Looking back on 2021 I was struck by the glaring beliefs of the Republican Cult surrounding the former president. Here is what I learned about this frightening movement and their belief system.
The Republican Cult Ten Commandments
Thou shalt place Donald Trump above all else.
Thou shalt make flags and images of him and carry them with you always.
Thou shalt speak Donald Trump’s name in reverence and exalt him in your midst.
Thou shalt remember to daily listen to media outlets that honor Trump’s name.
Children shall be taught to obey the words of ‘The Trumpian Party’.
Thou shalt kill those who do not look like you.
Thou shalt enjoy the fruits of the female placed in your midst for she is created to serve the male.
Thou shalt use tax shelters and offshore accounts to avoid paying taxes.
Thou shalt ignore the truth unless it is helpful and hide behind the 5th amendment when in legal trouble.
Thou shalt gather to yourself all that you can buy, steal or by stealth procure
These are not the foundation stones of a free and productive society. Run from the Republican cult. Run as fast as you can.
Pointed the car south into Polk County searching for the ruins of St Anne Shrine on fifteen-acre St. Anne Lake near Lake Wales on a drizzly November morning.
The route took me through orchard country and one time I glimpsed Bok Tower in the distance to the west. Bok Tower Gardens is a 250-acre contemplative garden and bird sanctuary located atop Iron Mountain north of Lake Wales. The flatness of Florida certainly causes distant items to appear closer. Floridians also use the term ‘mountain’ in a very loose sense of the idea of mountains.
The object of my quest was a shrine built in the 1920s. A French-speaking Catholic from Canada built the shine to commemorate the miraculous healing of his terminally ill cancer-ridden son. After swimming in the waters of St Anne Lake the boy appeared to recover and his father, whose name is shrouded in mystery, built the shrine. I didn’t find the shrine on two trips around the lake, but I did take these photos of remnants of the original structures associated with the shrine. At the height of its popularity thousands of pilgrims traveled, mostly, from Canada to visit the holy place.
The shrine included a wooden church (which burned down), and an elaborate set of statuary which made up the stations of the cross.
Postcard Collection
The Church de-sanctified the shrine in the fifties. I guess church bureaucrats decided the original miracle had worn off. That’s the thing about miracles, I guess you never know if the miracle is a miracle. Some folks think something is a miracle and others think it is just someone smoking too much weed. Some people see Jesus’ face on their toast and call it a miracle. Other folks like me say ‘Since we don’t know what Jesus looked like that miracle might be suspect’. Don’t get me wrong I do not mean to diminish miracles. Miracles have a life of their own and mean more to some folks and less to others. But, for me, the bottom line is that The Church isn’t in a place to take away someone’s experience that to them is a miracle. The Church would serve better if it allowed folks to have their miracles and not mess with them. There are still folks who believe the miracle of the French Canadian boy who was healed by swimming in St Anne Lake.
Speaking of miracles, I left St Anne Lake and found Spook Hill. Some folks have witnessed the miracle of their car drifting uphill on this stretch of highway. I say, “Good for them.”
The story goes that long ago a huge alligator repeatedly raided an Indian village on Lake Wales. Finally, the Chief, a great warrior, killed the gator in a battle that created a small lake. The chief was buried on the north side of the lake and that should have been the end of the story. But soon pioneer mail riders or pioneer haulers discovered their horses laboring downhill near the lake. Being a superstitious group, the riders named the place “Spook Hill.” Years later when the road was paved, drivers noticed their cars coasted up hill on this stretch of road and needed more gas going down. Some folks think the spookiness is because the gator still seeks revenge on passersby. Other visitors believe it is due to the chief still trying to protect his land.
I drove the car to the white line on the road and followed the directions repeatedly with the same result. My Escape drifted downhill toward Spook Hill Elementary School every time I put the transmission in neutral, not uphill away from town. And it didn’t drift slowly either. As soon as I took my foot off the brake I was moving downhill at a rapidly increasing rate. The car didn’t even hesitate. I rolled downhill on Spook Hill. There was no spooky stuff going on for me that morning.
Maybe the alligator was trying to chase me out of town by pushing me down hill. Might this have been a miracle?
Rebbe Zecharia, the son-in-law of Rabbi Levi, tells the story below that exemplifies the concept of Peace on Earth.
Rebbe Meir would teach Torah on Friday nights in the synagogue in Chamat, a small town near Tiberius, and there was a woman who used to listen to his lectures. One night, Rebbe Meir spoke for longer than usual, and the woman stayed until he finished. By the time she got home, the candles had already burned down. “Where were you?!” demanded her husband.
“I was listening to a Torah lecture,” she answered.
Her husband, a scoffer, said to her, “I swear that you will not enter my house until you go spit in the face of the rabbi who was lecturing.”
Not knowing what to do, she stayed outside, until her neighbors said to her, “Come, let’s go together to the rabbi.”
When Rebbe Meir saw them coming, God gave him insight into the problem. He immediately pretended that his eye hurt him.
“I need someone to spit in my eye, to cure it! Can one among you, do it?” he asked.
Her friends nudged her forward.
“Spit in my eye seven times and I’ll be cured,” Rebbe Meir told her.
When she did, he told her, “Go home and tell your husband, ‘You said I should spit once, but I spit seven times!’”
His students were appalled, and asked, “Rebbe, how could you let people disgrace you like that? When they disgrace a Torah scholar, they disgrace the Torah! If you’d told us to, we’d have forced her husband to let her come home!”
Rebbe Meir answered, “The honor of Meir is not greater than the honor of God! If the Torah tells us to erase the name of God for the sake of peace between a husband and wife in the case of a ‘sotah’ (wayward wife), I surely Meir can be dishonored for the same reason!”
It takes a humble man to do what the rabbi did in this story. It takes a humble man to make peace with his neighbor. It takes a strong man to be humble. It takes a real man to diminish oneself for the sake of the community.
Real men, and women, do not demand, bluster, verbally assault, shout louder, act meaner or agitate like the woman’s husband in the story. Real men and women humble themselves to make peace on earth the law of the land.
North of Orlando in Seminole County is the city of Sanford. We first became acquainted with Sanford through the airport. When we traveled by air from Allentown, Pennsylvania to Florida for family visits we flew into Sanford. Flying from one small airport to another was so much gentler than using the larger airports like Philadelphia and Orlando.
Now we live close by and it became time to explore the city surrounding the airport in the quest for the grail. So, I set out on several occasions to experience what might be lying in wait.
Back in 2004 the MTV Music Awards were held at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. The event was notable because it was the first time the ceremony was held outside of New York City and Los Angeles. That year OutKast won Video of the Year for “Hey Ya!” Not on my favorite list, all right. (Alexa: Play Hey Ya by OutKast) A fifteen feet tall giant Styrofoam Moon Man greeted folks attending the awards ceremony. Well, that Moon Man found his way to Sanford and towers over a junkyard just off route 4. Being made of styrofoam means he will be around a very long time if you want to visit.
Bob the horse, on the other hand, lived a horse’s lifetime. He was the undertaker’s horse who carried the hearse to the cemetery. Some say Bob didn’t need a driver to find his way to the burial site. He is the only non-human buried in the cemetery. Someone still places flowers on Bob’s gravestone. I’m not horsing around here!
My big adventure in Sanford was half a day spent at the Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Garden.
Just by chance I picked the right time to drive on over because the zoo was presenting ‘Asian Lantern Festival: Into the Wild’. The festival is a colorful splash of sculptures derived from Asian mythology. The colors were vibrant and positioned in every available space around the zoo.
Most striking was the huge dragon which, in myth, ascends to the sky at the beginning of spring then descends into the sea in the fall calling for wind and rain.
The Bai Ze knows all the ghosts in the world so it can rid the world of evil spirits. Since leaving the zoo I have been looking for the Bai Ze to rid my country of a few evil spirits.
The butterfly tree was stunning.
Of course, this was a lantern festival so there was a plethora of lanterns as well as sculptures of Pandas, insects, flowers, snails, and designs I couldn’t decipher.
Real animals and birds also live at the zoo. Cougars, an Indian Rhino, giraffes, American River Otters, Leopards and Black Bears have homes here.
My cousin, The Black-handed Spider Monkey came right up to the window and gave me the usual family greeting.
The collection of birds was spectacular. It took some time to get a photo of the two Hyacinth Macaws because they were very busy grooming each other. They finally came up for air and I caught both faces.
The more parrot looking Macaw around the corner was spectacular. A Blue-bellied Roller and I visited for an extended period. We didn’t have much to say but we didn’t need words to connect on a spiritual level.
Naturally the zoo has a Herpetarium. This is Florida and we have plenty of slithery creeping creatures passing silly and harmful laws in Tallahassee. This Herpetarium didn’t contain any of those slithery creatures. Plenty of snakes were waiting around inside the building to include The Florida Cotton Mouth, Emerald Tree Boa, and The Gaboon Viper.
The sign inside the door read, ‘Please do not tap on the glass.’ Makes sense and I noticed another sign outside the Black Bear enclosure that read, ‘Look but do not approach.’
These signs will probably have to be removed soon because our governor disapproves of mandates that take way people’s rights to do whatever they want to do.
For the youngest visitors there is Barnyard Buddies, a playground, Splash Zone and a narrow-gauge railroad (I didn’t see it running) and a carousel. I also noticed a zipline and a tree top swinging bridge course which also did not seem to be in use during my visit.
The Botanical Garden portion of the zoo was everywhere providing something to look at between animal and bird enclosures.
The Wayne M. Densch Discovery Center houses displays of dead insects and living crawly creatures.
I had to laugh when I saw the dung beetles. Jane had been telling me about a connection between elephants and ants that creates oasis in the desert earlier in the day. During the discussion she shared with me how the dung beetles help move seeds around to create vegetation in the oasis. Also bumped into another relative in the Discovery Center.
Talking to a zoo staff member I learned that when the Lantern Festival leaves nothing will replace it. The staff member expressed the desire to have statues year-round. Here’s an idea. Central Florida is dotted with High School and University art departments eager for projects. Wouldn’t it be amazing if a competition were held resulting in some fine sculptures placed in the zoo created by young artists?
The day would not have been complete without some ice cream-like intake. Fortunately, a Dippin’ Dots stand was conveniently situated near the entrance/exit of the zoo offering the opportunity to sample a banana split flavored dish of dots. Sweet! Very sweet!
All told I was at the zoo for two hours which included eating a lunch of delicious zoo burger and fries. If I had made use of Splash Zone or Barnyard Buddies, I could have been at the zoo for three hours. The zoo is big enough to offer a half day of adventure and small enough not to be too expensive.
“The Christmas Truce occurred on and around Christmas Day 1914, when the sounds of rifles firing and shells exploding faded in a number of places along the Western Front during World War I in favor of holiday celebrations. During the unofficial ceasefire, soldiers on both sides of the conflict emerged from the trenches and shared gestures of goodwill.
Did you know? On December 7, 1914, Pope Benedict XV suggested a temporary hiatus of the war for the celebration of Christmas. The warring countries refused to create any official cease-fire, but on Christmas the soldiers in the trenches declared their own unofficial truce.
What Happened During the Christmas Truce of 1914?
Starting on Christmas Eve, many German and British troops fighting in World War I sang Christmas carols to each other across the lines, and at certain points the Allied soldiers even heard brass bands joining the Germans in their joyous singing.
At the first light of dawn on Christmas Day, some German soldiers emerged from their trenches and approached the Allied lines across no-man’s-land, calling out “Merry Christmas” in their enemies’ native tongues. At first, the Allied soldiers feared it was a trick, but seeing the Germans unarmed they climbed out of their trenches and shook hands with the enemy soldiers. The men exchanged presents of cigarettes and plum puddings and sang carols and songs. Some Germans lit Christmas trees around their trenches, and there was even a documented case of soldiers from opposing sides playing a good-natured game of soccer.
German Lieutenant Kurt Zehmisch recalled: “How marvelously wonderful, yet how strange it was. The English officers felt the same way about it. Thus Christmas, the celebration of Love, managed to bring mortal enemies together as friends for a time.”
Some soldiers used this short-lived ceasefire for a more somber task: the retrieval of the bodies of fellow combatants who had fallen within the no-man’s land between the lines.
The so-called Christmas Truce of 1914 came only five months after the outbreak of war in Europe and was one of the last examples of the outdated notion of chivalry between enemies in warfare. It was never repeated—future attempts at holiday ceasefires were quashed by officers’ threats of disciplinary action—but it served as heartening proof, however brief, that beneath the brutal clash of weapons, the soldiers’ essential humanity endured.
During World War I, the soldiers on the Western Front did not expect to celebrate on the battlefield, but even a world war could not destroy the Christmas spirit.” – From History.comeditors
How did this truce happen during horrible carnage? How can we find a truce during today’s hostile political climate and maintain it? How can we find enough trust to end the assaults on each other?
My favorite brother sent a game to me entitled “Evolution of Trust”. It’s a very interesting game using characters like, Cooperates, Cheats, Copycat, Copy Kitten, and Detective to illustrate the evolution of trust in society.
The summary statement at the end of the game is of note for this discussion. The statement reads,
“Our problem today isn’t just that people are losing trust, it’s that our environment acts against the evolution of trust. That may seem cynical or naive — that we’re “merely” products of our environment — but as game theory reminds us, we are each other’s environment. In the short run, the game defines the players. But in the long run, it’s us players who define the game.
The most obvious environment acting against trust is the media. What can we do, to create the conditions necessary to evolve trust around the media and other trust busters? We can build relationships instead of isolating ourselves. Find win-win solutions to issues. Communicate clearly which takes longer. Maybe then, we can stop firing at each other, get out of our own trenches, cross No Man’s Land and come together.”
I hope we all hold accountable the media we ingest, for the media is central to the evolution of trust in our society. Do not take what you hear at face value until you check other sources different than the one you embrace. On the worldwide web, track down the source. Check out the information with a reliable fact checker. Hold all media accountable for truth even if the truth does not agree with your belief. Recognize who has passed misinformation to you previously and do not accept at first blush the information they are passing along now. (How many times do you need to be lied to before you stop listening to the liar?) Remember that if what you are hearing sounds too incredible to be true it probably isn’t true. It is our responsibility, each one of us, to take the information we receive and discern what is of value, what is fact, and what is garbage. When we start here, we will begin to rebuild trust and open the possibility that our democracy might be saved. In the final analysis it is up to each one of us to make this the season of ‘Peace on Earth”.
In Sumpter County near Bushnell is the site of the battle that started the Second Seminole War at Dade Battlefield Historic State Park. On an overcast fall Florida morning I set out on a quest to visit the spot where the battle took place in 1835. The battle ignited a conflict that cost the United States $40 million dollars and the lives of 1,500 soldiers and volunteers. The number of Seminoles killed in the seven years of fighting is unknown. What is known is that after the fighting and exporting of natives to Oklahoma (including 3,824 before the war began) there were about 300 Seminoles left in Florida.
Getting off the turnpike and heading west toward Sumpter County I realized immediately that I was in the country. From the turnpike to the state park, I saw zero Wawa gas stations and not one fast food place. I might have seen two local restaurants but one of them might have been something else. I was in the country for sure. Even the entrance to the park spoke of a quieter gentler time in our history.
I put $3 in an envelope and followed the signs to the tiny visitor’s center.
The twelve-minute video of the battle consisted of reenactors portraying characters involved in the battle and scenes of the fighting. The video presentation did a remarkable job of stating the reasons for the conflict without prejudice. When I complemented the ranger on duty, she thanked me and replied, ‘We want to give the history.’ Here’s hoping more folks today would embrace history as a means to heal old wounds and move forward together.
In December 1835 a unit of 108 U.S. troops under the command of Major Dade were marching from Fort Brooke (Tampa Bay) to Fort King (Ocala) due to the unrest among the Seminoles who rejected the Payne’s Landing treaty intended to move the Seminoles to Oklahoma. The road built by the military traversed land that had been lived on for thirteen thousand years by the 100,000 people known as Timucua, Apalachee, Ais, Jeaga, Tekesta, Calusa, Pensacola, Tocobaga, Matecumbe, Mayaimi, Ocale, Potano and Guale.
Seminole scouts kept tabs on the soldiers beginning the moment they marched out of Fort Brooke along the road the military had cut through Seminole territory. The plan was to attack the troops at a river crossing but Chief Osceola had not joined the Seminole warriors at that time. Chiefs Micanopy, Jumper and Allegator decided to attack without Osceola before the marching troops reached Fort King.
So, the battle ensued about sixty miles south of the destination. The first volley from Seminole arms killed or wounded half the soldiers. The troops managed to fire their one cannon and the Seminoles retreated out of range where they watched the soldiers build a log breast works.
When the soldiers huddled inside their ‘fortification’ the Seminole band attacked again wiping out the entire unit. After rummaging for anything of value the Seminoles left the battlefield. Two of the wounded soldiers eventually managed to make their way back to Fort Brooke.
The military built a string of forts through Florida to aid in the war to remove the Seminoles. One of those forts was built about a mile from the Dade Battle site. On November 21, 1836, a force of 2,500 soldiers, including a Florida Cavalry unit, a U.S. Artillery Battalion, a group of Tennessee Volunteers and several hundred Creek Indians, who had enlisted in the U.S. Army, launched an attack on a Seminole force of between 500 and 600 warriors holed up in Wahoo Swamp, maybe somewhere in the photo below.
Immediately after the battle of Wahoo Swamp, Fort Armstrong was built to protect the road to Fort King. The location of the fort is marked by this monument along the side of the highway.
The U.S. massive resources of men and materials made possible the decimation of the Seminole warriors. It is that massive resource that has given America the ability to fight and win most of its wars throughout our history.
Walking along the same road the soldiers marched I tried to feel what it was like for the soldiers and the Seminole warriors facing each other in that wild country. So many lives were lost in our history because the invaders demanded more and more of the territory occupied by the original inhabitants. So much suffering due to greed has stained our national fabric.
The Park is kept as natural as possible, so visitors can experience what the environment of the place was like. I could almost imagine myself standing on the road in 1836. Of course, those trees were not as big as they are now, but they were still large in the early nineteenth century.
Leaving Dade Battlefield, I began looking for something less ‘heavy’ to experience. And I found it. About twenty minutes from Bushnell is Richloam General Store where the town of Richloam once existed. I thought my GPS was messing with me again as we drove farther and farther from anything that resembled civilization. But, rounding a turn on old highway 50 there, all alone in the woods was a general store.
In 1921 the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad built a depot in Richloam and the town began to grow. The general store and post office were opened in 1922 and thrived until the depression forced its closing in 1936. Between then and now it sat empty except for a time when it was rented as a family dwelling. A member of the original owner’s family reopened the store in 2016, applied for and received a listing on the National Register of Historical Places.
Friends, the fun began as soon as I stepped inside the front doors.
The gal in attendance was full of information on the place and was genuinely interested in sharing its history. I did wonder if she had many people to talk to during a day because there was nothing, and I mean nothing anywhere near this place.
The original post office miraculously was spared by the termites and the original fireplace built with bricks from the turpentine distillery still stands guard over the store.
While she shared information about the store, she dipped me a waffle cone full of strawberry ice cream which looked fabulous.
With the ice cream in hand, I exited the store and settled into one of the rocking chairs located on the front porch. Eating an ice cream cone listening to the rain dance on the tin roof and splash into the woods on the other side of old highway 50 was a refreshing pause on my quest. The only break in the revery was the arrival of the FEDEX truck.
I guess even historical general stores must make some concessions to modern times.
After the FEDEX truck left two wet bicycle riders came around the bend and found shelter under the roof next to me. When they saw the ice cream, they declared they had to have some as well. In no time at all three of us were sitting on rocking chairs enjoying waffle cones of ice cream and sharing bicycling adventures. Eventually, the rain stopped, and the sun came out bathing the glistening trees with sparkling light.
If Republicans win the house next year Kevin McCarthy wants to be The Speaker. He wants this so bad that he can’t see what is happening to his chance to achieve the goal. In his blind ambition he is completely misreading the Trump cult represented in the House by the Freedom Caucus.
In his misguided reading of the situation, he believes he can appease the cult by knuckling under to their demands of absolute loyalty to the cult. He believes that if he ignores crank behavior the cult will support him. He believes if he ignores unlawful actions by the cult, they will vote for him. He believes if he opposes every bill proposed by the Democrats the cult will fall in line behind him. He believes if he plays ‘nice’ with horrible human beings they will love him.
McCarthy is blind to the big picture. The cult will only support unquestioning loyalty to the leader. Any one giving what is perceived as less will be removed. This is where McCarthy is already finished. The cult leader has pronounced the end for McCarthy so he can never be Speaker of the House and all his ‘butt licking’ will be to no avail. He has emasculated himself for a lost cause. He has not been loyal enough to earn the support of the Freedom Caucus.
It is impossible to be loyal enough to the leader of this cult. Let’s look at an example of how loyalty works in the cult. If the leader wakes up one morning and declares that all blue houses must be destroyed, the only loyal response by adherents is to destroy all the blue houses. If a cult member were to raise a question like, “What about the blue houses our friends live in?” That member is proving disloyalty and the leader will jettison the unfortunate soul.
You say, “This is an absurd illustration.” I reply, “Yes, it is. To illustrate the absurdity of the cult it is necessary to use an absurd illustration.” The only way to be loyal enough to the leader of this cult is for you to dispose of all reason, all morals, all ethics, all your humanity.
Kevin McCarthy is screwed. The person the Freedom Caucus elects as Speaker is also screwed. The loyalty tests never stop, and no one can pass every test. Eventually, the ire of the leader will destroy anyone who tries.
During the Air Force years when time for orders to a new assignment approached I expressed my hope for a place with palm trees. After our first assignment in San Bernardino, California, we were sent to pine trees for every transition. I brought up this deficiency often enough that after the Air Force Sarah and Eddie gifted us a palm pree while we lived far from palm trees in Lehighton, Pennsylvania. Well, that palm tree gift must have been speaking to Jane because in 2016 we moved to the land of palm trees and #The Florida Man. The gift palm moved to Jim Thorpe with us and now resides in a bigger pot on the pool deck.
Since settling in the Sunshine State I have learned there are over 2,500 species of palm trees, twelve of which are native to Florida. Some of the most common native Florida palms are Cabbage Palms, Needle Palms, Royal Palms, and Silver Palms. Maybe the photos below from our neighborhood include some of those species.
The entrance to our community is even lined with palm trees.
Here’s something else surprising that I learned about palm trees. They are not even trees. These ‘not-trees’ belong to the Arecaceae family of perennial flowering plants which are really, wait for it, grass. No, really! The palm tree cellular structure is like that of grass with their trunks made of continuous fibrous strands instead of wood like real trees. Some of that Florida ‘grass’ can grow up to 100 ft. tall. Smaller or dwarf native Florida ‘grass’ can be as short as 20 ft. tall.
So, what are these ‘not-trees’ good for? Coconuts are an obvious product of palm ‘not-trees’, but did you know that dates, betel nuts, and acai fruit all come from palm ‘not-trees’ as well? I hadn’t heard of acai fruit before beginning this blog. So I looked it up. Acai is sort of like a blueberry and grows mostly in the Amazon Delta Region of South America.
Palm oil, as its name indicates, also comes from the fruit of the Oil Palm ‘not-tree’. Accounting for one-third of global plant oil production, you can find palm oil in just about anything, from pizza dough to washing detergent. It’s also a major player in beauty products including Palm Kernel Oil for body lotions, or bleached Palm Oil for soap. Not bad for a tall clump of grass.
But wait, there is more. Have You Ever Heard of Palm wine? I hadn’t heard of it until I began researching this article. Palm wine called “kallu,” is a common alcoholic spirit in regions of Asia and Africa. The wine can be created from Coconut Palms, Date Palms, and obviously the Chilean Wine Palm.
Palm ‘not trees’ are also used as construction building material for house walls, rafters and roofing.
If you enjoy scented candles, you may be surprised to learn the best wax for the candles, come from palms.
Finally, in historical times palms were highly regarded as symbols for victory, peace, and fertility. Oh, how far the great can fall because today, the palms have been reduced to symbols for the tropics and vacations.
Having said all that, it is important to note that the palm does not do any of the ecologically useful things real trees do. Penni Redford the manager of Resilience and Climate Change for West Palm Beach states, “Palm trees do not sequester carbon at the same rate as our native canopy trees and do not provide shade, cool down streets and sidewalks to help counter the urban heat island effect that canopy trees do.” In other words palms are just grass. Miami has begun planting more Oak, Ash, Elm and Sycamore in place of palms to combat the climate crisis. Maybe palm ‘not-trees’ will soon lose their status as symbols of the tropics and vacations as well.
So, why this journey into the world of palm ‘not-trees’?
Well, we had a Queen Palm next to our house standing about 50 feet tall and it was worrying Jane.
Usually, palms do not ‘come down’ during hurricanes because they are grass that bends but doesn’t break.
They do get old, however, and have been known to come down.
SUNRISE, FL – SEPTEMBER 11: Fallen palm tree on house roof caused by hurricane Irma. Hurricane Irma hits the southern part of the state as a Category 4 hurricane making landfall in the United States in the Florida Keys at 9:10 a.m. after raking across the north coast of Cuba.
Jane did not want the one in our yard coming down on our house. So, it had to go.
We hired our local Scottish landscaper “Celtic Landscaping” to do the deed. It is not an easy task to bring down a palm ‘not-tree’ and haul it away but, the Scots are a tough bunch.
You have to be tough to run around during a Scottish winter wearing a kilt. And back in the old days like the first century when they were known as the Picts, they were only wearing tattoos.
And, yes in the photo on the left the Pict is holding a severed head in his right hand. Those are some tough genes! To emphasize Scottish toughness Martin, our landscaper, reminded us that the Romans were a mean bunch who conquered much of the world. The Romans did not however conquer the Scots/Picts. They even hired a local stone mason, Hadrian, to build a wall protecting the Roman Empire from the tattooed Picts. That might even be a Roman head the Pict is holding. We needed someone tough like that to take down the tall ‘not-tree’ in our front yard.
Our landscaper brought along his ‘lift’ and began at the top removing the fronds.
Then with a strap wrapped around the ‘not tree’ he began working his way down the length of the stump in three and a half to four feet sections.
A crowd of neighbors had joined me for the excitement, and we all let out a unison ‘oooo’ when that first section thudded into the ground causing a minor earthquake. The landscaper’s spouse was controlling the strap and she did an exemplary job of keeping the pieces coming down away from the house. Both landscapers were sweating profusely from their efforts when we were left with about five feet of stump where a palm ‘not tree’ once stood.
A few days later the crew returned to cut the stump down and grind out the rest of the fibrous growth.
A new Christmas Palm which will grow only 20 to 25 feet tall replaces the 50 feet tall Queen Palm.
I haven’t been this into grass since that Jimi Hendrix concert in 1971 in San Diego. (Alexa: Play, ‘Purple Haze’ by Jimi Hendrix Experience). Far out, dude.