Welcome to Florida

Bob and I moved to Florida on September 11, 1995-almost 20 years ago.  When we first came here, I have to admit I was surprised, almost disappointed.  I expected a lush tropical garden.  All I got was sunshine, sunshine, and more sunshine.  Well, Duh!  It is The Sunshine State.

There were a few things I wasn't factoring in.  For one, I had no idea the Indian River would be more than a mile wide in most places.  It's a little hard to have a canopy of trees over body of water that's a mile wide.

Second, I hadn't thought of the damage hurricanes do to trees in this part of the state.  In many parts, for that matter.  When we had our last big blowouts, (3 in 3 weeks) a man said that if you look at the trees, they look like they're tall enough to be about 20 years old.  It had been 20 years since this area was stricken. Then too, it's only been since the 1960's that Florida's growth in population has mushroomed.  That means that trees and shrubbery that were here had been removed to make way for houses and businesses.  The trees planted to replace them, although 50 years old, have been severely pruned and topped by high winds.

Third, the state is only a few feet above sea level, meaning the salt water table is high enough that trees that aren't salt tolerant won't be able to put down deep roots.  Then, too, the top soil in this state is the same all the way down to coccina rock-sand.  Again, not conducive to deep roots and sturdy tree trunks.  There are a few, to be sure, but not what I was expecting.

Factor in trees brought in from other countries and you have something entirely different from what I was expecting.  However, as I pulled into the parking lot this morning, I felt like I had found the Florida I had anticipated 20 years ago.  In front of my parking space was a shady spot canopied by an expanse of green growth.  Granted the trees were Brazilian pepper trees-an implant that's destroying natural growth, but it did have that lush garden, nay tangled jungle feel I wanted to experience.

Brazilian pepper trees do not have one large trunk from which branches grow.  The have several slim trunks growing out of one spot.  Nor do they grow straight up.  They are a tangled, jumbled mess. The branches grow like Medusa's hairdo.  Every which direction, much like the native mangroves, have twigs growing out all over the place.  They weave about like a snake writing in death throes. Add to that the inevitable vines that grow wild and you have a picture of what I was expecting Florida to be.  That's what the parking lot looked like.  Guess I should have been here in the early part of the last century, but the roads would have been dirt, no air conditioning would have been available, no early warning system for impending storms.  Never mind.  Although The Sunshine State isn't what I envisioned, it's not so bad as it is.  It's home now.