Florida Sunshine

Flower of the sausage tree. Flowers hang on long "ropes" then become "sausages."

It's hard to leave home when the daytime temperatures get up in the 40s and 50s, but it's easier when nights are still in the 20s. I hopped down to Florida over the weekend. Thailand had flooding problems, so I didn't go there and south India just wasn't working out, so to gather up some warmth and inspiration, I'm back to Florida for a week or so. The pull - besides days in the middle 70s and nights as low as 55, is the Tropical Plant Conference in Ft. Lauderdale.

Austin, telling his parents about the banyan tree. Yes, that's just one tree behind him.

I met up with a friend, Austin Jones (see his blog), in Central Florida a couple of days ago. He's a farm worker from Bear Creek Farm near Osceola, MO (you'll find stories about Bear Creek Farm in my older blog posts). So we met up and are heading to the plant conference tomorrow.

Oranges of all kinds are ripening right now, sweet and juicy from the trees.

Today we visited friends, Tom and Roxana Collins who winter in Bradenton. They took us to a fun little citrus orchard to check out the hundreds of varieties of citrus trees grown there. Austin is intensely interested in fruit, especially apples, but found lots of things to see and ask about in the orange trees.

Austin quizzing the orange guy about citrus varieties.

We also visited the Barnum Bailey Mansion and Gardens, and checked out the variety of trees there.

You may recall I came this way south last year and nearly froze. I'm enjoying the warm breezes and palm trees - this is what Florida should feel like. And food? Check out this - soft shell crabs are in season and here's what you get when you order a crab sandwich.

Yes, you get the whole crab, deep-fried and you eat it all.

More news soon about the tropical plant conference tomorrow.