We are having our first taste of Autumn in Florida this week. A miraculous cold front came through and after months of 90 degrees plus temperatures with humidity in the upper 70s, the temps plunged to a high of 88 degrees. More importantly, the humidity dropped to a more comfortable level.
We Floridians, like me, who spent most of the summer avoiding any unnecessary outdoor activity are finally able to step outside and take a deep breath of fresh cool air and hope the dreaded long, hot summer is behind us?
In truth, Autumn in Florida is a state of mind and not an actuality. While folks up north bring out their sweaters, scarfs and boots and take long crisp walks in the woods where the leaves have turned reds and oranges and have begun to fall, here the only leaves you will see turn color is when a tree is dead and the leaves have turned an ugly brown. Here, we’re still wearing flip-flops, shorts and short sleeve t-shirts.
Oh sure, we can get our pumpkin spice latte at the local coffee shop, but hey, it’s still 88 degrees outside and humid. The crisp cool mornings we are promised will only last a few days and most likely by the end of the week, we’ll be back to high humidity and temperatures in the 90s.
Autumn, or what passes for Autumn in Florida will not arrive for real for at least for another month if we’re lucky. These couples of “cooler” days have been a treat, but make no mistake about it, there is no Autumn in Florida.
Florida! The land of sunshine, beaches, Mickey Mouse, and Disney World; it’s the happiest place on earth, or so it likes to bill itself. Florida is also the land of hanging chads, gator wrestling, 17-foot pythons, uncontrolled urban sprawl, low paying jobs, a history of violent colonization, and real estate con men; land swindles were so common, Hollywood satirized it in the Marx Brothers film, Coconuts. Florida is the land where the Outback Steak House is considered the best place to eat, and Fried Gator Tail is a delicacy.
The master of Florida noir, John D. MacDonald was admired by writers like Stephen King, Lee Child and Dean Koontz among many others. MacDonald’s most famous character was Florida’s dark-knight Travis McGee. In his first adventure, there were 21 books in the series, McGee willingly helps out, he called himself a “salvage consultant,” a young woman recover illegal funds her father stole and smuggled back home during the war. His fee is fifty percent of what he recovers.
John Greco Author/Photographer 