Oh, it’s raining again. Oh no, my loves at an end. Oh no, it’s raining again, And you know it’s hard to pretend.

Supertramp

If you live in Miami, you know it rained constantly last week.

We dodged it, trying to get our “free” hot dogs at Riviera on Monday for Memorial Day, without getting soaked. It was iffy the rest of the week and then, on Friday and Saturday, turned into Monsoon-like weather. There’s a lake-size puddle behind our house and branches and leaves have dropped all over the yard. Summer, not officially on the calendar yet, has begun in Miami. It is Hurricane Season; our roof has sprung another leak.

My sister Kelley officially became Jewish last week. The ceremony took place at Matheson Hammock, where she was fully immersed in the water in the lagoon. She wasn’t allowed to wear jewelry, makeup or nail polish, but had to come exactly as if she were a newborn baby. Luckily, she was allowed to wear a bathing suit. The water recreates the environment of the womb and when the convert emerges, it is the death of all that has gone before and the beginning of her new life as a Jew. Mazel tov!

Coincidentally, Zeke’s nephew got baptized for a second time last Sunday. He entered the dunk-type tank, set up outside the church, fully clothed, although he did remove his shoes, socks, watch and wallet before entering. This was at Renew church, a Pentecostal church in Homestead. My nephew recommitted to Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior. Kelley, who has been Christian her whole life, now refers to Jesus as a “good Jew.”

Tuesday night I went to the new Downton Abbey movie- A New Era– at Merrick Place with friends. It’s not going to win any acting awards, but it was good to see the old Grantham gang back together again, this time with a Hollywood film crew crashing the estate. I also saw the Top Gun: Maverick movie Saturday night with Zeke. It was very entertaining and kept me on the edge of my seat, but I was a little disappointed there was no mention of Kelly McGillis, who played Maverick’s love interest in the first film. I guess they “lost that loving feeling” for Kelly, aka Charlie in the movie. There were a lot of nods, however, to the original.

If you saw the first Top Gun, you know the pilots all had nicknames. I was especially enamored with Rooster, played by the adorable Miles Teller. He plays Goose (Anthony Edwards) and Meg Ryan’s son and sports the same stache and Hawaiian shirts his father favored. (I just realized both father and son have bird names.) He does this dance on the beach, now coined the Rooster wiggle, that’s been a sensation on Tik Tok. Google it. It was so nice to finally go to the movies with an audience, after the isolation we’ve all suffered in the Pandemic! Spontaneous applause was frequent; it seems like we all craved this action-packed, feel-good movie that let us forget about life for a while.

On Netflix, Zeke and I finished Bad Vegan (very weird!) and started The Staircase, a creepy, real life murder mystery. I’m still plowing through Grace and Frankie and am now on the last season. I definitely want to check out the Julia Child documentary on HBO (which means subscribing to HBO) and have heard Ozark, on Netflix, is must-see (streaming) TV.

Wednesday, I was very excited to see Courtney and Liam, who were flying in that day from Steamboat Springs, Colorado. I’m not sure what I expected of my reunion with my middle grandson, but Liam walked right past his Gigi to play with the basketful of baby toys in the living room. He seemed completely indifferent to me, despite the fact I hadn’t seen him in months. I made Teriyaki Chicken Thighs, Jasmine Rice, Stir fried veggies and a big salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing for dinner. Chris and Courtney were supposed to move back to Florida in July, but that’s now up in the air.

The highlight of our week was going to dinner at Red Rooster, Marcus Samuelsson’s restaurant in Overtown; the original is in Harlem, New York. I was supposed to go there for lunch after The Villager’s meeting at the historic Hampton House, but it got cancelled at the last minute, so was so happy to finally visit.

Red Rooster has a fun vibe, with a large bar in the front room as you enter; the well-lit main dining room features terrazzo floors, an open kitchen, bistro seats and marble topped tables lit with brass domed lights. Funky wallpaper- both tropical and Art deco- adorn the walls and memorabilia, such as Green Book guides, decorate the entrance. It has a not-so-secret speakeasy feel to it. There was a lot to take in and a beautiful room to the right, closed due to the rain.

We ordered entrees from “The Classics” section of the menu. I really liked the Fried Yard Bird (fried chicken), served with spicy honey and a cabbage slaw. The chicken was juicy, well seasoned, with a satisfying crunch to the crispy skin; it was a large portion. Zeke also enjoyed his Red Red Shrimp and Grits, which were actually quite red in color, probably from the stewed tomatoes in the sauce.

My favorite menu items were the appetizers of Marcus’s Cornbread with curry butter and the Deviled Eggs with chicharron and caviar. The cornbread melted in your mouth, slathered with soft butter and topped with flakes of Maldon salt. The deviled eggs, (which come three to a portion so we added an extra), were creamy inside, but had the contrasting crunch of the sliver of pork rind, bacon bits and the sophisticated dollop of caviar and chives on top. Maybe the best deviled eggs I’ve ever had!

We weren’t madly tempted by any of the desserts, so off we went into the still-rainy night, full, happy and grateful to our friends who took us out. The place was quite full and bustling when we left, but being the old timers that we were, we headed home to watch the end of our murder mystery. We turned in to the sound of the falling rain, to hopefully wash away our sins and our trespasses.

Up Next: A Simple Chicken Stock