Lake Okeechobee is the second largest lake wholly owned by the USA (the other being Lake Michigan). For many years, its waters and those rivers that feed was pumped to irrigate orange groves and sugar cane in the region, which is the largest producer of sugar and citrus United States . As its maximum depth is 3 meters, it has dried up and absorbed like a sponge brackish waters of the Everglades swamp, unusable for irrigation as they are salty ... So after we had spent millions of dollars to divert the rivers, build dams and create irrigation channels, has been spent yet more millions to "turn the tide" and build a dike around the lake so that the rainwater meet again ... Ecology from still far behind the economy, industries of sugar cane and agricultural areas are not much ceased to dump their waste.
Satellite view of Lake Okeechobee
An eminent scientist described the many absurd and work implemented by engineers totally unaware of the consequences tragic their projects as "the greatest environmental disaster in America in recent decades." In 2000, under pressure from the associations for the protection of nature, a charter lake restoration to its original state and Environmental Protection has finally been signed. But that human intervention has stupidly destroyed for economic reasons does not recreate a magic wand ... last year, taking advantage of an extreme drought, authorities dredged the lake bottom to clean up its toxic sludge. Their analysis found arsenic levels four times higher than the accepted norm! During this drought, water has dropped so low that the lake bottom and organic materials have been exposed and caught fire ... Then in August, heavy rains were then pushed the level of more than 1m 50, suddenly changing the ecosystem and killing thousands of fish and thus the birds that fed on them.
For us, everything we've seen from the dam lake is grassy (it was still necessary to find, coming from the west, a place where to access them; tourniqué was over an hour !) and beyond, a vast swamp unattractive where water frothed like washing powder ... Nature is still tough as Lake Okeechobee is infested with alligators: you should not soak your feet there, even in shallow waters. These reptiles are apparently slow-witted lightning fast and many tourists have left their naive leg.
We returned by way round, through the huge fragrant orange groves and sugar cane fields, stopping for a snack. No luck, it is not yet mature and has no taste ... For oranges, signs warning the poacher of the penalty for trespassing and theft have deterred from enjoying one! But we will soon visit a farm where citrus we will not risk the intervention of "cops" on which side our police officers are models of delicacy and courtesy ...
In the miscellaneous category, an event that has disrupted the quiet of the neighborhood. A few days ago, a man set fire to the house belonging to his girlfriend and then shot himself in the head. And as the houses have a wooden frame covered with drywall, the fire spread very quickly. By the time firefighters arrived, there was hardly anything left to save. But if the man was desperate, He loved animals: he took the precaution of having the cat out before setting fire ... The poor animal was found at the bottom of the garden and smoky tempered by abundant watering by firefighters. 
Barbara spoke of the event while we were walking our dogs. While I was putting in place of the wife and I imagined the emotional impact of the event, the grieving to do, feelings of guilt when spouse commits suicide, personal belongings and memories destroyed, she was concerned about the financial situation: the house was insured against fire, but when the fire was set intentionally, the insurance does not pay a dime of course. And life of the gentleman for his girlfriend does not cover death by suicide. That may be a caricature, but you can not help thinking that death is less severe here than the lack of money, especially as the journalist's article makes it clear that the house was worth 500 ' 000 dollars but nowhere evoke the human side ... 
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