2010 Jan. 13, Wednesday.
With 2 ½ weeks left before we leave the 5th wheel forever, we spent part of the morning organizing things that we will take with us when we leave for Orlando. We are selling some things, and will give some things to Goodwill, so that when we pack it won’t be too bad. Lunch here, then to the bookstore at Gulf Coast mall so I could work on the computer. Only coffee today, no sweet treat! At 3:00, we went to the movie “Blind Side”. It’s the true story of a black kid from the ghetto with no home who was taken in by a wealthy white family who raised him as their own. He was a huge kid, became a great high school and college football player, and at present, plays for the NFL. We both thought it was very good, with Sandra Bullock playing the gutsy, brassy, loving mother and giving her best performance that we can remember. Back to the 5th wheel for supper, and then try to stay awake through American Idol. We both enjoy seeing the raw talent but dislike this part of the show where they show the failures and the mean comments. It’s better toward the end of the show, where the emphasis is more on the talent and not as much on the judges.

WEATHER: High today of 65, low last night of 38. Slightly better, but tomorrow will be a bigger jump to higher temperatures - and then it will stay that way, we fervently hope!

FL NEWS: (The topic of the following article was a shocker to me last year when I first read about it : modern-day slavery. It seems unbelievable that this is going on in the US right now.) Modern-day slavery may baffle many, but [Monday] the BBC will broadcast to millions worldwide about the often-hidden crime and the efforts to stop it. They will partner with public radio, which is doing a month long series “Immokalee: The Challenge, The Hope.” [Immokalee is inland, about 20 miles east of Naples, and it has a large Indian-run casino.] Federal officials have branded the town as ground zero for modern day slavery. Since 1997, seven agricultural slavery operations involving more than 1000 workers have been federally prosecuted in Florida. Last January, members of the Navarrete family were sentenced in what has been called the region’s biggest, ugliest slavery case ever. After luring Mexican and Guatemalan men with promises of work, the family took their papers, gave them fake ID’s, and held them in servitude. They were not paid for their work picking tomatoes and were locked in trucks at night where they had to urinate and defecate in corners. If they tried to leave, they were tied, chained or beaten. A member of an advocacy group said, “Consumers will learn that forced labor and slavery remains woven into the fabric of consumer’s daily lives. The tomatoes in their sandwich may have been picked by captive workers held against their will through threats or violence.” Immokalee’s population of 20,000 almost doubles when immigrants arrive to work in the fields, picking tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and squash. The area produces about 90% of the nation’s tomato crop.