Throughout the Realm

More than occasionally thrift shops provide books that really can assist independent research, as do special sections found in local libraries.

o A few days ago, while hiking to St. Mary's Thrift Shop off SE Ocean Boulevard in Stuart, FL, a small sandwich bag filled with what appeared to be (dark-brown) Columbian cannabis sativa lay on the sidewalk beside the local middle school -- a note was made as if an actual narcotics squad had passed by, south side of the roadway.

o Finding and entering St. Mary's Thrift Shop was not too challenging, although a position near the used book shelves was pre-empted by a couple who seemed to have followed. And "Voila", the 'collection' contained such omens as 'The History of Music', a slender paperback that may have been used as reason to schedule cultural contacts in EurAsia with the ostensible purpose to study musical culture there. Just as St. Mary's original metal sign shows rust obliterating the lettering, the volume shows wear indicative of reference use.

Nearby the 'College Series' music history book shelved was a hardback titled 'The Coming Conflict with China' -- an especially apropos find since the Beijing Olympic Games are scheduled to be performed soon. Bric-a-brac and housewares were advertised as discount priced, and the book purchases were handled as if they were included in those categories.

o So, today is the day that the two books were purchased and backpacked into Kingswood Condo Complex. Two cigars on the sidewalk near Palm Beach Road reminded the acquisitor of a larger discarded stogie observed roadside a few years ago in Limestone, NY, with fleeting memories of a Bradford, PA, cigar smoker parked in a car outside the local police station there -- plus today's sighting of a a more rotund male puffing outside Martin Memorial plaza's thrift shop, wherein was acquired an 'Abnormal Psychology' paperback very similar in type to the music-history book.

o The Peacock 'Chinese Food' restaurant within the plaza closest to the 55+ condo complexes and St. Lucie River has experienced some kind of alteration in its nighttime lighting, such that only the lit letters 'C OOD' are displayed in the darkness, a la the book titled 'The Exiles of Florida' which is one of the primary ethnographic volumes available that describes a harrowing capture and shackling of a man then transported west on a navy vessel. Indeed, perhaps indicative of demands upon local brothers to set up fraternities to complement the new bacca-laureate degrees offered at regional schools, two Peacock brothers have died in past months (their restaurant does not include pineapple with the sweet-and-sour sauce, as do the California Chinese-theme restaurants), and local commuters now can only stare at the 'Peacock Crossing' sign posted roadside in Jensen Beach.

o The ties with New York State therefore continue to seem sinister, with the Olean Times-Herald newspaper touting its most recent format changes, nearby the Allegheny River's alligator-gar population, within the same time frame as the change in size of The Stuart News and Hometown News 'papers in Martin County, FL.

o How many families hope to supplant the 'Collier' county name in FL, using a 1907 misprinted map of California as reference? The 'poll' function at www. topix.net has mysteriously disappeared, so even a rough estimate cannot be computed at this time.