Good Living 123

The Sunshine State became a US Territory in 1921, after falling under colonial rule by France, Spain, and Great Britain during the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Florida became our nation’s 27^th state in 1845. Of course, Native Americans were living there for at least 12,000 years prior being named “La Florida” (meaning “land of flowers”) by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. Florida is home to the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the country, since St. Augustine was settled by Spaniards in 1565.

Averaging 300 days of sunshine each year, Florida is famous for warm, sunny weather and beautiful landscapes, average temperatures range from 65-70°F in the northern region and 74-77°F in the southern region. With its 825 miles of publicly accessible beaches, Florida also has the longest coastline in the continental US and is the only state bordering the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. When you are in Florida, you are never more than 60 miles from the ocean, and there are more than 7,700 lakes.

Florida has 47,300 commercial farms and ranches, totaling 9.5 million acres. The state ranks #1 for fresh market tomatoes, cucumbers, snap beans, watermelon, grapefruit, sugar cane, and oranges.  Producing 75% of the nation’s oranges, Florida also produces 40% of the world’s orange juice supply.

Only Texas and California have larger populations, and approximately 1,218 people move to Florida every day, adding to the 22-million people already living there. Florida is a melting pot with Native American, Hispanic, African, and European influences among those represented in the State’s architecture, cuisine, and culture.

A number of “firsts” can be claimed by Florida. For example, on January 1, 1914, the world’s first scheduled passenger flight occurred, as the plane flew from St. Petersburg to Tampa. NASA also launched its first communications satellite from Florida as Echo 1 launched from Cape Canaveral on August 12, 1960. Benjamin Green, a Miami pharmacist, invented the first suntan lotion.

Key West is the southernmost point in the continental US. Protesting the traffic jams caused by a US Border Patrol checkpoint on the only road to the mainland, the mayor of Key West and a number of businessmen declared the Florida Keys independent in 1982, under the name “The Conch Republic.” (You can still get a Conch Republic passport to the tongue-in-cheek micro-nation, and the Conch Republic flag still flies throughout Key West.)

Thanks to Walt Disney’s early vision, Orlando has become the country’s amusement park capital. No other amusement park destination gets as many visitors. In fact, Disney’s Magic Kingdom is the 8^th most popular tourist destination in the world, right behind New York’s Times Square, the Las Vegas Strip, and Niagara Falls.

Greater Miami is the nation’s only metropolitan area with two national parks… Biscayne National Park and Everglades National Park. The Florida Everglades mark the only place on the planet where crocodiles and alligators co-exist.

Funky Florida facts:

• No dinosaur fossils have ever been found in Florida.
• Florida is the 29^th most obese state.
• Florida is the flattest state.
• At 345 feet, Florida’s highest point (Britton Hills) is the lowest highest point of any US state, lower than many of Miami’s skyscrapers.
• Florida hosts more golf courses than anywhere else in the US… more than 1300.
• Gatorade was named after the University of Florida’s Gators football team, for which the drink was first developed.
• The Florida driving test no longer requires parallel parking, but you must demonstrate that you can park your car straight and centered in a parking spot… and show that you can use your turn signal 100’ before you turn… and demonstrate the ability to fully stop at a stop sign before safely proceeding into an intersection… and be able to turn your car around in a 30 to 40-foot space.
• Among the peculiar laws you will find that it is illegal to skateboard in Florida without a license, illegal to sing while wearing a swimsuit in public, and illegal for an unmarried woman to skydive on Sundays. Of course, oral sex is also illegal in Florida, and it’s illegal in Miami Beach to bring a pig with them to the beach. You can also face up to 30 days in jail for selling oranges on the sidewalk.
• And last, but not least… The famed honky-tonk Flora-Bama Beach Bar, which sits on the state line between Florida and Alabama, hosts thousands of Floridians once a year for its annual Mullet Toss, during which thousands of Floridians stand at the state line and toss dead fish into Alabama. (Hmmm… I am sure there is no beer drinking involved.)

Whether you think squirrels are pests or fascinations, they are playful and agile rodents. Indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa, they are indeed rodents, in the same family as chipmunks, woodchucks, prairie dogs, rats, mice, and beavers. However, they also play an important role in the environment. In one season, a single squirrel can bury up to 10,000 nuts, but a good 25% of those never get dug up again by that squirrel or any other. Thus, squirrels are powerhouses in forest regeneration.

Their favorite foods are nuts, insects, and berries. Squirrels are hoarders, but they are also acrobats and bandits. They can run up to 20 mph and jump up to 20 feet in length.

We all have likely seen their antics as they fashion ways to access even the trickiest bird feeders. They can also be annoying, as when they gnaw on our home’s wooden siding. I get it. Their front teeth never stop growing, so they must gnaw. But I fear they’ll be in the house one day. We’ve tried a variety of scents they allegedly do not like… from peppermint oil, coffee grounds, and white vinegar to cinnamon, garlic, and rosemary.

Here are a couple of nutty facts about squirrels. A male squirrel is called a boar. The female is a sow. She selects her mates, and mates with several males. She will give birth to an average of 2 to 8 offspring, all of which are born blind. At just 1” long, a baby squirrel is called a kitten.

Squirrels run in a zig-zag pattern when trying to escape hawks and other predators. (Yeaaaah, that technique doesn’t work so well with cars.)

The Native American symbol for preparation, trust, and thriftiness is the squirrel.

And we humans can learn something from squirrels. When it’s cold outside, eat more and bulk up. (Okay, I think we’ve got that covered.) When it’s hot outside, lying down and sprawling out on a cool surface is the squirrel’s answer. It’s called splooting.

Have a gleefully squirrelly day!

“Ultimately, America’s answer to the intolerant man is diversity, the very diversity which our heritage of religious freedom has inspired.”

— Robert F. Kennedy (1925 – 1968)
American politician, US Senator, lawyer, and 64^th US Attorney General

Observed annually in the US, Religious Freedom Day commemorates passage of a significant 1786 piece of legislation penned by Thomas Jefferson. The day promotes religious freedom and tolerance.

In the days of the 13 colonies, the faith of Britain’s appointed governor in each colony determined that colony’s official religion. Only white males of that governor’s religion could vote in that colony. In our fledgling nation, Jefferson fought against any such mandatory establishments of religion. Separation of Church and State was very clear. Leaders were expected to practice their religion, but not force it on their states. Everyone was to be able to practice their religion without discrimination or coercion.

And yet, trouble brewed in Virginia, which had been an Anglican colony. The new legislation settled that issue. Dissenters from the Anglican/Episcopal church in Virginia “would no longer suffer civil penalties for their religious beliefs. The precedent was set. Citizens could not be compelled to support any religious worship, place, or ministry.

However, Thomas Jefferson and the founding Fathers expected everyone to have and practice faith. In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson referred to God three times… Nature’s God, Creator, and Divine Providence.

In 1954, President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add “under God” to our Pledge of Allegiance. “In God We Trust” was added to all US currency in 1955 and became our national motto the next year.

Courts, both high and low, have affirmed and reaffirmed that such a national motto and its appearance on currency and federal buildings does not violate our separation of church and state, as it neither establishes nor endorses a specific religion.

Praise God!

Joining the Union in 1836, Arkansas became the 35^th State. The name Arkansas came from the Quapaw Indians, whom the French called the “Arkansaw.” In truth, the first people to live there arrived around 11,650 BC.

Much later (around 650 AD) a group called the Plum Bayou built mysterious mounds of dirt that can still be seen at Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park. The Rock House Cave in Petit Jean State Park contains well-preserved rock drawings created more than 500 years ago.

The population is about 3 million. And food specialties do not go unnoticed. Arkansas is known for such delights as Southern hush puppies, fried catfish, chicken fried steak, Arkansas Possum Pie, and southern biscuits with chocolate gravy (oh, yeah… breakfast made beauteous)!

1957 photo by Burt Glinn / Magnum Photos

Arkansas made history in 1957 when 9 African American students were escorted by Army troops into the previously all-white Little Rock Central High School.

2007 photo by Doug Wertman

But the state is known for more than its role in the Civil Rights Movement. For example, Arkansas is the world’s largest producer of bromine, and it’s the only state that actively mines diamonds. In fact, the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro is the only diamond-producing site in the world that is open to the public. A 37.5-acre plowed field is where visitors can hunt for real diamonds.

Yup. Finders Keepers. The site ranks as the world’s 8^th largest diamond-bearing volcanic crater.

With its nickname “The Natural State” it comes as no surprise to find beautiful lakes, rivers, mountains, and wildlife.

Among the abundant wildlife species, you will find elk, the Eastern spotted skunk, and the indigo bunting.

The highest point in Arkansas comes in at 2,753 feet. Magazine Mountain is flat-topped with steep cliffs.

Photo by Brandon Rush

Plenty of water flows through and around Arkansas, which is home to the 2^nd smallest national park in the US. With just 8.6 square miles, the waters of Hot Springs National Park can reach 143°F.

Photo by Patrick Hodskins

Another “don’t miss” site is Mammoth Spring State Park, which sees 9 million gallons of water flow through every hour.

When we see an eagle soaring through the sky, we tend to stop whatever we were doing and just watch.

One of my most memorable moments came as stood in my own backyard in New Hampshire. With our land abutting a wetland, I had been able to watch an annual eagle nest. Just once I happened outside in time to observe an eagle teaching its eaglet to ride a thermal updraft. The little one would catch it and go up and around, but then, whoops… out it slipped, drifted back down and caught it again. On its third attempt, the eaglet “got it.” Then I watched as they both gracefully drifted up, up, up and away out of sight. It was glorious.

So, on January 10^th, National Save the Eagles Day, I like to pause and thank those who have worked hard to protect eagles from extinction. Since 1787 the bald eagle has been our national symbol.

Though there are some 60 eagle species, only the bald and golden eagle are found in the U.S. Here, the eagle is a symbol of freedom, and we all know far too well how deeply freedoms are endangered around the world.

Threatened by extinction, the bald eagle began receiving special protection in 1972. By 2007 the bald eagle population had rebounded enough to be removed from the endangered species list. May freedom for everyone be so fortunate. Just like the eaglet, we must never give up.

Many music icons were gone too young, and Elvis Presley was one of them. He was born into a poor family in Tupelo, Mississippi on January 8, 1935. His twin was delivered 35 minutes before him, stillborn. In 1946 for his 11^th birthday, his parents gave Elvis his first guitar. At age 13, his family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he received a “C” in music class in high school. His teacher told Elvis that he just didn’t have an aptitude for singing. So, he brought in his guitar and sang a song that had just been released by Fairly Holden and His Six Cold Papas… “Keep Them Cold Icy Fingers Off Me.” The teacher agreed that Elvis was right. She didn’t appreciate his kind of singing.

Elvis Presley could not read music, but he played and sang by ear. If he heard a song that he liked, he could make it his own. In 1954, at the age of 19, Elvis and his group performed their first live show and he signed his first contract with RCA records at age 20. In Nashville, Tennessee, in 1956, Elvis recorded his first album, which included the hit single “Heartbreak Hotel.” His stardom grew rapidly, even while he served in the U.S. Army from 1958 – 1960. Elvis continued recording music and making movies until his sudden passing in 1977 at his home in Graceland in Memphis at just 42 years of age.

The singer and actor still reigns as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20^th century. He holds many records to this day, including the most certified gold and platinum albums, the most albums charted on the Billboard 200, the most number-one albums by a solo artist on the UK Albums Chart, and the most number one singles by ANY act on the UK Singles Chart. In 1971 the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences recognized Elvis Presley with its Lifetime Achievement Award. He was also posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Today marks what would have been the 88^th birthday of Elvis Presley. Fans have been celebrating at Graceland with 4 days of live music and special tours.

For National Bird Day, I thought we’d consider some favorites. I have always loved the long plumes of the peacock. (And, as a child trying to snag one of the loose and dangling tail feathers, I got scolded by attendants more than once for chasing the peacocks at the York Wild Animal Kingdom in Maine.)

As an adult, I love the songs of the mockingbird. We have some amazingly talented ones at our home in the North Carolina mountains. They can trill on and on for up to an hour, with seemingly no repeats. (I was sorely disappointed when I returned to Lake Winnipesaukee last summer to find the mockingbirds favoring the calls of the crows and seagulls.)

The hummingbirds, goldfinch, and cardinals are all lovely.

But I feel especially blessed by the plethora of bluebirds around our ranch. They are gorgeous.

Then there are the big birds… and we have plenty of hawks, owls, great blue heron, and even the occasional eagle.

They all make me so happy I could chirp!