Raining Champ

Contrary to popular belief we have not been flooded out down here. There's no ark building and no pairs of animals have been sited. We have, however, officially begun the rainy season. Every day for the last week or so... it storms as some point. In the beginning it rained all day long. Now we've moved to a more segmented sort of day. At some point you see the storm clouds begin to gather and realize that there truly is a black cloud over your head. Hmmm. I thought that was just my bad attitude.



I love this picture. I took it from my balcony. I think its sort of Van Gogh-esque. This was as the storm was brewing. Today I went to the Florida Historical Museum. It was nice enough. There was an interesting exhibit on Civil Rights in Florida. There was an actual cross that was burned on a black woman's yard in 1982. Interesting. There was also a little case that had a ballot and some "official" chads from 2000. Not sure what it was related to but it was funny.



Authentic chads. How quickly history is made and then museum-ed.

Work continues to move forward. We think we may have found place where we can sublet some space in an existing doctor's office. This will give us a chance to start already but have a soft start. Now I just have to remove two obstacles to getting started. Nothing big. Malpractice insurance and regular insurance companies and what they'll cover. No worries. It'll be taken care of in no time. Whatever. These people are freaking crazy. Before entering my new medical world I had always thought that insurance companies were the spawn of Satan but I was wrong. They are Satan himself. I was on the phone with one company enquiring about what a patient could expect if they come see us as an out of network doctor. She said, "if they do it too often, we'll start denying the claims." But it will take us six months to get in your network. "Sorry." But we're a specialist and our patients need us. She was unmoved. Finally she said, "you seem confused. The employer is our customer. Not the patient." We'll deny the claims and then contact the employer to report the person. Nice. Its a dog-eat-dog world out there.

Don't get me started on malpractice insurance. And that's with no surgery, nothing invasive, no baby deliveries, etc. I can only imagine what those practices might cost. Sheesh. We don't need to fix the system we have. We need to blow it up and start all over. But we new that.

Some friends from DC/Philly were visiting down in the Keys. I went down for an overnight to their private island. Nice stuff. Here's a few good shots... I do like the flora and fauna here!

Wild orchids.




The coral reef is amazing. Whether its on the water or just underfoot everywhere.




More wild orchids.



I like the lines in nature.



The Royal Poinciana trees are about to burst into bloom. I'll share pictures when its time. Its a beautiful sight. Meanwhile I'll track the clouds, watch the trees and ogle the wild flowers.

I miss the quality of the Smithsonian and the delicate blooming of the dogwoods. But I have to admit when I can stop making comparisons and trying to prove this place to be lesser... its kinda cool. Don't tell anyone. I'll deny saying it.