homeless people. Was it hard to take this picture? Yes. I walked past a half dozen times. But I am a street photographer and storyteller. As an advocate for people with disabilities in specific and marginalized people in general – I am compelled to tell stories (visually and in words) that are painful, sad and challenging. Harsh images, in turn, can help compel people to get involved in positive change. That is why I left this person to their hopefully peaceful slumber while capturing their heart-tugging image.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

WE DON'T REALLY GIVE GIFTS ANYMORE -- WE DONATE TO PET CHARITIES

Okay, we give some small gifts to friends, family and colleagues.

But 90% of our gift giving is to animal welfare.

We make a donation each Christmas to Siamese Cat Rescue, on behalf of family members.

We make a monthly donation to the ASPCA in honor of family member’s birthdays.

This year, our anniversary gift to each other was a combination of contributions to cat cafes in Miami Beach and Paris.

Our birthday gift to each other was sponsoring a Siamese rescue cat at the Largo di Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary.

Our Valentine's Day, celebrating an accomplishment/milestone and other annual gifts are spent on food, shelter and medicine for dozens of Little Havana outdoor cats that congregate on our small urban lot just south of Calle Ocho.

We encourage our friends to make donations to animal welfare non-profits, rather than buying gifts for us.

Please. Instead of one more gadget, one more electronic toy, or another outfit to take up space in the closet – think of donating your time and money to protecting stray cats and other animals.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS THE IMPOSSIBLE

DEAR SANTA:

(By EarthBound Tomboy: Heidi Johnson-Wright)

Greetings, my friend in red. Hope this missive finds you and yours in fine form. With all this talk of global warming, I worry that Donner and Blitzen are applying Coppertone while Dasher and Dancer compete to craft the perfect cannonball in the deep end. (If you’re a regular viewer of “Fox and Friends,” then please accept my apology. I don’t intend to offend.)

It’s true I haven’t written since last year and it seems I reach out only when I want something, but I imagine that’s simply business as usual in your line of work. So, let me get straight to the point: I’m only asking for one thing this year, but it’s a doozy. (Yes, Kris, you’re probably thinking “Why can’t she be content with another Chia Pet?” But until they come up with the Chia Cthulhu, please no more ceramic weed farms.)

I’ve decided to go for broke this year. My first thought was to ask for a shopping spree at a Pucci boutique. A new wardrobe of gorgeous abstract prints and fine fabrics would be just the ticket for a vacation at a Venetian villa. (You could throw that in, too, right?) But that seemed a little too pedestrian.

Then I considered asking you for a week at the Four Seasons Bora Bora, an all-expenses paid, once-in-a lifetime trip with my significant other and 10 of my dearest friends. Each of us could have our own villa over the turquoise waters. How divine! Then I imagined running into Justin Bieber au natural and I felt as queasy as the time I competed in that corn dog eating contest. Ick.

Then I thought: wouldn’t it be heavenly to rent out the Hollywood Bowl and have Kate Bush perform all her tracks from “Hounds of Love” and “The Dreaming”? The audience would consist of just me, my husband and our two kitties sitting in La-Z-Boy recliners on the stage right next to Her Royal Kateness. Oh, and Weird Al Yankovik could be the opening act! 

But then I thought, no, I’m going to swing for the fences this Christmas. I’m going to ask for something so spectacular, so marvelous, so blow-the-doors-off incredible that my friends will be simply chartreuse with envy. 

That’s right, Santa: I want a ride with Uber. 

But wait, please, before you crumple up my letter and use it to wipe the reindeer doo-doo off your boots; please just hear me out! If Uber – or Lyft or any smart phone-booked ride service – can provide rides to the non-disabled, they can do it for wheelchair users, right?

It’s an eleventy-bajillion dollar business, so surely they can have drivers in every major market with wheelchair-lift vans, can’t they? These titans of industry can be convinced that disenfranchising an entire segment of society is not just illegal but morally wrong?

Please, Santa, tell me I’ll someday be able to book a ride on Uber with the same ease and speed as anyone else! 

Ok, I’ll settle for a ride in your sleigh. Sure beats seeing the Biebs nekkid. 

http://earthboundtomboy.blogspot.com/2015/12/dear-santa-all-i-want-for-christmas-is.html