Florida Writer
Phil and I have lived in Sarasota for about four years. We'd lived in Pennsylvania since 1985, so there's plenty to say about our PA life. It's likely I'll return there in writing; our upper Bucks County German farmhouse and my horticulture business.
In Southwest Florida, we chose first to buy a home in a quiet neighborhood with abundant mature Live Oaks and specimen trees, and abundant tropical plantings. This March, we decided it time to give up home maintenance in favor of an apartment community in downtown Sarasota. We moved just as the COVID-19 pandemic was shutting Florida down, and we're happy we made the choice to simplify. In this uncertain period of isolation and self-distancing, this new bright and airy space has quickly become our home.
A portion of our plant collection from Pennsylvania still thrives in Florida's humidity and light. We were glad to find good homes for the largest Aloes, Bromeliads, Orchids, and Palms we'd accumulated at our house in Florida, but couldn't keep on our cozy balcony.
I've again settled into a writing routine, and spend most days on new work or revisions. I enjoy the solitude--most of the time.
I'm now working on a new creative non-fiction-memoir. In my first year, I was adopted by an Air Force couple--swept away from poor South Carolina roots into middle-class privilege and high expectations.
I invite you to follow my journey here and on social media. Should I decide to self-publish, it could be out by the end of the year!
Prose poetry, and Japanese poetry: haiku, tanka, and haibun still are my loves. My life-long snap-shot hobby has evolved into making haiga -- a photo with an inserted haiku. The first two were published in FreshOut Arts and Poetry Collective.
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