Okeechobee Mud Fest!

This weekend as I traversed the state of Florida I encountered a yearly phenomena occurring in the town of Okeechobee. It was the annual Mud Fest! This is really a sight to behold, hundreds of acres of campers and off road vehicles, and thousands upon thousands of people enjoying a three day event. It's the Woodstock of mud bogging!

So I couldn't help but notice that this too was a community of people. A community of people with a like cause built by word of mouth and becoming almost a nation. It's absolutely amazing that everywhere you look, communities are being built. This particular community shared some of our communities eight F's, and also added a few of their own.

Fun; The whole darn thing was founded and centered on entertainment and having fun. Wether your a vehicle owner or just a spectator waiting to see some pending disaster, your there to have a ball.

Friends: There are some friendships being created, renewed, reinforced, and lost during this event.

Following: It speaks for itself. These tens of thousands of people didn't just gather by accident!

Fabrication: Without a doubt there was some fabrication there. The engineering and ingenuity matched that of an aircraft manufacturer. I saw a lifted four wheel drive chassis, with four of the large farm tractor tires, with a full size Chevy van mounted atop of the whole contraption. All I could thing as I saw this vehicle being trailered away is, "I hope there are no bridges between here and wherever they are headed to go under."

Fortitude: Think about it. Three days in a mud pit with limited hygiene facilities. It doesn't matter if you were the person covered in mud for four days, or the individual who had to endure the funk it created, that's fortitude!

I'm sure there is more, but I've reached the limit of thought I'm going to put into this topic. Except every community has a critic, or critics. I encountered one of them too at the local convenience store when I stopped for a cold soda. She was at the cash register and was quite vocal about the whole to do.

"Do you know what they use that farmland for 362 days out of the year? It's a dang cow pasture! Bovine out there peeing and pooping, then these durn fools go out there and waller in it for three days. I tell you that's not for me! Them women and such wading in that mud and getting it all up in their junk, you have to be plumb loco. I guess to each their own, but that's not for me. No sir!"

You see everyone and everything has it critics!

http://mudlifebrand.com/mudfest/

God Bless!
Capt. Bill