COMMERCE CORNEr

Established in 1951, Matt Pitcher has been working with American Income since early 2023 providing numerous life insurance policies including Whole Life, Term and Supplemental Health insurance to the Florida Keys. Pitcher says the key to his success is trust and service. "The customer will always be able to talk with me. I sit down with them and go over all options. They do not have to do it online with someone far away just working with numbers who may not have their best interest in mind" said Pitcher. While licensed in most states, Pitcher's office is located in Marathon.

Matt Pitcher

704.201.0622 mpitcher@zuzick.com

... is a photographer, writer, and semi-professional birdwatcher. He has lived in Key West for more than 25 years and may no longer be employable in the real world. He is also executive director of the Florida Keys Audubon Society.

We had to be in Miami for a thing, and then we noticed that The Beths, the kickass quartet from Auckland, New Zealand, were playing in Orlando, which was only another three-and-a-half hours or so of driving. So we decided to go see them. Once you make it to the mainland, nothing seems very far. Also, there was the chance of seeing a megararity on the way back, a once-in-a-generation bird, and something I hadn’t had for close to a year: a lifer.

The Beths played such a great set that my wife’s migraine receded as soon as they dug into their first song. They played such a great set that I bought one of their albums on vinyl, even though I currently have no way to play it. (If you’ve been wasting your life and haven’t listened to The Beths, start with “Future Me Hates Me” – both the album and the song.) Also, I’ve been convinced for a while that at least a couple members of the band are secret birdwatchers.

The next morning, bellies full of Waffle House, ears still ringing, choruses still echoing in our brains, we headed south again, though, perhaps, not in the most direct route.

Unless there is some sort of dire need for expedience, I avoid interstates in Florida the same way I avoid pineapple on pizza. I prefer to take what William Least Heat Moon called the blue highways. It might take an hour or two longer, but you feel much less shabby at the end. Also, you have a much better chance of seeing interesting mainland birds, such as swallowtailed kites, wood storks, sandhill cranes and crested caracaras.

Usually, coming from Orlando, we take U.S. 27, and go from the city’s urban and suburban sprawl to the orange groves of the Lake Wales Ridge, to the cattle lands around Lake Okeechobee, to the sugarcane fields south of Clewiston, to the Miccosukee Casino and Tamiami Trail. From there it’s Krome Avenue to Homestead to U.S. 1 to home.

But as U.S. 27 started drifting eastward along Lake Okeechobee, we kept going due south, passing through La Belle, which seemed like an artsy little town, and Imokolee, which is all about the agriculture, before heading to the place where the rare bird was said to be: Ave Maria.

A large-billed tern seen recently near Ave Maria, Florida. MARK HEDDEN/Keys Weekly