Author: Li

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Renaissance fun Local festivalgoers march into the past

The annual Florida Renaissance Festival in Quiet Waters Park kicked off on Feb. 1, and it’s scheduled to conclude on March 23. It is a great opportunity to enjoy a glimpse of what life might have been back in the 16th century.

Renaissance festivals have become more and more popular since first coming onto the U.S. scene 50 years ago. These events went from a small niche in New York and California, growing through the decades, to extravagant festivals in recent years. The festivals typically feature a setting during the English Renaissance period.

These events also serve as an educational tool for many. It inspires a deeper passion for history and the arts, and it showcases fashion and music from a different era. For some, the shows spark a deeper interest to learn more about the 16th century, and how the Renaissance period impacted the world.

The modern Renaissance festival was started in California in 1963 by Phyllis Patterson, a schoolteacher. It was initially created as a fundraiser for a radio station, with the vision of blending historical reenactment with performative art. For Patterson, there was a local talent pool of performers that she was able to draw upon in the Hollywood Hills community.

Since then, these cultural events have spread across the country. You typically will find both entertainers and attendees in full costume from that time period, along with music and theatrical performance acts of that era. The outfits you see can be simple, or extravagant. Many attendees and performers go out of their way to reenact every element of the outfit to be as realistic as possible.

You also will find vendors selling outfits at the festival, if you want to check them out in person. The Florida Renaissance Festival boasts more than 100 vendors to supply you with provisions. They will also provide you with a wide range of food and beverage—from turkey legs to desserts, and from cold ale to mead.

Nowadays, you will also find a large online community to help with preparing your outfit. A quick search on online store Etsy.com shows many options for historical dresses, gadgets, and accessories, including full sets of plate armor and weapons.

Typically, the festivals will have a theme, and the Florida Renaissance Festival has a theme each weekend. This year the festival is introducing a new concept—the weekend of March 8 and 9 features “Gears and Gadgets–The Lost Inventions of DaVinci,” which celebrates the retro-futuristic subgenre of science fiction. So, expect to see many creations and outfits featuring gears and spectacles if you visit that weekend.

According to one person who attends these festivals, attendees “enjoy the fact it’s historically inspired, and might require a lot of research, and build on year after year.” It’s not like when you are dressing as a character from a book or movie, such as for Comic-Con; for Renaissance festivals, it’s a character you’ve created. This person cherishes the festivals as “a creation of an agreed-upon environment.”

So if you have a weekend free this month, don’t miss out on the final days of the annual Florida Renaissance Festival. It’s on every weekend at Quiet Waters Park. But be warned, expect long lines—the park often reaches capacity by the afternoon—so get there early if you want to partake in the festivities.

 

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Death of chocolate?

Chocolates are a favorite romantic gift for Valentine’s Day—everything from a rich chocolate truffle to chocolate-covered strawberries. Beyond the happy smiles of chocolate enjoyers everywhere this Valentine’s Day, there are changes lurking in the industry. The future of chocolate is murkier than ever before.

If you have ever seen a chocolate plant, you will find the fruit quite different from the smooth, creamy chocolate in your favorite confectionary. The cocoa fruit pod is the size of a melon, and it’s grown in hot, rainy, tropical areas around the equator. Each melon-sized pod yields around 30 to 40 cocoa beans, which are dried and fermented before the next steps in the production process.

The dried beans are further roasted, and shelled into pieces before being ground into a paste, commonly referred to as chocolate liquor. The chocolate liquor is often processed to separate out the cocoa power from the cocoa butter (commonly referred to as grinding in the industry). Traditionally, chocolate is often made by adding more cocoa butter and sugar into the chocolate liquor.

It takes about 10 of the pods to yield enough dried beans to make one pound of chocolate. At a recent peak in 2022,  the world produced just under six million tons of these dried cocoa beans in 2022, mostly in Africa.

Recently, the supply of this delicious treat has been under threat. The cocoa commodity index has jumped 500% since 2022, after decades where the prices have been stable. The total cocoa supply in 2024 has fallen to around 4.4 billion tons (25% reduction since 2022), and the lowest in 45 years.

The increase in cocoa prices has impacted consumers with price increases, and it has reduced product sizes. Some manufacturers have resorted to substitutions, and some companies are offering non-chocolate products, or completely removing cocoa from their products. One potential alternative that some producers are working with is carob, from the tree of the same name grown in the Mediterranean region.

For craft chocolate makers targeting high-end chocolate enjoyers for key holidays like Valentine’s Day, they do not have that luxury. Some craft makers have increased their prices by 10% to 20% in the past few months—all due to the shortage in cocoa production.

How did the grinch steal our beloved chocolate? There are several long-term factors impacting the shortage.

Cocoa trees become increasingly prone to disease as they age. So old farms are abandoned, with new ones established in fresh forest. But this is becoming increasingly difficult due to a lack of new land to farm, and competition with mining interests in the growing area. Farmland is often sold to miners, exacerbating the production challenges.

Recent weather patterns in western Africa, often associated with the recent El Nino cycle, have been reducing production from the cocoa tree farms. The same weather phenomenon that has suppressed hurricanes in the past couple years has caused drier weather in West Africa, contributing to increased plant disease that devastated the trees in that region. The weather impacts not just total production, but also the quality of the beans produced, further stressing the craft makers who rely on top-grade beans.

Meanwhile, chocolate demand is continuing to grow at around 4% annually. So the mismatch between supply and demand is likely to be further strained. Because most manufacturers tend to hedge their long-term supply agreement pricing, according to a senior analyst at RaboResearch, the recent steepest price increases are likely to trickle to consumers in 2025.

Long term, farms worldwide may grow more cocoa trees as a result of this steep increase in price, but it will take three to four years to begin producing beans. And across many of the traditional growing regions, new farms in West Africa and South America will still face the same challenge of disease and weather patterns that has weakened production.

Carob, the alternative you can already buy, has been thriving since the 1970s as a natural sweetener and thickening agent. It is low in fat, and rich in fiber, calcium, and antioxidants, a potentially healthier alternative. But it has a distinct flavor and texture, and a more nutty and sweeter taste profile for consumers to adapt to.

Other startups have been looking at newer alternatives in trying to create a more perfect substitute for the diminishing chocolate supply aimed at a taste-conscious chocolate lover. One promising process uses fava beans. Most of the plants being looked at as alternatives have less demanding agriculture needs than the cocoa tree, mitigating the ecology impact to the chocolate supply chain.

Even further out, some other companies are looking at options of growing cocoa plant cells in a bioreactor, to produce chocolate without relying on the trees. The development is in early stages, but it uses the same technology advancements in the pharmaceutical industry for cancer drugs and nutrient supplements.

As the price of chocolate stays at all-time highs, these alternatives will likely gain more traction in the industry, especially for the price-sensitive segment of the chocolate industry. Short term as the supply drops, and the price increases, the industry is already seeing consumers pulling back on satisfying their sweet tooth. Data from a Jan. 16, 2025, report show North American chocolate grinding falling 1.2% in 2024 year-over-year, following similar trends in Europe, where its grindings dropped 5.3% in quarter 4, and fallen for two years in a row.

So expect 2025 to be a year in which you’ll likely see both a shortage of high-quality chocolate as well as increased prices. And on the horizon, if the chocolate alternative startups gain traction, we may see more and more chocolate using less and less cocoa, and the use of more alternatives to cocoa. It will be hard to conceive a world without chocolate, but we may be entering a period where consumers will be seeing hybrid offerings of both original and newer alternative chocolate.

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Taking a digital detox

How often do you use your phone in a week?

According to a 2024 study by the American Optometric Association (AOA), the average person spends just over seven hours a day looking at a digital screen. For the purpose of the AOA study, excessive screen time was defined as over seven hours, which means about half of the U.S. population exceeds that.

Once upon a time, parents often told their kids to turn off the TV and run outside. Now all age groups appear equally guilty of excessive screen time. Were our parents right to ask us to limit our screen use?

The AOA study found that the cost of our excessive screen time is costing the U.S. around $73 billion a year, in vision and other related symptoms. These include blurred and double vision, eye pain, headache, migraine, back pain, and neck pain. They impact both direct medical costs and, more importantly, lost productivity and well-being.

Beyond physical symptoms, according to Cleveland Clinic, excessive screen time is stressing many out, and a digital detox may help to provide relief.

Dr. Kia-Rai Prewitt of Cleveland Clinic explains, “Social media connects us with others in many beneficial ways. But at the same time, it can also have an unhealthy effect on people.” Anxiety and depression can accompany negative social media experiences, and it affects self-esteem.

Dopamine is triggered by our brain’s search and explore functions. We are wired to release dopamine when we make human connections. Stanford psychiatrist Dr. Ann Lembke explains in her book, “Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence,” how social media apps can cause the release of large amounts of dopamine to our brain’s reward pathways. With every scroll or swipe, the action provides a hit of dopamine to our brain, similar to an addictive drug.

In a study published in the journal Psychology Science, researchers found that our brain reward centers were more activated by social media than by images of food or money.

When you sign off, this source of dopamine is removed, and your brain will go into a dopamine-deficit state. This is why social media feels good when you are using it, but you may not feel as good when you stop.

The long-term dopamine exposure is still being studied to see if it will lead to desensitization, as with illicit drugs.

A digital detox allows you to see if technology is affecting your productivity as well as your well-being, both physical and mental. It allows your brain to withdraw from the additive effects of excess dopamine. According to a Standard Medicine Scope article, one month is the minimum duration typically required to reset the dopamine reward pathways, and it may decrease the anxiety and depression that social media can induce. Upon returning from detox, the article recommends prioritizing app usage toward connecting with real people and consolidating its use to specific times of the day.

So if you are looking for ideas to improve your overall well-being, look into digital detox this January, and have a healthy and happy 2025!

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Curiously hungry: Cooking cheese with wine

The classic pairing of wine and cheese is taken to another level by the Swiss. The Alpine country, with its many pasturelands, is home to many famous cheeses. Surrounded by great wine regions of France, Germany, and Italy, it’s no wonder someone came up with the idea of cooking cheese with wine in the 17th century.

“Fondue,” as we now call it, is made by melting cheese in wine, and it’s usually served with bread to be dipped in it. It is the national dish of Switzerland, and it’s the most recognized dish. The blend of flavors and aroma from great cheese and wine is a wonderful foundation for anything you dip into it. It is something that should be experienced if you ever travel to Switzerland.

Meanwhile at home, you can find this classic Alpine creation in the heart of Coral Springs. The Melting Pot, located near the corner of Sample Road and Coral Springs Drive, serves up this simmering concoction to local residents.

Their classic fondue is made with Gruyère, a hard cheese named after a town in Fribourg in Switzerland. The cheese is sweet, and it’s creamy and nutty when young. Along with a white wine, the fondue provides a fruity base for more than just bread. At the Melting Pot, they provide you with apple slices that go extremely well with this fondue.

Emmentaler cheese, with its characteristic “eye formation” common in many Swiss cheeses, is part of other Melting Pot fondue offerings. Its mild and savory flavor pairs well with Wisconsin aged cheddar and Sam Adams lager. This fondue provides a stronger flavor base, which goes well with the soft pretzels and vegetables offered.

At the Melting Pot, they also serve great salads, with delicious dressings. They offer a great refresher for your taste buds before you embark on the restaurant’s entree course. For the entree, a selection of proteins is offered, which can be cooked at the table either with a grill or in a hot pot.

The grill options work great with many cuts of meat and fish that are on the menu, or you can try their Coq au Vin stock, which is prepared with burgundy wine, mushrooms, scallions, and garlic. The Melting Pot also serves entrees with a combination of dips, which adds extra flavor dimension for the diner.

The meal is not complete without enjoying a new modern American fondue creation. The chocolate fondue was first served in a restaurant in New York in the 1960s. The Melting Pot’s chocolate fondues offer several chocolate options, including dark, milk, and white chocolate. Served with a combination of fruits and desserts, it will satisfy any sweet tooth. For those who love chocolate, there is nothing more decadent than dipping a brownie into dark chocolate. And who doesn’t love a strawberry or banana dipped in chocolate?

So as the next cold front comes to Florida, and you want to enjoy a classic Swiss creation, give fondue a try. The Melting Pot has long served its version of this method of cooking in Coral Springs. They offer an authentic experience that you will enjoy.

The Melting Pot is located at 10374 W. Sample Road, Coral Springs; www.meltingpot.com/coral-springs-fl.

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Banned in Florida: ‘It tastes like chicken’

There is nothing like a banned food that makes us more curious about it. Sometimes it makes it more attractive to attain.

Some bans are due to the endangered nature of the ingredients, like endangered sea turtles, beluga caviar, and queen conch. Or it’s due to potential risks to human consumption, like the puffer fish, raw ackee fruit, and Kinder surprise eggs (with a toy inside). Or there’s a disease risk, like haggis, due to risks of scrapies from sheep lung in the classic Robert Burns Night dish. Other bans are due to concerns of animal cruelty, like with horse meat or shark fins.

There’s an addition to that list this year, as “cultivated” meat, or lab-grown meat—which is grown from animal stem cells—got the ban hammer in Florida. Other states, such as Alabama, Arizona, and Tennessee, have similar bans on cooking.

The ban doesn’t impact manufactured meat substitutes derived from plants, like tofu-based meat substitutes or Impossible burgers.

Recently, Upside Foods, a start-up working to commercialize cultivated meat, sued to block the ban. So, what is lab-grown meat?

Scientists from the University of Maastricht in Netherlands were the first to create a lab-grown meat designed for human consumption. A hamburger costing more than $300,000 was presented in 2013; the cost was later reduced to around $11 in a few years. The FDA first approved it for U.S. sales in 2023. Also in 2023, the Orthodox Union certified a strain of lab-grown poultry meat as kosher Mehadrin meat, a first in the world.

The cultured meat is grown from animal stem cells. The cells are submerged in a stainless-steel vat of nutrient-rich broth for them to grow and divide. After a few weeks, there is enough protein to harvest. Currently, the food scientists mix the meat and press it into nugget or culet shapes for sale.

For now, lab-grown meat can only be found in a few limited locations, like Bar Crenn, a Michelin-starred eatery in San Francisco, and a Jose Andres restaurant in Washington, DC. It’s not yet widely available.

The objective of the cultivated meat industry is to reduce the environmental impact of meat production, and to be a more sustainable option for the industry. That is a promise not yet proven. The presumption is that when mass-production scale is achieved, it will reduce the land and water use compared to traditional ranching methods.

For those concerned with animal welfare, lab-grown meat introduces a new dimension. A recent poll suggests that half of vegetarians would still prefer to avoid it. Among the total population, the poll suggests about two-thirds will give lab-grown meat a try.

As society and government try to process the emergence of lab-grown meat, the fledgling industry proclaims the meat as the “safest, best protein on the planet,” as the growing methods avoid contamination due to the pathogens and antibiotics that are common in current methods.

It is also conceivable, in the future, that meat from endangered animals, such as bluefin tuna, can be grown in the lab and reduce the stress on wild populations.

For now, growing and selling cultivated meat is a crime in Florida, except for NASA and the space industry, which have been studying cultivated meat for long-term space missions.

Dean Black, a cattle rancher and Florida representative who supported the bill’s passage, stated concerns of national security, as concentrated protein production may lead to attack. And with the ban, the state hopes to protect “the integrity of American agriculture,” according to Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson. Gov. Ron DeSantis, in his statement, raised concern about the “global elite’s plan to force the world to eat meat grown in a petri dish.”

Others in the legislature were against the bill, such as our local state representative, Rep. Christine Hunschofsky. She called it a “food fight” and said that it “sends a bad message” to both researchers and businesses who are trying to grow a nascent industry.

Even though the FDA approved the lab-grown meats as safe, it doesn’t mean that they’re healthy. We’ve learned this from studies showing that ultra-processed foods have negative health implications. Even if the ingredients that go into ultra-processed foods are all safe, it’s better to eat minimally processed options. The new industry is still working to show that the micronutrients you find in your grocery store meat are present in the lab-grown variety.

So the jury is still out on the new culinary frontier, but early reviewers who have tried the cultured meat have given it good reviews. An Associated Press reviewer, who tried a cultured chicken, commented that it “tastes like chicken.”

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Peacock fever

You are not seeing things, that’s a peacock on the road.

Like occasional gator sightings, or seeing a turtle cross the street, seeing a peacock on a Parkland side street is another reminder of how close we live to nature.

Peacock sightings are also a legacy of the fact that the Parkland and Coral Springs area used to be farm and ranch land. In the past few decades, new developments were added, but small farms are still thriving in our area.

These large pheasants are not native to Florida, or even the Americas. The most memorable peacock with blue and green plumage comes from the Indian subcontinent. They first arrived as pets or for specialty farms, and over time they were released or escaped into the wild. They are omnivorous, and will eat plants, flowers, seeds, insects, even reptiles, and amphibians. So South Florida is paradise for them.

Technically, peacocks are the male peafowls, whereas the peahens are the females. But the brilliant display exhibited by the males during mating season makes them a more iconic image for the species.

Throughout scientific history, there is much speculation about why peacocks have such a vibrant display. Darwin speculated that the peahens, through a long line of descent, must have “appreciated this superiority.” But scientists are not sure if the large tail plumage, or the train, is due to natural selection as Darwin postulated.

A multiyear study in Japan concluded that peahens did not show a preference for large trains. In fact, peacocks with more symmetrical, or elaborate train (more eyespots) affect the peahen’s choice of mate.

The eyespots, or ocelli, do seem to affect peahens. The angle at which they are displayed seems important to holding the peahen’s attention. The dance and rattling of the tail seem to be an attention-grabbing aspect of their ritual. For most human observers, it’s the eyespots that are most mesmerizing.

The eyespots are composed of intermeshed features held together by microhooks. The eyespot’s structure keeps the spots stable when the peacock vibrates his tail to attract the peahens. The vibration usually has a frequency of 25.6Hz, which is audible for the peahens, and able to keep the attention of most observers looking at it.

While scientists continue their research into this area, we can all enjoy these displays when we find them on the street or at a local farm. However, some in the neighborhood with a peafowl population may be more concerned about their noise. The typical peacock sound has been described as a cross between a bird call and a baby crying out.

Before you consider harming these gorgeous birds, keep in mind that even though peacocks are not native, they are protected under a Florida statute, which may result in a fine of $5,000 and/or up to a year in prison if you are found guilty of shooting a peacock. The penalty is even more if one tortures or intentionally harms a peacock—up to 10 years in prison.

You may see them mostly wobble or hop around. Peafowls can fly around a mile in a single flight, so with an abundance of food locally, they can quickly become wild and adapt to our southern Florida climate.

So you may find yourself face to face with a peafowl, even if you are not next door to a farm or do not park where these birds reside.

You may also find leucistic variants, which is a natural loss of pigmentation, similar to white lions and tigers you have seen. These are prized by some, and bred locally for pets.

This spring, hopefully you will be lucky enough to see them in person. If not, enjoy the pictures we have collected of local peacocks!

 

 

 

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Are you zombie scrolling too much? Try to cut down

It’s 2024. Will your average screen time go down this year?

In 2023, the average time that people spent staring at a screen was just under 7 hours, slightly higher than the worldwide average of 6.5 hours a day, according to DataReportal. Some of it is on your computer, which accounts for half of the screen time. The other half is on your mobile device. Effectively, half of our waking hours is spent looking at a screen.

Is this healthy? Probably not. Health experts recommend less than 2 hours in front of a screen daily (excluding school or work), according to the National Institute of Health (NIH).

It’s not surprising. Data from Harmony (www.harmonyhit.com), a healthcare information technology company, shows that 40% of Americans are trying to cut down on their screen time this year, and another 36% feel like they should. Like all new year’s resolutions, this may not be easy.

The top application we are using when on the phone is messages. This is followed by all the social media sites—YouTube at #2 and Facebook at #3. TikTok, the latest fashionable app, is #6, just behind Instagram.

According to the study, half of Americans feel they are addicted to their devices. The younger you are, the more you tend to feel that way. The top reason is that our entertainment is more and more coming through our phones now. People often reach for their phone when bored.

In our search for the next viral video that keeps us entertained, we end up constantly checking our phones. Researchers call the behavior of scrolling for new content without a specific purpose “zombie scrolling.” Often, even if the news is bad or depressing, we still constantly look out for it; Merriam-Webster has termed this “doom scrolling.”

According to Harmony’s December 2023 study, 48% of Americans zombie scroll; they are scrolling without a specific purpose. More alarmingly, 27% of us text while at the stoplight. This might contribute to why we are hearing more honking and road rage than in the past. Also, if you ever wondered if others share the habit of using their phone on the toilet, you will find that you are among the supermajority—3 in 5 admit to doing it.

A University of Rochester Medical Center study in 2023 listed some of the signs of addiction to our smart devices:

  • Losing large amounts of time mindlessly checking apps or browsing the internet on your phone
  • Feeling anxious or restless when you cannot access your phone
  • Use of your phone has interfered with your productivity at work or at home
  • Using your phone in dangerous or inappropriate situations, such as when driving or crossing the street
  • Struggling to wait to check your phone when you receive an alert

It is hard to imagine that, just a few decades ago, baby boomer parents would have frowned upon hours and hours of TV watching. Now, every age group is spending much more time in front of the screen. Many parents nowadays still try to limit their children’s screen time. NIH reports the following among those 8 to 18 years old:

  • 28% said that their parents set TV-watching rules
  • 30% said that their parents set rules about video-game use
  • 36% said that their parents set rules about computer use

A NIH-sponsored study showed that, when parents set media rules, children’s media use dropped by 3 hours per day!

Recently, TikTok started implementing a screen limit of 60 minutes for kids under age 18. The limit can be disabled or extended via entering a passcode.

Even among adults, the Harmony survey showed that 55% feel that they waste time on their phones. And previous studies showed that excessive phone usage is linked to anxiety among younger adults.

Smartphones are a power tool for us to stay connected with our loved ones, and like all tools, we need to use it to benefit ourselves. So if you feel like you are zombie scrolling too much, or when the next world event upsets you and you feel like doom scrolling, try these suggestions from Harmony to cut down on screen time:

  • Doing activities that don’t require a phone
  • Putting the phone away while around others
  • Using the “Do not disturb” feature

Early studies are showing that even a small reduction has shown benefits in respondents’ mental health. So for 2024, try some of these suggestions, and maybe you will end up less anxious in a turbulent world.

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El Niño is officially back. What will that mean?

El Niño describes a phenomenon in which eastern Pacific waters are warmer than average. It has wide-ranging impacts across the world, and it has started.

It may not be obvious why weather patterns in the Pacific should impact us here on the coast of the Atlantic. But years of data show a consistent relationship that Floridians should be aware of.

For June, the average temperature along the eastern Pacific has risen to an average of 0.8C above normal; this is a relatively quick change from the La Niña conditions that were dominant for the past few years, which coincides with very active tropical storm seasons. Whereas, El Niño is expected to deter the formation of Atlantic tropical storms.

So why is that?

Traditionally, the very warm waters off the western Pacific, near the Philippines, are where the water vapor rises, then falls on the eastern Pacific. This was first identified by Gilbert Walker in 1904.

When El Niño happens, the Pacific waters off South America are warmer than average. This causes stronger rising air, which inverts the typical trade-wind patterns in the Pacific.

This new center of air rising on the eastern portions of the Pacific means that air will fall down from high in the atmosphere near the western U.S., and the tropic Atlantic waters.

One early indication of this is that it is drier than normal in Canada, where the wildfires have been flaring up. The warm air that rises falls down near western Canada, causing warmer temperatures there. El Niño is also contributing to this due to a lower jet stream, and it’s causing more storms to travel along the southern states. This impacts Florida, and we will likely see above-average rainfall near us. This will also mean drier conditions in the states along the Great Lakes.

 

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The return of the flamingos

When folks visit South Florida, they expect to see flamingos. You see them in zoos, as well as other popular tourist attractions. Yet the local wild flamingos in Florida were wiped out by excessive hunting for their bright pink and crimson plumages, and by the 1990s, many believed them to be extinct in the Florida wild.

Either from birds escaping from captivity, or by flowing in from nearby Caribbean islands, the Florida flamingo population began a slow recovery. By 2014, there was a population of 147 flamingos in the STA2 water treatment facility in the Everglades just north and west of Parkland.

In a 2021 survey by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, up to 1,000 birds are estimated to be in Florida. Near Parkland, the local population typically visits the area in the spring, and most leave for an undisclosed location later in the year. Researchers are still studying their behavior to understand their travel patterns or whether they are local all year round, along with working to classify them as “threatened” to qualify for stronger protection.

The American flamingo is one of the largest flamingo species, and it can grow up to 57 inches, which makes them hard to study. Frank Ridgley, a wildlife veterinarian and researcher at the Zoo Miami, is quoted as saying in an interview with the Audubon Society, “There’s a reason why no one’s studied adult flamingos before. They just fly off.” One flamingo in the Keys was successfully tagged and tracked in 2018, and it was found to have joined a local flock and stayed in Florida.

Researchers have also been observing the wild flamingos, to learn what they are doing in the area. “We noticed a lot of courtship behavior,” Ridgley says. “All seemed to be pair bonded and stayed close together.” Flamingoes are believed to mate for life, and they stay close together.

The STA2 water treatment area access is restricted, so bird watchers are asked to join a tour approved by the water district.

Hopefully with continual recovery of the flamingos in the nearby Everglades, local residents can get a peek at the wondrous birds in the wild, not just at zoos or in reruns of “Miami Vice.”

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Delicious Dining – Coffee or tea, anyone?

Our local guide to some of the best specialty foods in our area

Coffee is clearly one of the world’s most popular drinks. A fresh cup is often just what we need to start the day. It wakes us up, gives us that extra jolt we may need in the afternoon, or simply provides a perfect excuse to meet a friend for a latte.

Whether you need a quick morning pick-me-up or a relaxing afternoon cup of tea, here’s where to go for delicious cappuccino, espresso, and more in Parkland or Coral Springs. 

Carmela Coffee Company

7967 N. University Drive, Parkland

Carmela is a coffee/wine bar dedicated to providing you with quality drinks curated in its own family-trade farms. It offers a wholesome, trendy menu including an array of avocado toasts, flatbreads, salads, and sandwiches. 

The Little Coffee Shoppe

10732 Wiles Road, Coral Springs

The Little Coffee Shoppe is a unique spot in west Coral Springs with an eccentric ambiance and a cozy, relaxed vibe. Its wide array of breakfast and lunch options are a perfect match for its many types of coffees, teas, juices, and blended drinks.

Lady and the Mug

3111 N. University Drive, Coral Springs

With a beautiful atmosphere and welcoming environment, Lady and the Mug offers plenty of options of both tea and coffee as well as delicious desserts and savory foods, including vegan and gluten-free options.

 

Fyr & Ice Asian Fusion and Drinks

10371 W. Sample Road, Coral Springs

Boba tea is a drink that includes tapioca or fruit-flavored pearls. Fyr & Ice in Coral Springs offers various flavors of boba milk tea and flavor fruit tea. The Asian restaurant is also known for its modern interpretation of classic dishes and its insistence on only using high-quality, fresh ingredients.

Surprising coffee fact that will perk you up:

Cream makes your coffee stay warm. If you prefer to keep your coffee as hot as possible for a longer time, try adding some cream into your drink. This will make your coffee stay warm for 20% longer.

When brewing coffee at home, save your leftover beans for a do-it-yourself scrub. Coffee grounds are physical exfoliators that can lift off dead skin cells, making skin feel smooth and look brighter.

If you would like your eatery to be featured in “Delicious Dining,” please email EricaLeigh2020@gmail.com.

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… That our flag was still there

This July 4th we will be celebrating our nation’s birthday with gatherings, fireworks, and singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

The good ole red, white, and blue are the colors that the Founding Fathers chose to represent our values. According to Charles Thompson, Secretary of the Continental Congress, the color white stood for purity and innocence; the color red represents hardiness and valor; while blue stood for vigilance, perseverance, and justice.

These values unified the 13 original colonies into declaring their independence from the British monarchy and victory in the War of Independence, and the continual growth and success for the past 246 years.

All of us have faced stress in recent years, some more than others. Many are still facing the challenges of caring for loved ones, the increased cost of living, rollercoaster investment portfolios, and anxiety for the future.

So this year, it is even more important to not forget that we, the people of the United States, are founded on perseverance and hardiness. This community has joined to hold each other after facing the evil of the MSD shooting. We have stood together with each other throughout the past couple of years of the pandemic’s ups and downs. We have lent a helping hand to each other when times were tough.

So when we sing “Gave proof through the night, That our flag was still there,” reflect on the resilience of our community. Quoting a former president, “The colors of our flag signify the qualities of the human spirit we Americans cherish.” So we should have faith that our common values, symbolized by the flag, will unite us and persevere through the tough times.

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Loving life at Loxahatchee wildlife refuge

Where can you find 250 species of birds, 60 species of reptiles and amphibians, 40 species of butterflies, many types of mammals, a ring of levees in an extensive dike system, an assortment of wet prairies and sawgrass ridges, and a 400-acre cypress swamp?

That would be at Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, a huge, biodiverse, forested cypress swamp community at the northernmost part of the Florida Everglades. The refuge contains 226 square miles of everglade ecosystems. Loxahatchee is one of the largest urban wildlife refuges in the country, with more than 145,000 acres of land, and is one of three water conservation areas in South Florida.

The headquarters area, accessed from Lee Road in western Boynton Beach, contains the visitor center, the boardwalk trail, observation platforms, boat launches, levees, and more. This beautiful wildlife refuge also is adjacent to Parkland on the southern end. Some people go biking, to fish, or to boat. I recently went there to bird-watch, hike, and look for alligators with relatives visiting from the north.

Behind the Visitors Center is the Cypress Swamp Boardwalk, a half-mile trail through the natural cypress forest. The cypress swamp features pond cypress trees with peculiar-looking “knees,” at ground level, that I’d never seen anywhere else, along with lichens, ferns, and all kinds of wildlife.

We started our visit to Loxahatchee on the boardwalk trail, and my group was impressed with the beautiful nature all around us. Many of the trees had silvery-gray Spanish moss hanging high from their branches. Some of it had landed on the boardwalk, and we got to pick it up and explore it closely, a rare thrill for my aunt from Maine.

After doing the boardwalk trail, we drove over to the Marsh Trail, which has its own parking lot.  The trail is about 0.9 miles in length, and it follows a square path. We set out to walk along it and take in the peaceful setting. Just as we reached an observation tower about halfway along the trail and started to climb its steps, the sky opened up and rain drizzled down, followed by a quick downpour. It was lucky timing for us, as we stayed dry under the wooden roof of the tower. We watched as two separate groups of people made a quick dash from other parts of the trail to take cover with us. We all enjoyed looking out over the bucolic vista in the rain.

Just as quickly as it started, the rainstorm stopped, and we climbed down the steps to continue on our little hike. After finishing that part of the refuge, we headed over to the final stage of our outing: to climb up on a levee and walk along the trail there.

We had never been on a levee before, and we looked up the definition: “a continuous dike or ridge (as of earth) for confining the irrigation areas of land to be flooded.” There was a long, flat trail up there that was flanked by water on either side. Birds were singing all around us as we walked. We continued down the endless trail, past the canoe and kayak rentals, and enjoyed the striking views. We took photos of the landscapes and used a smartphone to identify some of the birds we saw. We watched someone fly fishing. We walked along the quiet levee until we decided to turn around to come back. The area was open, vast, and empty, and we enjoyed the solace on this nice Friday morning.

There is much more one could do at Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. I’ll be going back and trying more activities there. I recommend you check it out some time.

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