Candid Florida

Inside Bambi's Butterfly House

On my first visit to a big butterfly conservatory – the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservancy- stepping into the swirl of winged beauties, flowers, and inspiring music, I felt like I’d stepped into the movie Bambi.

Right now at EPCOT, during the annual International Flower & Garden Festival, a Bambi-themed butterfly house is one of the don’t-miss stops as you roam the colorful gardens, now cloaked in summer blooms. Filled with music from the movie and a bright array of butterfly-attracting blossoms, the butterfly house evokes the wonder of stepping into animation.

It’s one of numerous inspiring spaces throughout EPCOT during the festival.  Storybook topiary and floral sculptures grace the gardens throughout Future World and World Showcase, with your favorite characters rendered in shades of green, yellow, and red.  Topical displays provide pointers on low-flow gardening, outdoor rooms, and growing veggies in small spaces. Inside the festival pavilion, sponsor HGTV is broadcasting numerous shows live while Florida growers show off our state’s bounty, from honey and orchids to mushrooms and peanuts.

The enchantment of the floral displays scattered throughout EPCOT  means more for the children to enjoy, too, including a spider’s web to prowl and Pixie Hollow – filled with blooms, delicate pixie houses, and topiary friends of Tinkerbell – to clamber and slide through.

The festival continues through May 15, so catch it while it lasts!  More details at disneyworld.com/flowers

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!

Having fun at the Geneva 4th of July Parade

I had a wonderful 4th of July weekend vist with my friend Joan, who introduced me to the delights of small town Americana, Florida style, at the annual Geneva 4th of July Parade. This was as mom and apple pie as could be, including a parade where local children rode their bicycles and ranchers rode their horses – and virtually everyone in town who wasn’t on the side of the road was in the parade. Children sold lemonade, parade participants tossed candy to the crowd, antique planes did a flyover, and it was capped off with a community celebration at the town park, where you could join in a cake walk (which Joan did), bob for apples, take a pony ride on a trail through the woods, or just relax with a hot dog and listen to the local band play patriotic tunes. What a heartwarming experience !