We made it to the Miccosukee area through the flat and treeless part of the Everglades, stopping at every tourist attraction. We also toured all the rest stops and free shows. The most worthwhile is Billie Swamp Safari although we declined the frightfully expensive airboat rides ($30 a pop). The outfit is quite large and sports its own café and mini-zoo. A lot to see so allow more time than we did.
I told Wallace the swamp is alive. The closer you look the smaller things you see, so we got right up to the edges. Any further and we would have needed hip waders. How old is the Everglades? According to the government exhibit, just 5,000 years. Wallace notes that is the time the Egyptians were building the pyramids.We met and talked to a group of Swedish tourists. Actually Wallace did all the talking but he latches onto people quicker than I. The area out there is likely more above sea level than where I live. What is scary is the nearly complete lack of development. Other than a couple of beef or diary herds visible from the roadway, there seems to be no basis of economy out there. If it was my land, I’d be getting a little worried.
The slight differences in elevation bring about a startling change in flora. I would not doubt some of the rationale for calling it the “Sea of Grass” is the trees that sprout on any land even an inch higher than average. This gives them the impression of being islands. The soil, when you can see it, looks a little sandy. The substrate is petrified coral.
Most interesting feature? They have a series of cages with all the local poisonous snakes on display. Coral, Cottonmouth, even a rattlesnake. All this is situated along the entrance to the Swamp Water Café, so there are always gawkers. Such as myself. Every once in a while a couple of the staff walk by talking to each other. They mention barely loud enough that “About an hour ago one got away, so let me know if you see it.”
Staff? You bet. It would remind you of a summer camp, with sixteen bunks to the cabin. Except they are not cabins but those grass huts the Indians used to build before they moved into the government bungalows. I took no pictures, but I assure you the living is Spartan. Upper and lower bunks with no air conditioning. It would be an adventure if you were young enough.
There was a small roadside drainage ditch where we stopped to view the fires that regularly hit the grass. Like a forest fire, everything smells of smoke for dozens of miles. The jungle just comes bouncing back, so these fires must occur naturally. Wallace got to the water, seen here walking back up the embankment with a school teacher from Tampa. I call this the “MacArthur” photo because it reminds me of Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s return to the Philippines. Wallace was amazed to see the water so full of minnows that it almost appeared to be boiling.I’ll quit with the details because there is enough video footage for a good documentary on the things we saw. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll figure out how to publish these things. Right now, I’m busy and you try to find somebody in Florida to give you a hand with that. Good friggin’ luck.
I still cannot figure out why these people in Florida have so much trouble putting out fires. Out west we manage to do it, as I’ve mentioned, despite mountains, valleys, and rivers in the way. Here, flat with tons of water and they still have to let it burn itself out. Stinks up the south half of the State. Worse, there seems to be at least one major fire every year. You think they’d clue in that is not likely mere coincidence.Want some trivia? Okay, the highest rated viewing audience for a first night television show was in Korea, where most of the population ran home to watch the premier episode of “Joanie Loves Chachi”. No, not a triumph of American television promotion, but more based on the face that “chachi” in Korean means “penis”.
Later, I had my first group class for music, and within the hour had the family band jamming to “Gloria”, “Louie Louie”, and “Stand By Me”. Complete adult and teenager mix, all of whom had never done anything of the kind before. Next week we will schedule a full class and they now have something to report back to the school board. And that is why you know who makes $25 per hour for teaching guitar and I make $75 per hour for teaching people to play music.
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