|
Connie and I used to vacation in Englewood nearly every May and September years ago, so of course we were out herping a lot of times. But the place has been so developed lately, that the places we used to hunt and road cruise are either gone, or developed way beyond recognition. For instance at the intersection of routes 771 and 41, where the town of Murdock is located, 771 used to dead end at 41, and on the east side of 41 was an old abandoned cement factory of some sort. That is where I caught a female corn that wound up carrying the Lavender gene. You know all the strip malls and housing developments there now? Nothing like that back when we used to prowl that area. The roads were all there, apparently from failed development projects, so we used to road cruise there a lot in the mornings and late evenings.
Kind of amazes me that indigo snakes used to abound in that area, but that fact didn't slow down development even a little bit.
Anyway, my mom used to live down there near Manasota Key, and we used to visit with her fairly frequently until she passed away a couple of years ago. Honestly, with the rampant development, it breaks my heart seeing the way it is now, and knowing how it used to be. So except for an occasional passing through trip, Connie and I don't visit the area any longer. Heck, I remember when Manasota Key Road was mostly unpaved, and I found snake trails literally covering the sandy road that went through the southern end of the peninsula to Stump Pass. My parents first took me to that area when I was a young kid, and to me, the place was absolute paradise. It truly sickens me to see what the land developers and real estate agents have done to the place.
Had a memory just pop into my head. Last year Connie and I were passing through the area and we went to the house where my mom lived before she died. She was living with a guy, sort of a mutual support thing for an aging man and woman, and the house is now vacant as he passed away not long after my mom did. Felt very odd see the place looking abandoned with a FOR SALE sign out front. Funny how you think time should just stop at places that are out of sight.
My mom and dad had bought a place right on Englewood beach that they had till they divorced. That is another odd feeling seeing that place. I can remember my dad coming home from work while we were visiting and just change into his bathing suit, grab a beer and walk out into the gulf just up to his knees and stand there looking out over the water. In a way, I think Englewood was his paradise too, because he never left there, even after the beach house was sold during the divorce. It was alcohol that finally killed him.
Sorry about going WAY off topic...
|