PULLING UP STAKES

   I was saddened -but not surprised- to read about an old friend's plans to leave Coconut Grove. 
   Bill Kunz and I grew up together in Miami Springs. We lost touch in college years but soon after,  learned we were neighbors in the Grove.
                                                               The Old Grove 
   

     Here we discovered sailboats, grew gardens, raised kids, and boated in the Bahamas as we centered our lives in this amazing fisherman's village. 

    Of course, after a half century, things have drastically changed. Responding to an article on speeders on South Bayshore Drive, Bill wrote in our local blog, the Grove Grapevine,

    The crosswalks on Bayshore Drive are indeed a dangerous place. It's not just cars coming around the curve. I've watched cars southbound blow by  folks scrambling to get out of their way. 

    Coconut Grove is not the nice place it used to be in many respects.  The commuters speeding through don't give a rats a-- about people on foot. 

   It's gotten ugly here in so many ways. Politicians have turned our town into a developer's paradise. After 51 years of Grove living, my wife and I are leaving.     

    We're saddened by the butt fugly white boxes, the massive office/hotel/condo construction, and the lack of real art and music. The inflated prices for dinners and drinks force us to dine elsewhere. The stuff most stores sell are of no real value to anyone.        

    As singer John Prine wrote, It's time to "blow up the TV, move to the country, and try to find Jesus on your own". 

    JC, that threadbare hippie preacher, left the Grove long ago.

Bill Kunz 

Bill, a retired airline pilot, plays fiddle (real music) in our favorite local band, the Solar Dogs.

 

                 When Bill and I landed here in the early 70's  this was the view in Peacock Park.  You could actually see the water,

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