barefoot professor

Early Fall

2010-10-06T06:59:00.002-04:00

Fall weather has arrived in peninsula Florida, marking its earliest arrival in the ten years that I have lived here. The winter season in Florida is marked far more by dry weather than cold temperatures, though there is a connection between them. Though we still have daytime temps in the low 80s, the dry air that has moved in allows for night-time readings to drop into the low 60s and upper 50s (it is 57 at the moment). This marks a dramatic shift from just last week, when moist air dominated the area and lows were falling only into the mid-70s.

Most importantly, for comfort, is the arrival of low dew points throughout the day, allowing us to shut down the air conditioner and open the windows on October first. That is a full month before we normally have the weather in place to allow us to begin our “tumble-down, wild, picnicky sort of life,” that Harriet Beecher Stowe noted was the most charming thing about living in Florida in the winter season. So, in the words of Stowe, lets celebrate the “general happy-go-luckiness which Florida inculcates,” and embrace the outdoor life that is the hallmark of the dry season in Florida.

"All in" Online.

2010-08-31T23:15:00.003-04:00

In an effort to embrace the online teaching that I am doing, and will likely be doing much more of in the future, I have adopted a pedagogy that is techno-centric this semester. I have my students blogging, working on a wiki page, and editing a google map with content overlays. The end result will (hopefully) be a website that is a relatively comprehensive compendium of information for the various topics at hand (there are three classes involved).

I'll let you know how it pans out.

The Lure of Florida.

2010-08-23T22:49:00.003-04:00

Having been in New England for most of the summer, returning to Florida for the (very long) end of one of the hottest summers on record, it is hard for me to wrap my head around what it is about this place that lures seemingly sane people to move here. I was struck by that rather soberly this evening when I learned that Gilbert Fite had passed away in Florida in July. As an eager Grad student lapping up works on rural, agricultural and labor history while studying in Chicago I read Fite's work with great pleasure. He was a child raised on a North Dakota Homestead farm (literally), and an academic who wrote so compellingly of the ever-more-stressful plight of farmers on the northern plains in so compelling a manner that I had understood him only in the context of that often forbidding but always enticing region. Imagine my surprise, then, to learn that he died in Fort Myers, Florida, to which he had retired, apparently, to play golf.

In any case, Godspeed Professor Fite. I hope you find a set of links on a short-grass prairie in an afterlife that does not force you to endure the heat and humidity that you so recently left behind. And thank you for your thoughtful and engaged scholarship and your commitment to keeping alive the memory of a hopeful impulse in American life in which family farms and farmers were thought to matter and to deserve a political economy in which they could survive, if not thrive.

NOAA and Deepwater Horizon.

2010-06-07T10:07:00.004-04:00

If you find comfort in the collection and generation of knowledge, as most good post-Renaissance people do (at least those who have not been infected by the heresies of Michel Foucault such as myself), you will enjoy following the ever-expanding surface oil slick generated on a daily basis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which creates a number of daily graphs and aggregates all of its information on its Deepwater Horizon Incident page. Warning: It makes for some really depressing reading, including the number of turtles dying on a daily basis.

Maps can be very instructive.

2010-06-04T22:06:00.003-04:00

This is a post designed to demonstrate who narrow is the world in which I live, mentally. I was playing with a map this evening (I know, geek badge) and decided to trace the latitude of my town around the globe to see what it intersected. I was more than a little surprised by the results. I know already that I was a straight shot from my local beach to the Canary Islands on the coast of Africa, because I my daughter asked me years ago where we would end up if we just kept swimming and I looked up the answer for her. Beyond that I was surprised to learn that we were about 70 miles south of Cairo, for example. But what blew me away, and sent me to the computer to confess my ignorance, was the striking revelation that my very hot, flat town is 99 statue miles north of the peak of Mt. Everest in Nepal! I would not have bet on that in a lifetime, to be honest.

Foucault, on boats.....

2010-06-01T14:55:00.002-04:00

As is often the case, Foucault offers a provocative insight: "In civilizations without boats, dreams dry up, espionage takes the place of adventure, and the police take the place of pirates." The full text can be found here.

Brown. Its the new Green.

2010-05-26T14:17:00.001-04:00

Spoof of BP. (The music is oddly like the theme from Deadwood, by the way.)

This is working out real well, don't you think?

Digital Humanist

2010-05-23T23:57:00.002-04:00

Aftrer a weekend at an "unconference" on the Humanaties and Technology I am still not sure exactly what a Digital Humanist is, though it is a term that I heard dropped many times in the last two days. I will say, however, that I was very impressed with the energy, the ideas and and the collegiality of the Digital Humanaties crowd who assembled at George Mason Univeristy over the weekend, and I returned home to Florida with a lot to think about and a significantly expanded to-do list. It was a well spent few days, to be sure. Perhaps some day I, too, will refer to myself as a digital humanist.

Ain't no Sunshine when I'm Gone.

2010-05-21T22:52:00.003-04:00

(With apologies to Bill Withers.) I am in Virginia (suburban D.C.) for a conference on technology and the Humanities and George Mason's Center for History and New Media. I expect it to be very interesting. However, it is expected to rain all weekend. Not that I mind. There is a cool front coming through tonight and the high tomorrow will be in the low 70s. SWEETNESS! I can almost forget that it is summer in Florida already. (As I type this on the iPad I am listening to Bob Marley sing that there is a natural mystic blowing tru de air... That seemed important to include.)

Putting the "Exotic" back in Subtropical Living!

2010-05-20T22:22:00.002-04:00

Dengue fever is back in Key West! After an 80 year hiatus dengue fever has returned to the Sunshine State as an oblique reminder of its long history of disease, pestilence and generally uncomfortable living. Come on down and join the fun!

News Flash...

2010-05-19T00:10:00.002-04:00

Eighty year old Republican loses Democratic primary!

Someone please explain to me how this is an example of "outrage" and anti-incumbent fervor or a repudiation of the Obama administration. Too bad I do not have a TV, as I am sure there are a lot of talking heads on the twenty-four hour news channels that could make the links crystal clear for me.

BP, Oil and Anger Management

2010-05-14T11:05:00.002-04:00

I have not posted in a very long time and thought I had given up on this blog, since the general intention was to keep in touch with friends and family and Facebook made that a lot easier. But, I am rethinking that for a number of reasons, including re-conceptualizing what I want to do with Barefoot Professor.

For now, however, I just wanted to vent in a semi-public way about the on-going ecological disaster that is unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico. Having spent a week sailing in the Gulf in April I am keenly aware of the beauty and wonder and richness represented by that liquid ecosystem, and I am sickened by the long-term prospects that this spill foretells. What makes it even worse, of course, is the sheer stupidity of our public policy that allowed, nay, encouraged it to happen in the first place.

The final outrage for me, and one that is little understood at this point, but that I am afraid we will hear much more about over the months and years to come, is the use of oil dispersants. These chemicals are largely untested in terms of their environmental consequences over time, but there are some very smart people who argue that the "solution" is worse than the problem in this case. I will end here before this degrades into an angry rant at Big Oil, our collective life choices, and the massive chasm between is and ought that defines contemporary life.

Late October

2009-10-29T10:27:00.003-04:00

It is two days before Halloween and all thoughts are turned to costumes, candy and jock-o-lanterns. In short, the heart of Fall is upon us. Only in Florida it is still nearly 90 degrees every day, with lows in the low 70s. It is a little hard to wrap my mind around the fact that it is almost November with weather such as this.

I spent last weekend in New England at a Maritime History conference and was reminded (as if I needed it) how hard it is for me to be in Florida this time of year. Even more than summer or winter, Fall is the season that most makes we want to pack my bags and move north. I know there are five or so months of great weather ahead of us here, weather that would make a lot of people jealous and which I will enjoy. Yet I just can't shake the feeling that I am missing out on something very important to my sense of time when I am unable to feel the change of seasons in the Fall, the season that was always my favorite when I lived in latitudes well north of the sub-tropics.

The Great Colorado Road Trip 2009

2009-07-04T11:18:00.008-04:00

Thanks to the generosity of my parents, who loaned us their Buick Enclave for the trip when we realized we could not fit in our little Mazda, I am sitting in a very comfortable "Captain's Chair" in the second row of seats typing this on my laptop, while Cheri drives (listening to XM Radio) and Annabelle watches an episode of her new obsession, Scooby-Doo in the other seat next to me, with her wireless headphones on. Yes, it is true, I could get used to this for road trips, it is a very comfortable way to travel.

We are in the rolling plains of central Kansas as I type this and I am, once again, blown away by the subtle beauty of the high plains. When we first broke onto the plains I was overtaken with a deep nostalgia for my first reading of My Antonia and the mastery that was Willa Cather's ability to evoke a landscape. We stopped at the site of Laura Ingall's Little House on the Prairie homestead yesterday and Annabelle was very excited to walk where Laura had walked some 139 years before. It is a very simple site, with a cabin reconstructed to fit descriptions of her family's brief tenure in Kansas, then the territory of the Osage. According to the woman working the counter they have all of 2,000 visitors a year, though I read online that it was 20,000. It is hard to imagine 20,000 people making their way to that out-of-the-way section of Kansas in the few short months that the site is open each year. There were two other sets of visitors, however, in the few hours we were there.

The trip so far has been very pleasant and largely uneventful. We were happy to be able to meet up with one of my best friends from my High School years as we rolled through Memphis. Christopher Marshburn, who is an attorney for Allstate, meet us for a late lunch at Cozy Corner, one of our favorite BBQ joints in the south. And, while we felt that Cozy did not live up to expectations, it was wonderful to see Chris again.

We stayed in a "Hilton Garden Inn" last night in Wichita, KS. The hotel is set in what is an upscale, outdoor mall-ish shopping area. It overlooks a small, man-made lake, around which they have a concert every Thursday evening in the Summer. Our second floor room overlooked the lake so we opened the window and were able to listen to as much "light jazz" (an oxymoron, in my opinion) as we could stomach before we had the real delight of a fireworks show over the lake. The banks of the lake were packed with people who brought out chairs and picnic tables and lots of food for the event. We opted to exercise our legs and walked 2.4 miles (rt) to an Indian Restaurant I found with the trusty Urbanspoon app on my iphone. The food was OK, but the exercise was welcome and it was a break from the BBQ and picnic food we have been living on for two days.

We will be in Longmont, Colorado tonight (where I will likely have the first opportunity to upload this) with our dear friends Bard DeSwarte and Mary Wickersham. We are looking forward to seeing them for the first time in nearly 5 years, when last we met in New Orleans for a long weekend. Time to gas up the Big Red Machine and take over the wheel. More later.

Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season.

2009-06-01T22:25:00.003-04:00

Yes, I am trying to reason with another hurricane season ($1 to Jimmy Buffet). Today is the official beginning of the Atlantic Hurricane Season. There was a Tropical Depression being watched last week, but as of now there are only "areas of interest" that are being tracked. That is comforting given that June is usually a formality in terms of Hurricane Season, the real action usually beginning in August and September. As for now the weather his hot and dry, with no real hint of what might lie in store as the summer progresses.

I am reminded of a CCR song.....

2009-05-19T23:30:00.003-04:00

The very first "45" that I bought as a child was Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Who'll Stop the Rain?" (the B side was Traveling Band, which my parents HATED!). I have had that song running through my head all day, as our lovely tropical weather system has dropped another 4.5 inches of rain on us since midnight last night, bringing the 48 hour total to about nine inches. You can see here the effects of all that rain on the level of the St. Johns River, as measured at Lake Monroe. Of course, as with all rivers, the level will continue to rise long after the rain ends, even more so in the case of a river that moves at about two knots. This is good for sailing, as the already shallow lake was at a very low level. But even I, a man who loves rain, have had enough for a while. Unfortunately I think there may be a few days left to go, as the low pressure system that formed off the coast of Cuba comes calling.

Drought? What drought?

2009-05-18T21:59:00.004-04:00

Since my post of 1 April, in which I hinted that the rainy season may be coming to an end, we have received some scattered rain now and again. We had another two inch rain last week, this time it all fell in the course of less than an hour. Today, however, we had a very garden-friendly, replenish-the-reservoir style rain, totaling (so far) 3.31 inches in the course of the last 20 hours. The garden is happy. The St. Johns River is happy. The frogs and mosquitoes are happy. Hell, its rainy season again in Florida, for better or for worse.

Alice Waters....

2009-04-22T13:01:00.001-04:00

is my hero, and here is just one reason why. Enjoy.

Like a Lion...

2009-04-01T21:51:00.000-04:00

I do not recall if March came in like a lamb, or not, it was just too long ago at this point and I was not paying attention. I do know that it went out like a lion, however, or at least like a very brief rendition of a biblical tempest. Or so I have been told. While I was inside a windowless classroom leading a seminar on Buffalo Bill Cody and the layered meanings of the “Wild West” in the late nineteenth century, all hell was breaking loose outside. After going most of four months with about three inches of rain total, we received an astonishing 2.13 inches last night in the time it took me to run a seminar. I went into the building before a drop had fallen. I came out of the building and was happy to see that it had rained, but was glad I did not have to walk to my car in it. It was only when I checked my rain gage at home that I realized just how much rain it was, and learned from friends and family that it all came down in a very short time. Fortunately it did no damage in the garden that I could find. The buds on the Meyer lemon held fast, the little green tomatoes that I was worried about were fine, and the lettuce even seemed to stand up a bit taller, as if to chide me on the niggardly way I had been watering them to date. I hesitate to say the drought is over, but it was certainly a sign that the rainy season is not too far around the corner.

The New York Times ups its food game.

2009-03-11T09:23:00.003-04:00

OK, I know, this has nothing to do with Florida. Nonetheless, I am happy to point your attention to the newest food column for the New York Times -- United Tastes. The column is written by John T. Edge, an important voice in the exploration of southern foodways, and founder of the Southern Foodways Alliance housed at the University of Mississippi. His will be a welcome voice in an already wonderful part of the "paper of record," which covers food like no other publication in the US, in my opinion.

[In the interest of full disclosure, he also happens to be married to a friend of mine from college.]

Some Rare Good News for Right Whales.

2009-03-10T19:38:00.003-04:00

Right whales migrate off of the east coast of Florida every year. Because their status as a species is extremely precarious there is no local whale watching industry built around taking people out to see them, which, in some respects, is unfortunate because it means there are far fewer people who are aware of and/or care about their plight. In truth, their migration zone is restricted for boat traffic because they typically do not feed much this far south, and need all of their energies to make the round trip back to their breeding grounds.

There was some rare good news today, as scientists were able to sedate a right whale in order to remove it from a potentially lethal rope entanglement, allowing it to swim free. This occurred about thirty miles from where I sit. I would have given much to have been able to witness that.

One reason I am glad my workplace is unionized.

2009-03-03T09:34:00.004-05:00

Excerpts from an open letter from my Union's negotiating team:

It's hard to understand how UCF's finances are being handled.

Last week, President Hitt and Provost Hickey visited the faculty in some of our colleges and told them to expect unpaid "furloughs" (aka leave without pay or salary cuts) because of UCF's dire financial condition.

All the while, 300+ palm trees are planted in front of the President's gated residence. The university announces that it is going to proceed with $82,000 worth of excellence awards and $500,000+ in TIP, RIA, and SoTL salary increases, both actions being in violation of state labor law. Dozens of administrators retire, replacements are hired, and then the retired administrators are hired back on new contracts, covertly swelling the ranks of UCF's administration, while the number of classroom faculty dwindles. Through it all, President Hitt's 5-figure car allowance, gold-plated health care plan, and deferred compensation package remain intact.

The final straw? That secret bonus plan for UCF's top 11 administrators? President Hitt and his VPs didn't turn down the bonuses (as they claimed in a press release that was circulated one day before a television report about them was going to air), they merely deferred the bonuses to a later date. Our senior administrators still think they deserve over $450,000 in bonuses. Outrageous. They say there’s no money for raises. They make threats of pay cuts. Yet our senior administration still plans to pay itself half a million in bonuses – as soon as it won’t be a public relations nightmare to do so. It’s bad enough when this sort of behavior drives multi-billion dollar financial institutions into bankruptcy; it’s unbelievable that it would happen at a tax-payer supported, public university.

Let's review the facts. During the last academic year (2007-2008) the University set aside an additional $45 million in net unrestricted assets. During the same year, it had $77 million in net cash flow (cash inflow minus cash outflow.) As of June 30, 2008 (the last date available in public records), the University had more than $140 million in net unrestricted assets, money that can be spent in any lawful way.

In 2008-2009, UCF received an increase in state funding, albeit less of an increase than it originally planned on. During 2008, UCF raised tuition three times and plans to raise tuition further in 2009.

Make no mistake about it. There is money available to fund needed classes, to pay for more instructors, and to provide for modest salary increases. Bottom line: UCF's leaders prefer to spend some of that money on “other things,” like new landscaping, and save the rest "for a rainy day." If this economy doesn't count as rainy, I cannot fathom what it would take.

Any cut in your pay, including "furloughs", must be bargained with UFF and UFF will take the same pro-faculty, pro-student position on these issues that it has taken throughout its 30 year history.

Rest assured that UFF will always look out for the welfare of UCF’s faculty and professional staff, the students they serve, and the long-term health of the university. UFF is providing missing leadership in these tough economic times by presenting a public analysis of UCF's finances. Tomorrow (Tuesday, March 3rd) from 11-2, UFF will be in front of the student union with cell phones that you can use to call state legislators to demand a stop to cuts to higher education funding.

I encourage you to come out tomorrow and make a call or two. And I encourage you to join UFF in its work to protect faculty rights, strengthen the quality of student education, and improve our university.

Sincerely,
chief negotiator UFF-UCF

A sign that change has come to the White House...

2009-03-02T22:20:00.003-05:00

We live in a world in which the following words were spoken by the President of the United States:

“I do not view the labor movement as part of the problem. To me, it’s part of the solution. You cannot have a strong middle class without a strong labor movement.”

Not Roosevelt. Not Johonson. Barack Obama. That sentiment has not been expressed from the man in the oval office since at least Lyndon Johnson, if not before, but it certainly has not been true of any occupant since then.

This just in!

2009-02-24T22:17:00.000-05:00

Facebook seems to have killed my blog.

A Day on the Run.

2009-02-07T16:27:00.008-05:00

There are some amazing stretches of water to paddle in Florida. Those that flow out of the many magnificent springs that cover the peninsula are referred to locally as runs, and I had the pleasure of paddling one of the the best runs in the state yesterday while having the river all to myself.

I took the opportunity provided by cold weather and a flexible schedule to head out with my canoe to paddle the amazing seven mile stretch that makes up the Juniper Springs run in the Ocala National Forest. It is further away from many other runs, about a 45 minute drive, but is worth the extra time in the car for the amazing quality of the paddling. It is a very narrow and shallow little river with water so clear that you could read a newspaper at the bottom in five feet of water with no problem. In fact, the water is so clear coming from the spring that it is often difficult to judge depth because there is literally no difference in clarity between 6 inches and 6 feet.

I was happy to have the river to myself. The canoe livery that operates at the springs sent no boats downstream yesterday, arranged no pickups from the take-out, and I was their only "reverse" shuttle of the day. The run flows through a designated wilderness area so there are no roads or other access points to the river along the way. It is also so narrow and so swift as to allow paddling in only one direction, so you pretty much have to start at the springs and end at the bridge on Hy 19, or at the mouth of the creek in Lake George, part of the St. Johns River.

Apart from the pure aesthetic pleasure I get from paddling a technical run like Juniper, easing into a familiar sensibility of being one with the boat and the water, slipping through tiny openings under strainers and around dead-fall, having the river to myself also meant near perfect quite and very good wildlife spotting opportunities. I saw hawks, belted kingfishers, egrets, herons, tufted titmice, raccoons, turtles galore, one VERY LARGE alligator, and not a single cloud in the sky. I also had two different sightings of deer. The first deer was a lone buck, and a pretty good sized one for Florida. The second appeared to me to be a doe and two yearlings. I caught them off guard and apparently on the wrong side of the river, as they hurried to get back across while I floated toward them noiselessly. The river is all of about 10 feet across at that point, but has a very deep channel which forced them to swim briefly through the swift current. It was a great sighting and I was wishing I had brought a better camera. Alas....

The most striking aspect of the day was the complete quite that I had for about four hours. I spoke not a word and kept my paddle recoveries in the water for most of the day so that the loudest thing I heard for long stretches were the many birds or my own breathing. There was one lone airplane that interrupted my solitude, but that did not last long. All-in-all it was a pretty spectacular February day.

The Food Apocalypse.

2009-02-04T09:33:00.002-05:00

There are many signs all around us of the deeply alienated relationship that Americans have with their food; from production, through preparation to consumption. The signs of the apocalypse are all around us, and I have decided to point out some of the more odd ones on occasion as I run across them.

Today’s installment comes from the kind folks at Denny’s. I read this morning in the Financial Times that Denny’s has been suffering, along with most of the rest of the world, from the economic downturn (itself an interesting euphemism for recession/depression/collapse of world capitalism/etc.). They responded by offering a free breakfast yesterday to anyone who walked through the door. Fair enough, who can argue with a free “Grand Slam” breakfast? What struck me as profoundly alienating from the article, however, was the comment made by Jeremy Kraus, the manager of a Denny’s in Colorado Springs: “Christmas is normally our busiest day...” Really? Christmas? The busiest day of the year at Denny’s is Christmas? Granted, I have not been inside a Denny’s for many years, and never sober that I can recall. So it may be unfair for me to judge, but I will not let that stop me.

The thought of going to Denny’s for Christmas dinner strikes me as preposterous. It is not just that the food is bad, though I am sure that the cooks working the Christmas shift are giving it their all. What I find incomprehensible is the attitude toward food that it reveals. For me, Christmas is ABOUT the food, and the people who gather to share it. It is the preparation and breaking of the proverbial bread that makes it a holiday. If you are going to Denny’s for dinner then what are you celebrating with? A lot of cheap and unnecessary plastic crap wrapped under a tree, I would guess. Did I enjoy getting presents at Christmas? Yes, I did. But it was the days of planning and preparation of the menu that I cared about; the long breakfast, the champagne and wine, the lingering over dinner and desert, and the conversations with friends and family that attend all of it that I remember the day by. If you can’t bother to cook yourself a meal on Christmas..... I despair.

Mixed Blessing.

2009-02-02T20:52:00.003-05:00

We had rain today: 7/10 of inch, to be exact. Actually, it is still raining a bit. That brings our two month total to about 1.5 inches, which is all to typical in our dry season. My garden needed it desperately. While I have watered my plants over that stretch, there is no substitute for a good ground soaking, and they need it. Everything here is stressed serverly by the cold weather (by sub-tropical standards) we have had of late, and a good rain was needed to ease the pain.

The mixed part of the blessing is that the precipitation is in association with an advancing cold front. So, here we go again. Temperatures are projected to reach 25 Wednesday night, and 26 on Thursday. The highs on both days are to be in the 40s. Once again we face repeated nights in the mid-20s and I am not sure some of my plants will survive. I am especially worried about my avocado tree and my dragon fruit cactus. I have pretty much given up on my banana plant. For the five years since I moved to Florida I lived for these stretches of weather because I missed the cold weather of Chicago very much. The garden has tinged that significantly. I can only hope for the best and take what few precautions I can. In the mean time, I hope my plants are drinking deeply.

A Night at the Opera.

2009-01-25T20:15:00.002-05:00

No, not Queen or the Marx Brothers -- and it was more like an afternoon at the opera, but that does not sound very catchy. I went to see the Teatro Lirico D'Europa production of Verdi's Aida today. My wife begged off at about the time I bought the tickets (part of a season ticket package) so I assumed I would be attending alone. My five-year-old daughter piped up that she wanted to go and when I tried to dissuade her by mentioning that it was three hours long and about Ancient Egypt she was even more excited. Note to parents: Ancient Egypt is inherently interesting to a five-year-old. So, I went expecting to see a fraction of the production and figured it was worth it just to get her into the opera house.

The production was very good, not great, though the Baritone and Soprano were on the borderline of greatness. It is a traveling production and I was very impressed with the numbers. At one point there were over 42 people singing on stage and an orchestra with 40+ members. Anyway, it was great to see live opera in the area, and I was very happy to be there.

Now, back to my daughter (and yes, this is gratuitous bragging). I told her from the beginning that there were four acts and we could leave when she was ready, but only between acts. She was very excited about the whole event. She woke us up at 7:10 this morning in her fanciest dress ready for the show that began at 3 PM. She took her seat with great anticipation, was astoundingly quite throughout, talking only in whispers and only during the breaks, and refused to leave - EVEN AFTER IT WAS OVER. She desperately wanted to meet the performers, though, sadly, that was not an option. I did take her down front to see the orchestra pit, an idea which is also inherently interesting (and funny) to someone who is five. Those who do not know her cannot appreciate the fact that sitting silent for three hours is, in itself, nothing short of miraculous. I may have created a monster. The next production in is February (La Boheme) and she is begging to go, even though it starts at about her bedtime. She is going to be sorely disappointed, I am afraid.

Cress Scores Again.

2009-01-25T10:29:00.003-05:00

Cress Restaurant has scored another very favorable review in the Orlando press, this time in the pages of Orlando Weekly. Follow the link and see for yourself.

Winter Paddling.

2009-01-24T21:23:00.003-05:00

The cold spell of recent days has laid waste to my garden. We had three mornings in a row with temps in the mid to low 20s. And yet, today was in the 70s, sunny and beautiful. So, we went for a canoe trip in Mosquito Lagoon, part of the intercoastal waterway and located within Canaveral National Seashore. Mostly sunny skies, light winds, clear and cool waters, good friends and an amazing canoe all combined to make for a wonderful afternoon on the water.

We started the day at one of my favorite local restaurants -- J.B.'s Fish Camp, which rally is an old fishing camp that was converted to a bit of a dive (but delicious) seafood joint about 25 years ago. I have been addicted to it since it first opened. The fact that it is all of about 2 miles from the north entrance of the National Seashore makes it that much more appealing.

We spent the afternoon meandering through the small islands of the lagoon, wading occasionally in shallow water, watching our friend fish, spotting a Southern Bold Eagle and generally marveling that it was January. We spent the afternoon meandering through the small islands of the lagoon, wading occasionally in shallow water, watching our friend fish, spotting a Southern Bold Eagle and generally marveling that it was January. It was certainly an Embrace Florida afternoon. Photo evidence can be found here.

From the New World.

2009-01-24T00:06:00.003-05:00

Forget the weather. I went to see the Czech Symphony Orchestra tonight and they were outstanding. They played plenty of Dvorak, finishing with Symphony #9. It has always been one of my favorite pieces of music but tonight was the first time I have ever heard it live. Wow. What a great night of music.

The Venue: Daytona Beach Symphony Society.

And we have season tickets!

Much Damage in the Garden.

2009-01-22T11:40:00.005-05:00

It is too early to know for sure how much permanent damage has been wrought by ole Jack Frost, by the early returns are not encouraging. We dipped below freezing last night by about 8 o'clock and stayed there until at least 8 this morning. A solid 12 hours of sub-freezing temperatures, with a low of 23 degrees. By any measure, that is a real freeze, and the second one in a row. We are expected to get down to 27 degrees tonight. The African basil is long gone, as is the Cuban oregano. The sweet basil is in very bad shape. That is what I can see at this point. I am afraid that further damage may have been done but is not yet evident by the looks of the plants alone. Only time will tell.

On the up side, we should not have to deal with many mosquitoes for a while.

My poor banana plant....

2009-01-21T12:05:00.003-05:00

We had freezing temps. for about 9 hours last night and it will likely be even longer tonight. The banana and Cuban oregano did not fair well. It is noon and the temp. is 37. I'll that a nice, cold day just about anywhere, but especially on the Florida peninsula.

OK, so it is cold.

2009-01-21T00:52:00.003-05:00

It is 1:00 AM and already 31 degrees. It is supposed to get down to 27, though I suspect it will get lower than that. That will make for a long night below freezing for my tropical plants. The high tomorrow is forecast to be 49. Yep, a high in the 40s. Then back to 27 tomorrow night. In the past, pre-garden, I would have been beside myself with joy over this weather. Now my general glee is tinged with a persistent strain of worry about the garden. Damn, nurturing sure has its price.

Hey, "W" .....

2009-01-19T22:21:00.001-05:00

don't let the door hit you in the ass.

What passes for cold....

2009-01-16T23:34:00.002-05:00

So, it is supposed to get down to 32 degrees tonight, maybe for a few hours. It is cold enough for me to have taken time to cover my tropical plants -- banana, Meyer lemon, and lime. I harvested what was left from the citrus trees. I also covered my herbs.

Nonetheless, it just aint that cold here, though you would not know that based on local conversation. As someone who loves ice and snow, who was addicted to cross country skiing and ice climbing, who has camped out at -35 degrees on more than one occasion, I just cannot get myself in a frame of mind to think that a day with a high in the 50s and a low of 32 is cold. Sorry.

My new iPhone and EMFLA.

2008-12-09T08:46:00.002-05:00

I was walking the dog yesterday and listening to National Public Radio out of Minnesota through the brilliance that is the iphone. One of the free applications that you can download from the "App. Store" on itunes is little program that allows you to listen to MPR (Minnesota Public Radio) streaming live. So when I am out walking the dog during Morning Edition or All Things Considered times I can take NPR with me.

What does this have to do with embracing Florida, you might rightly ask? The weather reports on MPR are from, well, Minnesota. Needless to say, they are not the same as our local forecasts. Yesterday I was ambling down our street in shorts and flip flops on one of our "colder" days (I was wearing a hat and a fleece pullover) and listening to reports of snow in Albert Lea and wind chills in Hibbing checking in at -20 degrees. I have to admit, even though it pains me to do so, that for a second I was happy to be fighting off our cold wave while still in flip flops, the world’s most perfect footwear. It passed, and I coveted the cold of the upper mid-west at Christmastime very quickly. I became especially dreamy thinking about how beautiful Grand Marias, MN is in the winter, blanketed in snow and keeping watch on the frozen edges of the magisterial Gitchee Gumee. But honesty compels me to admit that for a fleeting moment, I was OK being in Florida rather than Minnesota.

Happy Birthday Johan.

2008-12-08T09:09:00.003-05:00

Johan Sibelius was born on this day in 1865 in the Russian province of Finland. Notably, his music would play a significant role in fostering Finnish national identity. I was lucky enough to see his Symphony 5 in E flat major, Op. 82, performed two weeks ago by the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra as part of the Daytona Symphony Society's annual season. His music has made my life better, it is that simple.

Hurricane Season Ends.

2008-12-01T22:01:00.003-05:00

We have turned the page on another hurricane season. For us it was fairly mild. Other than the wickedly wet Tropical Storm Fay, which dumped well over 20 inches of rain on the area in a few days and caused many weeks of damaging flooding along the banks of the St. Johns River, we escaped with no significant damage to our town. More broadly the season was not so kind. Not only was it "the only year on record in which a major hurricane existed in every month from July through November in the north Atlantic," it caused an estimated $54 Billion in damage throughout the Caribbean basin. Much of the damage was concentrated in Hati and Cuba, two countries that can ill afford such trials.

Tornado Watch.

2008-11-30T15:11:00.002-05:00

A strong squall line ahead of an advancing cold front has made for a very busy local weather service, churning out a lot of warnings today: small craft, high surf, high wind, lake wind and, of course, a tornado watch for inland Volusia county. We are keeping our weather eye open.

Inside it is lovely, however, as the first batch of Christmas cookies has just come out of the oven. I think we are going to need much larger cookie tins this year, as I am in a baking mood.

Thanksgiving Flowers.

2008-11-26T20:16:00.016-05:00

I remember, once, walking form my apartment on Greenleaf Ave. in Chicago to the local natural foods market on Morse St. to buy groceries for a big Thanksgiving feast at my house the next day. On the way I noticed a small rose bush tucked up against the side of a large-ish apartment building that had produced one final flower, in late late November in the upper midwest. I was struck by the tenacity of that plant. I was also moved by the power of this visual reminder of what an unusually warm fall it had been, the beauty of which was powerfully driven home by the single, red brilliance of that November rose.

Well, nothing so dramatic this November, though we do have roses. They are beautiful, to be sure, and when coupled with the other flowers blooming randomly around the yard (with no nurturing from me, I can assure you) they are wonderful to behold. These Florida November flowers lack the awe-inspiring defiance of their Chicago cousins, but they are a potent reminder of our new latitude. Below are a few pictures I took this evening. I noticed the Camilia on the way to the smoker to smoke some mussels and decided I needed a shot of it because it was so out of season, though there are a lot of buds waiting to bloom. The rose and hibiscus were afterthoughts, but worth the few seconds it took to walk to the driveway.

Meyer lemons.

2008-11-26T08:47:00.002-05:00

No, my Meyer lemons are not ready just yet, though they are slowing changing from green to yellow after the recent spate of cool weather. I was gifted half a dozen lemons from a local tree so I am changing my menu slightly for tomorrow's festivities. I plan to make a lemon and rosemary (from my garden) tart as one of the appetizers I will be taking to the Central Florida Gardner's house for Thanksgiving dinner. We are also taking some local shrimp stuffed with local crab meat.

Ummmm, Thanksgiving, Florida-style.

Deeply Conflicted,

2008-11-18T23:12:00.003-05:00

Since I moved to Florida I have reveled in any moment of cold air that came our way. I have studiously watched the thermometer, waiting for the temperature to dip below the magical 32 degree mark, as if some catharsis would result. I have often said that one of my fondest memories of my time in Florida was a February night in 2003 when it fell to 17 degrees in Deland, with a high the next day only in the high 30s. We were renting a old farm house out in the country at the time and I spent the night out under the stars in my cozy down winter sleeping bag that I once used when I was a dogsled guide in Canada, or on ice climbing/back country ski trips in Colorado. I went canoeing the next morning in the Ocala National Forest and had the river to myself. There was even some ocean effect snow that afternoon in Daytona. I remember that day five years ago with crystal clarity because it was so rare.

So here is my new problem. As much as I love the cold, I now have emotional attachments pulling me in the opposite direction. As the temperature drops toward 32 tonight I am not celebrating. Rather, I am quite nervous about how my tropical garden will fair, especially my citrus trees and banana plant. I have a lot of beautiful lemons and limes almost ready for harvest and I hate to think of them being destroyed by a freeze. I can honestly say that this is the first time in my life that I an not openly cheering for falling mercury.

Spectacular show.

2008-11-14T21:20:00.002-05:00

We had a wonderful evening at the Deland airport. It is not what you think. Our little local airport is, for reasons that escape me, a mecca for skydivers from around the world for winter "jumping out of planes" season. The tiny airport (which was just voted a tower by the county government -- no signs of construction yet) has a huge outside deck, with bar service and decent food from which to watch the nearly constant stream or people falling from the sky.

Tonight was different. It started with an amazing rise of a nearly full moon, orange in the low sky. That was followed by a very spectacular space shuttle launch, which lit the southwestern sky like a roman candle like you have never seen, and which would not go out. Finally, in honor of the launch there was a massive night-time sky dive which was coordinated with the shuttle. Even as the booster rockets were separating from the shuttle, glow stick bedecked skydivers were falling from the sky and landing in the field in front of us. I enjoyed it. Our kids LOVED it. My daughter was sad that she was not one of the astronauts hurtling into space.

EMFLA!

Fall Harvest.

2008-11-11T13:51:00.006-05:00

My back hurts, but in a good way. I spent a few hours this morning bent over in a tight fold, hands digging through sand and dirt enriched with manure, my fingers seeking out the large tuberous roots that have been growing unseen in my front-yard garden since June. I found my share. Eleven pounds worth of sweet potatoes, to be exact. There were fewer than I expected, to be honest. I planted the slips over the prepared portion* of the yard and let them grow into the section that I left as grass. The potatoes that rooted in the prepared section were huge, the largest weighing in at two pounds. The section of vines that grew over the grass simply did not root well and produced almost nothing. Live and learn. If that section did not produce any edible yams it did provide ground cover for the whole of the summer and early fall that needed no watering or care. Next year I expect I will haul out a lot more, now that I have some remote idea what I am doing.

Sadly, I have to "cure" the little buggers so that they will keep and the starch can turn to sugar. I hope I can wait long enough, though I suppose since I have been waiting lo these many months for them to mature I can go a few more weeks for them to sweeten.

*The preparation consisted of simply laying newspaper over some beat-down grass, topped with manure, and overlaid with pine straw.

Emma Goldman and Black Eyed Peas.

2008-11-10T13:56:00.004-05:00

If you did not already love the Black Eyed Peas you have to by now. will.i.am released the video that went viral and helped energize the netroots for Obama (embedded here, in case you have been in a coma for months). He is now channeling Red Emma's sentiments about not wanting to be part of a revolution in which she could not dance (the quotes attributed to Goldman are not accurate, but the sentiment most certainly is). will.i.am has released a new video celebrating the historic events of this past Tuesday, embedded here. I dare you not to smile.

***UPDATE***
The "embedded" option for the video has disabled via Youtube. Sorry. However, you can still see the video by following this link: will.i.am.

Cress Wows the Orlando Sentinel.

2008-11-09T10:15:00.002-05:00

As I have mentioned before a friend and neighbor has opened a new restaurant in town, much to our delight. The Orlando Sentinel has published the first significant review of Cress (yes, it is a link). Needless to say, the owner/chef is happy with the results. We hope that it will bring in diners from the Orlando area, as they are likely necessary for the long-term success of a high-end restaurant in little-ole Deland.

Consolation Prize.

2008-11-08T22:32:00.004-05:00

My daughter is sick. She has strep throat. After a visit to the doctor and pharmacist yesterday I decided we would drive by my favorite local grove to see if they were harvesting yet and, perchance, had put up their roadside stand. I figured I was about a month early and I was right. This grove grows perhaps the finest Hamlin orange I have ever tasted, it is sweet and very flavorful, but not overpowering. The juice is to kill for. The Hamlin is a local variety developed by (or at least named for) Arthur Hamlin, who moved to Deland from Massachusetts in 1883. He worked as local developer Henry DeLand's legal adviser and local agent. While also pursuing his own legal career he did what all good (moneyed) residents of Florida did in the late-nineteenth century, he chased the dream of wealth and ease as an orange grower. While "his" orange is one of the most widely grown sweet oranges in all of Florida to this day, he was bankrupted, along with thousands of others, by the dual freezes of the winter of 1894-95 which wiped out the existing citrus belt north of Orlando. I think of him every year when Hamlins come ripe locally and I cannot eat my fill.

So, no local Hamlins are available as of yet. Luckily I stopped at my local (outstanding) green grocer to see what he had on the shelf and to my glee he was stocked with some almost-local Red Navel Oranges. They are not as sweet as the Hamlin, but well worth the many cents I was asked to pay for them. They look for all the world like a small grapefruit, especially when you cut them open and see their very red interior. One sniff, however, gives them away as an orange. I am enjoying the juice of one as I type this, mixed with a lovely rum from St. Croix, of course. Ahhh, life in the Greater Caribbean is not all bad.

Wishful Thinking.

2008-11-08T07:47:00.002-05:00

I was with some friends last night and there was a lot of knocking wood related to our hope that Hurricane Paloma would remain a small storm. No such luck. Below is the 7:00 AM release from the National Hurricane Center:

"REPORTS FROM AN AIR FORCE RESERVE HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT INDICATE THAT MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE INCREASED TO NEAR 140 MPH...225 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. PALOMA IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. SOME ADDITIONAL STRENGTHENING IS POSSIBLE THIS MORNING..."

A Cat. 4 storm in November is not a happy thought. I am still not too worried about us "way up here" in north-central Florida. I went swimming last Sunday in the Atlantic and it seemed to have cooled quite a bit since summer, though that is hardly a scientific measure. I have to believe that if Paloma did come this way it would weaken significantly. I will comfort myself with that thought for now.

Alas, poor Cuba has been hammered this year by hurricanes. I hope they can somehow dodge this bullet but it looks like they are about to take yet another direct hit, this time from a Cat. 4 storm.

Reality Check.

2008-11-06T07:54:00.004-05:00

There is a new named storm in the Atlantic basin. Tropical Storm Paloma formed off of the Nicaragua and Honduras and is expected to head toward Cuba over the weekend. Hopefully there is not enough stored energy left in the waters of the Caribbean to allow Paloma to form into a significant storm. We shall see.

***Update***

Paloma became a hurricane today, though barely. It is still projected to head to Cuba and then Great Exuma in the Bahamas, before heading into the open Atlantic.

Sadly....

2008-11-05T01:45:00.002-05:00

It appears as if Amendment 2 in Florida will pass, thus adding our state's voice to the chorus of hate directed against those who exercise freedom in the most fundamental choice we can make in life: who we are going to love. So, while we affirm progress in one dimension of our social compact we move backwards in another. We have a lot of ground to cover in our next Civil Rights campaign. The good news is that tonight proves it can be done.

Wow.

2008-11-05T00:47:00.002-05:00

Barack Hussein Obama is President Elect of the United States of America. I would not have believed this possible in my lifetime a year ago. The world has changed for the better, and I believe that my daughter's future is better as a result. Oh, and I now live in a blue county in a blue state. Seriously, I stand in awe.

Sí, se puede.

2008-11-03T20:16:00.003-05:00

The very long election season will (hopefully) be over tomorrow. All indications are that Barack Obama is headed for a historic win, both in terms of taking a significant step forward in healing the wound that is (one of) America's original sin, and in terms of realigning the American electorate. I have thought from the beginning that Obama had the opportunity to make 2008 a watershed election, in a way that no other Democratic could hope to. There is a Reaganesque quality to the man, the politician and the campaign that he has run and the results may well be a party realignment that will shape the political landscape for a generation. That has been my hope since last winter when I first contributed to his campaign and stuck a (long-since destroyed) yard sign in my front yard. It has been a dark eight years, these past. Hopefully tomorrow will mark a turning point, once again bringing morning to America. We could all use a little hope and optimism about now, but one that is grounded in a respect for ideas and real-world solutions for the rest of us who have been trickled down on for too long now.

In the words of César Chávez, one of the great "community organizers" of all time, Sí, se puede.

The Habit of Posting.

2008-11-02T20:59:00.003-05:00

I have found that it is easy to get out of the habit of posting, in which case what is the point of having a blog. So, here is a little of nothing re: my day in Florida.

We have family visiting, which is very exciting, so we went to the beach. It was overcast and it drizzled a little and the temp was in the high 60s. Regardless, we had a great time: we went swimming, took a long walk on the beach, the kids made a sand castle and I even took a short nap, lulled to sleep by the sound of breaking waves.

We then headed to JB's Fish Camp where we had some local seafood, fried. For dinner we had fresh local shrimp swimming in butter, garlic, herbs from the garden, and white wine. The shrimp are cooked very quickly at moderate heat and served with the sauce, which is soaked up with slices of baguette and chased with white wine. And THAT is how you embrace Florida in November!

Historical Moment.

2008-10-22T23:27:00.006-04:00

As both a southerner and a historian of the South I must admit that I was very much moved today when I looked at my ballot and saw the name of a mixed-race/black-identified candidate at the head of a major party ticket. Whether it is win or lose for Barack Obama, and by all accounts it is going to be a win, it literally brought tears to my eyes when I held in my hand the means to cast a vote for an African American for President. I am happy for my five year old daughter that this is the world she is to grow up in, for her father's strongest political memories from childhood surround the assassination of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. and the shooting of George Wallace. May my precious Annabelle grow up in a truly post-racial world. (We must hope for our children's future, right?)

Early Voting.

2008-10-22T13:40:00.003-04:00

Voting has begun in Florida. Running totals of votes in Volusia county (where I live) can be seen here. There is no way of know who ballots are being cast for, of course, but at the time of this writing there have been about 4,800 Democrats who have voted vs. just shy of 2,200 Republicans. Is it an indication of the varying levels of excitement in the respective camps? Or, perhaps, a sign of the power of Obama's ground game? Me thinks (hopes) it may be both.

***Update***

I just became one of the numbers being tallied, having waited in line about 30 minutes to cast my ballot. The election is not over for me, though, as I have a lot of ground game work left to do.

Spiny Lobster.

2008-10-19T22:37:00.003-04:00

We had a wonderful dinner at some friends' house last night eating a TON of spiny lobster tails that they had caught this summer in the Keys. Damn good eats. Because of the weather we were able to head outside after dinner and roast marshmallows for s'mores by a roaring fire. Fall arrived this weekend.

Vote no on amendment 2!

Hallelujah!

2008-10-18T16:05:00.002-04:00

The first cold front of the year is, even as I write this, rapidly approaching. Based on the current radar, the advanced squall line is only about 15 - 20 miles to the north. Finally, the end of the LONG HOT SUMMER is neigh. This means more to me than I can communicate in words.

This also means that my prescient wife, who selected 17 October in our family poll re: dating the first cold front, is the WINNER of the inaugural Em-Fla Cold Front Contest by being only a day off the actual date. Congratulations. Next year please pick a date in early September so that we do not have to wait so damn long.

"It aint over till its over."

2008-10-14T11:05:00.002-04:00

Two new named storms in the Atlantic/Caribbean basin. Be merciful Nana and Omar.

Two hats.

2008-10-09T20:35:00.004-04:00

I was working today with two hats on; my historian hat which is sooo 19th Century, and my 21st Century "Economic Panic" hat. Then I ran across the following in my notes and they seemed as one:

"Here everything is closed out and for a good many years. The trees have almost all of them to be grown again from the roots, and so we are put back where we were 10 - to 12 years ago, with all the money we put into the groves, gone... Many of the best people, who were in comfortable circumstances before the freeze, are now really very poor... It is estimated that one-third of the people of Florida have already left the state and many, many more are still going, and still more would go, if they could..."

The above is from a letter penned by Cornelius H. Longstreet from Mt. Dora, Florida on 17 July 1895. He was writing about the economic aftermath of two hard freezes the previous winter that virtually wiped out the once-promising citrus industry in central Florida and left the area economically devastated for a number of years. Conditions were so bad that Florida witnessed the very rare event of a declining population. There is some convincing circumstantial evidence that it is happening again, as public school enrollment has dropped for three consecutive years.

Columbia Journalism Review.

2008-10-08T22:53:00.002-04:00

My favorite headline today relating to last night's debate comes from the CJR's "Campaign Desk." If you do not read the CJR online on a regular basis I strongly recommend that you give it a try. You will be hard pressed to find a more concise and thoughtful critique of the role of the media in the political process than you will find there, IMHO. So, on with the headline (a cut and paste):

McAnger: A Photo Essay

Today’s papers put the ‘icky’ in ‘Mavericky’

You have to love that.

What is for dinner? Vegetarian Floribbean....

2008-10-08T18:02:00.004-04:00

Tonight, yet again, we are having a delicious Floribbean dinner, only this time it is entirely vegetarian. I am preparing yuca con mojo, fried plantains, and Belizian-style beans and rice or, as they are called in Belize, "rocks and gravel." Typically we have these as a side dish with fried fish (snapper, if we can find it), but we are trying to cut out as much animal protein as our stomachs and tongues can stand, though that is a tough knot for a committed carnivore like me. I have always loved Caribbean cuisine. From my early years eating Cuban food, to my time working in Belize, and my friendship with a wonderful Haitian couple who ran a fantastic restaurant in Chicago, I never seem to get enough of the wonderful flavors of the islands. At some point in the future, when my work schedule calms down a bit, I will bore you with my musings on how fruitful it is to see Florida's culture and history through the lens of a "Greater Caribbean." Until that time, bon appetit.

And then there is this.....

2008-10-07T00:01:00.002-04:00

This is the depth to which they have sunk. Not only is a press conference off limits, for the first time in the modern history of a Vice-/Presidential campaign (god forbid there would be a bevy of embarrassing follow-up questions from actual reporters), the press is not even allowed to talk to Palin supporters. What a farce this this campaign has become. The Bush administration is, of course, the tragedy of the first part . He broke our country and now we have to pay for it.

Echoes of Florida Past.

2008-10-06T20:47:00.006-04:00

At a rally in Clearwater, Florida Governor Sarah Palin ramped up the racially-tinged fear campaign against Barack Obama today. The McCain campaign has stated openly over the course of the past few days that it cannot not win on the issues (here and here, for example). So they promised to tear Obama down, instead, and it is clear that they intend to do that by linking their public statements with the very hateful whisper campaign against the Illinois Senator that has barely slacked off since he announced he was running for office. The use of phrases such as "This is not a man who sees America as you see it and as I see America" are hardly subtle evocations of "otherness" that have long undergirded base conservative instincts. (For a brilliant reading of how modern Republican politics is based largely on the strategies of George Wallace please see Dan Carter's The Politics of Rage.) So when I hear of an anonymous person shouting "kill him" at a large public gathering in Florida (the purpose of which is to demean a person of color), it reminds me all too forcefully of the long and bloody history of racialized violence that makes up Florida's not-so-sunny past (with over 257 confirmed lynchings of African Americans from 1882 to 1968).

Lest we forget what this really means, here is a reminder from 1895:

"Sam Echols, Sam Crawley, and John Brooks were abducted by a group of white men... [despite] protesting their innocence in the death of a local white woman, the three men were taken into the woods to be punished. Pleading for their lives, the men were tied to stakes. An eyewitness reported 'They were scalped, their eyelids and their noses cut of, the flesh cut from their jaws, their bodies scrapped and their privates cut out. The blood flowed in streams from the ghastly wounds, and their screams rent the air only to be silenced by the tearing out of their tongues by the roots.' The men were burned at the stake." [From Emancipation Betrayed by Paul Ortiz, page 63-64.]

This is the ghost of America past that the McCain campaign is willing to dance with, whether consciously or unconsciously only they know, though I strongly suspect the former. It is a veiled dance, to be sure, and one they must believe allows plausible deniability, but it is no less despicable for that. Anyone who would come this close to this edge for the lust of power is a dangerous and reckless person, indeed.

***Update***

From this morning's Washington Post:

"...Palin's routine attacks on the media have begun to spill into ugliness. In Clearwater, arriving reporters were greeted with shouts and taunts by the crowd of about 3,000. Palin then went on to blame Katie Couric's questions for her "less-than-successful interview with kinda mainstream media." At that, Palin supporters turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, "Sit down, boy."

This is what the McCain campaign is openly courting. Despicable.

Gardening in October.

2008-10-05T21:44:00.003-04:00

Thanks to the generosity of my friend the Central Florida Gardener I can add pineapple and sugarcane to my list of tropical foods growing in my front yard.

We have been very dry of late and I have been slow to return to a dry season mentality, so there are a lot of thirsty plants in my garden. Nonetheless, I harvested and ate some more delicious Matt's Wild cherry tomatoes today. I also recently gave some of my numerous cayenne peppers to a friend and neighbor to use in his local restaurant and I am eager to begin what I hope will be a very bountiful sweet potato harvest in a few weeks. All-in-all, it is a happy occasion when I can eat homegrown tomatoes in October while planning which afternoon this week I will spend planting some new tomato strains for my fall and winter eating pleasure. Now if we could just get some cooler weather...

"I like the smell of fresh snapper, fried light"

2008-10-02T12:09:00.003-04:00

Yes, I have gone from quoting T. S. Eliot to Jimmy Buffett. But the delicious fresh fried snapper for dinner had me singing his song Landfall under my breath for a while.

Ah, but there is more than simple a pop-culture demlima here. Snapper is a fish that most experts say you should not eat because it is under pressure from too much fishing. I struggle with the decision to buy it at our VERY GOOD local fishmonger The Deland Fish House for that reason, in spite of the fact that I dearly love snapper. In the end I square my snapper habit with this rationale: the snapper I buy and eat is caught locally, in the waters of my bioregion by local fishermen and is trucked all of about 30 miles. Relying on the Kantian Categorical Imperative, as often do when sorting through ethical decisions, I can safely say that if my actions were universalized I would be delighted. If everyone practiced being a localvore our world would be a much healthier, more sane and rational place. So, I eat snapper without a guilty conscience. I do miss Pacific Salmon, marinated in Kirin and Soy sauce and grilled over an open flame, though.

Just in Case.

2008-09-30T23:12:00.005-04:00

In case there is any chance that a future Presidential candidate might really want to push the envelope and pick me as a running mate, here is list of my subscriptions:

Financial Times
New York Times
Deland Beacon
The New York Review of Books
The Journal of American History
The Southern Historical Quarterly
The American Historical Review
The Florida Historical Quarterly
Environmental History
Fine Cooking
Saveur Magazine
Bitch Magazine (ok, that is my wife's subscription, they need financial help)

I write the checks for these so even if someone asked me a "gotcha question" about what I read as a way to gauge my world view, I am confidant that I could name a least a few of them.

Begging Sufferance, Dear Reader

2008-09-24T07:06:00.003-04:00

**UPDATE**
What I meant to say below is that, due to the important nature of my activities following the election, I have temporarily suspended my blog. I urge other bloggers to do the same.

From the moment I made my decision to blog I firmly committed myself to keep politics far removed from the site. There are plenty of very good political blogs available and I have nothing significant to add to that discourse. Besides, it would only invite rancor into my little corner of "the Internets" when my intention is precisely the opposite.

The down side of the decision is now becoming clear to me. As we ramp up another Presidential election and I become increasingly obsessed with the process and the polling I have fewer things to say about other matters that seem so trivial in comparison. As a result I am posting less and less. In truth, I do not think that these "other things" are trivial in comparison, and I chastise myself for spending more time and energy on the election than is healthy or warranted. Alas, as with many of my efforts to live a praxis of a "care of the self" I seem to be losing this battle, as well. So, please forgive the lacunae that are becoming this blog's modus operandi.

T. S. Eliot never lived in Florida.

2008-09-18T10:26:00.004-04:00

The opening line of "The Waste Land" is famous and catchy; "April is the cruelest month." Since moving to Florida, however, I have realized that Eliot never spent much time in the Sunshine State.™ If he had his first line would have read "October is the cruelest month." Apart from the near constant fear of hurricanes during the first half of the month, there is the oppressive and seemingly endless Long-Hot-Summer. October is my breaking point. I can handle hot and humid summer days because, well, it is summer. I still prefer summer in upper Great Lakes, but I can manage here. Besides, we have the beach. September is still summer, technically, so I contain my growing irritation at the very high levels of humidity and the continuation of the same daily forecast that we have been suffering under for months now: High 95, Low 75, chance of rain in the afternoon. Seriously, the meteorologists can publish that forecast in late May and take the next four months off. As the rest of the nation moves into Fall and the catalogs pour in with fall fashions splashed across their covers, and Fine Cooking sends its Thanksgiving issue I become desperate for a hint fall weather. To no avail.

So, this year I decided to make a game out of my almost pathological desire for climatological relief. My family and I have created a "pool," of sorts, estimating when the first "cold" (read: slightly less hot, but dryer air) front will finally make its way this far south. My five year old daughter picked October first because she "likes the firsts of every month." Her reason is as sound as any I can think of. My wife opted for 17 October and I slotted in between them on the 13th because it is Thanksgiving Day in Canada, which seemed to offer some good fall karma. So now we wait. And wait. And sweat whenever we step outside for five minutes even if we are not doing anything. And we try to fend off images of changing leaves, hot drinks, sweaters, and all things autumnal.

Gin & Tonic.

2008-09-14T21:21:00.003-04:00

A few moments ago I decided to make myself a gin and tonic, a perfect drink after a long day at the beach. Why am I bothering to post this? Because I went into the front yard and picked my FIRST Persian Lime to use in the concoction. I have been afraid to pick any because they were not fully ripe and, if I had remembered to buy one at the store yesterday, I would have left mine on the tree. Yet there it was, a G&T with no lime, so I took the plunge into lime harvesting. My friends (no, that is not an endorsement for John McCain), it was beautiful! The color, the texture, the juice, the whole bloody lime-ness of it, was near perfection. I have now grown my own organic lime, from germination to libation, in my own front yard. Now if that does not make one embrace Florida I don't know what will.

Tufted Titmice.

2008-09-12T12:26:00.003-04:00

There are three beautiful Tufted Titmice on the palm tree just outside a window in my office. I could almost reach across the desk and touch them.

Gator Roadkill.

2008-09-02T10:50:00.004-04:00

While driving Interstate-4 yesterday I was rather shocked to see a 7-9 foot alligator (hard to guess the size at 75 mph) dead in the breakdown lane on the bridge over the St. Johns River. I do not recall ever seeing gator roadkill but I am certain that I have never seen one that large dead on the side of an interstate -- on a bridge, no less. I understand why we are seeing a lot more roadkill raccoons, etc., as their habitat turns to lake, but I can't quite sort out the gator on the interstate bridge. It was a sad image. I can only guess that it did serious damage to any car unfortunate enough to have a direct hit on something that heavy and stout.

Gustav.

2008-08-31T12:46:00.005-04:00

Hurricane Gustav is obviously developing into a major storm and the visions of Katrina that it brings to mind make me shutter. Our weather has been very overcast and squally over the past two days as a result of storm bands that Gustav is spinning off. Thankfully there has not been a lot of rain contained in these bands because we have no place to put it. I am continually amazed at how wide the reach of these storms are. The nation's attention is riveted on the Gulf Coast, of course, but the meteorological effects of the storm are very widespread, as illustrated by the infrared and visual satellite images below. Locally we are keeping a very keen eye on T. S. Hanna, whose forecast models have taken a turn for the worse from our perspective. It could mean a lot more rain for us even if we are spared a direct hit.

Big Night Out.

2008-08-30T17:08:00.002-04:00

Well, for Deland anyway. My wife and I are heading to Cress Restaurant tonight for dinner this first weekend of their soft opening. We are very excited to have a more upscale restaurant in town. The Chef and owners are friends and neighbors and we have been waiting for this opening for some time with real anticipation. I am sure we will not be disappointed. Cheers!

Too busy to blog.

2008-08-28T23:53:00.005-04:00

A long week of being back in the classroom and being a full time parent to a daughter not yet in school has mostly kept me away. Oh, and I have been a bit consumed with a certain set of events in Denver. I just watched Obama deliver a very carefully constructed speech designed to immunize himself from the current line of attack from the McCain camp. Time we tell how effective it was. It was delivered in front of an amazingly large crowd, however. How much that counts for is still an open question. Of course, there is this..... (go ahead, click it)

St. Johns River Flooding.

2008-08-26T21:14:00.003-04:00

Elsewhere I have written the following: "Wending its way north to the Atlantic Ocean from origins that are barely detectable, the St. Johns River has exuded an aura of the exotic to many who have seen it. Traveling over terrain so flat that its flow is scarcely detectable, the river resembles a collection of lakes strung together by relatively narrow channels, at least in its upper reaches. As it widens near its mouth it takes on the characteristics of a bay more than a river, until its final juncture with the Atlantic near what is now the city of Jacksonville. It is hard to get an exact grasp on the length of the river given that its headwaters are more than a bit ambiguous. During particularly wet periods a flow can be detected more than 300 miles up river from its mouth, though “flow” and “up river” can be confusing in reference to the St. Johns since it is one of the few major rivers in North America to run from south to north and its flow is virtually imperceptible throughout most of its journey to the Atlantic, registering an astoundingly slow .3 miles per hour at one of its fastest points. From its origins in south Florida, below Lake Hell ‘N Blazes, to the Atlantic the river drops a mere twenty seven feet, barely an inch a mile. In fact, storm surge tides have been driven up river from the mouth to as far south as Lake Monroe, 160 river miles from the ocean. In total, the river drains a basin that is approximately 8,840 square-miles, much of it semi-tropical wetlands."

And what of this marvelous river these days? It is flooded. I knew that from reading news accounts. But today I went to see the river. OK, to see my boat docked on the river. I was unprepared for what I saw. I knew driving in that I had no mental picture for what I was about to see because on a stretch of I-4 I saw a lake where previously I had only seen a prairie. When I reached the marina I could not drive along the lake road to reach the opening because the lake road and the lake had merged. Where once had been a very high sea wall there was now a spillover. In seven years of making that drive I have never seen the lake anywhere near that level -- and I mean anywhere near it.

The boat itself is tied to a floating dock. I have worried many times about our five year old falling down the ramp to the dock because of how steep it is. Today the ramp was not steep. In fact, it was not angled down at all, it was pointing up. I stood at the foot of the ramp and had a very hard time comprehending what I was seeing; I had to climb up from the sidewalk to the dock. I stood on what use to be a very high retaining wall looking down on my little sailboat and looked straight into the cockpit instead. I marveled at the power of the natural world to rearrange the neat and tidy universe we think we have constructed for ourselves. It is a small reminder that "nature bats last," as the old Earth First! t-shirts and bumper stickers used to exclaim.

For me it is a curiosity. For those with houses and lives along the river it is a threat and/or catastrophe. The worst news is that it is not predicted to crest until Thursday. The river is already at historic levels, topping the 1924 flood by over a half a foot at this point, with high water still two days off. Even after four nearly-consecutive hurricanes in 2004 the St. Johns was nowhere near the levels it is now. And the heart of hurricane season has just begun. Oh Gustav, please have mercy on us.

Endings/Beginnings

2008-08-24T23:33:00.004-04:00

Tonight marks an annual transition from the end of summer to the beginning of the academic year. There is a lot that I want to write about, especially the recent storm and my garden, but it will have to wait. It is late and I am tweaking my syllabuses for classes that begin tomorrow. It is hard to believe that another academic year is upon me but the calendar does not lie. So I bid summer adieu. I am always conflicted on this night, lamenting the passing of summer (which finds me lucky enough to be able to spend so much great time with my family) and eagerly anticipating the coming school year and the challenges and rewards it will bring. I am lucky, I know, because I love my work and I look forward to what lies ahead. But I will miss the repetition of mornings in which my first awareness of the world around me is brought on by my five year old and her stuffed animal de jour slipping in to bed with us, followed by a cappuccino, the FT and whatever we decided to do that day as a chaser. It is hard to replace that, to be sure.

It is Finished

2008-08-23T08:45:00.004-04:00

Well it is finished, for us at least, in terms of the storm being overhead. We had an additional inch of rain yesterday afternoon and evening, as squalls moved through the area occasionally, bringing the final event total to 18.5 inches. The effects from this storm are far from over, however, as it will be days before local rivers reach their peak flood stages. There are still people who will have to deal with Fay for days and even weeks, in spite of the beautifully sunny morning we woke to.

There will be another result from this storm that will be less obvious than flooding and slightly more delayed: mosquitoes! The inevitable result of this much rain dumped in a sub-tropical environment such as ours is a massive increase in breeding areas for these nasty little critters. At some point you will begin to hear news stories to this effect, and locally there will be hand-wringing about the increased risk in mosquito-borne diseases such encephalitis. But for now we are going to enjoy our sunshine, clear skies and slightly lower temperatures and humidity which these systems always bring. The forecast high today is only 85, a rare treat in a Florida August. My wife is off for a run, I am going to work in the garden and tomorrow we will be able to take our weekly trek to the beach, where I am anxious to see how much erosion T. S. Fay caused at our little stretch of paradise at Canaveral National Seashore. Ironically that last time we saw the sun was last Sunday on our trip to Canaveral.

My friend the Central Florida Gardener has posted some short videos of the flooding in our town at his site linked above for anyone interested. Now I am off to walk the dog without rain gear on!

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

2008-08-22T11:22:00.005-04:00

I feel as if I have developed OCD this week but, in my defense, the weather is a rather significant factor in our lives right now. So, here is the rain update for Friday morning: since 7:30 AM another 3 inches of rain has fallen on our humble burg. That is three inches in four hours, making the current total now 17.5 inches with 11 of those inches falling in just over the past 24 hours. I should think we have made up a little of the rain deficit that we have had for the past few years. Though with so much coming so quickly we will a lot of it to runoff.

Also, as of last night the St. Johns River had doubled in depth since Tuesday at Deland, where measurements are taken. It was also reported that Lake Harney, which covers over 6,000 acres, rose three feet yesterday! Three feet in one day for a lake that size is rather hard to comprehend.

Walking the dog.

2008-08-22T09:57:00.005-04:00

Life must go during a tropical storm, even for beagles. Our hound, who HATES water, is so much in love with his twice daily walks that he does not hesitate to run out into inch-an-hour rain when his leash is on. It is actually a pleasant way to fight cabin fever as it not only gets us out of the house and allows us to see the neighborhood but also allows some opportunity to enjoy some remarkable weather. OK, I probably am speaking only for myself in the latter regard. It has also pointed out to my wife and I that our Patagonia/Mt. Hardware rain gear is not what it used to be, with leaky seams and no DWR coating left.

This morning, however, the rain was so hard that even Muddy Waters wanted to come home after a short walk. My wife may win the award for the walk in the hardest downpour to date.

And so it goes...

2008-08-22T08:09:00.005-04:00

Not surprisingly we woke to a heavy rain this morning. We received an additional 4 inches last night, bringing the storm total to 14.5 inches thus far. Local meteorologist Tom Terry who has consistently outperformed the National Weather Service in forecasting Fay, predicts another 6 - 12 inches for our area today. I have no idea where we can put another 12 inches of water in our little corner of the world, to be honest. I am glad that we live at the top of a hill but I feel very sorry for the many people in Florida who are being inundated with flood waters right now. When this storm is consigned to history I suspect we may well break records for most rainfall for a single event. Comparisons have been made to Hurricane Donna (1960) but rainfall totals for that fabled storm were only about 7 inches, what we are forecast to receive today on the fifth day of the storm.

Pierre Charlevoix and Hurricanes

2008-08-21T21:57:00.005-04:00

Writing in the early nineteenth century French Jesuit and Historian Charlevoix noted that hurricanes increased rainfall in the areas they beset, aiding crops in those areas. Thus, he concluded, "they were as necessary to the well-being of things as calm and sunshine."

At about the same time (1722) the Weekly Jamaica Courant wrote that "We have a good deal of reason to believe [hurricanes] are well ordered, this consideration should induce us to bear up cheerfully, under our misfortunes."

As with many things, being aware of the historicity of hurricanes and the shared human experience it implies gives me some abiding sense of pleasure. [Both quotes were from Hurricanes and Society in the British Caribbean, 1624-1783 by Matthew Mulcahy, which I highly recommend.]

Bands of rain, and more rain....

2008-08-21T19:23:00.005-04:00

First, the good news: Fay is now moving! OK, it is only two miles an hour, at which rate she might as well pay rent, but she is moving.

I spent the day out in the "real world" today at a day-long departmental meeting. While it was nice to get out of the house and to see colleagues that I have not seen since the end of Spring semester, it was a little rough on the travel portions of the day. The most significant surprise were the conditions I encountered while stopping by Lake Monroe (St. Johns River) in Sanford to check on the sailboat at slip in the downtown marina. The trip into Sanford was pretty impressive in terms of wind and rain, but it paled in comparison to the conditions on the lake front. I stayed in the truck, opting to watch the boat for a time from the dry comfort of the cab just to make sure that its motions were consistent with a boat well tied. On the road back home from the lake I was struck by how strong the winds were, pushing my Toyota pickup around as if it were a Tonka instead. It was the first time that I was really impressed by power of the wind in this storm. There is nothing like a stretch of open water to see that power on display. I had to drive around a street light lying across both lanes of traffic that had snapped off at about one foot off of the ground. Just one hundred feet down the road was a felled tree that had taken out the power lines. The river itself had risen dramatically since I was there on Tuesday, yet the deluge that is coming from the southern counties that feed the north-flowing river (especially Brevard which has received 30 inches of rain already) has not made its way this far north. The National Weather Service has already issued flood warnings specific to the St. Johns River as far north as Astor, FL. At least I will not have to worry about running hard aground in the middle of the lake for a while.

Now to the subject of rain. Between the time I left this morning at around 9:30 and my return at 5 PM we had received an additional 4 inches of rain, bringing the event total since Monday night to 10.5 inches. It is still pouring outside so we are nowhere near finished. The National Weather Service has issued flash flood watches for the west Volusia county and the School Board has canceled classes for yet another day, meaning this opening week of school lasted all of one day. There is already a street downtown that is underwater and blocked off to traffic. Even some of my tropical plants are beginning to look a little weary of all rain and no sun, especially the cassava. The banana tree is also looking a little ragged from the high winds which have torn its fragile leaves to shreds. When this will end is, of course, anyones guess. We should get peaks of the sun by Saturday, they are saying, or Sunday, at the latest. When that happens it may well be the first time in the six years that I have lived in Florida as an adult when I welcomed seeing the sun in the summer.

Stationary, stalled, etc.

2008-08-21T09:34:00.005-04:00

Fay is stalled right over us. I went to bed with it right over us and I woke up to the same situation. We had 2.5 inches of rain last night, brining the total to 6.5 inches so far.

Building an Ark

2008-08-20T14:31:00.004-04:00

We have been very lucky here in north-central Florida so far, with rain totals remaining at very manageable levels. The National Weather Service is predicting an additional 3-6 inches for our area through today, which is a very hefty total. However, they are also reporting an unofficial total near Melbourne, FL of 22 inches already on the ground, with expected totals near 30 inches. By any measure that is a tremendous amount of rain in less than three days.

Addendum: We received an additional one inch of rain this afternoon. However, just after checking the rain gage this evening we began to get our most heavy and most consistent rain of the entire event, along with the strongest and most squally winds. Deland is pretty waterlogged already. I can only imagine what it must be like further south where they have received four times as much rain as we have so far.

Cautiously Optimistic

2008-08-20T08:27:00.002-04:00

There was a significant change in the forecast models overnight that have me cautiously optimistic. No longer is Fay expected to move very far offshore, as she is hemmed in by a high pressure system to its east. NOAA is now reporting that "THE POSSIBILITY OF FAY REACHING HURRICANE STRENGTH IS BECOMING SMALLER NOW THAT FAY IS MOVING NORTHWARD ALONG THE COAST AND IS NOT EXPECTED TO MOVE MORE THAN 30 NM OFFSHORE DURING THE NEXT 24 TO 36 HOURS." (I have no idea why they use all caps in their announcements, as if we didn't think hurricane warnings were important to begin with).

So, Fay is hugging the coast line and deteriorating in strength as a result. The minimum pressure has risen to 993 and the sustained winds are now 45 mph. With luck Fay will continue its (5 mph) crawl north and continue to weaken. We received an additional 1.25 inches of rain last night, much less than I expected. We also (unexpectedly) kept power all night. We will be subject to 50 mph gusts through the day today, but sustained winds this far inland are not likely to be strong enough to inflict any damage. So, for now, we could not ask for much better conditions given the circumstances. Our biggest obstacle now will be fighting cabin fever, especially for a five year old.

Night Rain

2008-08-19T23:13:00.002-04:00

We are experiencing our first really heavy rains of this storm now. The bands coming off of the open water from the infamous "right front quadrant" of the storm are making their way onshore in Volusia county and westward to the St. Johns River. This is just the beginning of what will be a long night of rain and high winds. The good news is that the forecast for tornadic activity has been downgraded for us tonight. So, even though the county is under a tornado watch for the whole night, I can breath a bit easier with the most recent forecast. Based on the radar images of the storm of the last few hours it finally seems to be succumbing to the predicted effects of land, losing organization and some power. I hope I do not sound selfish when I say that I am glad for us here up north that it finally seems to be conforming to expectations and has spent her energies over land further south.

Now, the bad news -- the 11 PM projected path has moved the next predicted landfall (after it exits Florida overnight) further south, bringing it much closer to us than previously estimated. It also does not show Fay moving offshore very far over the next day and a half before moving back in for another shot at us. All-in-all that portends some very rainy days ahead with precipitation totals that I am not sure I can even hazard to guess. Fay has also slowed to a crawl, now heading NNE at only 5 mph. The proverbial silver lining in this cyclonic cloud is that the max sustained winds have now dropped to 50 mph, down from 65 mph previously.

I guess I will now head off to dream tropical dreams. I hope to wake to a house with power tomorrow, but as we lose power all the time even without a named storm bearing down on us, I am not particularly sanguine about that possibility. If we get lucky I will post an AM update first thing in the AM so that if there are any friends and family reading these ramblings you will know all is fine, as I am sure it will be.

Painfully Slow

2008-08-19T19:44:00.002-04:00

As of 7 PM T. S. Fay is moving NNE at a painfully slow 7 mph. At this rate she may be around until September, it seems. My fears from this morning seem to be coming true as the forecast models appear to confirm that Fay will likely exit the peninsula south of Cape Canaveral, into the open waters of the Atlantic, allowing her to strengthen for her return trip to Florida somewhere around Jacksonville. The water temp out there is currently anywhere from 80° to 84° (F), according to the National Weather Service buoys. Anticipation is that the storm will strengthen and return as a much more powerful entity. If you have never visited the site linked above and you are a weather/maritime freak like me you will love it. You can pull up the most up-to-date readings from buoys all over the country to find wind speed and direction, wave height and frequency, air and water temps, etc. It really is too much fun to ignore, but it is also very helpful to know these things if you are trying to anticipate what is coming your way in these conditions.

So far here in western Volusia county the storm has been fairly mild, if maddeningly slow. We picked up only an additional .6 inches of rain since last night, whereas folks in south Florida have already received upwards of seven inches of precipitation. I culled the ripe tomatoes, cayenne peppers and jalapeno peppers from the garden so that I would not lay in bed tonight wishing I had as I listened to the wind howling outside. For, while this is still a tropical storm it is punching sustained winds of over 60 mph after an entire day over land. I have been very amazed and impressed with the fact that Fay seemed to strengthen and get better organized over land today than she did of the straights of Florida yesterday, defying all conventions with tropical cyclones. I have no intention of underestimating this storm any longer. I have seen what can happen if you do and it is not pretty.

The Eye of Fay

2008-08-19T07:57:00.005-04:00

Fay made landfall as a Tropical Storm, not a hurricane. It seems no amount of wishing and cheering by the national media could will her to become a stronger storm. The eye of the storm is now quite visible on my local radar and it seems to be sending a lot of rain in our direction. Last night brought an inch and a half, though I suspect that is a mere down payment for what Fay intends. My sweet potatoes are going to be incorrigible after this bout of rain, feeling as if they can take over the rest of the garden.

The one real fear that remains re: Fay is the threat that it will exit into the Atlantic more quickly than expected and begin to strengthen once again. Virtually all of the projection models have it making landfall back West again, perhaps somewhere between St. Augustine and Savannah. I have always felt a strong sense of bad luck with storms that have a second shot at damage, Katrina being the most vivid recent example.

"Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season"

2008-08-18T23:44:00.004-04:00

Tropical Storm Fay has left the Keys and is heading toward the southwest Florida coast as I write this. The hype surrounding this storm reminds me of the wonderfully sardonic essay by E. B. White, "The Eye of Edna," about his hurricane experience in Maine, waiting for the fearsome storm to track its way from Cape Cod to his little farm Down East -- that is, much ado about nothing. Then again, I know from experience that it is better to be prudent and cautious than carefree in these circumstances. One never knows. I remember talking to one of my classes here in Florida the day before Katrina hit NOLA and being amazed at how nonchalant the students from LA were about the storm, telling me stories about their kin having hurricane parties, etc. Hell, I was afraid just looking at the satellite images and the dropping pressure. But I digress.

Based on the 11 PM EST forecast from the National Hurricane Center Fay looks to be mostly a rain event in my section of Florida. The new forecast is much more to my liking as it has the storm tracking slightly to our east, rather than to our west as all of the earlier models did. If it ends up following that track (and it is still very much a guess as to where it will head in such a relatively small place as the central Florida peninsula) it would keep me and mine out of the worst quadrant of the storm. I would be grateful for that, though I know enough not wish for it. My most significant concern is for the sailboat tied up to its slip in the marina in Lake Monroe. I will head down tomorrow to add additional lines and do what I can to make sure it is safe, before heading to World Market to stock up on beer and wine (read: hurricane supplies) for the coming storm. Oh, and I have to remember to cancel my hotel reservations for the potential evacuation, as well, so as not to be charged for a night in Valdosta, GA. at the pet-friendly Quality Inn with wireless internet as I do not think I will need them.

Finally, for anyone interested in hurricane tracking software I strongly recommend buy and downloading Tracking the Eye , it is well worth the small purchase price and is invaluable if you are a weather geek like me.

Liquid Horizons

2008-03-17T11:16:00.006-04:00

I just finished Spring Break and am turning my attention back to academic life. We had a beautiful week of weather. I spent much of the day Monday sailing on Lake Monroe. I have a Catalina 22 which was generously given to me this past summer by the very kind father of an old friend . His age had caught up with him and he could not sail anymore and he wanted me to have the boat because he know how much I would enjoy it. He was right. I have had a great time learning to sail a larger boat and Lake Monroe has been a forgiving location in which to do that. It is also fitting that I should spend so much time on a lake that occupies a significant place in my academic work.

After a day of work on Tuesday I spent Wednesday scouring surf shops in New Smyrna Beach (NSB) looking for the perfect used surf board for me to begin to surf again (which I never did much of and have not tried in almost thirty years). This is the ultimate "EMFLA" (embrace Florida) project yet. I bought a used but pristine six foot, six inch Quiet Flight "Stingfish" and spent about an hour in the surf remembering what it was like to be on a board. Apparently I have forgotten quite a bit. However, lying on the board, watching the waves roll toward shore, trying to sense their patterns, and generally feeling part of an immense maritime choreography, I knew instantly that I had made the right decision. It was pure bliss. I felt far more a part of the rhythm of the ocean than I ever had while surfing my 18 foot sea kayak in these same waters.

So I will now spend my free days comparing wind and surf conditions to decide whether I should go sailing or surfing (or canoeing, or kayaking). I could think of worse situations to be stuck in, and places to find myself trapped.

Panther in Volusia County?

2008-03-15T15:26:00.012-04:00

Officials at Tomoka State Park in Volusia county announced that they have almost certain evidence confirming the (long suspected) presence of a Florida Panther (Puma concolor coryi) in their area. You can learn more about Florida's cougar population here. There is something very thrilling to me about living in a place with large predators, indicators of some level of environmental balance. Of course, there were plenty of large predators in this part of Florida before our panther showed up; but alligators and sharks do not have the same appeal to me as a mammalian predator. It is almost impossible to imagine that Florida will ever again be "Big Wilderness" in the spirit Dave Foreman intended, but bringing panthers north of the I-4 corridor is a potentially significant moment.