.
.
When I was little,
My mother had a friend
Who never wore shoes
In Florida,
Between Arcadia
And Punta Gorda,
Where we lived.
His feet
Were so tough
That snakes
Couldn’t bite him.
Sand-spurs
And smilax
And cacti
Were not worth
Bothering about.
I think his
Welcome mat
Was woven
Barbed wire.
Mother knew
Where his
Still was hidden.
Tom Hobson
Made coon skin hats
For my brothers
And me.
I wore mine
Most of the time,
But my little brother,
Billy, wore his
ALL of the time.
.
Bear … 12.27.2015
ⓒBearspawprint2015
.
Barbed Wire ⓒBearspawprint2015
.
.
bearspawprint 
Sounds like a man and a half!
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As I remember he was not a large man at all. He never went to town, or anywhere else that I knew of, except the one time he walked to our place to bring the coon skin hats. Where he lived is now a subdivision, according to Google Earth. Grandfather’s orange grove, where we lived, is still the same, more or less … My Aunt Martha owns and manages it commercially. No one actually lives there, though the house and outbuildings are maintained
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Personal history is more interesting than the bigger picture!
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I wish I had a dollar for every trip I made between Arcadia and Punta Gorda. But never made the trip in bare feet; always in a GMC.
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The area was very different 60 yrs ago. Wooden bridge across Prairie Creek, full of 11 foot ( and bigger) alligators. The first Brahma ranch and the first Black Angus ranches were there between Old Washington Cutoff and Arcadia. Going towards Punta Gorda it was One Shell Creek, Two Shell Creek, Three Shell Creek. Coming home it was 3,2,1 Shell Creek ….
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Tough as nails, but with a giving tenderness?
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Tough as alligator hide!!! His toenails looked like claws.
He made our hats, I think ’cause he was sweet on my Mother. However, whenever we went there to get a few quarts, we children had to stay in the car.
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