02.27.14 - 9:40 am

i cant find my coffee maker.

ive opened every box. stuck my hand in every plastic tote. ive checked cupboards. drawers. coolers. ashtons room. i have no idea where it could be. our house is a minefield of cardboard box towers, bubble wrap gardens and homeless belongings placed where ever they would fit.

the small lake of rainwater and powerful pesticide has finally evaporated into a puddle along the inside wall of my sunroom. the deluge during some thunderstorms late last week was enough to push through my screen windows and flood the sealed floors. the day after we had an exterminator douse the whole area. the turtles were quickly evacuated and shuffled between bathtubs. i think theyve had it the worst of any of us.

have i just been fortunate, or has florida always been this lovely? across the water from where i sit is a delightful garden of reds, greens and yellows. this is the well manicured backyard of a neighbor i have not met. the water seems to change its mind which direction its traveling on the whims of the wind. i enjoy watching the turtles poke their dark heads from the water like little periscopes. they disappear if you make the slightest advance. this backyard water feature is shaped like a massive numerical three from the air and is filled with fish and fowl. im sure most of the fish are invasive species. i hand caught an 18 inch plecostomus here, typically a South American native.

the weather has been cooler lately, but only by florida standards. at 930 am its currently 64 and over cast. the rest of the days have been a wintery mix of 86 and clear to 75 and partly cloudy. the beach is always bright. i cant look at anything without a kurt russell glare and a hand over my eyes. having something so inherently tropical and luxurious so close feels completely unnatural. it encourages this lingering feeling that i am but a visiter here. vacationing for the next two weeks at my grandparents condo before returning to the rains and numb fingers im used to.

it certainly wasnt a smooth ride getting to this point. this moment in time where my coffee maker hides like ann frank, stowed away by some innocuous box labeled BEDSHEETS at the base of one of our cardboard towers.

or so it goes.