Traffic and wildlife in Florida

[liz]

We had to stop in the middle of Florida Street. 2 Sand Hill Cranes were on the yellow line in the middle of the road. They must have done it many times. When we blocked traffic they casually went to the side of the road.

I think the funniest traffic block was by a cop who pulled his car sideways in the road. I was driving and had no idea what this guy was up to. Then I saw the turtle he was helping to cross the road.

I also saw a turtle walking on a busy side walk with people just walking around him.

[Pajarita]

That's the kind of thing that gives me hope for mankind! Thank you for sharing it, Liz!

[liz]

I drove by a field with both cows and horses. I don't remember the name of them but the white birds with the fluffy beautiful tail were mixed in between them. That is when I realized that I had been looking past the emu running beside the car.

[Wolf]

Liz, did aliens abduct you? Last I knew, you were in Florida, not Oz.

[shiraartain]

Florida always seems to be in the news for bizarre animal events. Floridians sound a lot more tolerant. Someone honked at me because I stopped to let geese pass by, and another car from the other direction just kept going and nearly hit them.

[Wolf]

I have spent a lot of my life wandering the US, I just had to see first hand what all was going on in my living room as it is really big. The north, especially the northeast seems like everyone is always in a hurry... run, run, run as fast as you can. The south generally seems to be a slower pace and more laid back, but that is very often just on the surface as their are a lot of undercurrents there. The central and most of the west is often a curious mixture of the two while California, Arizona and Oregon are for a lack of any other way to put it are like their own little world and you have to experience them for yourself.

These are only brief observations and cover large areas of the country and once you go to these places they are all much more fascinating with more going on than any passerby could begin to imagine. I grew up on the road, due to circumstances, but I really loved most of it. Staying in one place as I have for nearly 20 years, has been one of the hardest things in my life to do. I miss the seeing of new places and the meeting of new people from all different walks of life. It was always my dream to get a bus or smaller motor home and continue my journey around this land, but that was not to be. I have an older bus that, I need to fix up although, I could not keep so many animals even with it. But my current circumstances require that I stay in one area and maintain a single address. I could fix the bus up and get by with my 3 larger birds and one dog, but that is about it as it would be too small for any more than that. I am an old road dog and miss it, sorry about the rambling.

[Pajarita]

I think it takes a special kind of person to live on the road. I know I couldn't do it. I like permanence... mostly because of my animals but also because of family and friends.

The Northeast is not all the same. It depends on where, exactly, you live. For example, NY State is pretty much all the same -as it's NJ, life is a rat race in the cities but it's not really that slow and/or easy going in the suburbs, either. But, if you go to Pa, it's quite slow and rural in the mountains, for example, but fast in the large cities. My problem with rural areas (which I like very much as I can't stand been surrounded by concrete, metal and glass -it depressed me something terrible and I am not a person who gets depressed) is the fact that animals are usually treated very badly in them -and I am not talking only farm animals, either, I am talking pets, too.