During my two mile hike today found these guys popping out of the ground.

Here are eight books read since June 21st’s update:

1) The Empty Copper Sea: I know I read this book a few decades ago, but it sure read as a stranger to me. A good, simple story with a lot less of the typical adventure of a Travis McGee book. It read almost more like a prologue.

2) Totch - Another book I’ve read in the past, but only parts. This is by far the best book I’ve read of the 30 or so I have so far about the Everglades. it is one of the finest non-fiction books I’ve read about Florida over all. It contains a very well told family journey.

3) The Green Ripper - One of MacDonalds swipes at religious thought, though not as grim as ‘One More Sunday’, though more people die in this one. A fast moving story that ends a bit abruptly and unbelievably. Though more adventure thrillers today are written this way.

4) The Seminoles of Florida - A very good history of the Seminoles. Well written and very complete, unlike similar efforts to chronicle the Seminoles.

5) The Last Patriot - A good adventure that is more believable than The Green Ripper. A lot of background information make the total a bit hard to know where you are at any one time.

6) The Florida Seminoles and the New Deal - Author Kersey sure knows his stuff. This is a very well done book with lots of insight and explanation.

7) Scarecrow - The fastest most unbelievable books I’ve ever read. It’s really more science fiction than grounded in reality. There’s a good plot underneath, but the non-stop action is insane. One big plus is that you never know who lives or dies is the book.

Pioneering in the Everglades - This book was a personally written book for the author’s children. So, I’ll excure the poor writing and badly cobbled together vignettes of living in South Florida. Otherwise, there are some very nifty nuggets tucked inside the pages.

Here’s Marnie and Pedro! I usually draw folks while they’re talking and I miss a big smile like his shown above. But then I would’ve missed his love of superheroes (Especially Green Lantern and NOT Rob Liefeld!).

The above sketch was tough to do. It was really, really dark and starting to rain. The fellow forefront is Don Price who oversees the Greenwood Cemetery in Orlando. He actually was silhouetted, but I took some artistic license to do the drawing.

I used to work with Don when i was at Orlando City Hall years back. He started at Orlando City Hall a year after me in 1986 and is still there today. His attitude and enthusiasm presents youth compared to our closeness in age.  Showing how a sense of humor can make one young.

It was a great tour with a vast amount of Orlando history covered as the large group of 50 or so made our way from tombstone to tombstone as Don dug up Orlando’s, and sometimes America’s,  past. The entire group stayed together despite rain that started just as I wrapped the sketch above and continued for another two hours.

Swampy was there, too. More about that on Sunday at Swampy’s Florida.

We continued the International Movable Feast at the Claddagh Cottage Irish Pub in Orlando. Friends Sarah Butler, James Saunders, Robert Baurle and Allen Currin delved into a bit o’ Irish vittles. Great food! Most go for the bar apparently, but this place has a tasty Irish stew!

Above is a sketch of an area of the pub.

Here are caricatures of Joseph and Meghan from Sunday!

Here’s the color version of the art.  Next is to add the gag part and text and send in. Next it will be seen in print.

Here’s the inked artwork of the pencil drawing below. Now to color add the wording and send it off.

I’m keeping the actual gag out so that those who get the magazine see it first. Of course, you might just guess what it is…. Except I am leaving an important detail out that I’ll add when I color the art.

Here is the pencil drawing before I ink. You might notice I started to ink with the caption box and the eyes. It’s been a while since I posted art in the process and thought I’d do it with this gag cartoon I’m working on right now.

Attended a gathering of a Socrates Cafe at Chelsea Coffee in Ocala. The group gets together and discusses issues of all sorts. Above is a sketch of part of the group.

More caricatures drawn at an event today.

Later I met with Robert Baurle and Ken Culotta at a Denny’s to talk politics and write gags.