Advancing forces faced roadside bombs, dug-in snipers, fleets of suicide car bombs and oil fire haze.
There's a Gator Motel and a Gator Bar, with a big, grinning "Gator Love" mural on its roadside face, and the annual Gatorfest is held not far away near a gator-filled national wildlife refuge.
"Afghan national security forces and coalition forces are always facing I.E.D.'s, roadside bombs and ambushes while passing the road in this area," he said, referring to improvised explosive devices.
Cynthia Bhengu had blood streaming down her face as she sat roadside waiting for an ambulance at almost 2 a.m.
Illegal immigration from Mexico has fallen as well, as travelers from Mexico's impoverished southern states also face savage attacks and roadside kidnappers.
Though the battle appeared far from over, Iraqi commanders on the ground were optimistic that the advance, which had slowed in the face of Islamic State snipers, roadside bombs and tunnel networks that allowed fighters to move around undetected, would continue.
Another motorist had claimed that Simpson grabbed his glasses and scratched his face during a heated roadside argument.
They face the threats of roadside bombings, the hassles of security checkpoints on their way to school, frequent curfews, the constant presence of American Apache helicopters overhead, and the deterioration of their neighbourhood which becomes rife with assassinations, muggings and kidnappings.
If we are to address the problem of homelessness among our country's dog and cat population, and reduce the horrors that face this population (neglect, roadside abandonment, intentional cruelty, euthanasia), we must include the uncounted, the "invisible," among them in the discussion.
