Comments on: More Florida moments

By: Al

Al — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 23:49:53 +0000

BW,
It’s your vacation. Relax. If you don’t have the equipment to blog, oh well…….

Just watch out for the alligators.

By: Ymarsakar

Ymarsakar — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:18:31 +0000

What’s also impressive is the fact that, from near extinction in the 1960s/1970s, they’ve reemerged to a population of more than 1.5 million through Florida (which actually seems like a bit much to me).

With a large food supply of humans and children, what did you expect?

The fog in Florida is unreal, btw. Watch those interstate highways.

By: Bald-Headed Geek

Bald-Headed Geek — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 20:06:24 +0000

Glad that you’re enjoying Florida so far, Bookworm. I lived there for three years in the early 1990s, and have been back to visit several times since. If it hadn’t been for Mrs. BHG, who is from southeastern Pennsylvania, i would undoubtedly still be living there now. I loved the Everglades, the ocean, the warm climate, etc. In fact, I still toy every now and then with the idea of moving back there, but it would probably involve too much dislocation for my family. Still, whenever winter rolls around, I think back with great nostalgia and fondness on the fact that in Florida, one can walk around in shorts and a t-shirt in January. Sigh……………..

BHG

By: ExPreacherMan

ExPreacherMan — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 19:34:21 +0000

Book,

Welcome to Florida. If you visited the Everglades, you came within two minutes of our modest home.

We could have furnished you with a delicious meal of Avocados out of our front yard, fresh Papaya, and other good Florida stuff — in a friendly environment - our home.

Our lake would have furnished the kids with swimming (no gators), fishing (large mouth bass and bream), sunning among white and blue herons, flocks of hundreds of Ibis, Anhinga birds, hundreds of parrots and even a few buzzards periodically.

Drop by some time…

ExP(Jack)

By: Oldflyer

Oldflyer — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 18:20:59 +0000

I grew up in Tampa. During and just after WW2 we lived on the “wrong side of the tracks” adjacent to the great Cuban enclave, Ybor City. The nearest movie theatres, swimming pool and the major recreation park were in Ybor City, so we spent countless hours there. As 12 year olds we roamed Ybor City without feeling threatened. But, in many ways it was like a different world. The culture was rather exotic to the average “Cracker” kid; and many older people did not speak English well, if at all. The kids, however, were class-mates, team-mates and sometimes adversaries. Many honored the old ways at home, but when they went off to school they were part of the main-stream culture because no accomodations were made for them to be otherwise. There was no question that they were Americans, and that their parents or grand-parents made the journey so that they could be Americans.

Bookworm, glad you are getting off the beaten path. If you get down to the keys visit the wild life center adjacent to Marathon and say hey to my niece Courtney.

By: Zhombre

Zhombre — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 16:34:37 +0000

In Miami yes the Spanish speaking residents are mainly Cuban but Florida is a mix and the Latin population includes Colombians, Peruvians, Hondurans, and others. In Orlando there is a huge Puerto Rican population as well as Vietnamese. Sticking to the tourist enclaves you might not encounter the diversity. But frankly Orlando is not one of my favorite places in Florida.

By: Friend of USA

Friend of USA — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:10:26 +0000

Or maybe you have just created a new word?

Illegal Mexicans are not really Americans but Mericans?

Mexicans…Mericans…

mmmh…

By: Friend of USA

Friend of USA — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:08:27 +0000

Bookworm you made an interesting, intriguing typographical error,

…I feel as if they want to take my country away, not because they’re Hispanic, but because they don’t want to be mericans …

I wonder if it means anything?