Change is not always good.....

One of my visions for my yard is to string clear round shaped lights across my deck like stars in the sky. Crisscrossing back and forth between my house and the outdoor kitchen. A very Mediterranean market look. At night I think it would lend just the ambience I am looking for. It also reminds me of one of my favorite places to take a stroll after a dinner on Ocean Drive in South Beach. It became a ritual…. Walk up and down Ocean Drive (several times) to pick out just the right spot to enjoy a Mojito and a meal among the hustle bustle of SOBE. I could live there in a minute the action intrigues me. On the way back to the car it was a must to make it to Espanola Way. A street that was only a block long, but in that block were all the things I loved. The lights overhead, the outdoor restaurants, the cobblestone street, the balconies on the second floor with the french doors open, curtains blowing in the wind and enough room for one chair to enjoy the view,  the pet shop with the cutest puppies on earth. You had to go in and say hello to all of them. Wagging tails like you have never seen before. I knew I couldn’t take them home on the plane, but I always wanted to. The boutiques and specialty shops that had the unusual and gotta have items that you would only buy when you were on vacation. At the end of the street was my dream! LaChocolate. We would have espresso and a decadent out of this world chocolate dessert. The perfect ending to a great meal. They had little seating arrangements on the sidewalks divided by plantings that made you think you were in your own world. Comfy couches, coffee tables, paradise on a warm evening! I remember stopping by one evening and when the hostess got ready to seat us, she thought she was going to put us at a table! Oh no, I come here for the couches! Sorry the only one not taken was for important people. Excuse me! I let her know I was important and I didn’t come all the way from Michigan to sit at a table. She reluctantly sat us down, but I think she knew she had to, because I wasn’t taking no for an answer. This was my vacation ritual and I wasn’t going to let anyone else take away that pleasure from me. Well, all things change and the next time we stopped the sofa’s were gone, new city ordinance. It just wasn’t the same. The next trip back and our last, the puppy shop was gone and so was LaChocolate. All the things I loved so much about this little block were gone. I looked up-the lights were still strung across the sky, all was not lost. I am feathering my nest with the things I love, I am going to recreate that feeling… with a couple of strands of lights from the Christmas Tree Shop- mission accomplished.