Living

When South Floridians got their first look at their backyard swimming pools after Hurricane Irma, this blackened, deep green water color is what many found.

Does your pool look like the black lagoon post Irma? How to get it back to the blue lagoon

Hurricane Irma left many backyard swimming pools in Miami-Dade and Broward with stagnant, black and green water. Experts offer cleaning tips.

Advice

Pets

Treats from scratch pamper your pooch

It's not often I find myself drooling over homemade dog food recipes. But with names such as "cheddar lover's biscuits" and "banana ice cream," I was as tempted to try the recipes in the updated "Doggy Desserts" cookbook as was my furry little man, Welles, and his tail-wagging friends.

Bags filled with food, delivered to senior citizens in honor of the Jewish holiday, Rosh Hashana, are seen outside the Greater Miami Jewish Federation in Miami, Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017. Rosh Hashana will be celebrated on Sept. 20 and marks the Jewish New Year.

Hurricane

When a hurricane tries to crash Rosh Hashana dinner, prayer isn’t the only answer

The Jewish community observes Rosh Hashana on Wednesday night and Thursday. Synagogues and restaurants adjusted High Holy Days rituals to serve congregants suffering storm damage, power outages after Hurricane Irma.

Home & Garden

Target sold dressers that tipped onto preschoolers. 178,000 are now recalled

Target recalled 178,000 Room Essentials four-drawer dressers after receiving 12 reports of the dressers tipping over, including once onto two 3-year-olds.

Traffic comes to a halt at the first checkpoint on U.S. 1 as Keys residents try to make their way back on home on Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017, after Hurricane Irma. They had evacuated and could not return for more than a week due to the debris in the Keys. Traffic, coupled with the other stresses of hurricanes, can take their toll on relationships.

Ana Veciana-Suarez

In the aftermath of a hurricane, some relationships hit a rough storm

Hurricanes are not great for marriages — or any relationships. Being courteous to the people who don’t sleep under your roof is commendable, but not half as hard as being gentle with those you love.

Staying hydrated with water is critical after a hurricane. Here, soldiers from the Florida Army National Guard, Specialist Betancourt and Specialist Fravel, load bottled water for residents at Marathon High School on Wednesday, September 13, 2017.

Chew on This

These food and drinks will get you through Hurricane Irma’s draining recovery

After Hurricane Irma, keeping hydrated with water or sports drinks is critical. Nuts, avocados and dark chocolate are excellent post-storm foods.

Skin Deep

Is your body wash — or soap — causing your rash?

An ingredient commonly found in eco-friendly body washes, shampoos, liquid soaps and other personal care items has been called the “allergen of the year.’’

Diet soda might not be as bad for you as previously thought.

Health & Fitness

Is diet soda really that bad for you? Maybe not

If you lead a healthy lifestyle, then drinking diet soda may not be too bad for you, a nutritionist says. But if you have poor eating habits, it can add to your problems.

Fashion

How much makeup I actually wear in a day

We've established that I have a deep and abiding love of lipstick.

Fashion

This fall, sophisticated styles with a splash of sparkle

Get swept up in the opulence of this season's styles for special occasions.

Pets

A respectful, eco-friendly way to say goodbye

From a few feet away, the metal trays look to be holding tiny rocks, plucked by a very particular and tidy collector. A closer look reveals that each tray holds not rocks, but remains – one holds the bony bits of a ferret, the other a cat; both were pets, and both are done with their jobs as companions.

Home & Garden

Slowly but surely, an 1880s home was moved for preservation

Like delicate surgery, crews used jacks to lift an 1880s home in downtown Barrington off its foundation and slowly hauled it with a truck two miles away to a residence in neighboring Barrington Hills.

Home & Garden

Design Recipes: 10 tips for using velvet in your decor

Soft, rich, luxurious, glamorous.

Home & Garden

This is the art you should buy, based on your personality)

Tell me who you are, and I will tell you what art to buy. People often get nervous when buying art: "Will it match my decor? Will I like it over time? Is this an artist worth investing in?" We say: Throw all those questions out the window – it's time to focus on your personality instead. The wonderful thing about art is you get to reflect a piece of your personality on your wall through a beautiful photograph or a vibrant print. No matter what your interests or character traits, there is an artist out there who perfectly represents who you are.

Travel

Minnesota island retreat takes on a different tone in fall

As the vintage wooden Chris-Craft shaved a path into the still lake, shades of coral, cherry and lime rippled in the trailing wake.

Travel

North Carolina's Crystal Coast offers quiet beach vacation with pirate adventures

Sitting on the beach, watching the waves roll in off the Atlantic, it's hard to imagine the Queen Anne's Revenge, a 17th century frigate notoriously captained by the pirate Blackbeard, slinking along the horizon with a flotilla of smaller sloops.

Travel

Maui's heavenly Hana is more than just a road trip

Hana, on the east side of the island of Maui, might not be literally a one-horse town, but it is tiny, with a population of 1,258. We saw only one horse, looking over the fence at us next to the Hasegawa General Store. The horse blinked and chewed, not much interested, then returned to mowing the verdant field, mouthful by mouthful. My friend Sarah and I stood in the sun and watched awhile.

Travel

Myscha Theriault: Asheville's best places to chill out and chow with your dog

Having enjoyed the few days I was able to spend in Asheville, N.C., years ago, I made sure to jump quickly on a two-month pet sitting opportunity when it arrived in my inbox earlier this spring. This extended visit has provided me with an insight I didn't fully appreciate the last time I was here. This place has virtually barrier-free access to the region's rural amenities.

Travel

Monument to myth or history? Museum of the Bible to open in Washington, D.C.

Three blocks from Smithsonian exhibits depicting the Big Bang and evolution, Washington's newest museum will tell a different story of the creation of the universe.

Home & Garden

'Shrooms with a view

September is National Mushroom Month!

Dave Barry's Blog

Videos

Venezuela’s best chef to open a new restaurant in Miami

Aug 28, 2017

Venezuelan chef Carlos García, whose world-renowned fine dining restaurant, Alto, is two blocks from the heart of the demonstrations in Caracas, will soon open his second restaurant, Obra, in Brickell.

Jose A. Iglesias