Friday, January 11, 2013

January 11, 2013 Apalachicola, Florida

 

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I woke up this morning to this bird repeatedly flying into the bedroom window over my head. the windows are reflective, maybe he was throwing himself at his reflection. but he was not too smart he kept doing it over and over.  We hopped in the car and went to Apalachicola to tour the ice machine museum. Dr. John Gorrie  invented the ice machine as part of his therapy for his yellow fever patients. He felt the cooler air would cure them. He mounted  ice above their bed and had air blowing over it to cool them. He needed a lot of ice, and in Florida there was no where to get any in the summer. So he invented the ice machine, which later led to the refrigerator and air conditioning.

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The climatologists verses bacteriologists, the first claiming  the fevers came from conditions in the air, the second that they arose from ‘those little animalcules which cause disease’. but they both agreed that in the low swampy  river lands surrounding  the town were ideal breeding grounds for the fever.  The above is a display of ‘ contemporary medical beliefs that malaria was a ‘vapor’ and there was a link between the fever and the swamp. It shows the vapors rising from the swamp. De Gorrie thought winter like air would cure the problem. The second photo is from the refrigerator exhibit, it said  in 1952 there was a fabric covered fridge released  with patterns to match custom window curtains!!

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This is a 3/4’s model of Dr. Gorrie’s ice machine. It something to do with compressing and decompressing air. It changed the way of life in the south profoundly.  Agriculture, shipping, touristism. After the thrilling ice machine museum we went to Piggly Wiggly grocery store and saw this shirt on an employee. Peace, love the pig, Piggly Wiggly Apalachicola, Fl

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This is a HUGE pile of oyster shells behind an oyster processing building. 90% of the oysters from Florida and 10% of the US oysters come from Apalachicola bay. We went to Caroline’s river dining for grouper therapy and oysters gourmet.

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John perusing the menu at Caroline’s. He decided on a grouper sandwich(grouper therapy) and charbroiled oysters on the 1/2 shell. I had a club sandwich.

 

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Beach houses on St George island. I am assuming the top row are the cheaper ones. Side by side two to three stories tall on top of stilts so they don’t wash away in the next hurricane, maybe only one room high. the sidewalk on the way to the beach in the park has this shell texture.

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The beach with the white sand, blue water and lots of shells is lovely.

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a flock of sanderlings flying in circles, the sun catching their white undersides as they turn.

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