It was some 20 or more years ago that we packed the car, our long journey, to a place afar. We left New York’s sulfur dioxide and acid rain in the rear-view mirror. Due South we headed, after two and a half days of driving, signs of the Sunshine State Parkway appeared, bringing our cheers.
Who knew that it would take six more hours to reach our new home in Cape Coral, AKA, Paradise to the people of the cold, who flock here when they get old.
As a fervent fisherman, I loved that I had the creatures come in with the tide flow from the Gulf in the canal, in my backyard, catching them was not hard. Mangrove Snappers, Spanish Mackerel, Jacks, Black Drum, and Blue Claw Crabs that my wife did adore.
Now, many years later, gone are most of those fish, and not a Crab in sight, our canal has become an awful blight. Algae covers the bottom, smothering life, reminds me of the fate of Sodom.
What happened was that some great minds decided for various reasons to release extra water from Lake “O”, thus upsetting Nature’s natural flow. This with the runoffs of fertilizers and sewage into the tidal canal, slowly killed the life in the river’s flow. For all those years, the Politicians spoke the talk, but didn’t walk the walk. Thank God that today, there are plans in place, to fix the failing Dam, and Reservoirs to hold excess water, which we need for our dry weather droughts, when we are sometimes without.
It is truly sad what the *pollution has done to our beautiful beaches and waters, dead stinking fish, manatees, having made our needed tourists to flee, now our higher taxes will be like a kick in the knee. One consolation, our clean warm air, clear skies, unbelievable sunsets, make us one of the most popular States in the Nation.
*Woe to those who pollute the earth, an Old Testament Scripture.
