This is a photograph of sugar cane fields south of Lake Okeechobee, with a processing plant in the distance, that I took on a motorcycle ride last year in May. The cane fields are burned every year to clear out debris (and unhappily the wild animals that live in it). Then the ash filled fields are cut usually by hand with men, Jamaicans normally in South Florida, armed with machetes. It is grueling work exacerbated by the ash clogged debris from the burning. Big Sugar is a disastrous environmental industry supported rather quaintly by a multi billion dollar subsidy from the federal Government, but as nothing compared to the banksters and re-insurance mobsters these days.
As a result the skies sometimes get hazy and the wood fire smell permeates the islands and we have to rouse the fire department at all hours to go out and look for flames, because one can never take the risk of ignoring a potential fire. One day I'd like to ride the Cuban cane fields and see how they burn theirs. The smell of smoke, not of cigars this time, is a geographic reminder of how close and how far we are from Cuba.
4 comments:
Dear Conch:
Do you think ferry service would resume from Key West to Havana? If that was the case, I like to ride my bike in Cuba too.
It would be cool to run into you in Havana (now that I know you like to meet readers. We could order Cuba Libres under our respective breaths in a little cafe, while wearing Panama hats.
You could write about it in a special blog called, "The Short-Lived Havana Diary."
Fondest regards,
Jack
Twisted Roads
They were planning a ferry dock on Stock Island for the purpose. I'd like to think it could be one of those high speed (30knot) euro ferries that transport hundreds of people and vehicles- three hours from Stock Island to Marielito. Wot a fantasy. You bring the panama hats I'll bring...whatever else is needed.
Dear Sir:
One of the pictures in the previous post enlarged when I clicked on it. None of the others did this. The enlaged picture was of your bike, oddly enough.
Is that a parking sticker on it? Is it on the wondshield or the gas tank? That would suck grandly if you hsd to put that on the tank. Nice Parabellum windscreen.
Fondrest regards,
Jack
Twisted Roads
The enlargement thing I don't understand. The first picture in each essay used to enlarge but not any more. Blogger's spell check is rudimentary at best....oh well.
The hurricane re-entry sticker is supposed to make it easier to move around after a storm. we give them out before hurricanes at the police station and the last minute procrastination is astonishing, so if I'm going to be snotty about the procrastinators I feel I shouldn't follow their example...
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