Venice, Florida, will celebrate its ninetieth anniversary of citihood in 2017. 90 Years — that’s infancy in the scope of history.
Of course, Florida was “discovered” by the Spanish hundreds of years ago. Never mind that there were people spreading living here for over twelve thousand years. Spanish rule ended and Florida became a state in 1823.
Those of us privileged enough to enjoy winter months in Florida refer to Venice as “Paradise.” You can get the bumper stickers, the tee shirts and the ball caps. Maybe the wave of settlers in the early 1800’s thought so too, but I have to believe they were a much heartier bunch than your typical Snowbird today.
Paradise, of course — like so many things, is all a matter of perspective. Last winter I read:
This book was published in 1942 and republished in the 1990’s. Amazon called it a delightful and heartwarming memoir. I thought there were some interesting bits of history — mostly relating to the insidious nature of racism.
Perhaps I have too much of a tendency to always look within, but this book made me very uncomfortable. I would hope it would make anyone uncomfortable.
I just finished reading a book published years ago and was shocked by the political incorrectness of the writer. There was a time in my life I would not have even noticed. (sad to say)
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Maybe times really have changed. I will refrain from making a comment about a return to great.
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I guess Venice, Florida would be a nice place for snowbirds. I have never read that book.
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You’d think we’d learned about racism by now. It is insidious!
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I was shaken to my core by the incident in Chicago where four young adults tortured a disabled youth.
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I know. It is horrid. I cannot believe their values.
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It has been a long time since I read that book. Sadly I can’t remember much about it but it has been a long time ago and I am a senior. I did go to visit her home near Micanopy.
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Often reading older works of literature one encounters uncomfortable aspects of what was just considered normal life. Its good that we find such things uncomfortable because as we are seeing more and more, these notion haven’t disappeared, they have plastered over with a thin veneer of civility which is showing a lot cracks right now.
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I fear that thin veneer has been ripped off. Maybe it is time to deal with the s#*! it was covering though.
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My resolution for this year should be – I have to find more time to read! I will add this to the Kindle list for someday soon.
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