The End Is Near

I can see it!

Yes, I can feel it!

I can taste it!

...The end of the school year...

SOOO CLOSE!!!

Exam week is in full swing, and I am studying my hind quarters off for the dreaded Precalculus exam on Wednesday. Ugh.

Thursday will be the last day of school for me, but I have an event in Ocala from Friday-Sunday that will have me occupied (don't worry, you'll hear about it.) So do not expect any posts from HT until next Monday...I will post again afterward; including the Florida Cracker play.

The good news is that my blogroll has now expanded one line to allow for the indroduction of Rural Wat, a blog that I have been enjoying very much for a couple weeks now. Be sure to check it out; especially if you like swamps.

Also, if would be nice if my fellow Floridaphiles will visit and encourage the new guy on the block, Scott, at Florida Native Musings. I'm sure you will all agree that it's much easier to maintain a blog when you know you have people out there actually reading it!

Well I am off to increase my hygiene points with a hot shower :-D
Have a good night!

Defending Florida's Cracker Culture

This is for my fellow Crackers out there...It would be great if you could just take a minute or two and put your two cents in here, at my former English teacher's blog. A student wrote the original post, which I responded to, and there were some....uh....ignorant people that responded to my response. I think it would be great if we got a couple non-students in there to respond and explain to these people that the Florida Cracker culture is not based on "oppression and enslaving people."

I am off to watch Gods and Generals for the quintillionth time.
Good night!

Tomorrow's Looking Very Swampy

This is where I will be tomorrow...Quite possibly into the nighttime...Finding the inspiration for the final portions of my play about Florida Crackers in the 1800s. It's due Friday, and it WILL be posted on the internet on Friday. I shouldn't need a kick for this one, but thanks anyway Paint...I know you want to kick me.

Currently...

Those two pictures are probably a better description of what my life if like right now that what I could write on here...I know, it's not angled right...Turn your head 90 degrees to the left :-D

I am commencing preparations for exam week, which is quickly approaching (just over 1 week!) and I have a lot of preparing to do! The good thing about that is that school is almost over, and I will be free to excercise ALL of my creative thought on here!

"Florida Attacks"

So, I had something happen yet again today, something that has been plaguing me increasingly over the past two years or so. This something is a thing that saps my strength and completely prevents me from concentrating on anything else.

...Yes, it's love...

A spurt of loving pessimism (ha ha) that I have come to know as a "Florida Attack."

Sometimes these Florida Attacks can be good (such as when I strike inspiration in the swamp), and sometimes they can be bad...
Today's was bad, and, as usual, it happened at a bad time.

I stepped out of my 5th period class into a choking haze of smoke blown down from the land of Georgia (God help them.) As I began my daily walk outside toward my 6th/7th period block class, it hit me like a sack of p'taters....
I can't really descibe the feeling. Just thoughts like "Once it's gone, there's no turning back," and the likes of that.
I walked into my freezing cold chemistry classroom and immediately went back outside to lengthen my walk and to think.

...What I thought...I can't put on paper (er, keyboard?) right now, so you will have to wait on that...

However, it did succeed in putting me in a bad mood all throughout 6th/7th block, to the dismay of the people sitting around me (sorry, guys.)

When I walked outside to the parking lot after my Chemistry class period was over, I was beginning to cool off. I was just glad the school day was over and I could go home and have some time alone. Then I heard the THUD and BEEP, BEEP, BEEP sounds of construction (the developer's word for "destruction") behind my school, and this set me off on another loop. My school is currently situated in the middle of the woods, in the remnants of this once rural area of my county. That will not be true in a few years, as the expansive pine plantation surrounding my school are slated to be clear-cut for yet another development.

As these thoughts ran through my mind, I spotted a raccoon wandering in the palmettos just outside of the parking lot, and I thought Where is HE supposed to go? Where's a cracker supposed to go? I suppose we're both slated for extinction, just as that development is slated to destroy.

Just another day in the life of a Floridaphile.

Wow, this post was so horribly written, it ought to not even be posted. However, I must put it out there. This is the way we humans think sometimes.

Tick, tock, tick, tock

HurricaneTeen is waiting for his brother to send down the cables required to upload pictures from his camera. He is getting impatient. When he gets them, he will have lots of pictures for you.

A Victory for Minorcan Heritage in Florida

The St. Johns County School District is constructing a new middle school on my family's old land grant in Mill Creek, FL. The school is located in the World *choke* Golf *gag* Village, and will serve those residents and the kids from the rural areas (the remaining portion of our land grant) surrounding it.

I have wondered for some time what they would name this school, and an elementary school they are building in the same area. I always thought that it would be cool if they named the school after my Minorcan family (Pacetti) in some way.

At a school board meeting last Tuesday, these were the main proposals for the two schools:
Elementary School
Ward's Creek Elementary School
World *choke* Golf *gag* Village Elementary School

Middle School
Pacetti Bay Middle School
Fairways Middle School

....And the winners are....
WORLD GOLF VILLAGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
PACETTI BAY MIDDLE SCHOOL

It's a good thing that Pacetti Bay beat out Fairways, because I would just have to go bang my head on a brick wall if they caved in to naming BOTH schools after golf...

I look at it this way...
Golf has been in Mill Creek for 8 years.
Pacettis have been in Mill Creek for 203 years.

Thank God they let us keep this little sliver of culture in a place where culture is being forced out to make way for fairways and "World Golf."

You can read the whole story at http://staugustine.com/stories/041107/news_4525033.shtml.

I'll have more on this tomorrow with:

• The significance of Pacetti Bay.
• My comments on "World Golf Village" beating out "Ward's Creek"

A Victory for Minorcan Heritage in Florida

The St. Johns County School District is constructing a new middle school on my family's old land grant in Mill Creek, FL. The school is located in the World *choke* Golf *gag* Village, and will serve those residents and the kids from the rural areas (the remaining portion of our land grant) surrounding it.

I have wondered for some time what they would name this school, and an elementary school they are building in the same area. I always thought that it would be cool if they named the school after my Minorcan family (Pacetti) in some way.

At a school board meeting last Tuesday, these were the main proposals for the two schools:
Elementary School
Ward's Creek Elementary School
World *choke* Golf *gag* Village Elementary School

Middle School
Pacetti Bay Middle School
Fairways Middle School

....And the winners are....
WORLD GOLF VILLAGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
PACETTI BAY MIDDLE SCHOOL

It's a good thing that Pacetti Bay beat out Fairways, because I would just have to go bang my head on a brick wall if they caved in to naming BOTH schools after golf...

I look at it this way...
Golf has been in Mill Creek for 8 years.
Pacettis have been in Mill Creek for 203 years.

Thank God they let us keep this little sliver of culture in a place where culture is being pushed out for fairways and "World Golf."

You can read the whole story at http://staugustine.com/stories/041107/news_4525033.shtml.

HurricaneTeen Has Made History

I believe I made history a couple weeks ago while I was in St. Augustine (what better place to make history???)

I (think) I was the first person EVER to come home from a Sons of Confederate Veterans meeting and immediately watch hockey thereafter.

Please tell me if you know of anyone who has done this. I am considering contacting Guinness World Records (okay, not really.)

Speaking of hockey, it's playoff time in the NHL, and my Pittsburgh Penguins are in contention. I'll keep you posted on how badly we get our behinds whipped (we have a VERY young team.)

Speaking of being very young, I am going back down to Flagler Estates tomorrow to scout out some more property to buy. Yes, I just might be making mortgage payments when I am 16-years-old. All those years of penny-pinching and saving money appear to be paying off.

Goodbye, my friends. I must get to bed early if'n I want to be up at 5:00 tomorrow morning! Fare thee well!!

FloridaCracker, I feel your pain...

If you read FloridaCracker's Pure Florida blog, you know that he recently completed his huge series of essays required to attain a certain certification for teachers. I am feeling quite overwhelmed right now, just as he felt (so overwhelmed, he actually GAVE UP BLOGGING for a while!!!)

My predicament is very similar in that I have a big story (somewhere around 20-40 pages) due Monday for my creative writing class...And I have a whopping 3 pages written.

The story is supposed to be a kid's story using creative and/or humorous writing as a way to teach specific morals, without the kids even realizing they are being taught. Sounds a lot like Brave New World, eh?

I chose to write about my dog's life on the street, in which she traveled the country on the rails as a "hobo puppy." I have had such a lack of motivation, though, that I do not enjoy working on it that much.

In order to fuel my creative thoughts and help me focus, I had planned on going out to my #1 place of inspiration...The swamp. But........get ready.......are you sure you're ready??......hold onto your seat because you may just fall out of it when I tell you.......I DID NOT FEEL LIKE IT. I know, the end is near. Since when does HurricaneTeen not feel like going out in the swamp?? Ugh, maybe I am just too ready for the school year to end.

So why does a person who loves creative writing so much have so little done, even though he has had a week now to do it? Well, in the past couple months I have been in a writing lull (hence the lack of blog posts), and I do not find myself enjoying it as much as I usually do. However, I feel like I am pulling through, and I think I am ready to get cracking.

My goal is to get ten pages done tonight, bringing my total to 13, and if I don't get that done, I will feel that I let ALL OF YOU down...So if I don't have that amount done by my next post (tomorrow) PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE give me some encouragement and/or a scolding. I REALLY need it.

Thank you.

(And I am not kidding...YELL at me. I am going to tell my parents to do the same.)
And the fact that I am working from 10:30 AM to 8 PM, then I have church till 11:30 does not help my situation, either. But I WILL get it done!!
Now I am off to write before I get distracted.
Good night !

Wow...Amazing parallels...

The Old Elm Tree by the River
By: Wendell Berry

Shrugging in the flight of its leaves,
it is dying. Death is slowly
standing up in its trunk and branches
like a camouflaged hunter. In the night
I am wakened by one of its branches
crashing down, heavy as a wall, and then
lie sleepless, the world changed.
That is a life I know the country by.
Mine is a life I know the country by.
Willing to live and die, we stand here,
timely and at home, neighborly as two men.
Our place is changing in us as we stand,
and we hold up the weight that will bring us down.
In us the land enacts its history.
When we stood it was beneath us, and was
the strength by which we held to it
and stood, the daylight over it
a mighty blessing we cannot bear for long.

So What's HurricaneTeen Been Up To?

I cannot believe it has been so long since I have posted.
Time flies faster every day, doesn't it?
Well, I've been conjuring up a lot of schemes lately, so I have been busy...and this is the latest:

• School
• Swamp Trekking (post about this soon)
• Reading
• Castnet Knitting (post about this soon)
• Hanging out with friends (post about this soon)
• Tending to my Datil Peppers (post about this soon)
• Buying a piece of land in Flager Estates (post about this soon)
• Starting to work A LOT more to help pay for the above plan.
• *Trying* to get a second job as a reenactor in St. Augustine...more on this, too.

I am going to get to writing these posts TONIGHT so I can post them in rapid succession (one every two days!)

...But first...I must go study for a precalculus quiz tomorrow and take a shower...School and hygiene take precedence over blogging...

Short Swamp Spulunkering

After school yesterday, I went out into the swamp for a little relaxation time and to break in my new (used :-D) pair of Civil War Reenactor's boots. The green is starting to come back on the trees, and the flowering plants are starting to pop up! It has always been my philosophy to look down at the smaller things in order to see the real beauty in nature. Sometimes while we're out searching for that big cypress tree, or that huge gator, or some other big thing, we pass by the beauty right under our noses. That is what I often like to focus on in these swamp trips, so that is what you will see here...Things we may otherwise overlook, but still hold great beauty. (NOTE: If I am mistaken in my identification of some of these plants, PLEASE tell me. The only way to learn is knowing when you're wrong!!)

Swampbottom Skyscrapers

Net Fern?

Durbin Creek...Still too low for an enjoyable through kayak trip. It's been nearly a year since our last full trip!

There's more pictures...But I am tired...And we are turning forward the clocks tonight...And I am going to church early tomorrow...and then taking a kayak trip on Sixmile Creek. So I must hit the hay. Have a good night!

A POST!! And a great quote.

I know, I know, I know. I've been a bad blogger lately. It's already been over a week?!?! Well, I will be back soon enough; I have just been lazy lately.

My dad pointed me to an article in the Florida Times-Union about one of my favorite bands, Mofro. Mofro hails from north Florida, and they (specifically the lead singer and songwriter J.J. Grey) are Floridaphiles like me. They often sing about Florida and its ongoing destruction, and the destruction of the simple way of life in general. One quote in particular stood out to me, and I thought "I HAVE to post this on the blog!" Here it is:

"I asked Grey how he would describe Mofro's sound and he said, 'I'd have to throw in towel on that one...In the end, I'd just say it's from the South, because that was where I was born and raised. That doesn't make me better than anyone else, and it certainly doesn't make me any worse. It just makes me who I am."

Amen, Mr. Grey.

You can hear some of Mofro's songs here, here, and here (my favorites are "Lochloosa" "Fireflies" and "Florida." Be sure to check those out, and be sure to check out their newly-released CD, Country Ghetto.)

Have a Dixie Day!

"Uh oh..."

This past Saturday, a crisp, breezy day in the Osceola National Forest, was the first full day my dad and I spent at the Battle of Olustee Reenactment. We had spent the first part of the morning wandering around the various sutlers, walking part of the Florida Trail, and just enjoying the beautiful weather...more on that stuff later. When the time came for the "unofficial" reenactment (the true, historically accurate one is on Sunday), my dad and I wandered over to the battlefield to see some explosions. We got some good pictures (later!), and had some good times, but we had to leave after about a half hour in order to make it to church on time in Lake City.

On our walk back to the campsite, one of our friends stopped us and said we needed to go back to our campsite immediately. He gave us a reason, but for the sake of suspense, I will not tell you right now.

Farther along on our walk (it's about a 1/3-mile walk back to camp), another one of our friends told us the same thing. We were a little worried.

When we got there, we found our campsite taped off and two US Forestry Service officers standing around our tent. We looked up and saw a 3 to 4-inch diameter tree limb hanging by a thread above our car, swaying in the breeze.

Yikes.

We talked the guys a little bit, took some pictures (none of the ones of the tree limb turned out very well), and headed off to church.

When we returned that night after engorging ourselves on Ken's Barbecue (a delicious local restaurant,) we found two tree limbs laying at the base of the tree. Why we did not get any pictures of those, I do not know.

You'll just have to take my word for it :-D

I will be posting about Olustee over the next few days, so be sure to check back for updates and little "journal entries" about our weekend!

Puzzler

Why did the United States Forest Service tape off our car and campsite at Olustee?

Going Away...

I will be gone until Monday afternoon, as I am headed off to the Battle of Olustee Reenactment for the weekend.

Go ahead and read the story about my swamp treck a couple weeks ago, and as you read, keep in mind that Jimmy wrote it.

I hope y'all have a good weekend! Easterners: STAY WARM!!!!

Swamp Trekking: Jimmy's Story

As y'all know, my friends and I recently went out into the swamp so that I wouldn't go absolutely crazy with cabin fever. We had a very nice 2-hour hike, and Ben and Jimmy (both of whom had never been into this swamp) seemed stunned by the natural beauty of the place, and the way it just seems to drain all stress and the worries of everyday life...and people wonder why I love Florida so much!

Also, as you know, Jimmy has a great talent for writing rather strange stories. If you have not read his reflections on square bagels and toilet paper yet, I highly recommend that you do. I was going to write my own little boring story about this trip, but I decided to use Jimmy's more interesting one instead. I will need to edit some parts out and censor some stuff, as Jimmy has some....ummmm....inappropriate comments in his original post. I like to keep things clean here on the Minorcan Factor.

Today seemed to start off just as any normal day would, but any alert teenager would know that this wasn't just a normal day. Today was a very good day. A day commonly referred to (by the commonfolk) as an "early release day".
And it was good.

As the shortened school day came to an end, Phillip, Ben, HurricaneTeen, and I met up and decided that we should go on a magical journey as to avoid the boredom of having an extra two-three hours to sit at home and do nothing.

We went on a journey to destroy the one ring of power.

As we made our way out to the mystical woods of doom, and settling inner conflict, we made mental note of the horrors which we would have to endure on such a journey, and we prepared ourselves mentally (as well as physically) for the task that lie ahead.

Entering the forest, we immediately made our way up the river at a good speed.
After traveling non-stop at a good speed for 3 days, we decided to travel across the "bridge-log thingy of no return" for absolutely no particular reason. But Phil decided to try something really stupid (hand me my camera), and he ended up losing the camera off the "bridge-log thingy of no return". So me and Phil decided to have a duel to the death.

Me and Phil, having a duel to the death.

Needless to say, I won.

Me, proclaiming my ultimate victory and Phillip's ultimate demise.

So we continued on our merry way, and 27 days later, we ended up at the ancient and mystical landmark that has been referred to as *censored* (NOTE: The name of this place is not really that bad, but it could be considered offensive and derogatory by some, so I have taken the high road on this one)

HurricaneTeen at *censored*. That's me planning his ultimate demise in the background.

Me, revelling in HurricaneTeen's ultimate demise, which can be credited to me.

Phillip, coming back to life (not at all uncommon).

At this point, I decided that this story really isn't going anywhere. So I'm going to put in some cool elevator music and a montage to pass the time. Since this whole writing thing kind of hinders my ability to do so, put on your own elevator music and imagine a montage of me, Phil, HurricaneTeen, and Ben running through a forest.

He almost died. ***TRIVIA*** -------> That's not my foot. (HurricaneTeen note: It's mine :-D I put it there for perspective, but it is still kind of hard to see the 5-inch-deep hole.)

This is the huge cypress tree the HurricaneTeen is always talking about.

HurricaneTeen made friends with Phill's family. (Note: That's an inside joke.)

Ben, going on an angry rampage and destroying the forest in a blind fury.

We finally destroyed the ring. Because we were getting kind of tired and wanted to go home.

Then Phil and I got into a fight about whether it should be legal to put stem cells in your breakfast cereal or not (Phil likes to eat them raw for some reason), so we had another duel to the death.

Me and Phil dueling to the death (again).

Ugh... this story sucks.

Long story short, we destroyed the ring of power and then went to Burger King.

Phil, at Burger King. I don't really know if he was hungry or if he was contemplating the best way to get on the slide on the playground.

So uhh... the ring was destroyed... our stomachs were filled... Middle Earth was safe from the clutches of Sauron (again)... and... uhhh...
There really is no point to this story.

Moral: Don't argue with Jimmy, because he always wins duels to the death.
Cameras + swamp water = unhappy?

Finally

Finally, I have posted again. It's not been homework or other work that has kept me from posting lately. I've just been taking it easy, enjoying this relatively easy semester of school. So I encourage you to read the post below about Minorcan Knitting.

I need to get ready for school. It's funny how I get up before 6:00 every morning and still sometimes end up rushing to get ready to leave the house at 7:40 to be at school by 8:30.

By the way, I still need to show ya'll that post about our recent swamp adventure. I'll post that later :-D

Minorcan Knitting

Since this past June, I have been taking up the craft of knitting. Yes, yes, I know, this is usually a woman's pasttime, but you men our there don't have to worry about me being a little "sweet." I am here to officially declare: "MEN CAN KNIT, TOO!"

My knitting consists of home-made "needles," straight, uniform whittled sticks, and monofilament fishing line. I know you may be asking Who the heck's gonna wear a pair of socks made out of fishing line?! Well, you know, it's the latest fashion trend in Hollywood, and....

But seriously, folks, men in my family have been doing this kind of knitting for centuries, and their life practically depended on the produce this art during bad times...which were all too common for them.

Yes, I am speaking of that old tool, the castnet. People across the world use castnets to catch baitfish for their fishing excursions, but my family has always used it to obtain food directly. Why the heck catch fish to use as bait and then have to go catch other fish, when you can just catch fish and eat THEM? Castnets were made by master netcrafters for thousands of years until machine-made nets became common in the past century. You can find castnets in any Wal-Mart or megamart or any marine supply store.

So, wait, HT, why waste your time MAKING the castnets when you can buy them in the store? Well, Phantom Reader, to put it lightly, the castnets you buy in the store are steaming piles of alligator dung compared to a well-crafted handmade net. Yes, Alligator dung. Anybody who has cast both kinds of nets and stepped in a pile of Alligator dung (many native Floridians) will tell you that, yes indeed, the machine-made nets aren't worth the water they are cast into.

NOT TO FEAR CASTNETTERS! There are still a few netmakers out there who can sell you a real castnet, a castnet you will use for the rest of your life with minimal repairs. And the net won't have that little pucker at the top of machine-made nets that just refuses to flatten out.

I am learning the art from a man who is considered to be the master castnet knitter in Northeast Florida (quite possibly all of Florida.) He's an old Minorcan Cracker and one of my cousins, Mr. Stuart Pacetti. Yes, you've heard of him before...I've only mentioned him about 3 or 4 times on this blog already. As a restless retired man, this is one of the ways he keeps himself busy, in addition to his involvement in the Sons of Confederate Veterans and his beautiful Florida Folk guitar picking. Coastal Living did an article on him this past June, and you can read it online here. Be sure to listen to the songs at the bottom of the page, too, especially This Land I Love.

Mr. Pacetti giving me yet another castnet knitting lesson at his house last the Friday before last. He is working on my 6-foot mullet net here, using tools that I carved by hand (very badly, I might add) this past summer.

Currently I am making a 6-foot Mullet net with 1-inch mesh to catch those delicious fish that my family has enjoyed for so long. I will post later with pictures of me working this net down, and with a better description of how and why I do it.

HAVE A DIXIE DAY!!