Asides

Christmas Trees… and AI?
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Christmas Trees… and AI?

A confluence, today, of an historic happening and how artificial intelligence (AI) is increasing our potential modes of learning.

I read an article (in between all the ads) about The Christmas Tree Boat Wreck of Chicago in 1912. Then I thought, well maybe our HSoSC fans don’t want to work their way through this piece, so I decided to try and see if AI could help.

First, here’s the article on the history, the shipwreck, and the new tradition of the Christmas Tree Boat.

Here’s AI recapping the article for you. There’s a weird little glitch in the middle where the female “narrator” reads the all caps message LOST HOPE FOR SHIP. SANTA CLAUS BOAT LOST letter by letter, but see what you think.

The U.S Coast Guard and youth volunteers unload 1,200 Christmas trees from the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw at Chicago’s Navy Pier in Dec 2017, an annual event commemorating Herman Schuenemann’s Christmas Tree Ship. D GUEST SMITH/ ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

Christmas Past… and Christmas Future? Tell us in the comments your thoughts.

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A most flavorful garden occupant

April 16 is National Orchid Day. One of my favorite trivia questions is: “What part of an orchid do we commonly, maybe even daily, eat?” Answer?

VANILLA! And what’s more… we can grow vanilla on our lanais, in our front yard tree… and then we can not just eat local, but Flavor Local!

Here’s how.

Flowers of V. planifolia (top left), V. pompona (top center), V. phaeantha (top right), V. mexicana (bottom left), V. dilloniana (bottom center), and V. barbellata (bottom right) growing in southern Florida. Credit: Alan Chambers, UF/IFAS
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Make Sarasota County Smell Sweet Again

It’s official: citrus is back for the home landscape!

As Florida Master Gardeners writes: Since the introduction of citrus greening to Florida in 2005, homeowners have been discouraged from growing citrus at home. However, UF/IFAS is now recommending the planting of citrus trees again and has provided a new line of support for those who are interested.

UF/IFAS is piloting an initiative called “Citrus in the Home Landscape” this spring, and it includes a new website and an email address dedicated solely for scientists to answer your citrus care questions.

Read the full article on the initiative on UF/IFAS News: https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/…/uf-ifas-launches-new…/

Many thanks to Deb Benedict of Benhaven Haven for alerting us to this wonderful development!

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Did the future turn out as expected 100 years ago?

I don’t know about you, but I remember figuring out, in grade school, how OLD I’d be in the year 2000.

I think imagining the year 2022 was beyond my capacity (then and quite possibly now.)

I never dreamed flowers would be emancipated. Or that we’d all have to wear glasses because skyscapers ruin our sight. These predictions of life 100 years hence are fascinating and believe it or not, many points are quite accurate!

Please note: OCR (optical character recognition) even now in 2022, isn’t perfect and your Esteemed Editor got tired half-way through of correcting all but the most grievous errors. Lordy, now I’m even talking 1922 style!)

From the New York herald (New York, N.Y.), May 7, 1922

By W. L. George
THERE is a good old rule which bids us never prophesy unless we know, but, all the same, when one cannot prophesy one may guess, especially if one is sure of being out of the way when the reckoning comes. Therefore it is without anxiety, that I suggest a picture of this world a hundred years hence, and venture as my first guess that the world at that time would be remarkable to one of our ghosts, not so much because it was so different as because it was so similar.

In the main the changes which we may expect must be brought about by science. It is easier to bring about a revolutionary scientific discovery such as that of the X-ray than to alter in the least degree the quality of emotion that arises between a man and a maid. There will probably be many new

Continue reading →
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You might not be a native, but your landscaping can be!

We all want our gardens, whether we have a multi-acre spread or a pot on the balcony, to scream FLORIDA!
Well, here’s local folks to help, and to get native plants from. And their advice is wise, easy to get, and free. It’s available one day only, though.

Courtesy gulfcoasthomeguide,com
Continue reading →
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Gonna make me some per-loo

You can’t get more Florida Pioneer than making some pilau (pronounced “per-loo”) for dinner, supper, or a get-together potluck.

So what, you might well ask, is pilau? It’s really any meat and rice dish, and here’s what some historic figures have to say about it:

In the 18th century, naturalist William Bartram wrote of eating squab “made in pilloe with rice” while he was traveling through South Carolina. Of course he hadn’t gotten to Florida yet, but I daresay there were more cooks in South Carolina than in Florida at that time. And all that good Southrn cooking found a welcome home in Florida!

“Pilaus,” wrote Florida author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings in 1942, “are almost a sacred Florida dish. No Florida church supper, no large rural gathering, is without it. It is blessed among dishes for such a purpose, or for a large family, for meat goes farther in a pilau than prepared in any other way.”

Pilau is truly an international dish just as Florida is the place where all nations meet: there are Ugandan, Kenyan, Indian recipes readily available online or in your favorite cookbook. What’s so wonderful about it, besides stretching the meat as Rawlings mentioned, is that you can make it your own. Some folks call it pilaf (well, I admit I did before I got to Florida), and some folks use poultry (see Bartram’s remark above), some use beef, sausage, pork.

I can never decide so I use chicken AND sausage. Over in St. Augustine they make a Minorcan version with shrimp and datil peppers. You can even start with a rotisserie chicken from the market (although I wouldn’t.)

You can even say it in your choice of pronunciation. Or call it paella, risotto, jambalaya.

Just don’t call me late for supper!

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“Learn everything good and throw away the bad”

We’ve spent the last several years comparing the COVID-19 pandemic to the 1918 Spanish flu* and people have been complaining about tearing down buildings since, well forever. (What was there before they built the Colosseum? Kew Gardens? The Great Wall of China?) Have we never had a boom/bust cycle before in the History of Mankind** and what will we learn about soaring land prices this time around?

Now we’re in the midst of ever more expensive gas. Might they lead to shortages as in the early 70’s? Click to read more about how those shortages actually changed America.

Of course, nothing’s ever exactly the same… but every little insight we have by learning from history will help us cope, correct, and withstand future events. Keep on learning.

* Yes it wasn’t Spanish but that’s what it was called when it happened.
** Okay, Humankind.

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Wouldn’t a new History Center be WONDERFUL?!

“Your penny at work.” That’s the slogan of the campaign asking voters to approve, in November 2022, a continuation of the county 1% sales tax. Many wonderful things have been financed by this income since it was first authorized in 1989, but never before has the history of our county been addressed. Understandably, we history lovers would be thrilled if some of that tax income could give a state-of-the-art home to not just the actual history archives (which is part of the county library system), but public space for gatherings and perhaps even exhibits. While the vote is not on how the funds will be spent… we need to vote for the “penny tax” to be renewed so that funds are available. Continue reading for a message from the President of the Historical Society of Sarasota County:

A “Common Cents” initiative that all friends of history can endorse

Since 1989 when it was first adopted by voters of Sarasota County, the 1% sales tax has improved the quality of life for everyone. The tax has been used to invest in schools, libraries, parks, water, the environment and more. 

The tax is up for a vote again in November of 2022 and all friends of history are excited about it because one of the priority investments is a new 30,000 square-foot History Center, which will be the repository for all our precious documents, maps, photographs and objects that are central to understanding and honoring the history of our county.  This is the first time that our history has been directly addressed with the one-cent surtax. 

 At the Historical Society of Sarasota County, we say it’s about time. Anyone who has recently visited  our center for archival material, realizes that it’s been too small for too long. It’s time we treated our history with the respect it has always deserved. 

We support the extension of the one-cent surtax and are looking forward to a new History Center. 

Marsha Fottler, President

For complete information from the county government on the penny surtax and how it could be spent, including FAQs and other projects being considered, see https://www.sarasotacountysurtax.net/

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A question that nags at all Floridians, native or new.

A nagging question that I never really articulated… but the answer popped up on my internet browsing one lazy Sunday afternoon:

Are flamingos really native to Florida, and if so, why don’t I ever see them?

Well, it turns out, I just wasn’t looking hard enough. Details? Lots.

A sight I hope to yet see. Credit Courtesy Jerry Lorenz / Audubon of Florida

John James Audubon himself saw flamingos in 1832 near Indian Key, an island off Islamorada, in the Upper Keys.

Far away to seaward we spied a flock of Flamingoes advancing in “Indian line,” with well-spread wings, outstretched necks, and long legs directed backwards. Ah! reader, could you but know the emotions that then agitated my breast!

Flamingos as Tourist Center Motivators

Is the flamingo your spirit animal? (I promise, I am not rolling my eyes. I lie.)

Flamingo Plastic Taxidermy.

Flamingos have been made into chandeliers, poolside beverage coolers, and ceiling fan pulls. I saw one as a carousel “horse” and another as a toilet paper roll holder. Flamingos are happy birds.

For a much wittier “look” (well, “listen”, it’s a podcast) here’s the incomparable Craig Pittman talking with flamingo researcher Tony Pernas.

So, I guess it’s as simple as ABC… Flamingos are as native as you and me!

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Bertha’s Been Busy Baking Brownies

Kate Holmes as Bertha PalmerOne of our most popular “spokespersons” from the Speakers’ Bureau at HSoSC is Bertha Palmer, here shown as presented by Kate Holmes. Having done over 300 appearances as “The Queen of Chicago/ Sarasota’s Legendary Lady”, Kate tells us that the two most-asked questions she gets are “Where did you get that great dress?” (Answer: On the Internet of course!) and “Can I have the recipe for Bertha’s most famous invention, the Palmer House Brownie?”

So here’s the brownie recipe. Kate says the secret’s the apricot glaze, so don’t skip that step.

BTW, you CAN get Bertha’s Brownies at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago… or, if you’re very lucky, your local group/ club/ HOA will invite Bertha to appear before your group and one of your members could be talked into baking these! (Save one for “Bertha” to take home for her hubby…)