Memory of Florida

For two years, I lived in South Florida. I had a good time for a while, but in the end, it was just a bit too urban for me. In the end, I moved back to Iowa. It suited me better.

Because I really need contact with the natural world, I inflicted nature walks on the boys. One lovely Saturday morning after breakfast, I decided that a walk down to the beach would be fun. It was a bit of a hike for the boys as we lived just across Old Dixie Highway so I organized some drinks to take along in a back pack and off we went. We crossed the highway and strolled east toward the sea. We walked past some beautiful old Floridian homes with lovely mature gardens. The gardens were so mature that they had big holes in them. Some of these big holes were near the sidewalk and we could see that inside the big holes were big blue land crabs! The boys were interested in poking the crabs with sticks. This only drove the crabs further into their holes. While the boys were tormenting these crabs, I noticed that Sean's shoe was untied. I walked over, knelt down to tie it for him. He must have been about four or five at the time. After about 30 seconds I noticed that I was under attack. Fire ants!
It is my theory that fire ants hold off on their stings until a large percentage of the ants have climbed onto their victim. Then some unheard command is issued and they all sting at once. I must have had about 30 stings. Man it's painful. Poor little Sean was stung too, but only once or twice. You really have to watch where you step when walking to the beach.

We brushed off all the ants and continued down to the beach. We were pretty close and I could smell the salt air. As the morning progressed, I started to feel unwell. I suggested going home as I was feeling rubbish. On the walk home, I discovered that I was breaking out in a rash. I knew right away that this was an allergic reaction to the ant stings. I had some antihistamine at the house and I would take it as soon as I got back. By the time I had unlocked the front door my skin was looking like hamburger. Its not a good look for me. It took some hours before the antihistamine got the better of my reaction to the ant stings, but I have always been ultra careful when walking in the south ever since.

A better story about my brief stay in Florida also involves a walk. On Thanksgiving Day, after we had stuffed ourselves, we walked down to the Intercoastal Waterway. While we were talking to some fishermen on this cloudy day, two manatees rolled by. They were sure on the move. It was spectacular! We followed them as far as we could walking along the path parallel to the water. As it was November, and I had two small children in tow, I didn't dive in.
About 18 months later, I did get to swim with a manatee. It was off the coast of Boca Raton. I was just horsing around in the surf with the boys and a bunch of grown men started running into the water. Frightened that there might be something dangerous, I grabbed the kids to me and asked what was up to one of the passing men. They said, "manatee". It is not normal for manatees to be out in the open sea. They like quieter places in amongst the mangroves, but there it was. I rounded the boys up to the shore and went back out myself to have a better look. I got to swim next to it for a few yards. I was glad that nobody was being a knucklehead and trying to ride the animal. Nobody even touched it or blocked its intended path. It was excellent to see a member of this endangered species and such a healthy adult as well. I hope that their numbers have stabilized. The world would be a poorer place without these gentle creatures.