Metaphysical

In life we have questions. We seek direction. We want to know we have the answers.

We only know a few things that are certain. We know our own strengths and weaknesses. We know our own likes and dislikes. We know the extent of our own happiness. We are all looking for success.

In order to find a path to that success we must consider our strengths and weaknesses. We must consider our likes and dislikes. We must consider what makes us happy.

What did Trapper Nelson do?

Trapper Nelson came to Jupiter, Florida looking for work in a paradise. Trapper Nelson was a skilled hunter. Trapper Nelson loved to perform. For Trapper Nelson, living in a secluded paradise where he had day-to-day interaction with the visitors made him happy. Trapper Nelson found success but he had help along the way. Trapper Nelson had the help of sign-posts.

The Jersey acquaintance told him of work opportunities that could be found in the paradise of Jupiter, Florida.

The Loxahatchee inspired a life of hunting.

The murder showed him a life of seclusion.

The sign-post brought in the visitors.

Mood

I seek a life of peace and paradise but I fear loneliness.

Trapper Nelson lived two lives: a life of seclusion and a life of visitors.

The sign-post brings the visitors. To me, this is necessary.

 

I hunt for the answer but there are multiple answers. I feel confused.

How to wrap my mind around melody? What is that one way Mamie learned the tune? There are a few ways to do both.

I listen to the sign-posts and I take what relates to me. Otherwise, there wouldn’t exist a sense of me.

 

I feel the need to find my place.

Simba forgot who he was. He needed a reminder; something that brought him back to his roots.

If I listen to my internal sign-posts I will find my place.

Jumping Rails

Early 1920’s

The sky is dark but for the golden glow rising over the Atlantic. 23 year-old Vincent Nelson runs at half pace with brother, Charles Nelson, at his heels. A few paces behind, John Dykas is adjusting his pack while he runs up the loose gravel mountain that leads to the rail.

“An empty one up ahead,” Vincent shouts to the others.

He races up to the empty boxcar and throws his pack inside. He then sprints and throws himself onto the moving train. The others follow.

Settlement in Jupiter

Vincent Nelson hops the train. He knows they are in South Florida. He breathes in the warm, salty smell of the Gulf Stream. Other travelers have told Nelson of the Gulf Stream and how it circles around the Gulf of Mexico, wraps around the Florida Keys and shoots up the Atlantic to Jupiter, Florida, their destination. These trappers from New Jersey have heard stories of job opportunities in this tropic region.

Vincent Nelson leads his two companions East, from the Old Dixie railway to the beaches of Jupiter.

They take the bridge over the Loxahatchee River, and find an expanse of woods buffering the Loxahatchee and the Atlantic.

They cut through the woods. Vincent Nelson makes a remark regarding trapping opportunities.

Once on the beaches, they set up camp and lay down for the night.

Murder

Charles Nelson slumps down to the trapline, where he tells Dykas he wants to strike out on his own.

“Give me my share of the money,” says Charles.

Dykas doesn’t respond.

“I’ll blow your head off in 15 minutes if you don’t have me my money by then.”

Charles Nelson comes back minutes later with a shotgun in his right hand. He holds the gun to Dykas’s head and pulls the trigger at point-blank range.

Trapper Retreats

After his brother is sentenced to life in prison, Vincent Nelson retreats deep into the woods of the Loxahatchee and finds an old hunter’s cabin. He fixes it up and extends it to the Loxahatchee, building a boat house. He sets trap lines and waits.

At 6′ 2″ and 220 lbs, Vincent Nelson becomes “Trapper Nelson,” the alligator wrestling, snake charming, Tarzan of South Florida.

Visitors

A lone fisherman passes by Trapper Nelson’s cabin and spots Trapper fishing off his dock.

The fisherman offers Trapper part of his sandwich and Trapper invites the fisherman to check out his catches.

After a while, the fisherman leaves and tells his other fishing buddies the tale of the wild man who lives in a cabin and keeps cages full of alligators, skunks, and rattlesnakes.

Days later, Trapper Nelson receives more fisherman visitors donning an offering of sandwiches. Word of Trapper Nelson spreads wide and far.

Trapper Nelson’s Zoo and Jungle Garden

Wealthy families from Palm Beach and Jupiter Island hear of Trapper Nelson and come to visit.

Trapper Nelson clears out a parking lot in his back yard and posts a sign out front that reads: Trapper Nelson’s Zoo and Jungle Garden.

He charges a quarter for kids and 50 cents for adults. Friends of the Palm Beach families come from New York, London, and Paris to visit the exotic Trapper Nelson’s Zoo and Jungle Garden.

Trapper Nelson’s Zoo and Jungle Garden owns up to any Amazon fantasy. Trapper Nelson purchases more land at $2.34 an acre.