This is Deputy Digby Pancake.  It’s true, it’s true.  We are back.  Welcome back to this Florida place!  It is the countdown this week to the persons leaving for that Italy place and we made our trek all the way back here so that we would be left in good hands and so the Big Blue Treat Wagon RV could take a rest.  And we had a very long way to drive yesterday all the way from Adel, Georgia.

You would think that as many times as we have been to this Florida place that we would know everything about it.  But yesterday, as we were driving, Girl Person asked Boy Person what in the world the name Florida meant as we crossed the state line.  I knew a lot of things that Florida could mean.

But I had a feeling that Boy Person wanted to explain what the word Florida meant. Boy Person may not know everything, but he knows almost everything.  Probably even more than Sheriff Brickle.  Actually, no.  I take that back.

But Boy Person said that Florida was named by an explorer, Ponce de Leon, in 1513.

Boy Person said that the name “Florida” comes from the Spanish word “florido,” which means “full of flowers,” or “flowery.”  We were driving. I didn’t have much to do. So I had to listen.

Well, isn’t that special, I thought.  There was I was, living in this Florida place for many years smelling not like a flower and I was in the land of many flowers.  No wonder we had to go.  But Florida place? We are back.

I thought that maybe I should think about Florida and what its name meant.  It was really interesting to me.  Because all the time we lived in the orange grove, I didn’t know that the orange blossom was Florida’s state flower.  And I wondered.  Did I appreciate it when we were there?  Or was I missing the meaning totally?  I kinda do that.  Sometimes.

You see, yes, the Florida place meant land of flowers.  Flowery flowers.  And I thought about Boy Person’s definition of this Florida place and I remembered back to the orange grove and how good those flowers smelled.

You know, we have been a lot of places.  And one thing that has always stood out to us is that everywhere is home to someone.  And things like flowers and orange blossoms aren’t just in this Florida place.  People that appreciate flowers and orange blossoms aren’t just in this Florida place.

You see, a name like Florida can have a definition.  But that’s not all that it is.  A flower smells different to every one of us. Every place looks different to someone else. They see another beauty.  And every place is always..always…someone’s home. Florida will always be part of our home.  Because we carry home with us in our hearts.

Just like Florida may mean flowery flowers or whatever by definition, we have to think about what our name means…to us.  What defines you?  What makes you special?  Explore your possibilities. Do you smell sweet like a flower, or can you work on your definition?  So it’s your turn.  Tell me. What does your name mean?

-Deputy Digby Pancake

The countdown to Italy is on…stay with us this week!

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