Davidson Woods

March 23, 2010 – Newton IL
Anne and Chuck submitted on January 15, 1970
Noon finds us in the Newton library. We were up before dawn to find a foggy drippy morning. We went to Prairie Ridge State Preserve anyway to find it equally gloomy. Still, when we approached the Greater Prairie Chicken viewing area we heard the eerie calls coming from the booming ground. We stayed until 9 a.m. when the birds became silent. Only later did the warm sunshine clear the air and sky.
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENT Noon finds us in the Newton library.  We were up before dawn to find a foggy drippy morning.  We went to Prairie Ridge State Preserve anyway to find it equally gloomy.  Still, when we approached the Greater Prairie Chicken viewing area we heard the eerie calls coming from the booming ground.  We stayed until 9 a.m. when the birds became silent.  Only later did the warm sunshine clear the air and sky.  We heard but did not see the bird.  We will be back this evening and again at dawn tomorrow.  They are there, and I’m sure we will see them.  We explored the preserve, surrounding farmlands, and a lake this morning finding our first American Pipit, Horned Lark, and Song Sparrow of the year.  Robins and meadowlarks were singing everywhere.  A fine start to our western expedition.
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March 22, 2010 – Newton IL
Anne and Chuck submitted on January 15, 1970
This late afternoon we have settled in at Sam Parr State Park in southern Illinois after a successful two days of travel in our Winnebago Minnie motorhome, or “Harley” as we call this vehicle.
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTThis late afternoon we have settled in at Sam Parr State Park in southern Illinois after a successful two days of travel in our Winnebago Minnie motorhome, or “Harley” as we call this vehicle. The trip was without major incident, but all three of us were a bit rusty.  Arriving home from Florida, I fully charged and installed the chassis battery after removing snow from our driveway.  Harley started promptly and seemed to enjoy the process of “re-educating” the truck computer as directed by the Ford Motor Company.  She and I circled the neighborhood for twenty minutes to complete the process.  Anne and I then began to prepare and provision her for the expedition.  I flushed anti-freeze from the water system and added a weak chlorine solution to disinfect it.  The next morning I drained this water and put enough fresh water in the tank to get us to our first stop here.  We didn’t turn on the water heater until yesterday, but I did check the burner for wasp nests.  It was clean and yesterday the heater came right on and gave us warm dishwater.    <o:p></o:p>Yesterday, Sunday, morning we unplugged Harley and rolled up the extension cord on after a splendid breakfast of scrapple and eggs.  We won’t see scrapple again for a long long time.  We had finished trip preparations on Saturday, and I had time to bake two batches of cookies for the trip.  We invited neighbors over for a glass of wine and treats in the afternoon.  Both Saturday and Sunday were fine spring days with the temperature reaching 60 degrees.<o:p></o:p> The final step in preparing for travel is to connect the auto to the motorhome.  We made the hookup in the street in front of the house.  Done, we pulled out at 9:00 a.m. in the sunshine.  The Google website and our Magellan GPS unit (isn’t the 21st Century wonderful) both suggested we travel US route 30 to Breezewood PA and then take the PA Turnpike west to I-70.  We took this route bypassing a section of turnpike with three long tunnels.  That saved us the toll but meant that Harley had to climb over those steep ridges.  She did so smoothly, and I downshifted to ease her down the backside of each of them.  Ah, the challenges of RV’ing.<o:p></o:p> We fueled up near Somerset, where snow still littered the north facing slopes.  We still think of Somerset as a winter wonderland, but its latest claim to fame is the memorial nearby to the defenders and victims who perished in the crash of Flight 93 on September 11, 2001.  When we started on I-70 I asked what cities lay ahead, and Anne mentioned Wheeling.  We looked at each other and wondered what Brian was doing.  Anne called to reach the young man grading papers and looking forward to watching TV of Pittsburgh playing in the NCAA championship later.  He invited us to stop by.  <o:p></o:p> Our GPS “Maggie” provided a route and we arrived a half hour later, but only after Anne had called Frank and Mom & Dad to tell them what we were up to.  Brian met us in the parking lot.  We invited him in for snacks and beverage.  He gave us a tour of the Linsly School and a break from driving.  We thanked him and wished him a good evening before continuing west.  We stopped for supper at a rest stop in Ohio.  I napped very briefly while Anne turned on the generator and microwaved leftover chicken tetrazini.  After dinner we drove past Columbus and stopped at a Cracker Barrel Restaurant about 9 pm.  Cracker Barrels usually have RV parking in the rear and allow overnight parking there.  The locations are next to the highway exits and the price is perfect.  The only drawbacks are the abundance of light and the highway noise.  Still, we slept well in spite of the arrival of a rainstorm.  We thought, “Rain is much better than snow.”<o:p></o:p> We planned to stop at a Camping World camping supply store at Indianapolis and timed our arrival for after rush hour.  At 9 a.m. the store was empty but the service center was buzzing.  We completed our shopping and had the propane tank filled before resuming our travel.  Our GPS routed us improperly for a few minutes until Anne noticed that somehow it had been reset “to avoid freeways.”  Re-programmed, Maggie put us back on I-70.  The rain continued and slowed us down a bit.  We passed a commercial truck that had rolled over off the highway in the storm.  Such an experience would really ruin our trip.  <o:p></o:p> We lunched at the Illinois welcome center and left the interstate highway at Greenup to turn south toward Newton.  Southern Illinois was very soggy and we found the state park campground deserted.  Still, we picked out a campsite and parked.  As I was checking out the water a ranger, Jim Gillespie, pulled up in his pickup and greeted us.  He checked us in and reported that we should hear turkey and woodcock in the campground.  He also commented that we were at exactly the right time to see prairie chickens at Newton Lake.  We paid and thanked him and set up camp.  The rain has diminished and seems to have stopped now.  We will probably take a walk here before and after dinner.  The moon is waxing and should provide luck with the night birds.  <o:p></o:p> Tomorrow, we will visit Newton Lake, but we may not see the chickens until dawn on Wednesday.  The weather forecast is good, and we will enjoy spring in these woods and fields.  <o:p></o:p>There is not much prairie left in Illinois, and we are at the most easterly location where Greater Prairie Chicken can still be seen.  Until the 19th Century the easterly race of this species boomed in coastal prairies.  The last population was lost on Martha’s Vineyard Island.  We have never seen this bird before and look forward to watching the males strut their stuff.  Our adventures have begun.  <o:p></o:p>I should mention some of the little crises along the way.  The light test found that the right blinker signal does not flash on the car.   There is probably a loose connection I will have to find.  This finding did not stall the trip, but I used extra care driving knowing that only the flasher on the truck but not on the car was operational.  <o:p></o:p> Starting down the highway after dinner, Anne noticed that the steps were still extended.  We stopped at the next exit and opened and close the door.  They retracted.  Probably the door was not tightly closed (though locked) and so the steps went down.  We’ll keep on eye on this.  <o:p></o:p>When we were showing Brian the rig, I turned on the house fan, but it did not come on.  Only later did we remember that this is an alternating current (AC) function that would not take place unless the generator was on or we were plugged in.  No problem.<o:p></o:p> We then worried about the heater, forgetting that it operates with a different fan on the 12V DC system.  I turned on the heat and nothing happened.  We had not tested the heater and worried about this, but when we stopped at the Cracker Barrel later it was cooler, and when I turned on the heater it started right up.  It did not run earlier because the temperature was higher than the thermostat setting.  By this time almost everything has been tested except the air conditioning.  We should not need that for a while.  <o:p></o:p>     
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So, did you provide housing to a Midwestern displaced individual?
Anne and Chuck submitted on January 15, 1970
I completed my taxes this morning. Or, at least I did for now. Quarterly filing means I have to spend a few more frustrating hours on the activity this year. I had hoped that the time would be less than twenty hours, but guessed thirty. That is about how many it took. The final frustration was that, for whatever reason, my Acrobat Reader seems not to be able to download the quarterly estimated filing forms. I'll have to stop at the library to pick them up. All this effort and we owe the IRS $757 for last year. Most of this was for wage tax.&nb
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTI completed my taxes this morning.  Or, at least I did for now.  Quarterly filing means I have to spend a few more frustrating hours on the activity this year.  I had hoped that the time would be less than twenty hours, but guessed thirty.  That is about how many it took.  The final frustration was that, for whatever reason, my Acrobat Reader seems not to be able to download the quarterly estimated filing forms.  I'll have to stop at the library to pick them up.  All this effort and we owe the IRS $757 for last year.  Most of this was for wage tax.  It is now 15%.  Is it any wonder most people don't save anymore or that so few work?  Still, with this tax, Social Security should be rolling in dough.  We know it is not.  The idea was a good one, but sadly the government turned a simple old-age insurance program into the largest Ponzi Scheme in history.  I am doing my best to cash out before the bottom falls out.  Still, we just paid in $656 and have not  collected a cent.  We are probably twenty years too young. Our actual income tax for last year comes out to $101, and this is where most of the hours went in.  Why so much time?  Because the Congress is schizoid with regard to taxes.  It has to bring in income, but it wants taxes to be "fair."  It also wants to "encourage" certain behaviors, among them saving for such things as retirement, education, and health care.  Unfortunately saving makes one wealthy and the wealthy have money to pay more taxes, and Congress twists the tax code to make them do so.  All this leads to a witches brew of a tax system that is irrational in itself and pushes the taxpayer to adjust their behavior to the tax code because taxes much more affect our cash for spending than does income. What is a fair tax.  Clearly we all benefit from the government.  So, we should all pay a tax.  But, some are wealthier, have more income, property, or savings.  Should these pay more?  Probably not, though some make a case that the rich benefit more from government services such as law and order or national defence.  Perhaps, but they are much less likely to receive food stamps and entitlements that make up the bulk of federal expenses that don't go to the national debt. Still, the do-gooders argue, the rich should pay more.  OK, but how much more?  Should they pay 10% more or twice as much?  No the argument once went, they should pay in proportion to income.  That obsencely means that a person who earns ten times as much as another pays ten times as much.  The problem with this is two-fold.  It provides too much money to the government and it makes government profoundly undemocratic.  If the rich pay for government, don't the rich own it? If a tax in proportion to income was bad, today it has become enormously worse.  The rich pay a much higher rate on their income and so are encouraged not to earn it.  Earn what you need and drop out becomes a reasonable strategy.  We are following it. As taxes grew, workers ceased to save.  How can one save when the government taxes 15% directly out of earnings?  The government realized that this was a problem.  Especially since the government old-age plan was a Ponzi Scheme and was never intended to be a complete retirement plan, something had to be done to get people saving again.  There have been a multitude of solutions.  These have included IRS's, 401K's, 403B's, etc.  The view was that people would save to avoid income taxes now, and the government could nail them with taxes when they cashed out of these savsings accounts later.  This has worked to some extent, but mostly only the rich use these devices.  Why?  Because the tax system has become so "fair" that most with a low income pay scant tax and don't bother.  Saving subjects them to more tax. Congress cannot simply stop itself from taxing savings.  Now, there is even discussion of imposing wage taxes on savings.  Of course, initially this will be done "only to the wealthy."  That was once the case made for the "income tax." So, today we have a tax code that has provisions for savings and for a zillion other things that Congress supposedly wants us to do.  We may deduct for contributing to our church or the Red Cross, for paying mortgage interest, and, apparently, for providing housing to a displaced Midwestern individual.  See line no. 42.  Sadly we the people have created this monster.  It is fair only to those who boldly say yes, I housed a displaced Midwestern individual.  Prove they did not. So many interest groups - all of us - studidly think we benefit from this grotesque and unfair system of taxation that it will not be undone or simplified until it collapses of its own weight.  We are addicted to it and no politician speaks of changing it.  We can only hope for change.
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More Irish Music Please!
Therese submitted on January 15, 1970
More Irish Music Please!
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTMore Irish Music Please!
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THE FORT MYERS BEACH TIMES
Anne and Chuck submitted on January 15, 1970
A neighbor accused us of being "short-timers" this morning. "Less than four days left, and you are short-timers," he said.
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTA neighbor accused us of being "short-timers" this morning.  "Less than four days left, and you are short-timers," he said.   "Yes," we agreed.  Our departure is scheduled for Sunday morning.  We are enjoying our final days here.  This morning we met our at-home neighbors at Lakes Park for a walk, a picnic lunch, and a game of cards.  They winter at Bonita Springs, about an hour down the Trail, but with all of us busy, we have only seen them once since we arrived in south Florida.  They arrived ahead of us and will stay in this warm climate until May.  This day remained fresh and beautiful.  The Floridians have become tired of 40 degree dawns, and today the thermometer barely reached 60.  A brisk breeze kept us in our jackets.  Still, we picniced after our walk and played a card game of "65."  The table was next to a wading pool which was closed on account of "inclement weather."  A family arrived with small children dressed for the water.  The youngest was surprised by the locked gate.  The Dad shook his head.  We jested with him about "inclement Florida weather."  The family was Canadian and could no more understand than we why the water feature was closed.  In spite of the closure the fountains and water mushrooms continued to flow temptingly. We have survived our withdrawal from the Olympics.  We regained composure, cleaned house, baked, and enjoyed each other's company.  I checked our car and had it serviced before our trip home.  We watch the weather hoping the snow will melt before we reach South  Mountain.  Dad & I made a run to Siesta Bay for a haircut.  The senior Davidsons will stop by to say goodby.  Mom & Dad played Bocce yesterday, but have been staying away from the Agua-cise on these chilly days. The forecast for next week is better.  It should reach 70 on Sunday, the day we leave, and maybe even 80 by Thursday.  The forecasters are warning that another cold wave is possible in the following week.  We won't have to worry about that.  We'll be freezing in PA.
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THE FORT MYERS BEACH TIMES
Anne and Chuck submitted on January 15, 1970
Winter has wonderfully returned to South Florida. Only 55 degrees now and going up to 60 today. Worse, it just showered. Still, no sign of the white stuff that seems so much in abundance in the Northeast right now.
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTWinter has wonderfully returned to South Florida.  Only 55 degrees now and going up to 60 today.  Worse, it just showered.  Still, no sign of the white stuff that seems so much in abundance in the Northeast right now.  Mom, Dad, Anne & I are at the condo.  Mark, Rob & Joe are moving out of the time share and will join us here for lunch.  They enjoyed a peaceful week following a routine that works for all of them.  The weather was good, if a bit cool on some days.  The last two days were wonderfully clear if cool.  Today another front passes, but tomorrow should be clear, bright, and breezy.  The three "boys" will be departing at dawn.  Anne and I will take the opportunity to bird early, after their departure, seeking the elusive Bachman's Sparrow that should have begun singing on territory in nearby pinewoods.  We have been at the beach much of this week.  Mom, Dad, & Anne have usually gone down after church and breakfast.  I have stayed here to do chores and begin work on the infernal taxes.  I join them toward supper time.  Mom has been ready to return here early after supper, and we watch a bit of olympics before retiring.  On Thursday, Anne, Mark & I went to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary to enjoy the wonderful cypress forest there.  We watched for arriving Swallow-tailed Kites and found them performing wonderful aerobatics over the prairie and cypress stands.  We also found a Crested Caracara feasting on roadkill nearby.  The Audubon Society maintains a 2.5 mile long loop boardwalk across the swamp that provides easy access into a land that would otherwise be very difficult to traverse. Since I began writing a squall with a heavy shower passed across Heritage Cove and the clouds broke to allow a brief flash of warm sunshine.  Now another band of gray clouds is rushing by as cooler air pushes into this part of the Peninsula.  It has been a long winter in South Florida this year, but the locals say that spring has arrived when you see the kites return.  Let's hope they are right.
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THE FORT MYERS BEACH TIMES
Anne and Chuck submitted on January 15, 1970
It is a sensational Sunday in southwest Florida, 75 degrees, sunny, and with a slight breeze. Anne drove Mom & Dad to the Estero Island Beach Club after church and breakfast this morning. I (Chuck) remain at the condo to catch up and bake bread. I'll go down at suppertime and support the retreat back tonight.
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTIt is a sensational Sunday in southwest Florida, 75 degrees, sunny, and with a slight breeze.  Anne drove Mom & Dad to the Estero Island Beach Club after church and breakfast this morning.  I (Chuck) remain at the condo to catch up and bake bread.  I'll go down at suppertime and support the retreat back tonight. Rob, Mark, & Joe arrived yesterday.  Anne and I picked them up at the airport.  A  bit of excitement on the way; someone had lost sofa cushons and a comforter on the highway, and we hooked the comforter and dragged it to the airport.  Anne got out at a traffic signal, tugged on it, and gave up.  Lots of folks were honking and pointing.  We waved back.  I disentangled it at the airport when everyone boarded the vehicle.  We stopped at the orange juice stand on the way to the beach where Mom and Dad were already settled in.  Anne made a fine spaghetti dinner. There may be some weather this week, but except for one or two days it should be much better than last week, which was rather cool for south Florida.  It is definately an El Nino winter.  Life has returned to the beach and the young women are wearing much less than the long pants, jackets, and hats that adorned them last week.  Praise be!  The traffic to and from the beach is, of course, horrible, but the sights, from pelicans to bikinis makes the crawl along the beach road more tolerable.  At the beach each finds his own pleasures.  The visitors enjoy the warmth and a simple routine removed from the stress and storm at home.  Mom & Dad, moving more slowly than in the past, dip in the pool or hot tub, nap, dine, and join in conversations.  Anne and I walk the beach or visit the park with trails through the mangroves in the back of Estero Island to see the daily changes of spring.  This has been a year for Red Knots and we have seen them on multiple occasions.  On some years, we miss them entirely. Mom insisted on stocking the time-share with food for the boys.  They may use most of it and appreciate the kindness.  Meal preparation begins in late afternoon, lubricated by mixed drinks or brew.  The Olympics are usually in the background and burst into the foreground when Americans compete or downhill skiers bolt down the mountain. We leave the beach early as exhaustion sets in.  Anne and Dad usually stay up, if only to fall asleep, to see more Olympic action after we get home.  I catch the results in the paper in the morning.  Anne and I jog and begin another day.  That is except for Sunday, when we don't.  This morning was too fine to stay in, so we walked a few times around the circle when Mom & Dad went to church.  My back has been painful this month, and the motion helps that a bit.
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Oaks in Sub-tropical Florida
Anne and Chuck submitted on January 15, 1970
For the naturalists among us.
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTFor the naturalists among us. <meta content="" name="Title"> <meta content="" name="Keywords"> <meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"> <meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"> <meta content="Microsoft Word 11" name="Generator"> <meta content="Microsoft Word 11" name="Originator"> <link href="file://localhost/Users/Anne/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List" />  <style type="text/css">  </style>  </meta> </meta> </meta> </meta> </meta> </meta> Coming to south Florida from states north, the visiting naturalist musing on trees thinks of such romantic species as the Royal Palm and Gumbo Limbo.  Thoughts of oaks, a group of largely temperate zone species, are largely absent or limited to the Live Oak, that charismatic species with large arching limbs.  Even this species is more thought of as a denizen of coastal areas farther north than a part of the sub-tropical flora.  In south Florida, the West Indies Mahogany is as likely a street tree as Live Oak.  <o:p></o:p> Still, away from the coastal hammocks, oak is often the dominant hardwood, and at least ten species inhabit the lower Florida peninsula.   Just a bit to the north, in the remnants of the scrublands in central Florida, is a wonderland of dwarf oaks appreciated by too few of us.  In all, Florida sports some twenty-seven species of oak, more than half of the fifty-one species found in the United States.   <o:p></o:p> The problem in properly appreciating oaks in southern Florida is that the distinctions between the species are subtle.  It is too easy to casually assume that each oak one passes in south Florida is a Live Oak.  It does not help that all of the oaks are evergreen or “tardily deciduous,” have small leaves that are somewhat elliptical, and are often little more than bushes.  Worse, the foliage on scrubby specimens is variable, so a glance at a drawing or photo in a reference may be unrewarding.  Finally, the species are in some cases so similar that botanists still struggle to separate them and continue to disagree as to which are “varieties,” “forms,” or, in fact, species.  <o:p></o:p> Today, with good references on line and numerous photographs available, the process of identifying oaks is much improved from when I was a youth in south Florida.   Still, study of descriptions and on-line photos suggests that a significant percentage of the photographs are mislabeled and that the taxonomy requires more work.  We must simply recognize that every oak cannot be correctly identified.  <o:p></o:p> As with any difficult group, one should start with the easy ones.  One could argue that none are easy in south Florida, but those that form and are found as true trees make a good starting point.  Among these, the most common and familiar species is Live Oak.  This species is widespread except in swamps and along salt water.  Learn to know its arching trunk and branches, thick, smooth, oval leaves with slightly down-turned edges, dark green above and glaucous below, and its small globose buds that clinch the identification.   <o:p></o:p> Live Oak is commonly planted, but so too is Sand Live Oak, a smaller, usually more slender and upright tree with convex, boat-like, leaves that show distinct grooves along the veins from the midrib and are much fuzzier underneath.  In the scrub, Sand Live Oak may be a bush with dark blue-green almost linear leaves with strongly incurved sides enclosing the densely hairy underside.  In tree form, however, the leaves are wider and much more similar to those of Live Oak.  Is it any wonder that botanists still debate whether or not they are two species?  Still, if one can learn to distinguish most Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) from Sand Live Oak (Quercus geminata), one has solved the toughest part of the “oak problem” in south Florida.   <o:p></o:p> Laurel Oak (Quercus laurifolia) is another tree oak of south Florida found on lower ground than Live Oak, often at the edge of cypress stands.  Its thin leaves are usually flat and pale, but not glaucous below.  The base of the leaf is wedge-shaped and the tip is wide and rounded. Technically its leaves are deciduous, but in south Florida, the leaves scarcely fall in winter before they are replaced by catkins and new foliage.  Laurel Oak trunks are typically smoother, narrower, and straighter than those of the live oaks, and the buds are pointed rather than rounded.  <o:p></o:p> Another species, formerly and by some still included in the Laurel Oak species, is the Darlington Oak (Quercus hemisphaerica).  This species of moderately dry sandy soils is very similar to Laurel Oak, but the base of the leaf is usually rounded and the tip is pointed.  It flowers a few weeks later than Laurel Oak.  <o:p></o:p> Finally, among the trees, is the Water Oak (Quercus nigra).  This species like Laurel Oak is found on moist ground.  Water Oak is similar in form to Laurel Oak, but with less dense and usually more ascending branches.  The leaves are somewhat variable in form, but typically have a wedge-shaped base and a broad and angular (spatulate) apex. As in Laurel oak the leaves are tardily deciduous.   <o:p></o:p> So, there are five species of medium to large oak trees in south Florida.  The remaining oaks are usually shrubby, but most have a classic tree structure with a single trunk.  They are most often found as members of the “scrub community” that persists on dry sands often swept by wildfire.  There, the scrub oaks form heath-like barrens that are the prime habitat of the Florida Scrub Jay and Gopher Tortoise.  Today, all but a tiny fraction of this remarkable habitat has become orange groves, streets, and housing lots.  Even on “protected ground” much of this land, over-protected from fire, has been lost as scrub community.  Only scattered patches of scrub remain on private and public properties.  To easily find scrub oaks, one may travel north to Jonathan Dickinson State Park at Jupiter or Oscar Scherer State Park at Sarasota.  There, the spiny-looking bushy oaks continue to sprawl across the sand in association with Saw Palmetto, Wax Myrtle, and other scrub plants.   <o:p></o:p> Chapman’s Oak’s (Quercus chapmannii) 3-inch long leaves look “oak-like” having three or even five rounded shallow lobes.  The leaves are shiny above and silvery beneath.  Found on sand dunes near salt water, it is usually a shrub, but it may become a small tree.   <o:p></o:p> Bluejack Oak (Quercus incana) has 2- to 5-inch long, slender, flat leaves that are pale blue-gray above and wooly below.  The tips of its twigs appear to be dusted with pale gray ash.  The word “incana” means gray or hoary, and the word “cinerea,” an old name for this species, means ashy.  Both are appropriate.  It too is a sand-hill plant that is seldom much more than a bush.  <o:p></o:p> Two shrubby species that are similar to one another and perhaps regularly confused are Myrtle Oak (Quercus myrtifolia) and Scrub or Inopina Oak (Quercus inopina).  I take their descriptions from that of the on-line Flora of North America which seems to match that of the type specimen, but others may have different views of these species.  These too may rarely become small trees.  <o:p></o:p> Myrtle oak has twigs that are persistently fuzzy, leaves that are usually broadly elliptic in outline, 1- to 2- inches long, and with somewhat down-curved margins.  The underside of the leaves is typically bare except for tufts of fuzz along the veins, but sometimes yellow scurfy. The leaves of Myrtle Oak are variously oriented and often horizontal.  The plant most commonly forms a bush with attractive rounded leaves.  <o:p></o:p> The similar Scrub or Inopina Oak has largely naked twigs, but they may be sparsely fuzzy at the tips.  Its leaves are 2- to 4-inches long with strongly down-curved margins that make the entire leaf strongly convex or cupped.  The undersides of the leaves are usually yellow scurfy. The leaves of Scrub or Inopina Oak often point up giving often giving the plant the form of a candleabra.This species is strictly limited to the Florida peninsula.   <o:p></o:p> Finally are a pair of very small oaks, the Dwarf Live Oak (Quercus minima) and Running Oak (Quercus pumila.)  Both species sprout stems that are scarcely shrubs and never trees from rhizomes in sandy soil.  The stems are seldom more than a few feet tall.  <o:p></o:p> Dwarf Live Oak forms dense clusters of low stalks.  Its flat bright evergreen, 2 to 4-inch long leaves are of two types.  Those at the tops of stems are narrowly elliptic; those lower down are wider with several teeth on each side giving the foliage a holly-like appearance.  Underneath, the leaves are whitish.  <o:p></o:p> Running Oak forms somewhat taller and more thinly foliated upright stems than Dwarf Live Oak.  Its dull green, tardily deciduous, oblong, 2 to 5-inch long, leaves are slightly downcurved at the edges and usually bear a spine only at the apex.  The lower surface of the leaves is gray-brown.   Not as handsome as Dwarf Live Oak, it has a wider range and forms scattered colonies in pine flatwoods as well as among the scrub.  <o:p></o:p> In addition to these recognized species are various forms and hybrids, just to make it interesting.  Some of these may be good species, but all are vanishing with wild Florida.  Take time to enjoy them while you can.  The abundance of species and “near-species” in the Southeast suggests that the region is where the oak may have originated and certainly where it has prospered and diversified.  It is an oak-watcher’s paradise.   <o:p></o:p> Charles E. Strehl January 22, 2010   
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THE FORT MYERS BEACH TIMES
Anne and Chuck submitted on January 15, 1970
The Heritage Cove contingent has returned "home" for the evening. Mat & Jen arrived by air last evening. Anne picked them up at the airport and brought them here. I (Chuck) stayed at the Estero Island Beach Club with Mom & Dad and the Gallups and Pam who had arrived by automobile in the late afternoon. Their journey was made eventful by snow which followed them almost to the Florida border. They stopped overnight at Mt.
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTThe Heritage Cove contingent has returned "home" for the evening.  Mat & Jen arrived by air last evening.  Anne picked them up at the airport and brought them here.  I (Chuck) stayed at the Estero Island Beach Club with Mom & Dad and the Gallups and Pam who had arrived by automobile in the late afternoon.  Their journey was made eventful by snow which followed them almost to the Florida border.  They stopped overnight at Mt. Pleasant SC and awoke to a snowstorm.  They escaped the snow on the Florida Peninsula, but this will be a cool week with the temperature unlikely to reach 70 degrees until the day of their departure, Saturday. In spite of the 50 degree temperatures, the young people were in the pool almost upon arrival.  Silly Yankees!  Dad had bought pizza and a good evening was had by all.  Still, Mom was tired and anxious to see Mat and Jen, so we left the beach about eight o'clock and arrived here just before they pulled in.  We all enjoyed a drink of sipping tequila and called it a night. Anne and I had enjoyed a long day on this, my birthday.  We awoke at 4:30 to begin a drive to Storm Water Treatment Area No. 5, or STA-5, which is a huge duck pond south of Lake Okeechobee where agriculturally polluted water is naturally cleaned by sedimentation and plants absorbing nutrients.  The rich plant life attracts ducks and the ducks attract the hawks.  We enjoyed a great show arriving at the edge of Okeechobee at dawn and saw a huge kettle of vultures rise from a pond apple forest.  Among them were a few snail kites.  We stopped for coffee at a redneck gas station and started down a road to nowhere.  I spotted an elegant Swallow-tailed Flycatcher on a wire, struggling to stay there in the strong wind that followed the passage of the cold front.  This is a summer bird of Texas and Oklahoma.  A few winter in south Florida, and it is always a treat to see one in the East.  Farther down the road we found Crested Caracaras and Bald Eagles, also working to hold their place in the wind.   The pavement ended and the dirt road to the entrance of the treatment area looked rougher than usual.  The clay was saturated from rain the night before and rutted where earlier cars had passed.  I kept our little front-wheel drive Ford Focus moving quickly to avoid becoming stuck and was very happy when we pulled up to the gate.  We checked in and started our drive on the levees that bordered the treatment basins.  As is usual, the first pond was covered with coots, moorhens, and black-necked stilts.  A pair of Caracaras was perched on the levee, looking impressive as always.  We found exotic Purple Swamp-Hens marauding in the marsh and numerous Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and Fulvous Whistling Ducks.  A few of these grand birds are found in south Texas, but the largest flocks (and easiest to find) are here in south Florida.  A few large alligators emerged in the afternoon to soak up what few rays there were on this chilly Saturday. Anne and I stopped at a restaurant for an early dinner, celebrating my birthday and Valentine's Day before driving directly to the beach club and meeting Mom and Dad.  Anne stayed long enough to greet the Gallups before she went for Mat and Jen.  We went to bed tired last night. Today was more peaceful, but we all went to the beach club this morning.  After lunch Anne and I walked a couple of miles down the beach.  Mat and Jen jogged past us.  Mom went in the pool and everyone recreated in various ways.  We enjoyed a wonderful dinner of sloppy joes, created by the many.  In between and among other activities, we caught snatches of the Winter Olympic Games. Tomorrow some will go to the beach early.  Anne and I have chores here and will go to the beach after lunch.  I'm guessing we will eat dinner there again and return here when exhaustion sets in.  It is a tough job, but somebody has to do it.
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Hoping We Don't Get Fooled Again
Anne and Chuck submitted on January 15, 1970
Well, since my last writing on the subject, the health care (insurance) reform effort has gone full circle again. The Democrats with a “super-majority” were unable to craft a plan that even this group of interventionist politicians could stomach. Now that the party has only a majority, it has deigned to at least offer to discuss the matter with the minority party. I anticipate that the talks will go nowhere because the Democrats want only to consider offering crumbs to the Republicans in the hope that they will take these
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTWell, since my last writing on the subject, the health care (insurance) reform effort has gone full circle again.  The Democrats with a “super-majority” were unable to craft a plan that even this group of interventionist politicians could stomach.  Now that the party has only a majority, it has deigned to at least offer to discuss the matter with the minority party.  I anticipate that the talks will go nowhere because the Democrats want only to consider offering crumbs to the Republicans in the hope that they will take these and support the Democratic concept largely as is.  The Republicans are unlikely to stomach that any more than have the few thoughtful Democrats who have tried to read and make sense of the bills.  I guess I am one of these Democrats. <o p=""></o> Still, the effort has provoked thought.  Solving the problems of the health care system seemed impossible.  Now, however, I believe, thoughtful leaders are beginning to grasp the problem, and may begin to offer solutions.  The problem is that a decent attempt to address health care affordability must address the whole issue of welfare in this country.  That will be a large job, but if successful, a solution would improve the health care system, the economy, and the status of the American population.  The main problem with health care, government provided welfare, and government spending in general is one of wanting more than we can afford and yet somehow expecting to get it.  At its worse, the assumption is that we will get it and someone else will pay for it.  The difficulty in breaking away from the “government support” is that as bad as it is, it can in the short-run make us think we are richer than we really are. We spend too much on health care because most of us do not pay for it directly.  The first step in health care reform should be to eliminate the middleman and enable us to directly purchase our own health care services and health care insurance.  Congress can easily make this possible by giving those who buy insurance directly the same tax benefits as those who receive insurance through their employer.  Congress can also make it possible for insurance companies to sell policies in each of the fifty states.  These changes more than anything else would reduce its cost of insurance and increase coverage. Congress can also require insurance companies to provide insurance to anyone, but should allow the providers to charge more to those who do not maintain insurance and seek it only when they become ill.  This would make insurance readily available to those who want it.  Congress does not have to obscenely mandate that each of us has to purchase this product.  It might spend a few dollars to provide education to the public on the risks of not buying insurance. Direct purchase and opening up the insurance market would not make insurance affordable for all.  The government must encourage lower cost health care.  If, as I determined in my last dissertation, the cost per person is about $8,000 a year, it must be reduced so that most of our population can afford it.  There is no national, moral, or God-given right to equal health care for all.  Some of us can afford better health care than others.  The view that there should be equal health care for all is preposterous.  Efforts to mandate equal care make it impossible for many to buy even basic health care.  Congress can abolish this requirement and largely put the malpractice business out of business. Congress should allow lower levels of care to be provided.  There used to be so-called charity hospitals.  Today there should be different tiered hospitals.  Some may pay to be treated in classy hospitals with fancy beds, a bathroom in every room, and the highest tech gear available.  Others will settle for a ward and accept a lower survival rate if they have a heart attack and can’t go to an intensive care unit.  They will know that they can at least afford to go to a hospital and be treated with honor when they get sick. Even with tiered care and the availability of reasonably priced insurance, some will not be able to make the payments.  Congress may increase welfare payments to provide health care resources for the poor, but this is where the resolution of health care management problems runs head on into the issue of welfare.  Welfare has become an enormously diffuse, confusing, and unfair business.  The universal system makes all of us welfare beneficiaries and inclined to “play the system.”  There should be one welfare program.  The monthly check should support all aspects of life.  Why should there be public housing, food stamps, school lunches, Medicaid, and educational financial aid?  Each adult who cannot support himself or herself should receive a welfare payment and decide how to use the money.  Exceptions may be made for incompetents, but most people are not that.  Some may choose to spend all of the money on gambling or alcohol, but that is what freedom is about.  If such a person ends up in the hospital without insurance, the hospital should then be able to garnish the welfare payments.  The person may pay dearly for the luxury of not buying insurance, but medical care will be provided and the hospitals will be paid. A problem with this scheme is how to address the matter of children.  Traditionally, children have been considered the property of parents.  This view has receded somewhat in modern time because, frankly, some people are incapable parents.  There is no good solution to this problem.  In the past parents who could not afford or care for their children gave them up for adoption or indenture.  In the age of welfare, efforts were made to remove children from parents who could not provide for them.  This forced separation was seen as at times harmful to parents and children.  Philosophically, most see parents as providing better support than government even if they are poor or disorderly.  So, currently the government makes child welfare payment to parents or even a single parent in support of the children.  Sadly, this can make motherhood a profession that unfairly taxes responsible parents to support someone who willingly has children without a viable means of supporting them.  The need for child welfare is used to justify a multitude of special programs to assure that children don’t suffer the consequences of parental incompetence even where family welfare programs in place.  Subsidized meals in schools are an example of this.  Lunches came first.  One good meal will provide for survival even if there is no food at home.  Then came breakfast because students couldn’t concentrate in the morning if they were hungry.  I wouldn’t be surprised if some schools now provide an afternoon meal to assure that students don’t go home hungry.  We don’t want to see children suffer the parents, but we should either trust the parents or not.  If parents will not or cannot support their children, they must give them up.  Children should not provide income for them.  Society should be neutral with regard to children, but of course it never will be.  Currently, however, society is much too supportive not of the children but of their parents. All the aid provides immediate help, but fails to encourage the development of responsibility by parents or their children.   All learn that if you screw up, the government will take care of you.  This lesson may be more harmful than chronic hunger. Welfare should not go to children and should not be based on children.  Therefore, the parent on welfare will find himself or, more likely, herself pinched by having children.  This is as it should be.  Having children pinches all of us.  The welfare parent will have to make choices.  Health care should be an important choice, but some might fail to buy it even if receiving welfare.  In this case a sick child would be treated, but the parent assessed the cost if there is no insurance.   Deciding on how to set amounts for welfare and rules for child support may be difficult, but Congress could put in some effort and create a plan. I should mention that college education has been corrupted almost as much as health care.  Once there were scholarships for the best and the brightest.  Today there is financial aid for everyone.  Colleges have found that education is a business where you ask how much the customer can pay and bill them accordingly. Colleges also discovered that they could get the government to subsidize education and charge the parents even more.  Students naively believe that the government support “makes their education possible.” Our welfare system has made it too easy to be poor.  One can be poor and receive housing and medical care.  One can have children and the government will pay for their food, health care and education.  Since we don’t see how much it costs to live, we don’t work as hard and skillfully as we should.  As a result our economy suffers enormously.  Labor is outrageously overpriced.  There is a bottom end of the pay scale because welfare will pay more than employment, so only the rich can even dream of having a servant.  Employers find that in addition to salary they must pay some 15% more in payroll taxes and benefits.  Employers must also complete complicated paperwork to assure that the taxes are paid.  All this makes the employment of the poor impractical.  Large employers must even pay a “minimum wage” that effectively bars employment of the mentally retarded, unskilled, or “difficult” employees who cannot achieve an arbitrary level of productivity.  Instead of working, these people collect welfare.  We often view the welfare payment as the total cost of this lack of productivity, but it is really only a part of the cost.  A larger cost is that the recipients are not producing. Their lack of work degrades them.  Whose life is enriched by inactivity or a lack of opportunity? A decent welfare system should make it very uncomfortable to have children and not work.  Welfare payments should be inversely proportional to income and vanish when a certain level of income is reached.  At no point would added earned income reduce total income, so no one would be better off not working.  Those truly incapable of working would not starve in the cold but they might not be able to afford keeping children.  They might also take a spouse to help support them. This is not a harsh view of live, but a view that life is harsh.  Parents should not be fools, but if they are society does not have to support their foolishness. With welfare fixed, productivity should skyrocket, and, I believe, people would behave more responsibly.  Those who do not will suffer, as they do now, but in some ways things will be easier for all.  Certainly health care would be cheaper.  Low cost health care would exist for those who want it.  Lawyers will be banned from suing practitioners who do not use the most expensive diagnostic tools and procedures.  Instead consumers will save several thousand dollars a year.  We might die a bit sooner for our savings, but we don’t live just to live.    Face it; life does not get better in the 80’s.  The human body is not designed to last that long.  Besides, we can do more than the doctors to increase our probability of long life by simple habits of exercise, diet, and not smoking.  These cost nothing, yet many of us disregard them.   So, let’s see how much this Congress can do.  I doubt that the Congressional Democrats will have any of it.  I am a Democrat but have to admit that the Republicans have proposed some of these ideas.  They have not, however, reached beyond to the welfare issues.  Now is the time.  Health care will drive us to poverty if we don’t change the system. I am a great believer in and hope for change.  Still, I am suspicious that whatever Congress will do will only cost me more money.  I should play the game, I suppose, and hope that Congress creates another Ponzi scheme for the taxpayer and that I will die before it collapses.  The problem is that I may live to see the collapse of social security. Still, perhaps the Chinese will be foolish enough to keep loaning us money.  Perhaps we can follow the example of Argentina.  It seems that no matter how many times this country defaults on its loans, people keep loaning it money.  Responsibility is oh so crass.   Let the government pay for our health care.  It can make money.  What’s the problem? Charles Strehl   
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