January 25th is National Moose Day, and National Florida Day.
For National Moose Day, we will use one lesser known Dr. Seuss book “Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose”. This tells quite a remarkable story. The rhyming is there, the illustrations are there, but also a moral is there (of sorts)…or at least, this could be a tale of Karma. Thidwick was a good moose perhaps being taken advantage of:
“Up at Lake Winna-Bango…the far northern shore…lives a huge herd of moose, about sixty or more. And they all go around in a big happy bunch…looking for nice tender moose-moss to munch.”
The last page is simply the best, illustration and all. Please read this book.
For National Florida Day, would like to begin with a travel book. I have several collections of travel guide books, but none are more interesting than those by Clara E. Laughlin (1873-1941). She had a very approachable style, along with some in-depth knowledge. I have ten “So You’re Going to…” books by Laughlin. She is famous for her European travel guides. This one about Southern Atlantic states is “So You’re going South! And if I were going With You, These are some of the places I’d Suggest”, 1940.
This book discusses what to see and where to go in several states. I want to talk about a few things Laughlin says about Florida. She discusses traveling on US 1 south of Daytona Beach. That would be Melbourne, a place that ‘seems to give a considerable number of people just what they want for a winter residence.’ Even in 1940, the town would over double in size during the winter months. Just south of Melbourne ‘all the villages are occupied with fishing or with packing citrus fruit-the great citrus belt of florida-of the world-where the famous Indian River oranges come from!’ Not only was the area known for their citrus fruits, but for papaya and mangos.
And thus, the next book I have is “Mango Studies” published in 1951 by the Florida Mango Forum. This book discusses the history of Mangos in Florida, the culture of growing and harvesting mangos, even recipes. There are pages of various varieties of mangos that grow in Florida. My grandmother lived near Melbourne, Florida. Her and her husband-my grandfather began their Florida life as ‘snowbirds’, just living there during the winter, before soon making the move to become full-time Floridians. (Her father lived in Melbourne for 25 years before he passed away in 1977). Every Christmas for over 20 years, I would receive a box of Indian River oranges from Hale Groves, that my grandmother would have sent. She personally liked mangos better. She certainly ate more mangos than oranges. On a whim, she planted a mango seed, and it sprouted. A few years later, my grandmother made headlines in the newspaper with her mango tree, and the magnificent mango fruit it produced:
My family and I visited Florida a lot (!), especially my grandmother’s home, much like the animals that roosted in Thidwick’s antlers. She welcomed all her grandkids to visit; didn’t turn anyone away, same as Thidwick. Unlike the forest animals though, everyone who visited my grandmother, did not overstay their welcome. We were all invited to come back again and again. You will hear more about about adventures with my grandmother in later posts. Keep reading.
Librarytomes 