Family Vacation: Ahh, Venice

The following is a continuation of Tiffany's flashback tour of Venice, Florida where we grew up. Here are some of her photos from way back when and from now.

Venice Avenue 1973 - Mom, a monkey, me (with hair) and little sister Tara in the stroller - she kinda looks like another monkey.
Venice Avenue 2009 with my niece and nephew. (was it coincidence that Tiffany took the photo in the exact same spot?)

Tiffany at Munday Park in 1970 - My father helped get this park created and Tiffany had a sense of ownership because of that. We lived a few houses down and when she would come here to play - she'd be miffed if other kids were on "her" playground. A two year old with a sense of entitlement!Tiffany's daughter Abigail at Munday Park in 2009

Dad, a monkey, Mom (prego with Tiffany), cousin Bill and Aunt Anne at the Venice Depot in 1968.

The Venice Depot in 2009 - now part of the Heritage Trail for bikers and hikers.

Tiffany at our old Groveland Avenue house in Venice. I was an infant - I don't remember those dogs. Amazing that there are still some classic old houses that they haven't torn down to make way for cookie cutter homes.Gunther Gebel-Williams - was considered one of the greatest animal trainers of all time and perfromed for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Circus in the The Greatest Show On Earth®. He was Venice's favorite son and a world class entertainer. Regardless of my opinions of circuses today, as children we found his show entertaining. He was probably the first person I understood to be "famous" and our parents knew him! He passed away a few years ago and is memorialized below in an appropriately flamboyant statue with a surprisingly defined cod piece. He was inducted into the International Circus Hall of Fame in 1999.

And the last picture is for Jack and Josie who think "monkey diapers" are funny. And really who doesn't? Here's a picture of me in 1971 - in a diaper on Venice Beach. Had I known Tiffany had this picture I would have posed for a picture with me in a diaper on Venice Beach in 2009.

EDITED (3/4/2009) - Malena suggested I post this picture of me in a diaper from 2007. I am the SMURF on the left. Baby New Year in the middle and Ashley Hayes Traut on the far right.

Family Vacation: Monkey Ruins

My older sister Tiffany and her family came south for a visit and I gave them the whirlwind tour. It was a quick trip with not a lot of time to look around - but here's her recap -

Remember that scene from Vacation…"Clark, don’t you want to see the Grand Canyon?"

Well, this is the Berish Family vacation. In two days we drove across the Everglades to Pete, toured the hometown of Venice, walked down memory lane in Ft. Myers, had an awesome airboat ride on Lake Trafford, drove back across the Everglades, and took a 3 mile hike through the Green Cay Wetlands. We came we saw. We geocached. We had fun.

I grew up in Florida and in the 21 years since I met my husband, he has never been to my hometown (by the way, we live in his hometown up in Massachusetts). So, with two kids in tow, we drove across Alligator Alley to meet up with Pete and MaLe to go see what has changed in Venice in the last 21 years. A LOT! We visited where we grew up. Even though the house was no longer there, it was surreal to walk around the area.

The entrance to the Florida Monkey Sanctuary 35 or so years ago. The cone-topped building was a "corn crib" and 10 of these structures housed dozens of monkeys.

The one building remaining is "the monkey building" where monkey chow and other supplies were kept.

Tiffany, our mother and a monkey - November 1972

What remains of the cage 35 years later.
Bopper the Java Macaque posing on the edge of the pool in 1975

Abigail posing at the edge of the pool in 2009.

Jungle Pete in 1983 after the completion of the bridge to "the island". The bridge was built by my father, Zak Kelly and myself. The island seemed massive and we would spend hours exploring it as kids.

The bridge remains, with railings, but Abigail discovered that one person at a time is possibly one too many. Walking around it might make sense. Most of the vegetation has been removed and the island looks much smaller.

More of Tiffany's flashback photos tomorrow.

Kingdom of the Monkey Skulls

Another for my mother (12/27/2005) - Three years gone by but your voice echos through my adventures.My father once joked that when archaeologists discover this site in the future they'll theorize that an ancient race of tiny people lived and thrived here. In fact, the ground beneath my feet today was the site of my childhood home and the Florida Monkey Sanctuary until 1988. Many monkeys found refuge here. More were born here and some were buried here. When my mother sold the property 20 years ago, many of the monkey cages were torn down. I returned in 1993 to see what had become of the place. An older man had moved in with his even older mother and I was content to know that the land was well taken care of. Flash forward to 12/27/2008 and today's visit. The house has been torn down and burned due to termites. The owner long since gone. The land is now used as a horse ranch. The neighbor's yard is less than welcoming. I don't test the dog or my speed. But we have permission to walk our old property. Beautiful old oaks cast their branches out over sandy soil. Margaret, a Clydesdale and my first horse (and the first word I ever spoke - Mah-gwet!) is buried here.What appears as a ditch is a dried up moat that encircled two islands. Peter's Island (named for my grandfather) was inhabited by squirrel monkeys in the 70's until a Florida Panther swam across and taught her kittens how to hunt. The bridge was built by my dad and me when I was 13. The next owner built the handrails, but our bridge to nowhere actually went somewhere. As a kid the island was completely forested and seemed to be a dense impenetrable jungle that I would always try to explore.Spread across the 10 acres were several corn cribs that functioned as housing for several hundred primates over the course of 20 years. On past explorations I had discovered little remains of the Sanctuary but I forged further into the "creepy" corner of the property and found three round concrete slabs that once were the foundations for the corn cribs. A shallow pool remains. My sister Tiffany called it creepy and I think she was referring to the NW corner. The NE corner was always creepy to me and I would run as fast as I could - from what I don't know.
As I explored further I instantly recognized the distinct aqua blue color of the swimming pool that once belonged to a troop of Weeper Capuchins. On rare occasions I would have the good fortune of hosing out the cages. The pool was always the toughest to clean. It was a task normally relegated to my mother or father. I must confess that while hosing the cages, certain monkeys would come down and shake the cage. I don't know if they were tainting me or playing, but I would spray them. They looked peeved but they always returned. I tell myself they were having fun. An orange tree grows at the edge of a concrete slab. No doubt the consequence of a discarded seed or two. The monkeys and apes were fed Monkey Chow as well as grapes, apples and oranges that my family prepared for them. (Marshmallows were always a vice of several sugar-loving simians). Today the ancient ruins from the 70's are lightly covered by tropical vegetation. Water pipes remain buried beneath leaves and soil. Bones of long past primates rest just beneath the surface. To the casual observer, all of these subtle clues might be dismissed. To me, they are my Machu Pichu. Relics of my childhood that echo a memory of my mother.

Balloons for Grandma

Lie to your kids. It amuses me.

I was hiking in the Everglades two weeks ago and spotted a shiny object floating between two Cypress trees deep in the far reaches of the swamp. It was a Mylar balloon and the metallic exterior shimmered and reflected the rare sunbeam that broke through the dense forest canopy. It reminded me that no place is far enough away from the hand of humanity.

This is what happens to some of the balloons that get away from kids. My niece lost a balloon a few months ago and my sister told her not to cry - the balloon was floating away and grandma would get it. Presumably my sister thinks our mother lives in space since passing on 2 years ago. The situation repeated itself a few months later and Tara reminded Peyton once again that the balloon was headed up to Grandma. When Peyton lost another balloon recently Tara once again calmed the greasy-fingered kid and told her not to worry - and you know the rest. The apparently agitated three year old had had enough of this explanation and demanded to know what Grandma was doing with all of her balloons. I can only hope she's having a rockin' party.

I think parents feel the need to make up the balloon story for a few reasons. The first being that many balloons float back to earth where lucky little kids get to frolic with your kid's lost balloon. Explain that to a kid.

Another is that many balloons return to earth as litter - disrupting a wilderness slog through the swamp or falling into an ocean where a confused turtle will attempt to eat it - thinking it's a jellyfish. Telling your kid that Crush choked on their balloon is generally upsetting.

And finally - the idea that an 8-armed alien holding a bouquet of your kid's balloon on the moon is simply creepy and would freak them out.

So instead - lie to them - it works for so many other things. And hey Peyton - you keep making that face and you'll turn into a monkey.

Happy 66th Birthday Mom - wherever you are.

Weirdos

I'm watching. The more I write, the more words Google has to search on the blog and that means more random searches bring people here. I use Statcounter and can see what people are searching for. I'm endlessly amused by the bizarre and often inexplicable things people are looking to find.

A few examples of Keywords, Search Words or Queries that people have entered to reach my site:

• picture of monkeys in diapers
• milking a rat
• pooping at festivals
• snakes on a roller coaster
• slap the monkey on the butt
• cupcakes guayaquil ecuador (ok this one makes sense)
• monkeys throw poop zoologist
• what was in the box in Indiana Jones 4 (i'm guessing a poop flinging monkey with a cupcake?)
• red sox taco
• kicking a rabbit
• hovercraft tours of the everglades
• Larry Kritcher (Larry....who's looking for you?)
• Florida 2000 ballot boxes thrown away everglades
• cucaracha island florida

Maybe I'm just bored now that the election is over. Maybe I'm just easily amused. Clearly I write too much about poop, monkeys, cupcakes and Larry Kritcher.

October Surprise

Ok - if you thought "October Surprise" was a lead in to another political rant - not to worry - but for my Republican friends out there that might not be able to bear it - I warn you now - there's a picture of me with a giant cupcake AND I'm wearing an Obama shirt. Blasphemy!

My wife clearly thinks I'm dumb. (As do several of the aforementioned Republican friends apparently) She sent me away on my birthday to go hiking with Kenny since she had to "work". And before I left I had to pretend not to notice the 12 lbs of chicken in the fridge. When I returned home she was still at work. A cupcake oven sheet was in the dish rack. There were no cupcakes to be found in the house. I also had to be oblivious to the well wishes of her sweet Aunt Miche who the night before told me to "enjoy all of your birthday surprises". Keeping secrets is not easy except for my cartoon counterpart as evidenced below - Meez was sneaking around inviting anyone within a 100 mile radius to the cupcake party. I'm not a fan of surprises so when I pulled up to Ma-Le's work and I saw 20 cars where there are usually 1 or 2 my suspicions were confirmed. This is where I would find the missing cupcakes. I drove around back. Called Ma-Le and told her someone had rear ended the new car. Then snuck in the back door while everyone was looking out the front. I caught hell for this later and Ma-Le demanded that I should have at least acted surprised. I thought it was funny. So thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes, food and the gifts and all of the sweet gestures. Including the following birthday cards from Jack and Josie (of Munky Diper fame)

Thanks to my sweet wife Ma-Le who spent the better part of a month working on the party. Although she brought out the game Twister - apparently in Ecuador they're not aloud to mix genders. So somewhere out there someone has pictures that I might need before I run for President.

And thanks to Sheila for the GIANT CUPCAKE maker. It's fantastic.

Spending Time Behind Bars

One of my goals in life was to see monkeys in the wild. Growing up at the Florida Monkey Sanctuary in the 70's, I was surround by primates - squirrel monkeys, spider monkeys, capuchins, baboons, siamangs and many more. Many had been taken from the wild and sold in the U.S. as pets, finding their way to the sanctuary through various means.
Some had been born in the U.S. or on the sanctuary and although their lives may have been better for coming to the sanctuary, they were never truly free. To see monkeys in the wild is to experience one of the most beautiful things in nature (which I have several times in Ecuador - I recommend it). To see monkeys in captivity is often heart breaking.

In 1988, many of the monkeys at our sanctuary were sent to other zoos and sanctuaries. I never imagined that 20 years later I would have the chance to see some of them again. But a friend of the sanctuary contacted me a few months ago and told me a few monkeys were changing hands and would be introduced to two sanctuaries in north Florida.

On our trip to Tennessee I thought it would be a good opportunity to visit. The sanctuary was not far from our route. The monkeys in question were Maddie (named after the Cybil Shepard character on Moonlighting) and Gertie (named for the Drew Barrymore character in E.T.). Gertie was born on the sanctuary in 1982. Her mother died at birth and my parents had to take care of her. She lived in the house for the first year or so. Lived in a crib. Wore a diaper. Watched cartoons with us. We essentially grew up with her.

I called the sanctuary when we were close and was informed she had been moved to a new facility which was only 15 minutes from where we were. It turns out her new home is a zoo - which concerned me and when we arrived the sign stated they were closed for a private function. So we became part of the private function and no one was the wiser. We were able to slip into the zoo and found our way to the spider monkey cages. No Gertie. We continued on to the back of the small zoo and found two black spider monkeys. Surely they would not recognize me after 20 years right? Maddie was younger than Gertie and was not raised in the house. I would never expect her to recognize me. She didn't get carried around to baseball games and out to restaurants. She didn't go to New York in the summer time with the family like Gert. Add the fact that Maddie now has testicles - I'm sure that this monkey had no idea who I was. Somewhere along the way, monkeys got switched. I called to Gertie and she came right over. Maybe she wants attention? Maybe this is part of her show?
MaLe called to Gertie. Nothing. She continued to stare at me and chatter. Gertie - not MaLe. I would love to think that she recognized me. The zoo keeper found it interesting and suggested the two spiders are usually shy. I'm not sure I wanted Gert to recognize me because I would have to leave her. As well intentioned as some of the zoos may be, its certainly not an idyllic life for these animals. We left and made arrangements to call the zoo director to see what I could do to help make a better life for the two spiders. Apparently Gert gets quite upset when she is separated from her new Maddie.

I'm not sure what I can do, but I will do my best to help her. It's good to know that they don't breed animals at this zoo. It's also illegal to import monkeys into the United States.

It breaks my heart to see animals in these conditions. It hurts having to leave Gert behind bars.

Click to hear Gertie chatter at me

7-10 Split

We're finally heading to the Great Smokey Mountains for out "honeymoon". We'll be missing the 7-10 Split Bowling Event this evening in Naples (Sorry Gomer and Kara). That is if Hurricane Gustav doesn't alter plans.

We'll get a 7-10 split of our own as that hurricane passes by and Tropical Storm Hannah lingers to the east. We'll squeeze up I-75 between the two storms and hope that all remains well back at home. On our way north, we hope to stop at Ziggy's - an animal sanctuary in Lake City, FL where 4 of our monkeys from the former Florida Monkey Sanctuary now reside. Most noteable is Gertie - a 26 year old spider monkey who was raised by my parents and is like a long lost sister to me. There may be tears. 100% chance if she remembers me.

Gertie is seen above - swaddled in the pink and white crocheted blanket - playing the role of the baby Jesus. (circa 1983?) Gertie was brought to a new sanctuary in 2008 after suffering was a skin problem (seen below) at her home in North Carolina. I'm told she's doing much better.
Then its up to Tennessee for a few days of hiking, waterfalls, train rides and cave exploration.

I hope everyone stays safe in the storms.

The Clam Before the Storm - Hurricane Fay?

It smells like a monkey in here. It's getting dark outside. The rain has begun to fall and the wind is howling at only 10-15 mph. Tropical Storm Fay is expected to reach hurricane status in the next few hours and Fort Myers is expected at this time (5:40 pm Monday) to take a direct hit.

People are boarding up their homes and burrowing in like clams in advance of the storm. (See I was going somewhere with that title. It's not just another misspelling.)

We decided to return from Fort Lauderdale last night at 11 pm to make sure everything was secure at home and so we could evacuate with the cats if necessary. We stopped at the Wal-Mart in Miromar since that was all that was open and we needed a few last minute things. Miromar is north of Miami and apparently we arrived just after the looting occurred. The shelves were bare of hurricane supplies like water, food, propane....it was weird. When we arrived in Fort Myers at 2 am, two of the gas stations were out of gas. We filled up near the house and headed for bed, expecting a busy Monday. But its been quiet and remains quiet except for the occasional howl of the wind.

We have our batteries, candles, cupcakes, water and everything else required to survive a storm for the next few days if need be. This thing may just blow by. But better to be stocked up. Hurricane Wilma knocked out power for weeks in some places. We could go live in Kenny's truck if we needed to. I think it's a certified fallout shelter.

But for now we wait. I brought the cat carriers inside in case we need to evacuate them. In truth the carriers are former monkey "sky kennels" used to transport monkeys to my parents old Monkey Sanctuary. I forgot how much they still smell like monkey. Maybe I should leave them outside until the worst comes. The clam shell hasn't been completely closed yet.

When Monkeys Fly Out My Butt

When it was announced that the state of Florida will buy out U.S. Sugar Corp. for $1.75 billion dollars I grew deeply concerned that primates with wings might be making an unimagined appearance. Recently there were whispers that the largest producer of sugar in the U.S. would intentionally go out of business in the next few years and sell their 300 square miles of land in the Everglades so that our greatest wetland can be restored - to which I responded "and monkeys will fly out of my butt." Today, Florida Governor Charlie Christ announced the plan to do just that. (buy the land from U.S.Sugar. Not fly out of my butt.)

One of the biggest detriments to the Everglades has been the government subsidized sugar industry that wriggled like a blood-thirsty tick into the rich, organic swampland of the Everglades just south of Lake Okeechobee. Sugarcane is not native to Florida but for all the years it has been grown here, the US government has kept an inflated price on it, causing US taxpayers to unknowingly overpay for sugar while preventing cheap imports. I don't get it either and the idea that a corporation would give all of that up just to placate the treehuggers while reaping a billion dollar payday is still unthinkable.

What this means for the Everglades is that the sheet flow of water that once spilled from Lake Okeechobee and flowed south through the river of grass can do so once again to a certain extent. No longer blocked by hundreds of thousands of acres of sugarcane fields, the river of grass might once more have some semblance of its former self and the water itself will have that much less pesticides and excessive nutrients flowing through them.


View Larger Map

U.S.Sugar is only one company. They produce 40% of the sugar in this country, so don't think the swampy slate will be wiped clean of polluting, environment altering crops of cane. But this is perhaps the greatest step towards restoring the Everglades that anyone has seen to date.

The idea that this is actually going to happen is so unthinkable it might make more sense to me if someone told me they cured baldness (they didn't did they?) or passed a laws preventing people from texting or using a cell phone while driving in Florida. No it's bigger than that and it's actually happening. I'll hold my breath and wait to hear all of the details and come to think of it I better pucker up the cheeks a bit too.

Random Monkey Bonus

Welcome to Ecuador - land of beautiful surprises, amazing vistas and random monkey bonuses. After a late arrival in Guayaquil, Ecuador last night, Ma-Le picked me up at the airport and brought me back for dinner with the family. They were nice enough to wait until 11:30 pm to eat. I was nice enough to not fall asleep in my dinner as well as having the stomach to eat again. That is if you can count eating on the plane. I do. It's exciting and I can never fall asleep until after the chicken and rice served in a soap dish is placed in front of me God forbid I miss a meal. (and Walnut Shortbread Cookies? - sounds gross - quite good. Maybe it's the euphoric amount of oxygen pumped throughout the cabin that provides this assessment). But I digress. NO PHOTOS PLEASE! (The Ecuador paparazzi pestering already.) I hadn't been in the country for 12 hours when we were lucky enough to get a glimpse (albeit at a great distance) of our first monkey. We traveled south to a park called Cerro Blanco (White Hill) and hiked the mountainous terrain in search of mostly birds and lizards but this little scene played out much to my delirium. These photos were taken well over 1/2 a mile away, but you can see the Red Howler monkey, hanging by a prehensile tail and swinging out to a very large flower. The leaves have fallen and most seeds and flowers are prominently displayed for seed dispersers like monkeys, squirrels and birds to find.

A few discarded petals and the lettuce head-sized flower is gone.

On to the next flower....I was lucky enough to see one up close. They are huge! The pollen covered stamens are bent inward, requiring pollinators like bees to crawl inside for the nectar and covering themselves with the pollen which they then bring to the next flower to cross pollinate. I learned this after leaning in to take a giant whiff of the pungent flower and a pollen encrusted bee zipped out.

I had forgotten what it's like to climb mountains. The highest point we reached today was near 1200 feet above sea level and that's about 1190 feet higher than I have gotten used to this year.As we left the park, Ma-Le recognized a friend who is a biologist and vet at the park and although my Spanish is terrible, I distinctly overheard them talking about a mark on his throat and I understood the words "Ocelot" and "Attacked". We headed back to his clinic where he brought out this little guy. Turns out this baby Ocelot had only been nursing on David's neck which left the mark. This 2 month old cat had been taken from the wild to be sold as a pet. It's mother was killed to get it and when the poachers were nabbed for this crime, the police brought the kitten to the refuge where it will now live.

They are carnivores, but at this size, their teeth and jaws can't do too much damage to me. Ma-Le's brother Juan Jose was still cautious, afraid the cute fluffy little thing might rip his face off.

I'm off to the Jungle for the next 9 days!