My Friend Marvin

My friend Marvin is a very friendly and good looking fellow. He lives in a beautifully forested and peaceful neighborhood in Westwood, Massachusetts. Although Marvin is the only one of his kind in the area, he is not discouraged, and happily flirts with some of the wild turkeys that also wander these woods. 

One afternoon, a particular turkey (we’ll call her Betty) caught Marvin’s interest, and he could not help himself but to perform his best courtship dance. He fanned out his long tail in a marvelous display of colors, and he turned one way, and then the other. Betty, however, was not impressed, and quickly veered left, away from Marvin. Ah, but Marvin was fast and blocked her escape; unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, and no matter how much Marvin swayed and danced, Betty was simply not interested. 

After a few escape attempts, Betty finally found a small gap, and she quickly ran through. Poor Marvin just stood there for a few seconds, and slowly lowered his feathers. “So long Betty”, he must have thought to himself, and then he dashed off into the woods to continue the search for his perfect match.

Another beautiful morning in South Florida

This shot was taken at the Marco Beach Ocean Resort in Marco Island, Florida. It’s a masterfully decorated place, with all the amenities you would want in a “weekend getaway” resort. It has several restaurants, including a small ocean side café where this photo was shot.

Two floors up, The Terrace at Sale e Pepe restaurant provides both fine and casual dining experiences; and, if you prefer your dinner al fresco, request outside sitting for spectacular sunset views - a light ocean breeze will keep the summer night air delightfully cool.

One Hundred Pennies Make a Dollar

The U.S. penny is a coin worth 1 cent, but it costs more than 1.6 cents to mint. Canada plans to abolish the penny sometime this year, and my guess is the U.S. will eventually follow. That will be a sad day for me, but I understand the logic behind it. The reality is that it costs more than a cent to produce a penny, and that’s just one of many financial drawbacks to the general use of pennies. So, in the spirit of historical trivia, here I present a few interesting facts about the penny.

1. The word “penny” was introduced around 790 A.D. by King Offa, the English Emperor who ruled Mercia from 757 to 796. The word penny referred to an English coin made entirely of silver.

2. The word “penny” was originally used to describe any sort of coin, not just the small denomination that is known for today.

3. When the U.S. started producing pennies in the 18th century, the official name given to the coin was the “one-cent-piece”. The term didn’t stick, and we continued using the British term “penny”.

4. The first American penny was designed by Benjamin Franklin. On one side the words “Mind Your Business” are set below a sun and sundial; on the other side “We Are One” is encircled by a 13 link chain representing the original colonies.

5. The modern day phrase “a penny saved is a penny earned” is attributed to Benjamin Franklin. The origin can be traced to the Welsh-born English poet George Herbert; in a circa 1633 publication of proverbs, Herbert writes “a penny spar’d is twice got.”

6. The first Lincoln penny was issued in 1909 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s birth. It’s the first time a U.S. coin bears a picture of a President.

7. The original penny was completely made of copper. That amount has decreased significantly since the rise in price of this red metal, and today’s pennies are made up of only 2.5% copper - the other 97.5% is Zinc.

8. During World War II, copper reserves were saved for military use, prompting the production of zinc plated steel pennies in 1943. The “steel penny” was also often referred to as the “wartime penny”

9. U.S. military bases overseas stopped handling pennies in the early 1980s, and all transactions are automatically rounded up or down to the nearest five cents.

10. There are about 150 billion U.S. pennies circulating around the world today.

I have a few of those pennies in a tin jar at home, and I have no intentions of parting with any of them any time soon.

Go Marlins!

Today is the season opener of the new Miami Marlins, and the first regular season game in their brand new ballpark. The Marlins' new stadium is located in the Little Havana section of Miami, and it covers approximately 17 acres once occupied by the unforgettable Miami Orange Bowl. The stadium will provide cover from the rain by a state of the art retractable roof, and provides seating for over 37,000 fans. A truly first-class home for the new Miami Marlins – Good luck guys!

Ron Magill at the Intercontinental at Doral Miami

Ron Magill, renowned animal expert and Zoo Miami’s goodwill ambassador, made a special appearance at the Intercontinental at Doral Miami this past weekend. Magill brought along some of his animal friends from the zoo, and shared some of his insights of the animal kingdom with children and parents who made it out to the hotel for this unique brunch event. Magill’s friends included an Albino Burmese Python, a Patagonian Cavy, and the Eurasian Eagle Owl. Children had an opportunity to interact with Magill, pet the python, and even pose for photographs with Ron and the Patagonian Cavy. It was a fun and memorable time for children and grownups alike.