Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Grove Land


Grove Land
Originally uploaded by Decrepit Telephone
Citrus groves are a bit of an endangered species in my part of Florida, that part being Brevard County. What once was the proud capitol of the famed Indian River Orange is now the capitol of the zero-lot-clearance subdivision and the outdoor mall (a fancy name for semi-detached strip mall or something like that). The most beautiful and evocative vistas of the county were the groves that stood along the Indian River Lagoon, on bluffs that gently rolled down to the river. These have, in the past five years, have been cleared for gated communities of multi-million dollar homes.

Some people consider it progress, and nice for property values. It probably is. Others compliment the landscaping around the entrances to these places. I find it unappealing, and, quite frankly, depressing. I find it sad that a state with such a diverse regional flavors is losing its soul to the sprawl to the outdated theory of failed post-war urbanism (or suburbanism). I know that's a lot of big words to throw about, but, it's true. This state is becoming one large, homogenous subdivision.

And a great deal of that homogenous subdivision was built on thousands upon thousands of citrus groves.

Which is why seeing these groves outside of LaBelle, in the southwestern-central part of the state was so reassuring. To see the thousands of acres of still functioning, maintained groves was comforting, confirming that Florida still has a great deal of its agricultural heart left that's still beating. For how long, I don't know, but I was happy to see it at least still around for a little longer.

But still, I wish my area still had them. They were pretty. And in the spring, when the acres and acres were blooming, it left the air heavy with the scent of citrus. It's heavenly. I just wish more people would be able to experience that.


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I know it's been a while since I posted something here, but I've been busy and stuff - visiting family, that kind of thing. Well, relatively busy. But you get the idea.

1 comment:

Rick Kilby said...

I agree one hundred percent.