ahh florida

"In 1928, a storm, so powerful that locals swore it "blowed a crooked road straight," killed thousands on the southern shore of Lake Okeechobee. "They seemed to be staring at the dark," wrote Zora Neale Hurston as she imagined the mass of workers running from the storm surge, "but their eyes were watching God." - from Epilogue, page 359, Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams - A Social History of Modern Florida by Gary R. Mormino

i took my time reading this book, which was okay because this is the one the library doesnt have a clue that i have checked out. :) dont worry, im taking it back tomorrow. they will have a nice surprise in their in-box.

i suppose its happened virtually everywhere, developers taking the land, ruining it and making huge profits, but with almost 2,000 miles of tidal shoreline (plus, 650 miles of beach and 4,500 islands), it was bound to happen more often here. no resident of florida lives more than 60 miles from saltwater.

"The first encounter between Europeans and Native Americans - perhaps the single most significant event in American history-occurred on a Florida beach. "The beach itself was a savage place," argues anthropologist Greg Denig, "made so by the mutual contempt of those who stood across it from one another." Sometime in the early sixteenth century, a soldier, a slaver, or ship's carpenter waded ashore. A breath of air, the smells of rancid palm oil and fetid sailors, the clasping of hands, and the drawing of blood set into motion a series of revolutions still unfolding." page 303, Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams - A Social History of Modern Florida by Gary R. Mormino

i think i would rather the tourists stayed home and the snowbirds found another winter retreat.