Artists on Fisheating Creek

 

On April 6, 2022, The Colonel and I hosted a family picnic along the banks of the Fisheating Creek in Palmdale, Florida. Yam took the day off from work to join us and my sister Jennifer and her husband Jim came up from their home at Ave Maria. This was a "last hurrah" before Jennifer and Jim, who are snowbirds, were getting ready to head back north.

Fisheating Creek is known as Thlothlopopka-hatchee in the Creek Indian language. It is translated to mean "creek where fish are eaten".

Early people, the Belle Glade people, were mound builders. They built mounds and other earthworks along the creek around 1000 and 500 BCE. They netted fish, harvested turtles, snakes and alligators as food sources. The creek was a canoe highway to Lake Okeechobee for the Belle Glade people. We saw about seven alligators and a couple of modern canoers in the creek the day of the picnic (we did not see snakes, YAY, or turtles).

But, before we could have a picnic, we had to have some food for said picnic. The day prior, The Colonel and I made some Puerco Pibil (slow roasted, seasoned pork). It is a recipe I got from the movie, Once Upon a Time in Mexico.

I cut up some pork loin (I used loin this time because I wanted it very tender and easier to cut...no bone to mess with). I also ground all of the spices and then blended them with the wet ingredients.

Once the spice mix was well blended, I poured it over the bite-sized pork loin.

I covered the pan with foil and baked the dish at 325 degrees for four hours. Once done, the pork is very tasty and tender. 

We opted to make tacos with our puerco pibil. We packed the meat, all the taco fixings and two kinds of beans up to take to the picnic. We also had chips and salsa and of course drinks. Jennifer brought macaroons for dessert.

The Colonel wanted to break-in our new camp stove/oven. He, Yam and I arrived at the campsite early for set up and get the stove/oven on. Jennifer and Jim showed up not too long after. Our picnic table was situated in a beautiful spot along the creek.

Once the food was warm, we fixed our plates and sat down to eat (while keeping an eye on the alligators in the creek).

The food was delicious, the company exceptional, the campsite and weather beautiful but there was still more to come. Jennifer and Jim did not know about the surprise awaiting them.

It was time to paint our beautiful surroundings. We were going to paint plein air. I had packed everyone a painting kit. It contained brushes of various sizes, a canvas board and a paper plate for a paint palette. I had packed several colors of acrylic paints to share. We had toted some water too and plastic cups to clean our brushes with (also plenty of paper towel).

Jennifer and Jim were pleased with the picnic's extra curricular activity. Everyone picked out a spot, and began painting.

Everyone was quietly creating their works of art along the banks of the creek. It was peaceful, sunny, warm and there was a lovely breeze. It was the perfect place to have a plein air, artistic experience. We all had an enjoyable time. Below is a photo of our paintings.

This is a close-up of my painting. It is supposed to be the view I had across the creek (I am more of an impressionist painter...that is my story and I am sticking to it).

It was a lovely day. We all had a great time. It was the perfect "last hurrah" before Jennifer and Jim headed back north. The Colonel and I will have to begin thinking of something fun to do for next snowbird season.

Whoopie-Ti-Yi-Yo...Get Along Little Dogies!

On March 26, 2022, my younger sister and I attended the Immokalee Cattle Drive & Jamboree. It started out with a pancake breakfast. It had been a long while since we had eaten pancakes. They were delicious! The 4-H kids were running the breakfast and it cost us each $7 to start off the day. Our breakfast included two large pancakes, one link sausage, one patty sausage, a strawberry, coffee, orange juice (we opted out on the juice), a pat of butter and some pancake syrup.  Quite filling and delicious.

 

Once we ate our breakfast, we got the folding chairs out of the car and made our way to the sidewalk along Main Street to await the arrival of the cattle.

The sidewalk looks empty in the above photo. Not to worry, others began to fill the sidewalk later. Before the cattle came down the street, police cars cleared the way. 

Then the police men on horses followed.

Next were the flag bearers, The American, Seminole and Florida flags.

Two pioneer families of the Immokalee area were honored in the parade, the Roberts and Howard families.

Finally, the cattle arrived and were driven down Main Street. It was fun to see the cowboys and cowgirls herding the cows, with their dogs, down the street towards the corral awaiting them.

Once the drive was over, my sister and I took our chairs back to the car and made our way to the Jamboree grounds. There was food, drinks, music, cloggers and alligator wrestlers there to keep our interest peaked (there was supposed to be dancing horses too, but they did not arrive).

The cloggers were interesting to watch. The older girls were impressive and the little ones were cute.

Watching cloggers dance makes one hungry...who knew? We decided to grab some lunch before the alligator wrestling. We had the most delicious tacos and Mexican Street Corn!

When we finished our most excellent lunch, we grabbed a ringside seat, on a bale of straw and waited for the alligator wrestling to begin.

The man who wrestled the alligator was a Seminole Indian. He had some help getting the big alligator out of his SUV and into the ring. Once it was there, the show began. He would tap the alligator on the snout to aggravate it. He jumped the tail as it swished back and forth (it hit his leg one time...ouch). Once, he placed his hand inside the gaping maw of the alligator.

The Seminole Indian drug the alligator by the tail before "Bulldogging" it. Bulldogging is wrestling and then tying the alligator single-handedly. He showed us the alligator's teeth before he tied its snout.

The Seminole man had a young son who was learning the alligator wrestling trade. He (with his father's guidance) bulldogged his own, much smaller, alligator. 

 

I was able to hold an even smaller alligator (thank God its mouth was taped closed...no bulldogging for me). My sister opted out of the photo op.

I took a few photos of the cows in the corral, some cute babies and pretty horses before we called it a day for the Jamboree.

LOVE the belt buckle!

My sister and I had a very fun day among the dogies, horses and cowpokes.