colloquium- sustainable future: Character from "A Land Remembered" by Patrick D. Smith

Tobias MacIvey is the father of Zecheriah MacIvey and husband of Emma MacIvey. Originally from Georgia, Tobias is pushed into Florida because of an ongoing civil war. In the Florida wilderness, Tobias builds a life for he and his family. Starting from absolutely nothing, no home and no food, Tobias ends up owning land, a home, cattle, and money. Everything Tobias accomplishes in his lifetime can be linked to the land. His home is built from cypress trees. All of his food and money supply came from raccoon, wild cattle, koonti biscuits, swamp cabbage, frogs, snakes, rabbits, deer, collards, and his orange grove. He learned how to drive cattle when forced to by the Confederate army, and he turned cattle driving into a business. Driving cattle to Punta Rassa to be sold, Tobias saves enough money to leave his son Zech with land, horses, guns, and a home. He lived a rough life, but an interesting one. Many times he and his family had nothing more than raccoon and a lean to. Tobias was a good honest man, not a racist like many white men of his time. He was friends with the Native Americans (Keith Tiger) and he had a black friend (Skillit). He wanted nothing more than to make his wife Emma happy. Mosquitoes gave Tobias malaria which was cured by the medicine man in Keith Tiger's village. Tobias later died during cold season while looking after his orange trees.

Both me and Tobias have lived in Florida our entire lives.
Everything I eat also comes from the land. However, Tobias' diet was more hunter-gatherer than mine is. I shop at the store. Tobias hunts and grows his food, none of it comes in a box or a bag.
Tobias was fighting to make a meaningful life for his family. This is something I am also trying to do, just in a completely different way. I too wish to leave my children and family with a good life.
I'm an honest person like Tobias is, and I want to help everyone.
We both build our lives right here in the Sunshine State.

Reading the book reminds me of my hikes and all the things I've seen in Florida over the years. I've had a chance to see the cabbage palms, the cypress trees, prairies, swamps, the scrub, lakes like Okeechobee and Kissimmee, and rivers like the Estero and the St. Johns. I'm from Florida and everything I know about the land around me is about Florida land. It defines who I am as a person just as it defines Tobias. I'm jealous that I didn't grow up in a time like Tobias before Florida's land was all developed when there were thousands of cows to be herded. His life was much more rugged, but he never had to look at this computer screen. I think Tobias' connection to the Earth is much deeper than mine or most modern Floridians.

Here are some pictures I've taken from many different places in Florida

Lake Wales State Preserve- Arbuckle Tract