I have spent my last couple of days in the city of Longwood which is about two thirds of the way between New Smyrna Beach and Orlando. This is an upscale are and located near several of Florida's fresh water springs. I am visiting a long time fraternity brother (Sigma Alpha Epsilon at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) along with another fraternity brother and his wife who live in Orange County, California. You cannot imagine the number of enhanced fraternal memories we have shared. It is amazing all three of us are all still alive and out of prison.
I have played golf two days in this part of central Florida and yesterday visited Blue Spring State Park near Orange City, Florida adjacent to the St. John's River. This fresh water spring pumps about 110,000,000 gallons of 73 degree water into the St. John's River each and every day. With the recent cold weather in Florida lowering the river temperature, manatees have congregated into the stream running from the spring into the river. We saw nearly thirty manatees warming up in the spring yesterday. These immense river slugs do very little. The main activity I saw was warming themselves in the spring waters and sunlight. I stood near the edge of the observation platform for twenty minutes with a wet herring in my mouth waiting for one of the manatees to jump up and grab the stinking fish. One did cruise over and pass gas right beneath me. I do not recommend one of these animals as a pet.
The spring runoff had water as clear as glass. You could see the many fish that took advantage of this stream of fresh water. There were also large turtles and a very large alligator in the waters. Swimming is permitted in the stream running from the spring to the river. There are, of course, signs asking people to leave the manatees alone and that there are alligators in the area that should be avoided. As I observed this signage, I came to realize why the population in Florida is primarily white English speaking Caucasians and Hispanic. The alligator warning signs were prominent and the warnings rather firm. The only two languages on the signs were English and Spanish. Imagine a new immigrant from Greece coming to the park on a warm day and thinking (in Greek), "What a nice day and a nice spot for a swim. Look at those large gray swimming mammals and the large swimming Geico gecko in the water. Let me jump in and frolic with the animals." That guy is alligator lunch in three minutes. I believe Florida alligators are killing off all the non-English or non-Spanish speaking immigrants that come to Florida. This could be an oversight by the Florida government officials or a hideous plot to control voting patterns in upcoming elections. I cannot make that call, but Florida voting results always seem to make national headlines.
Oh yes, minigoldendoodles. My hostess with the help and support of her family raises dogs. These dogs are crosses between golden retrievers and miniature poodles. Artificial insemination comes into play here for genetic reasons. (I believe the physical size limitation of the male minipoodle stud is also a factor – but I am no expert and the stud does have a four foot vertical jumping height.) The outcome of this comingling of breeds is wonderful dogs. Great temperament, reasonable size and above average intelligence combined with fur that actually stays on the dog and not your clothes and furniture is a big plus. Spending two days with five adult dogs in the house with two other mothers and their new liters in a warming bedroom was quite a treat and you could not find more affectionate dogs. Thank goodness all the puppies are spoken for! Check this web site out for more information and pictures:
Here are a few pictures of the latest days of my Florida visit:
Here is my aunt and uncles condo right on the beach at New Smyrna Beach.
I have played golf two days in this part of central Florida and yesterday visited Blue Spring State Park near Orange City, Florida adjacent to the St. John's River. This fresh water spring pumps about 110,000,000 gallons of 73 degree water into the St. John's River each and every day. With the recent cold weather in Florida lowering the river temperature, manatees have congregated into the stream running from the spring into the river. We saw nearly thirty manatees warming up in the spring yesterday. These immense river slugs do very little. The main activity I saw was warming themselves in the spring waters and sunlight. I stood near the edge of the observation platform for twenty minutes with a wet herring in my mouth waiting for one of the manatees to jump up and grab the stinking fish. One did cruise over and pass gas right beneath me. I do not recommend one of these animals as a pet.
The spring runoff had water as clear as glass. You could see the many fish that took advantage of this stream of fresh water. There were also large turtles and a very large alligator in the waters. Swimming is permitted in the stream running from the spring to the river. There are, of course, signs asking people to leave the manatees alone and that there are alligators in the area that should be avoided. As I observed this signage, I came to realize why the population in Florida is primarily white English speaking Caucasians and Hispanic. The alligator warning signs were prominent and the warnings rather firm. The only two languages on the signs were English and Spanish. Imagine a new immigrant from Greece coming to the park on a warm day and thinking (in Greek), "What a nice day and a nice spot for a swim. Look at those large gray swimming mammals and the large swimming Geico gecko in the water. Let me jump in and frolic with the animals." That guy is alligator lunch in three minutes. I believe Florida alligators are killing off all the non-English or non-Spanish speaking immigrants that come to Florida. This could be an oversight by the Florida government officials or a hideous plot to control voting patterns in upcoming elections. I cannot make that call, but Florida voting results always seem to make national headlines.
Oh yes, minigoldendoodles. My hostess with the help and support of her family raises dogs. These dogs are crosses between golden retrievers and miniature poodles. Artificial insemination comes into play here for genetic reasons. (I believe the physical size limitation of the male minipoodle stud is also a factor – but I am no expert and the stud does have a four foot vertical jumping height.) The outcome of this comingling of breeds is wonderful dogs. Great temperament, reasonable size and above average intelligence combined with fur that actually stays on the dog and not your clothes and furniture is a big plus. Spending two days with five adult dogs in the house with two other mothers and their new liters in a warming bedroom was quite a treat and you could not find more affectionate dogs. Thank goodness all the puppies are spoken for! Check this web site out for more information and pictures:
http://www.springviewminigoldendoodles.com
Here are a few pictures of the latest days of my Florida visit:
Here is my aunt and uncles condo right on the beach at New Smyrna Beach.
Florida has this right. They are handling the "clunker" situation with the kind of vision you cannot expect from the federal government. They encourage people to park on the beach at low tide and six hours later at high tide the clunkers are on their way to the coast of Africa. Cost to we taxpayers, nada!
Here we are at Blue Spring State Park waiting to see the manatee tricks.
This is the only manatee that approached the herring I was holding in my mouth. One witness claims he jumped two millimeters toward the fish as he passed me. That would be a new manatee world record.
Here is the largest pod, flock, gaggle, pack, covey, herd assembly of manatees I will ever see. There must be thirty animals in this pod, flock, gaggle, pack, covey, herd assembly of manatees.
This is one of the signs Florida is using to control the number of non-English or non-Spanish speaking immigrants living in the state.
Thank goodness I chose a car and not a motorsycle for this three week trip to Florida.
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