Candid Florida

In the continuing saga of cold, cold, cold in Central Florida, I keep looking for cheap and easy ways to keep warm while keeping the thermostat down, Tonight’s trick: a virtual hot sack of rice. It might have been a gift or an inspired purchase, but it’s simply whole grain rice and some scentful herbs sewn into a small pillow. Pop in the microwave and it’s an instant neck warmer! Beats a hot water bottle, too.

Tallahassee’s newest portal to the past is also its oldest. It was a delight to return to Mission San Luis and see the ancient village from a whole new perspective, thanks to a new prominent entrance on US 90 (Tennessee Ave) and a grand two story visitors’ and education center in the style of a historic Spanish mission. The approach to the plaza is now perfectly level, affording the insight that this was once the entrance to the Messer House, a historic site in it’s own right and the former visitor center. There is now a modest entrance fee, but it’s well worth the price, especially with a new museum of artifacts in place and detailed, colorful interpretive signage throughout. Do pay a visit!

A visit to the Maitland Art Center recently reaffirmed my appreciation of architecture as art. While I was smitten with some of the works displayed in the gallery, it is this historic site itself that is a wondrous work of art inside and out. Conceived in the art deco era and shaded by a canopy of ancient oaks, it is, in part, a fantasy of a Mayan temple, with hidden niches and colorful murals. But what intrigued me most was the chapel, where positive space meets negative in a very real way. These are not black and white tiles as they appear. One misstep, and your foot gets wet!

Sister Sal and I were slightly above sea level at the Writing Below Sea Level workshop, nestled in the branches of silk bay trees at The Treehouse, an inspirational rental property where the Matanzas Inlet meets the sea at Summer Haven, south of St. Augustine.

With noted Florida novelist Connie May Fowler as our guide, we were there to find our own paths to publishing our first novels. I’ve been focused on telling one tale since 2004, a story born of the hurricanes of that year, and have struggled mightily with finishing it. Finally, I have a roadmap. Connie May suggested visually representing my scenes so I could arrange them into the plot.

In writing them and sticking them up on my studio wall, I uncovered gaps in my novel that needed to be filled, plus a couple of characters who came to the forefront from the backstage.  I now know my story arc and how to tell it … it’s just a matter of arranging my scenes in the proper order and writing the missing parts. My goal is to have a first draft completed by June 30. Wish me luck … and thank you much, Connie May, you are an inspiration!

The Ghost Bride of Tolomato Cemetery?

It was a dark and stormy night…well, perhaps not so stormy, but certainly threatening for the rains that befell us earlier in the day to shower down again as my sister Sal and I swept through the streets of old St. Augustine with Maria, our personal pirate from Ghost Tours of St. Augustine.

Now I’ve meandered scary streets alone at night and in the company of storytellers before, so I always enjoy a good ghost tour, and these folks offer one of the finest. On my last visit, it was a meander along the Mantanzas, the bloody history of Spaniards, Frenchman, and pirates laid out along a line of B&Bs on the waterfront. This trek was a different story. Maria had a thing for cemeteries. Passing through the city gates, we circled our way around the Huguenot Cemetery (and being of Huguenot descent, I was disappointed that none are actually buried there), all the while hearing tales of old St. Augustine and restless spirits of all ages, including Chief Tolomato.

Arriving at the Tolomato Cemetery, Maria was in the midst of telling us about the Ghost Bride when I captured this image on my iPhone. I’ve studied it over and over. The college students with us are all accounted for in the frames before and after, as well in the shadows of this one. But that face in the middle? Perhaps a ghost. Perhaps a trick of the light (click on the image to enlarge). Certainly a souvenir to remember, as memories – and photos – provide the best reminders of our journeys.