Banana Trees Do Not Like The Cold!

No, this isn’t the name of a new short story. This is something we discovered in the unusually prolonged cold snap that hit South Florida. And yes, iguanas do freeze and drop out of trees. I realize it has been much worse in other places, so I am not complaining, but it was interesting to hear how many people suddenly thought that fireplaces did have a place in South Florida. Our hibiscus seems to be recovering although the poor basil has been consigned to the compost heap. In truth, the banana tree hadn’t been doing all that well before the fifteen-year record cold and we’re taking this as a sign that we should start over.

And even though I don’t have a new short story ready, I have been involved in a different type of project that I want to tell you about. Don Altemus, a long time Florida banker and underwater photographer, provided the photographs for Islands in the Sand: An Introduction to Artificial Reefs in the USA. We met as I was researching Islands and that segued into a collaborative effort for a unique book, Parallel Worlds: Ten Survival Lessons. The book features 70 beautiful underwater photographs as Don explains parallels between the world on a reef and the corporate environment that he has managed to survive in for more than 30 years. The picture book synthesizes Don’s experiences with lessons such as, “If you stop moving and evolving, you die.” His major point is that business schools do not educate students in the reality of the shark-infested corporate environment. “Transforming yourself into the equivalent of a reef shark is the goal,” he explained. “That and caring for your ‘reef’ with the very real food chain hierarchy is what surviving in the business world is really about. That information doesn’t come with an MBA.”

Parallel Worlds has been an intriguing project and it is an ideal gift for any business grad. I wanted to provide you a preview and it will be posted to the Charlie’s Books tab as soon as it is ready for purchase.

Charlie