Bulldozer idly
sits beside squared and flattened
ground where cows once grazed.
About halfway into my 17-plus mile bike ride along back-road paths that intersect with horse
trails, I find myself in something resembling old Florida. Long-leaf pine, yellow pine, myrtle
oak, and scrub oak (among many others) rise happily from the sandy soil nearby swaths of
dairy farmland. The trees are knotted and gnarled and beautiful.
These days more and more of old Florida in South Florida is disappearing as farmland is razed
to make way for pricey housing developments. If this new construction were intended for low-
and middle-income residents desperate for housing, it might make sense, be palatable even. In a
state/country where money and the moneyed rule, that is not a likely outcome.