Halloween in Florida

Scary Sophia making the "transformation"..... Sophia, Allison, and Ashley taking on the "Mask", and making a few bewitching friends. These were good witches, they provided papi with an ice cold Corona.

Ashley's little spider-brother Jacob, rocking his 1st Halloween. Sophia and Allison. Another house on the 20lb candy tour route.

Pinhead, our new friend that we met at the Scary Halloween Bash at the local theatre.

Sophia trying to bring better focus on her candy collecting future.

Ice Skates, Pumpkins and Guitars

The legions are beginning to clamor. Nuanced emails are collecting in my in box. Outright consternation has begun.

It’s time to BLOG.

It’s no secret that PinF’s life in Florida mainly revolves around two things—Sophia and all her extra-curricular activities, and the enjoyment of my paradisiacal environment. Whether at the beach, or on my motor-cycle; or any other activity that combines the glorious weather of Florida with pursuits of blissful fancy that’s PinF’s pursuit in his free time.

Lately the PinF files have revolved around Sophia’s skating and guitar playing both of which bring me immense joy and even more pride. Sophia’s penchant for solitary endeavors obviously is a direct result of her being an only child, still her abundance of confidence in her abilities and even more importantly her self, are quite impressive. I’ve asked her if she wanted to do the more traditional activities i.e.: softball, and soccer—she’s just not interested in team sports. That she enjoys ice skating is something I’ve touched on before, and I believe there are aspects that mirror her more feminine likes (the fashions). Still, she’s not in it for just the “flash”, she is really good, and improving weekly before my eyes.

This month she graduated to level 6. Immediately I saw the degree of difficulty begin to rise as she now is learning much more technical skills. Her new instructor is a man, his name is Vincent and he is notably different that the women instructors, for starters he’s more technically focused. Often he’ll have a student do the same move 5 or 6 times until he sees they’ve learned it before he’ll move on. His one-on-one skill is different, and I believe all the girls accept his advice differently because he is a man and they don’t have the commonality they have with the women instructors, as such it’s more business on the ice. I’m extremely proud, and in awe of my little girl; her progress makes my getting up at 5AM on skate days worth the sacrifice.

Sophia’s guitar instructor is also a man, his name is Freddy and we’re very lucky to have found him. I found him on Craigslist. Turns out he’s a Philly boy, trained at the school of performing arts and is a multi-talented musician playing both drums and guitar. He’s quite taken with his little student, as Sophia’s concentration level as well as maturity and focus are beyond what he expected from an 8 year-old. Sophia’s all business at class, she’s now added “Smoke on The Water” to her electric repertoire and has almost learned all her chords, her week-to-week progress is really quite stunning. This is further proof that children can do or learn whatever they want, provided they are offered an environment that fosters learning, growth, and encouragement.

So now we’re at Halloween. This is Sophia’s time of year and she’s been planning her costume for months. I believe it’s a rock n’ roller, sticking to her themes I guess. On Tuesday I’m taking her and a girlfriend to a local theatre company for their Halloween presentation for kids, something we were meant to attend last year only to be cancelled due to Wilma. Tonight it’ll be memory lane. The 40th anniversary of “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” will air tonight and we’ll be ready, popcorn bowl full in anticipation.

PinF loves these moments especially, probably because like a piece of LEGO, these are the moments that fit snuggly together; linking my past with my present and future. Sophia for her part would assume that tonight’s show is something unique to her—not something her Papi may have seen. This in itself is one of the coolest aspects of being a parent in this era. Unlike my parents, there weren’t too many common bonds in their childhood experiences that carried over to their children, case in point would be television and the technology that ensued. Incredibly, though technology has increased at lightning pace, I still get to enjoy the same shows from my childhood that my daughter does. Cool.

These shows take me back to much more innocent time in my life. I’m easily able to picture my mom thirty years ago, young, pretty, and 37 years young. She’s dressing my brother Bill as a Philadelphia Eagle, me as a hippie, Chris as a pirate, and Rob as a ghost—nothing store bought here, all of us conjured up by her own hands. Of course she still had her fifth goblin Scott, though he was too young to step out with the boys in Drexel Hill. Then we would excitedly shuffle out into the crisp October air laden with the smell of early season chimney’s burning and go shuffling through Drexel Hill neighborhoods of what seemed like hundreds of kids. The best part was you were safe, you were happy, and you were unaffected by the prevailing fears that covet the minds of parents today.

These were special times and we didn’t know it. Watching Charlie Brown tonight to see if he finally gets to kick the football will remind me of those special days so long ago. This is something we must all try to remember, because these days that we’re living now are “The good old days” to ourselves and children twenty years from now.





Happy Halloween.

Caracas and Back

PinF is back. Exhausted, weary, and happy to see his daughter. I left last Wednesday night out of Miami headed towards Hugo Chavez's leftist leaning country Venezuela. I hadn't been since 2001, so it was kind of nice in many ways.

As I kicked back on my flight down it dawned on me--I'm not sure why, but it did. October 1th of last year was when my father was involved in his auto accident that would eventually lead to his demise some 5 months later. What a difference a year made. I arrived to the chaos that is Caracas and began to seek out my driver--there was no sign of him. This left me to fend with all the free lance taxi drivers and money changers looking to buy dollars. I was soon united with my driver and headed off into the thick, humid, night air of Caracas, andthe many politically contrasting signs of Hugo Chavez, and the inequities of his people.

I arrived in a quick 25 minutes to my friends' Arturo and Mary's house, the penthouse in an upscale area of the city at the base of the Avila mountain range that seperates the city from the sea. The view of the moon from the rooftop deck was spectacular, second only to view the next morning of the moutain and sprawling city resting at its base.

The Avila mountain range follows you, leaving you vulnerable to its atmospheric whim...it holds clouds, it draws clouds. We were to take the cable car to the top and enjoy the Oktober fest, then take a Jeep half-way down and spend the afternoon enjoying a seven course Spanish luncheon and a bottle of Buchanan's Reserve (aged 18 years) as we dined on a cliff looking down at the modest farms from above the clouds. You can even see the Caribbean Sea from the mountains. A special day for sure. Coming from flat Florida the beauty of the scenery was especially striking as I observed the small fincas that produce flowers, fruit and other mountain grown goods.

We spent about 5 hours as we leisurely took in our scotch's from above the clouds. Occasionally the clouds would clear leaving us with a clear view of the Caribbean Sea some 20 miles away.

It was nice to escape the noise, heat, and trafic of the city to the cool fresh air of the Avila. In the 10 or so times PinF has been in Caracas he never once took the time to take the cable car to the top so I'm especially grateful to my guests.









Caracas is a vibrant city full of contradictions opulence/poverty, calm/fear, democracy/dictatorship.....still it is a favorite city of mine as the people like any great city are what make it. I was lucky in the sense to visit with great people, great hosts, and great friends.

Lessons Lived

PaynterinFlorida has watched from afar, feeling a sort of kinship to the people he's seen and known from his life back in Pennsylvania as they sort through the madness of such an unspeakable, let alone unimaginable act.

I was even driven to write to my old paper the Philadelphia Inquirer to express my grief and outrage. Ironically enough, just below my comments are those of a Mr.Gootlieb and a Mr. Workman both of whom argue for MORE guns, by empowering school officials and janitors to carry guns--- good idea guys, and perfect time to pitch that plan? How obscene is this? These little girls died because of guns, yet these two call for more guns? My anger is towards those who allow and even lobby against any form of gun reform in this huge expansive country of ours where seemingly anyone can have, get a hold of, and possess a firearm.
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When after the the dust settles, the facts are known, and the healing begins, there will be lessons learned. Bravery, humility, forgiveness, kindness, and faith are but a few of these lessons.

Still, grief clouds the reality of what has actually happened. More devastating than any crime that has been committed would be the losses that must now be absorbed by those most affected by this tragedy. The loss of daughters, sisters, and granddaughters to such a small and unique community is without doubt a devastating blow to the people known as the "plain people". Yet as painful as the physical loss is, there is another loss though not as profound, this is a loss that the community at large may never recover from. The loss of innocence and security these hardworking and historically rich people once enjoyed is most likely forever gone in the minds and hearts of the parents and children involved. This ripple affect will continue through the Amish community as today's generation of children become tomorrow's parents.

Equally as powerful as this past weeks' loss would be the lessons currently being absorbed and taught to today's children and tomorrow's parents. These are lessons that all people of faith and heart can only hope to learn. Forgiveness. There can be no greater test nor display of one's faith than the events of this past week in Pennsylvania. Still by all accounts the Amish community is being being portrayed as a forgiving and non-vengeful society. Long noted as exclusionary from the outside world, we've even seen the Amish reaching out to the outside by publicly asking for the public to pray for the family of the man who has taken their children. And as our technologically saturated world stays glued to the TV for details, the Amish somehow provide us the strength to accept what we cannot understand in their quiet humility and steady march towards the cemetary. I suspect this is one time when a lack of television and computers is actually a saving grace.

I could only pray for such grace. As a parent myself to a little girl the same age as these girls I honestly doubt I could forgive, at least not yet. Americans by their very competitive nature are not quick to forgive, rather we're quicker to revenge or 'justice". Sadly, in a case such as this, there is no revenge, or justice for that matter, only lessons. Contrastingly, we are just now discovering the bravery and composure of these little girls as they steadfastly approached their final moments armed with something much more powerful then their captor's weapon---their faith.

For many people who either haven't seen or lived near these fascinatingly private people, the only contact they may have had would be through movies or books. Philadelphian's are lucky in this respect, located just short drive away to the beautiful country and peaceful life of the Amish. I'm reminded of a scene in the Harrison Ford movie Witness when Harrison Ford playing police detective John Book moves to physically defend himself and the Amish father. In the scene the father chides Ford's character regarding violence saying "It's not our way", to which Ford responds "It's my way".

Apparently hatred is not the Amish way either. It has been widely reported that the grandfather of one of the victims has asked for the community to pray for the family of the murderer as well as letting his widow know that his family forgives her husband for what he has done. Heavy stuff for sure. Now I'm reading that the mother of one the victim's had invited the widow of the shooter to her daughter's funeral. Could any one act or words speak to the character of a community more than this? This is the Amish way.

We will come to learn many facts in the coming weeks regarding mental health, gun laws, and how best to safeguard our children's schools. Hopefully the people who posess the power to affect such changes act expediently and in a non-partisan manner, especially when it comes to gun law reform. The contrasting images of peaceful farmlands, and horse-drawn buggies surrounded by the intrusive world media resources will soon fade, leaving but the memories and the lessons. Leaving in its wake will be a community struggling to return to a normal existence as both the Amish and the "outsiders" struggle to make sense of what happened.

Ironic in a way that a people with so much less in the way of gadgets, technology, and sophistication have so much more when it comes to faith, forgiveness, and humility, in the overwhelming face of utter despair and pain. Again, the Amish way.

Heaven 6 Hell 2

I'm no expert on heaven and hell, though I'm quite sure the that two cowardly bastards shooting kids in both Colorado and Pennsylvania are on the autobahn expressway to HELL.

Shooting anyone unarmed, least of all a cowering little girl of six years is as dispicable an act as PinF can stomach. To hell with the NRA and the 2nd amendment! I know their twisted old excuse about "people kill people, not guns". Well if we didn't have so many damn guns so easily and readily available at least it wouldn't be as easy as strolling into a school and holding an execution.

This damn country is based on glorified violence. Perhaps George Bush ought to consider taking the likes of these homicidal scum and let them go fight his immoral and deceitful war, at least then we wouldn't be trading upon our countries' future by sacrificing our young soldiers and children's lives on a contrived, immoral, and illegal war. I see today dubya is calling for a government investigation on how to prevent such events---good one George. How about a "war" against guns?

*** CDC STUDY STATISTCS NOTED: The study used 1994 statistics supplied by the 36 countries. Of the 88,649 gun deaths reported by all the countries, the United States accounted for 45 percent of all gun related deaths in the world.

Here are gun-related deaths per 100,000 people in the world's 36 richest countries. United States 14.24; Brazil 12.95; Mexico 12.69; Estonia 12.26; Argentina 8.93; Northern Ireland 6.63; Finland 6.46; Switzerland 5.31; France 5.15; Canada 4.31; Norway 3.82; Austria 3.70; Portugal 3.20; Israel 2.91; Belgium 2.90; Australia 2.65; Slovenia 2.60; Italy 2.44; New Zealand 2.38; Denmark 2.09; Sweden 1.92; Kuwait 1.84; Greece 1.29; Germany 1.24; Hungary 1.11; Republic of Ireland 0.97; Spain 0.78; Netherlands 0.70; Scotland 0.54; England and Wales 0.41; Taiwan 0.37; Singapore 0.21; Mauritius 0.19; Hong Kong 0.14; South Korea 0.12; Japan 0.05.

PinF is pissed. I'm sick of seeing the future of this country sacrificed nightly either at home or abroad so that some cigar chomping fat cat can keep his gun collection. Why is it that George Bush can mess with my constitutional rights in the name of national security, but if anyone dares consider questioning the "right to bear arms" it is met with the vociferous cries of the right in this country? Where is the outrage that our personal rights are being trampled on-- all within a 5 year span?

I'm not so naive to think that outlawing guns will stop murders, no more than I am to think that the death penalty does. One needs only look at the murder rate by guns in other western countries with gun control laws to see the incredible impact such a measure would have, and just how many lives would be saved. If George can take away my right to privacy, them damnit, we ought to be able to take away these sick bastards rights to shoot little girls in school.

Our constitution is the bedrock on which this nation was built. Let the NRA explain the merits of the 2nd amendment to the grieving parents of these children.