Weather: low 76 degrees, high 97 degrees, mostly clear skies early, then cloudy skies and light showers in the late afternoon
I am a proud Florida Cracker. What does that mean? Over time, it has come to denote people who were born in Florida back before there was widespread use of air conditioning and mosquito repellent. That would describe how life was when I was born. The highlight of a week for when I was a child was to have $.25 to go to the movies. That $.25 would pay for my ticket ($.09), and popcorn with a Coke. The movie theatre was air conditioned, and there were usually two feature films, cartoons, a serial, and previews. If that wasn't enough movie theatre for a person, he could stay as long as he wanted and watch everything again, since they would run the shows again and again until about midnight.
The original use of the term Florida Cracker seems to have come from the Florida cowboys who worked cattle in the thick brush. The cowboys used bullwhips that cracked when they were used to gather the cattle. In early England, the term cracker was used to denote braggarts, but my experience with Florida Crackers has been that they don't speak much, but when they do, it is softly and people tend to listen to what they have to say. In other words, they usually have something of value to say.
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, probably the best known writer about the cracker way of life back in the early to mid-20th century, owned a home at Cross Creek, which is about 30 miles north of Ocala. We decided to take a drive up to Ms. Rawlings' old house to see how the elements have been treating her old homestead. What we found was that the state has made the homestead a historic state park. In addition, the Federal government has designated the house and farm yard as a National Historic Landmark. So, through the efforts of the state and federal governments, as well as dedicated volunteers, the home place has been resurrected to what it looked like when it was used by Ms. Rawlings.
Ms. Rawlings bought the farm in 1928 after a vacation in Florida. Her greatest success as a writer took place while she lived in Cross Creek, and her novel "The Yearling" won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1939. The book was made into a movie starring Gregory Peck in 1946. The movie was filmed near Silver Springs.
Here's a picture of the house that Ms. Rawlings lived in at Cross Creek. This type of house was common in Florida at the time, and was well suited for people who lived in a hot, humid climate. She wrote that the climate was such that she could eat the majority of her meals on the screened porch for 10 to 11 months out of the year.
This was the bedroom wing of the house. Ms. Rawlings had the room on the right hand side.
This tree is typical of the trees around the farm. Note the moss hanging in the tree. Now that's an old gray beard!
We liked the inscription on the sun dial that stands in the front yard.
I can't pass a flower that looks like it will make a good picture. Here's a shrimp plant in the back yard.
Our trip to Cross Creek has made us realize that we need to read more of Ms. Rawlings' books. I'll be looking for her books the next time I'm in the library.
More later, be safe.
Today's Town - Hawthorne, Florida: The Heart Of Fresh Water Fishing
Not all who wander are lost.
No comments:
Post a Comment