florida sightings

this town is full of floridians. after plates from the dmv (that's the district, maryland, and virginia), i think i see florida plates most of all. odd, yes, but others have mentioned as much to me too. if i'm wearing orange and blue, i often get stopped and asked about the 'ville. i was wearing a gainesville shirt at the gym on friday. a mom commented on it, and one of her kids had on a uf shirt. gators aside, i do see an awful lot of garnet & gold (emphasis on awful!) that's not associated with d.c.'s beloved redskins. when rawls, bubba, liz & i went to the capitol last weekend, one of the tour guides was wearing a florida state beanie. we got to talking, found out that he went to northeast h.s. and knew casey way back when. small world!

sad to say, my florida plate is gone. i didn't mind losing the rear plate nearly as much as the front one. i'd had the florida flag on the front of my truck pretty much since i got it in '99. i still have trouble recognizing my truck because that plate isn't there.

today, on my way to work, i passed a red civic with a florida tag and a uf alumni frame. out of curiosity, i looked to see if i knew the driver. i didn't. as soon as i passed her, she immediately changed lanes. while leapfrogging me, she turned and gave me a thumbs-up with a smile, as if to say, "go gators!" she must've been a recent grad because the only evidence of my 'villainy is the satchel's bumper sticker on my rear window.

gator nation is everywhere...