Live Oak?

Okay, this week I made my first trip to Northern Florida. I flew into Jacksonville and drove for about an hour west to Lake City (where I'm staying). The radio had dozens of channels but only offered two things: country music or bible bashing religious spew. I have finally found a place where there are more churches than Happy Valley. This area seems quite removed from the rest of the hustle and bustle of city/town, USA. For starters, there are few places to eat which tells me that people don't eat out much. For lunch the other day we went to this cafe where I was told that the old timers meet EVERY morning at dawn to discuss any and all issues related to Live Oak. People are really nice here and very down to earth.

My days are pretty predicable; I get up, drive to the Water District, work, find a place to eat dinner, call the family, exercise for a while and go to bed.

Today during the lunch hour the folks that I'm working with took me to the Suwanee River. Very pretty and serene. Do you know who Steven Foster is? He is the author of the famous song "The Swanee River (Old Folks at Home). Looking for the words of the song, I found another interesting thing. The song is THE official song of Florida. Well, here you go:

The Swanee River
(Old Folks at Home)
Written by Stephen C. Foster

Way down upon de Swanee Ribber,
Far, far away,
Dere's wha my heart is turning ebber,
Dere's wha de old folks stay.
All up and down de whole creation
Sadly I roam,
Still longing for de old plantation,
And for de old folks at home.

Chorus

All de world am sad and dreary,
Eb-rywhere I roam;
Oh, darkeys, how my heart grows weary,
Far from de old folks at home!

2nd verse

All round de little farm I wandered
When I was young,
Den many happy days I squandered,
Many de songs I sung.
When I was playing wid my brudder
Happy was I;
Oh, take me to my kind old mudder!
Dere let me live and die.

3rd Verse

One little hut among de bushes,
One dat I love
Still sadly to my memory rushes,
No matter where I rove.
When will I see de bees a-humming
All round de comb?
When will I hear de banjo strumming,
Down in my good old home?