Where I Live

I'm a Florida girl, a native, actually. I grew up in Cocoa Beach, and if people ask me where I'm from, that's where I like to say. Mom, Dad and 5 kids lived in a house on a canal off the Banana River, five minutes across the street from the beach. We spent long hours swimming in the canal, paddling our surfboards over to the islands in the river, and playing at the beach. For the last 22 years, I've lived in Royal Palm Beach, which is 2 1/4 hours south. Despite its name, our town is 12 miles west of the beach. It was actually built as a land scam in the 50's to attract unknowing northern retirees to a town with a beachy-name but no beach. It worked. I'm here because my first job after college was in West Palm Beach, and my husband's firefighter job was in Royal Palm Beach. So here I am, with a husband and two kids, in a town that was ravaged by hurricanes in 2004 and 2005, but was voted one of the best towns to live by Family Circle magazine in 2008.

This is the view of our back yard -- a typical Florida day: lots of green, blue sky. It's probably 85 degrees here. We won't get cooler weather until December.

And here are some flowers from our front garden. These caladiums are about 18" wide. They keep coming back every year, bigger and bigger. In a week or so they'll die, and we won't see them again until April.

In five days I'm leaving for Portland, Oregon to attend the Art & Soul retreat. I'll enjoy the cooler weather and beautiful flowers of that city.