I found some pictures of Fort Myers Beach Florida, and had an incredible series of flashbacks. It is amazing how we humans can forget about significant moments in our lives as we trod along. I completely forgot about the time that our brother Jimmy and I were sent to Fort Myers Florida, so that Jane did not have to make the two day car trip back up north alone. Jane had been living there with her best friend Ginny. I do not believe that Jane wanted to come back, and maybe if she had stayed there with Ginny, her life would have turned out better. Ginny was beautiful, warm and very down to earth. I had known her since I was a kid through Jane. The song "Miracles" by Jefferson Starship, always reminds me of Ginny. It was the first time that Jimmy and I ever flew in an airplane and the first time that we had ever been to Florida. It was all exciting for us. The two days that we were supposed to stay, turned into at least three weeks! Ginny was great, she was working full time, but we still spent alot of the days together. They had a beautiful small beach house within walking distance from the ocean and a 24 hour 7-11. I loved the cherry ice drinks, candy bars and giant sodas, so I would go to the 7-11 several times a day. We ate pizza, macaroni and cheese and hot dogs every day. The beach was amazing to me, as I had never been to a "tropical" place before. I saw coconut palms, papaya and citrus trees for the first time in my life. I enjoyed every minute of this journey, and it was also the first time that I was ever so far away from home. I was also amazed at the brown pelicans and many other types of birds that I had never seen before too. We went to a drive in one night to watch horror movies, and it was eerie as the drive-in was surrounded by a mangrove swamp. I don't remember what films we saw, but I remember the sights and sounds of that night. I remember getting out of the little red Toyota to get soda and some snacks. The area was muddy and misty, and you could hear the soundtrack echoing in the background. The sounds coming from the swamp were loud too, very haunting.
Jane and Ginny were both exceptionally beautiful, and quite a sight in their bikinis. I can still remember how wonderful it was to wake up in that little beach house, and then go for a swim in the warm clear ocean. There was always music playing in the beach house, mostly Jefferson Airplane, Montrose, Bowie, Cat and Joni. We had a great time in Fort Myers Beach, Jane and Ginny had made many friends down there, and they took us to Sanibel Island twice, where the water and the beach were incredibly beautiful. The beach was empty and we had it all to ourselves. Jimmy and I also attempted to drive across Alligator alley one day when we were alone, and we did see plenty of alligators (for the first time), herons, egrets, spoonbills, wood storks, lizards and everything else imaginable in the Everglades. We almost made it to the east coast, but turned around as we didn't want to drive the alley by night. We did not want to leave Florida, but our mother insisted we come back after 3 weeks. It must have been very hard for Ginny to see Jane go, and I know that Jane did not want to leave. They had such a peaceful and mellow existence there, they really were like two sisters, and true kindred spirits.
The drive back was an adventure. We took 75 north through west central Florida to Atlanta, then up through Tennessee to route 81. We saw the real Deep, Deep South. Huge white mansions surrounded by enormous evergreen magnolia trees and live oaks draped in Spanish moss (which I saw for the first time too). I had always been a huge nature lover, and I would often spend hours up in the forest and power lines around our home, bird-watching, rock collecting, identifying plants and whatever else imaginable to do with nature. I made Jane stop at a "stuckys" (?) store, as there were huge amounts of Spanish moss hanging from some low trees behind it. I collected several handfuls of the Spanish moss, and put them into a plastic bag with some water. ( I attempted to grow them back upstate after we got home. I put them on a wooden clothes hanger in a white pine in our backyard, but they only lived until the autumn). The drive back also saw many run down shacks, cotton and tobacco fields and often miles and miles of nothing. We finally approached Highway 81 in Tennessee, but at the last minute we decided to take the Blue Ridge Parkway instead, as Jane had driven it before and said that it was beautiful. It was truly magnificent. We arrived on it at night with a full moon, and the clouds actually "rested" on the highway. We got out of the car to try and touch the clouds, as there were many small wisps of the white vapor scattered all over the roadside. We could not all sleep in the little red Toyota, so we spent the night in a tiny motel in Roanoke Virginia. The next day we had grits and eggs and continued on our trip. We drank endless bottles of diet Pepsi and mountain dew, and ate lots of potato chips and candy on that trip, which is probably why we had almost no money left by the time we arrived home. I will always remember that time with Jane, Jimmy and Ginny with very special and fond memories. Its hard to believe that Jane and Jimmy are both gone now, it is very very sad. I am so happy that Ginny is still here, looking lovely and has a good life. I know that Jane loved her very much, and so did we. Thank you for reading our post today. Love and light to you.
