Don’t That Beat All

For those of you who aren’t from the South, this is a time-honored phrase meaning “What the fuck were they thinking?” We are prohibited from saying this out loud, due to the if-you-can’t-say-anything-nice rule. 

The occasion for this post is that today I learned that sometime in the past week, my hometown newspaper, the Tallahassee Democrat, held a “Blogger’s Luncheon.”  Apparently my invitation was lost in the mail. 

The luncheon was organized by a reader, and took place in the Democrat headquarters, where attendees wore name tags with their screen names on them.  The food consisted of sandwiches from the Dem’s cafeteria, plus whatever the attendees brought with them.  What?  This is a church supper?  They should have invited me–I make a mean coleslaw. 

I have to work hard at not being too cynical, but in this case, I’m failing miserably.  This is the last gasp of a dying newspaper. 

Don’t that just beat all?

Staycation Highlight: The St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge

One of the really nice things about living in Florida is that you’re never far from places of relatively unspoiled beauty–well that is, until the developers complete their mission of paving over the entire state, at which point all of Florida will look like Miami Beach.  Tell me that doesn’t scare you.  But even in Miami Beach, you’re just a stone’s throw away from the Everglades and Everglades National Park, which is truly one of the most astonishing places on earth. 

This past week, even though it was frigid. my sister and I took the one-hour or so drive to the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in hopes that we would see some straggling Monarch butterflies.  St. Marks is one of the oldest wildlife refuges in the country, and was established to provide a safe habitat for migratory birds.  http://www.fws.gov/saintmarks/  St. Marks is also on the Monarch butterfly flyway; from there they fly across the Gulf of Mexico to their wintering grounds in Mexico.  We saw a few butterflies, a couple were possibly Monarchs, but for sure there were Gulf Fritilarys:

And Cloudless Sulphurs:

Are those great names for butterflies, or what?  We also saw a magnificent Wood Stork, who took flight as we passed by:

The prickly pear cacti were fruiting along the nature walk by the lighthouse:

And speaking of the lighthouse, I never see it without thinking of the wonderful ballad “The Lighthouse’s Tale”, by Nickel Creek.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTAyMt3ldSU  Like the lighthouse in the song, the St. Marks lighthouse looks lonely.  From what I can tell, it last had a keeper in 1942.  It was automated in 1960 and is maintained by the Coast Guard.  But its house is empty, and I wonder about the tales it could tell. 

I believe that wherever you live in the country there are marvelous sights just around the corner.  Well, unless you live in Nebraska.  Actually, I really should quit picking on Nebraska, since I don’t know enough about it.  I have been to Omaha and it is quite a spectacular sight, perched on a bluff high over the Missouri River.  I think it’s important to get out and see the marvelous things in your very own neck of the woods, even if they’re somewhat kitschy.  For example, I lived in Memphis for 25 years and never went to Graceland.  I regret that now.