One good
reason to open your home to company is that it will spur you to get up out of
that armchair and actually go out and see the sights where you live.
One event in
our campaign to keep our visitors busy was a boat trip down the Myakka
River. The trip is a tame affair, a
flat-bottomed boat holding 20 people and meandering about a half mile one way
up the river, then a half mile the other. I immediately crossed it off as
entertainment for the three grandsons who will be here soon.
Still, the
man at the microphone was chock-full of information and factoids and we did get
to see our share of crocodiles slithering into the water, one in the direction
of the couple behind us in a canoe.
I learned
that one or two of the Johnny Weissmuller films were shot here on this same river. (Who, by the
way, as a swimmer won 5 Olympic gold medals, one bronze, 52 US national
championships, and set 67 world records.)
For someone who sat in front of the
black and white television on dull Sundays watching old 1930s movies this was
heady stuff.
My favorite
factoid from the day, though, was learning about Spanish moss, which you’ll see
draped on anything around here that’s stationary for more that 7 minutes. It’s
gotten a bad rap – it’s not a parasite, but lives independent of the trees it
attaches itself to, living off of rain, fog, sunlight, and airborne dust and
debris.
Natives had
used it to stuff pillows and mattresses and settlers learned it made a great
binder for brick making. It also triggered one of the earliest automobile
recalls.
Henry Ford
discovered its durable properties and began stuffing his Model T upholstery
with it. Unfortunately, he learned too late that the moss closest to the ground
often contained little red bugs, called chiggers, and these weren’t content to
stay quietly in the car seats but instead began crawling out and biting
drivers.
Great Spanish Moss factoid. My cousin who lives south of the Red River told me Spanish Moss is admirable stuff. It's beauty takes my breath away.
ReplyDeleteThat is one great factoid about the chiggers in the upholstery. Wow! What you can learn from blogging pals. :-)
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking about those chigger bites that you can get from bumping into Spanish moss when you are moving about in that area. The Myakka is full of alligators. I have never seen so many when we canoed that river.
ReplyDeleteI like the look of Spanish moss hanging from trees. It lends a ghostly appearance at dusk, handy for photo opportunities trying to capture that aspect.
ReplyDeleteI have to say if I were boating on a river known to have crocodiles, I wouldn't be in a canoe!
We have something similar to Spanish moss - and I treasure it.
ReplyDeleteThe other positive about opening your home up to visitors is that (in my case anyway) it brings about a major cleaning effort.
Agreed. And if you have the fortitude to schedule social events back to back, you only need to clean once!
DeleteMyakka is an amazing park. I camped there once or twice. It's the "real Florida," for sure!
ReplyDeleteI remember my childhood babysitter warning me about chiggers in Spanish moss. The very idea of using it to stuff anything makes me itch.