Good states are hard to find.
That’s a phrase that’s been rattling around in my head for months.
We love Florida . . . it’s who we are . . . It’s part of our makeup, our DNA.
From summer thunderstorms to wintering waterfowl . . . tarpon off the beaches, dolphins chasing mullet, snook under the mangroves . . . so many shellcrackers bedding that you can smell them . . . Osceolas somehow gobbling in surround sound, coming from every direction at once . . . Panthers and manatees and snail kites . . . Snapper and specks . . . Palmettos and palm trees and wild blackberries and wood ducks . . . Okeechobee and Ocklawaha, Islamorada and Istokpoga . . . Big Cypress and Appalachicola and Green Swamp . . . Sandy shores and sandy scrub and cows dotting pastures for as far as the eye can see . . .
Florida, real, honest to God Florida, isn’t found in Disney or Universal . . . It’s found in the wild places that pierce our hearts and leave a scrub jay-shaped hole, one that can only be filled by finding that special connection again . . .
It looks different to each of us, our souls connected to our places for different reasons, as varied as the colors in a January sunset.
Which brings us to this point – for the next 12 weeks, every Monday, we’ll be sharing with you a different voice sharing where THEIR Florida is, and why it’s theirs . . . We’ve asked folks from our podcast community, from the conservation community, and friends who we know love this state, our state, their state, to answer the question:
Where is your Florida?
