Southern Belle had some concerns about how I would "fit in" with the stream of people who came by to wish them well. She was afraid I would argue politics and her neighborhood is overwhelmingly Democrats.
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| Miami: Where even the trees have sex-appeal. |
A
The closest I came to getting into trouble was when a fellow native plant-enthusiast was giving me a tour of her backyard. I was later informed that those tours are rarely granted so I was one of the privileged few. She was pointing out her most cherished plants and I was making wild guesses as to what they were.
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| A nice specimen of an Oncidium orchid. |
She pointed at one of them and I guessed "Palmetto" and she was amazed.
"How did you know that?" she asked.
I really wanted to tell her that Palmetto State Armory was one of my favorite suppliers of toys...but discretion won out. I mumbled something about just getting lucky.
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| Bursera simaruba, sometimes called the Tourist Tree because the bark is bright red and peeling...just like the tourist's faces. |
And for those of you who care about such things, her picks for keystone tree species in southern Florida are Ficus citrifolia, Quercus virginiana, Bursera simaruba and Sabal palmetto. She favors trees that produce many nooks and crannies for lizards and other wildlife to seek haven in (to avoid feral cats) and trees that support a wide range of bug-life.
K
One of the neighbors who paid stopped by to visit was "K". We talked about fishing.
One of his fondest memories was of catching a wild trout on Long Island, NY. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, there are both wild brook trout and wild rainbows in the waters of Long Island, NY. Maybe even a few wild brown trout as well.
J
J is a process manager in a growing business. We talked shop. I think I established credibility when I guessed that the machinery that ran on 50Hz AC was from Europe. He was struggling to get the machinery supplier to agree to run it on 60Hz, which is line current. Super weird, the machinery came with a equipment to convert 60Hz domestic current to 50Hz so the three-phase motors would spin the load at the desired speed.
He cracked open a bottle of single-malt to celebrate running across another dirty-hands, industrial guy in the ocean of soft-feely types. I feel obliged to do some research on helping him with one of his bottlenecks. A man has to pay for his drinks one way or another.
C
We were given a tour of an "Agritainment" venue in the Redlands.
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| Hawaiian Mountain Pig. |
M
We talked about German Shepherds. She is a fan.
R
He showed me the pictures of his farm and Cedrela odorata plantation that he had on his phone.
Vanilla ice cream
Vanilla ice cream goes with everything because it complements everything. It never overpowers other flavors. It is an easel or a blank canvas that lets the other person be the artist.
I tried to be vanilla ice cream.
You Sir, are a Saint!
ReplyDeleteAt the headwaters of your great journey I take it...
Out of season clothing makes great packing material!
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ReplyDeleteSo far, so good !!!!!
ReplyDeleteI've spent a good portion of my life trying to act just like that ... having been in places like Berkeley, Boston, and DC. Trying to avoid unwanted attention and keep my mouth shut when I heard something idiotic. The number of places where that is not true keeps dwindling.
ReplyDeleteThat note about brown trout... That's what we called a poop floating in a lake. Or we called it stink bait. Anyone that called out brown trout and we quit swimming pretty quick.
ReplyDeleteGood on ya for the rapid relo.
On a recent road trip, I "noticed" that PSA had a store only a few minutes from one of the Savanna exits off of I-95.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't fooling my wife one bit, and she agreed to swing by and check out where our gun money goes.
The place was awesome, the staff were friendly, the customers looked like kids in a candy store, and when I remarked how big this place was, he smiled and said this was either the smallest, or one of the smallest stores and that I should really see a large one.
Then he told me that the owner had recently bought one of the original Han Solo weapons from the Star Wars movies and it would be display.
My ability to pass as borderline normal ebbs everyday as normal becomes more and more abnormal.
ERJ, as it turns out vanilla is my favorite flavor of just about anything.
ReplyDeleteI am the most vanilla guy, to the point that almost no-one knows or has any idea if I have actual opinions on anything. I have learned that it is far easier to, as the Penguins of Madagascar say, "Smile and Wave boys, Smile and Wave".
Of course to John's point, even my abilities are being tested and the places I go where such things would be put to the test are becoming less and less. Being an introvert has its advantages, one of which is being comfortable spending long periods of time alone or in a very small group.
Great post! And being 'interactive' with folks does get you points... LOL
ReplyDeleteMake more then $12,000 a month online. It’s enough to comfortably replace my old jobs income, especially considering I only work about 11 to 12 hours a week from home. I was amazed how easy it was after I tried it…This is where i started..........
ReplyDeletetopearn7