7/29/2018 Micanopy, Lots of Books, Watch One Hour

Saturday we visited the town of MICANOPY (mick-ah-No-pee), the oldest inland town in Florida and called The Little Town That Time Forgot.  It is about twenty minutes southeast of us in rural north-central Florida between Gainesville (University of Florida) and Ocala (The Horse Capital of the World.)  DeSoto came across a Timucua village here in 1539.  Now it is a  historic district with 605 residents who occupy 300 residences, many of them living in the old homes.  The old buildings have been converted into shops that are full of  antiques and old things (including us today.)

This was the school house - now the Micanopy town hall - built in 1895.

One of the old homes built in early 1900's 

You can see both flags - the American Flag and the Thin Blue Line Flag which is for our police officers, "for their courage and for the camaraderie all law enforcement officers share."

 
The walking path along the front of some of the old homes and stores is covered by this canopy of the huge Florida trees.  You can barely see me at the end - certainly one of my better pictures.

 Another home turned antique shop and restaurant.  Most of the shop owners have been here a long time and are long-time and true southern residents with colorful personalities.  The style of some of the homes here is called the Florida cracker architecture.  They have metal roofs, raised floors and large porch areas that often go around the entire home.  They are screened in from the time there was no air conditioning.

This old house, below, doubled as the hospital where Michael J. Fox's character worked in the movie Doc Hollywood.  There are other movies that have been shot here.

It is probably a big surprise for you to see what caught most of Mike's attention.  This was an outside display and there were lot of books inside.  There were several shops like this and we visited every one -- our only purchase a $1 Peter Rabbit book.

We liked the instructional home-made signs they often had on the doors.

 This is the outside of the museum, which was originally the Thrasher Warehouse and was constructed in 1890, simply a wood frame building used by J.E. Thrasher for his general merchandise business until he completed a big two-story brick building in the next block.  It is quaint inside and they still cool by open windows and fans - makes us more grateful for AC.

Inside - A refrigerator - a "White Frost Sanitary" refrigerator to be exact.

 with instructions

 This is for Mike's sister Carol who followed Grandma Waite as the Postmaster of Bunkerville.  There was a stamp to cancel the letters, but they also had this machine - very modern for the time.

 And this is for Dr. Brotherson -- can you even imagine contact lenses this size?

At first we thought this was a new beautiful kind of leaf, but Florida has a plant called an air potato plant or potato vine.  It is a twining plant, a pest plant and hard to control and will kill the trees.  They have actually brought in a beetle that will kill it -- you can see what the beetles do to the leaves and finally the tree.  Interesting to find a situation where the beetle killing the tree is a good thing.

 You can see the vine better in this picture.

 It was a fun trip - and the first time we've really been outside a lot during the time of day when it was over 90 degrees and over 95% humidity .. as cold as I usually am I was glad to be in the car with both cooler vents blowing on me.
    One of what our missionaries call a scriptural "Aha!!" moment came to me this week as I was studying from one of the Institute manuals - Teaching and Doctrine from the Book of Mormon.  The chapter is on The Baptismal Covenant, the Sabbath, and the Sacrament.  First this quote from President Oaks - "During sacrament meeting - and especially during the sacrament service - we should concentrate on worship and refrain from all other activities,especially from behavior that could interfere with the worship of others.  Sacrament meeting is not a time for reading books or magazines.  Young people, it is not a time for whispered conversations on cell phones or for texting persons at other locations. When we partake of the sacrament, we make a sacred covenant that we will always remember the Savior.  How sad to see persons obviously violating that covenant in the very meeting where they are making it."  Sacrament Meeting and the Sacrament, Ensign Nov 08.
   Then, my "Aha!! moment -- Elder Oaks then said to read Mark 14:37 And he cometh, and finding them sleeping, and saith unto Peter: Simon, sleepest thou?  couldest not thou watch one hour?   He than said an application for this verse might be for us to set aside all distractions and give the Lord our full attention each week - watching one hour - as we worship in sacrament meeting.  It is interesting how one little thing can add to our worship in a meeting - this did for me.
    We are grateful every day for our friends and family, and grateful for the gospel and the great plan of happiness.