Westerns

I have now read all 17 of the Sackett books.  14 of them since the new year started.  To my shame, I didn't spend near as much time in the Word over the last couple of months as I have spent riding my horse around the West herding longhorns, shooting bad guys, drinking coffee around campfires, and rescuing damsels in distress.  It's time for this old farmer to come back to the Midwest.

Breaking news from the U of I!  Following the resignation of Michael Hogan, Dr. Robert Easter has been named the new President of the University.  I knew Dr. Easter back in the 1970's when he taught my swine production class.  It's a long way from the U of I hog barns to the Presidency of this great institution.  He obviously is well respected and highly regarded.  I think the board of directors made a wise choice.  And it's good to see someone at the top who has roots in Agriculture

The first couple of weeks of March felt more like June.  Very pleasant weather.  I've been pruning fruit trees trying to stay ahead of blossoming.  The wheat is greening up beautifully, and looks as good as any crop of wheat we've ever had.  The contrast between the new wheat and the trashy, barren soil around it is stark.  It reminds me of the contrast of a Spirit filled life and a life that is dead in sin.

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Gus is growing also, and as puppies are, he is full of energy.  He has an attraction for the landscaping, and seems to need to tear through it regularly (or sleep in it).  If left unattended, he likes to run through the hog lots and manure puddles.  He tends to get himself quite filthy.

If you have time, check out the Sleepy Man Banjo Boys.  They are three talented young brothers from New Jersey (of all places!), who play some mighty fine bluegrass music.

She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.
Ezekiel 23:12

Beach

We spent a lot of time while in Florida checking out beaches.  After the beaches of Key West, we started up the west side and stopped first at Marco Island beach.  It was a mixture of sand and crushed sea shells, so it was tough on bare feet.  Definitely a high class destination.  Next stop was at Naples beach.  It was very nice, but nothing special.  On to Sarasota where Siesta Key beach has to be the prettiest beach in Florida.  Well maintained by the county, with good restrooms, shaded picnic areas, free parking, Lifeguards, and lots of beautiful white sand.  Although, I like Venice beach as much because it is generally less crowded.  And perhaps my favorite is Casperson Beach south of Venice.  It is surrounded by undeveloped land; it is not fronted by high rise condos like most beaches.  It has dunes, almost 2 miles of beach,  nice restrooms, picnic areas, free parking, an 1100 foot boardwalk,  mostly older people, and it is the best place to go shelling and find sharks teeth.

Marco Island Beach

Naples Beach

Siesta Key Beach

Hunting sharks teeth off Casperson Beach



That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

Genesis 22:17


'Gators

While in Florida, we spent a day driving through the Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve.  We stopped at Shark Valley visitors center and took a couple of hiking trails in the swamp.  The wildlife was plentiful, including alligators, herons, osprey, turtles, pelicans, storks, and many other species that I don't remember.  And some strange ducks.  Of course, seeing alligators up close and personal is a highlight.  Especially the baby 'gators.  As we drove along the highway we probably saw a hundred 'gators basking in the sun in the swampy ditches.

As we crossed Big Cypress Swamp, we saw several "Panther Crossing" signs along the road.  A little different than the "Deer Crossing" signs we see in the Midwest.  Unfortunately, we never saw any panthers.  We didn't have time to take the required tourist air boat ride out through the swamp, but I think that would have been interesting.  Maybe next time.  There are also canoe routes through the swamp with elevated platforms to camp on along the way.  That might be fun to do sometime.  I would think that the bugs would rival the mosquitoes in the BWCA.

  Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.
Jeremiah 8:7

Keys

The old farmer and his lovely wife spent a few days down in the Florida Keys.  Our first time to the southern part of Florida.  We flew into Miami, rented a little red Toyota Yaris, and drove to Key Largo for our first night.  Gilbert's Resort and Marina is an old fashioned resort right on the water.  The restaurant served German food, so I had a German burger for supper.  It was a big hamburger topped with grilled onions, mushrooms, bacon, and smothered with Swiss cheese.
The back door of our room opened onto a boardwalk along the water with a view of the marina and one of the Keys bridges.  Pelicans frequented the area.

We drove on out to Key West over many bridges, including one that was seven miles long.  I had my first Key Lime pie at the Grand Cafe at noon on Duval Street.  We took a history tour of old town Key West in the afternoon.  The weather was pleasant and we saw Truman's "Little White House", Hemingways house, the Shipwreck Treasures Museum, and many other historic buildings.  In the evening we ate at the Hogfish Bar & Grill in the commercial fishing(seedy) area of the island.  I had crab stuffed hogfish.  The Hogfish is an ugly fish with a "pig like snout" that it uses to root on the bottom of the ocean looking for its food.  It is not caught on a line, but rather speared by divers.  It is a mild white fish that tasted very good.
Here is our little rental car.  It got 33 miles per gallon.

 The next day we walked around the old part of town, toured the historic seaport district, and shopped Duval street.  At noon, we had lunch at Sloppy Joe's Bar & Grill. It is famous for the sandwich it supposedly invented, but also because it was where Ernest Hemingway used to hang out.  We had just gotten a table, when a cruise ship full of Ohio State Buckeyes unloaded and inundated the place.  We offered to share our table with a couple if they promised not to make fun of the Illini.  They didn't.  We had a nice chat, and it turned out that the wife has a brother who lives in Tremont.  I had a fish sandwich called the "full moon".  It was open faced and smothered with red peppers, mushrooms, onions, and covered with melted cheese.

I had my second piece of Key Lime pie at Kermit's.  In the evening we sat at Fort Zachery Taylor State Park beach to watch the sunset.  It was beautiful.

The next morning we stopped at the southernmost point in the continental U.S.  We were closer to Havana, Cuba, than we were to a Walmart!  It is 90 miles to Havana and the closest Walmart was 150 miles away.  We stopped at a couple of Key West beaches before heading North on Highway One for the 3 hour drive the length of the Keys.  We spent the night in Homestead.

We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:
Numbers 11:15