Stay Out of The Water!
A week earlier, tests had showed that the water contained
unsafe levels of fecal matter.
By Gail Graham
Contributing Writer
Ignorance Is Bliss?
The good news is that it’s once again safe to swim at Sunny Isles beaches. The bad news is that for a week or so last month, it
wasn’t. On December 24, a newspaper report advised that Florida State Health officials were continuing to warn swimmers to stay out of Sunny Isles Beach waters. A week earlier, tests had
showed that the water contained
unsafe levels of fecal matter. In weekly tests conducted over a five-week period, scientists had measured average enterococci bacteria levels at 38 units
per 100 milliliters, three units above the 35-unit threshold considered safe for a five-week average. The enterococci themselves aren’t dangerous, but the fact that they were present at
all indicated that there was a good chance that there was other, nastier stuff in the water as well.
Nobody knows where it came from. Unlike Sydney (where they pump the raw sewage directly into the ocean) our sewers are sanitary sewers rather than storm sewers. Most
likely, a passing boat did the wrong thing. Anyhow, more tests were conducted, and by Christmas, it was safe to go back into the water.
The thing is, I went for at least one walk along the beach (without Chairman Bao the Shih Tzu, of course) during that week, and as I recall, there were a number of
people swimming in the ocean, and lots of little children playing in the sand at the water’s edge.
Now, this just isn’t good enough. Apparently, announcements about the pollution were made on the radio, and on television. But I don’t watch much television, and I
certainly never watch television when I’m on holidays. And, like many people, I only listen to the radio when I’m driving. So even though I’m a local, I didn't know anything about the
danger, and obviously, I wasn’t the only one to remain in blissful ignorance.
Invisible Lifeguards
Sunny Isles doesn’t actually own the beaches. (Dade County owns them.) And although Sunny Isles forks out $100,000 to pay the two lifeguards who patrol the strip
of beach between 158th Street and Golden Beach, those two lifeguards are actually employed by Oceania and the Newport Hotel. Although they’re theoretically on duty from 9 a.m.
until dusk 365 days a year, I’ve never seen them. I’m told that this is because they also patrol up and down the length of the beach in their jeep. All of this is significant because it
was the lifeguards who were supposed to be warning people to stay out of the water. I can only conclude that lots of people were ignoring them, or that for one reason or another, the
message wasn’t getting through.
In the old days, it was the motel operators who took the responsibility for warning guests of potential danger from stingrays, sharks or pollution. When you saw the
sign that said “Swim at Your Own Risk,” you either stayed out of the water or took your chances. But at least you knew what you were getting into.
Signs are actually quite a good idea: low tech, but, like carbon paper, effective. (Remember carbon paper?) Lifeguards can’t be everywhere, and there’s an awful lot
of beach. Plans are now afoot to make use of special signs, warning flags or both to alert swimmers to possible danger in the future. The sooner the better, I say. Nobody got sick this
time, but look what happened to the cruising industry as a result of a similar situation.
Vegans Unite!
Vegetarian and single? You’re not alone. 700 people have already joined Bennett Josephson’s Vegetarian Singles Group, which organizes regular vegetarian dinners
complete with speakers and door prizes. They meet at Skylake Recreation Club, 18654 N.E. 18th Avenue, North Miami Beach, on various Sundays at various times.
Vegetarians don’t eat meat, and some don’t eat animal products of any sort. The latter are called vegans, as opposed to lacto-vegetarians, who drink milk, and
presumably eat cheese. My late husband once invited an important client to dinner, having warned me in advance that this guy was a vegetarian who ate eggs, but only if they were
unfertilized. Making these determinations can be difficult, especially in the 10-items-or-less line at the supermarket. In the end, I just told the two of them that the eggs were
definitely unfertilized, and they thoroughly enjoyed the quiche. But ever since then I have to admit that I’ve wondered, just how would you know whether or not a particular egg was
unfertilized? Does anyone know? If so, please share.
The earliest recorded vegetarian was Pythagoras of Samos (530 BC) whose followers not only refused to eat meat, but avoided beans and mallows as well. Pythagoreans
believed in the kinship of all animals, and argued that human benevolence forbade the killing of any living thing for food. Hindus, Jains and Buddhists also advocated vegetarianism,
although some monks argued that it was permissible to eat the flesh of an animal that
someone else had killed. Famous vegetarians include Voltaire, Shelley, Thoreau, Tolstoy, Akbar,
George Bernard Shaw and John Harvey Kellogg, who invented cornflakes. Peanut butter was also invented by a vegetarian. All of the largest and strongest animals in the world are
vegetarians, says Bennett Josephson, who holds a Master of Science degree in Family Therapy, and is a Mental Health Counselor and a Marriage and Family Therapist, as well as a certified
Hatha Yoga Instructor who has been teaching for the past 20 years. I caught up with him at his Saturday morning yoga class, at the Center for Human Development on Hollywood Blvd. (You
don’t even have to be a vegetarian to attend the yoga classes.) Josephson is also offering a series of classes in Assertiveness Training, a course he’s taught at Miami-Dade Community
College for 7 years. Just eight sessions, and you’ll be amazed at the change in yourself. Classes start January 14th. To find out more about Vegetarian Singles, Hatha Yoga or
Assertiveness Training, contact Bennett Josephson at 305-949-0950.
Postal Tarts
Customers at the Sunny Isles Post Office (it’s inside the City Hall) got bonus sweet treats with their stamps during the holiday season. Post Office Manager and
sole employee Jim Baehler and his wife Theresa got to work and baked hundreds of delicious little Pecan Nut Tarts which they then handed out to friends, fellow workers and customers. And
were they ever delicious! I went back especially to thank Jim, and he’s promised to give me the recipe, which I’ll share with you next week. And they’re such tiny little tarts that they
can’t possibly be fattening, can they?
This & That
Miami is the subject of Sarah Morris’ latest film in her cinematic exploration of American cities, and it’s just previewed at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 770
N.E. 125th St., North Miami. As in Morris’ previous films on New York, Las Vegas and Washington, landscapes and architecture are interwoven to create a unique take on Miami that
is a combination of documentary, biography and postmodern narrative, segueing
from the Coca Cola Bottling Plant to the Homestead Miami speedway. Something a bit different from the
post-holiday blockbusters, only 27 minutes long and definitely worth a look. It’s showing until January 26.
And there’s to be a library in Sunny Isles, to be situated on the first floor of the new Sunny Isles Town Hall at 18050 Collins Avenue. Excavation has commenced, and
it’s expected that the doors will open in autumn 2004. Great news for bibliophiles. Now, if we could just have a nice park where Chairman Bao and I could enjoy our afternoon walk
This week's fascinating fact: The earliest books were made of papyrus, which the Greeks called byblos, after Byblus, the Phoenician city from which papyrus was
exported. Hence the Greek word biblion, which gave us our English word bible, which of course was The Book.
Comments? Questions? News? Email me at
gailgraham1@juno.com
