Hello... Can anybody tell me a little about Florida

[phage2004]

Hi, I'm writing a book for Nano which takes place entirely in Florida. Could anybody tell me some local color about what it's like to live in Florida, either today or in the recent past? Not dry stuff, but what the insects are like, differences between towns, accents, anything.

[AXJ]

Florida is a very, very diverse state- can you tell me what part of florida you're planning on using?

[phage2004]

I basically have it located in south central Florida. As I understand it, its a part of florida which sees little tourism.

[SouthernTiger]

Landscape-wise? I'm guessing, really, but this is what the coastal areas in SC are like, and from the few times I've been to Florida, it's been pretty similar.

Sandy thin soil. Generally pretty flat. Oaks have Spanish moss growing all over them, and it sways in the breeze. Grass won't grow there very well, because of the sandy soil... sand-spurs do though, and grasses that don't have deep roots or grow ON TOP of the soil work pretty well...

Lots of bugs. Big fat disgusting cockroaches, clouds of mosquitos and gnats that will carry you away on a bad night. Muggy heat, even at night. Blazing heat during the day, HOT pavement, your clothes stick to you after you go outside midday and stand in the sun for more than twenty minutes, the air "shimmers" over the hood of your car, and you could bake an egg on it, should you have the desire. You open your car door, and the heat POURS out, so you open all the doors to let it get a breeze through. If it rains, the roads steam up, white translucent ribbons of it writhing across the black surface. If it's really hot, the pavement will be dry an hour or two later.

The water table is also high, so NO ONE has a basement. If they do, it's just because thier house is built on a hill, so it's actually more like a lower story to the house, instead of a traditional in-the-ground basement.

Climate will be warmer, too, of course. Weather.com can help you out there.

Those things should remain true across the state, I think.

[phage2004]

I never thanked you for the response, so thanks, it is useful. As far as the insects go it's pretty much what I expected.

One thing I noticed when I looked up an old book on the Okefenokee Swamp (which is north of where I'm thinking, but presumably
is in some ways similar) is that it wasn't the sort of swamp that I would normally expect. Generally in a swamp I expect to see trees that are very crooked and twist around. I think this is because swamps can have solid leafcover overhead to the point that trees grow in strange ways to get the light.

All of the pictures I saw of the Okefenokee though were of extremely straight trees, which looked pretty different compared to what I was used to.

Anyway, that project is still ongoing, if anybody has anything to add let me know.

[SouthernTiger]

Cypress trees. They're usually what you're going to see IN the water. Tall huge, ULTRA straight trunks, with not a lot of branches coming off until the top portion. They take forever to grow, too, and they have these triangular notches that come up out of the water at the base.

Some water is fresh, some is brackish, meaning it's a mixture of salt AND fresh. The water also tends to be a little stagnant, so algae is able to grow very well.

They should have swamp gardens, preserves and state parks, so just do a search on Google or check out Florida's Department of Natural Resources. They should have a list of sites, and tell you about the local flora and fauna, too. Like 'gators.

[flutelet]

I used to live in Florida, but I don't remember it...

I know that it's incredibly humid there, and that it storms almost every day during the summer.

[girlunquestioned]

I've got a friend who lives in Jacksonville. Is that the area you're looking for? I could ask him.