Anti immigrant crap

It appears it is almost impossible to go anywhere in the USA without running into some idiot who thinks it uplifts them to spout anti-immigrant crap.

You would imagine too that in 2022, in a country where 99.9% of the population is either an immigrant, or possibly a descendent of one of many who have blood on their hands, having murdered the native people and stolen their land, you would find that type of nonsense receding, but the very opposite seems to be the case!

I was reminded of this during what should have been a carefree and pleasant camping outing arranged by our fearless, super organizer of Meet-up fame, Jennifer, at Camp Chowenwah near Jacksonville.

Jennifer prepares the campfire

So highly anticipated was this event that Beth from Guatemala even organized to spend her vacation in Florida with her friend and countrywoman Rosie, in time to coincide with the event.

I have been on many Meet-up events and really enjoyed them so will be writing a few blogs to record the wonderful times we had this time, but had to get this off my chest.

On this camping trip, there were nine of us, two from Jamaica, two from Guatemala, four from the USA and we were joined by Dania from the Dom Rep. She had really come up to enjoy the peace and serenity of the area with her husband who works with NASA at the nearby Cape Canaveral.

On the first night, we gathered around the campfire to bond and exchange stories, but one participant tried to make it into an unpleasant affair. For when Beth and Rosie introduced themselves, her snide remark was to the effect that they should not speak lest they be sent to Massachusetts by Governor DeSantis!

Unbelievable.

Rosie on her trusty bike

For those who are not up to date on Florida news, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis recently  had some Latin speakers from Venezuela who had applied for amnesty in the USA, sent packing to Martha’s Vineyards, where they were told there were jobs and milk and honey waiting for them.

Of course, it was a lie!

What was especially repulsive is that the speaker who tried to spoil our camping trip, had a very thick foreign accent herself, although she claimed to have come from Colorado!

Thank heavens, our new friends, though hurt by the mocking remark, were in such high spirits that they simply ignored her for the rest of the time and enjoyed themselves with the other more civilized participants.

L-R; Dania, Rosie, Sonia, Beth (behind) Joan (in front)

It was really wonderful having them around and even when we were ready to depart, Rosie rode over to our cabin to invite us to breakfast.

We five, put all our surplus food together, cooked breakfast, ate, bonded, laughed, listened to music, exchanged stories and had a wonderful morning together.

And we will be friends for years to come, thanks to Jennifer who organized another enjoyable trek into the great outdoors.                                                 

 Link;  https://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/2022/10/glamping.html?m=1

 

Caladiums galore

Wow, I had no idea what these flowers were called for we have them growing almost wild in Jamaica and place little value on them.

Section of a caladium farm outside Lake Placid.

However, with my Meet Up group led by Jennifer Weis, we had a wonderful day in Lake Placid, dubbed the caladium capital of the world, where they take this plant seriously as it provides quite and income for them.

Lake Placid is a pleasant little town with a population of just over 2000, situated in Highland County (I learnt yesterday that Florida has 67 counties. I had no idea it had so many). It is quite some distance away (over 130 miles)  from Broward County in which I live but was worth the trip which took us through scenic farm country and charming little towns.

To get there, we traveled through Palm Beach, Martin and sections of Okeechobee counties.

We didn't just go "flowers looking" though as we stopped on the way at the Hickory Hammock park area to make sure we got our usual Saturday morning exercise, a trek of almost 3 miles.

Hickory Hammock is I understand, sometimes a hunting area for those who want to shoot deer and wild boar and we saw lots of evidence of the presence of wild boar, although none in the flesh. But they clearly were around as our fearless leader pointed to the huge holes in the ground where they furrow to get their protein, worms and bugs. 

Hickory Hammock is a pleasant place to walk during the hot summer days in Florida, because of the shade provided by the huge oak trees of various ages and sizes. It is also very rustic and scenic in its own right with lots of palm, blueberries and other flora. (We were able to find a few ripe blueberries to nibble on).

Nine of us started on the hike but when we returned to our vehicles, we found a late comer waiting to accompany us to the caladium fair.

It was about a half an hour drive from Hickory Hammock to Lake Placid.

Lake Placid as I said earlier, is a pleasant little town but it is made even more attractive by the proliferation of beautifully painted murals on almost every street in the section where the festival was held.

A lovely mural on one of the buildings

This was the 24th annual Caladium festival and I was really overawed by the variety and sizes of the flowers, both those laid out for sale and those used for attractive decoration all around where the festival was held.

At the fair, you could buy both plants and bulbs and as festivals are, there were booths offering all sorts of craft, foods and other items for sale. There was even a booth giving out water which had a sign saying "Free water for the body. Jesus provides water for the soul".

I guess this might mean Lake Placid is a fairly religious area, I don't know. Just assuming. (But what does assuming mean?

Making an ass of you and me lol.) 

It was a nice day but being Florida, it was interrupted by a downpour of rain, but it did not last long.

We took refuge at a craft store which appeared to be run by the community and we actually saw some students working on their craft skills in a classroom there.

After a tasty and pleasant lunch during which it rained again, it was time for the long, tiring drive home.

But it was surely a day well spent.