A Novel Creation www.WatersWords.com

Spanish Moss Most people in the southern states know and understand Spanish moss.  Most visitors from the northern states don’t. When I think of my first visits to Florida as a child, images of Spanish moss swaying in the trees are as strong as my memories of sandy beaches. Maybe stronger.  Spanish Moss in the Magnolia Tree Mike and I were talking about how we used to play with Spanish moss. He and his buddies would stuff a feed sack with it, tie it to rope, hang it from a tree, and make a swing out of it.  I remember playing dress-up with it, using it as a stole or wig to be a gray headed woman. We both remember the results of playing with Spanish moss: Redbug bites. And boy would they itch! Spanish moss was at one time used to stuff furniture and car seats. I hope they cured it properly. I can’t imagine sleeping on a moss stuffed mattress. When Tom and I were both in college and poor newlyweds, we looked at Spanish moss as an opportunity. The house where we lived s...

  Run From the Water... Hide From the Wind Consider this a public service announcement. I am sitting at my computer watching the news. Florida is in the path of its second major hurricane in three weeks.  As we watched Hurricane Helene head our way, she looked as if she would merely brush the western coastline of Florida.  Weather forecasters warned of a “storm surge” …though we had no idea what that would look like. In fact, as the storm was churning, local surfers grabbed their boards to ride the ever-increasing waves. Families gathered to take pictures before finally leaving the area to find shelter in the interior of the peninsula. Mike and I have friends who live on the Gulf coast. Though their own home was untouched, it was like a war zone around them. The nation gathered around the television to view unimaginable images. We saw houses and furnishings, appliances, and cars floating far from their owners. We watched in horror as entire communities were flattened by t...

On Becoming a Writer So you want to write a book… I hear that often.  When people find out I am an author, I will have at least one in the group tell how they have a great idea for a book. Sometimes, someone will insist their life story is so unbelievable, it would be a best seller or a blockbuster movie.  I try to encourage people. I tell them to go for it! Write it down! I’ve yet to have any of them actually make that happen yet, though.  I decided if you are one of those with a story burning in your heart, this is a good time for free advice from a published author.  Below are a few tips to get you started. Photo by Thom Milkovic Thanks Thom! 1.        Write.  Pen and paper?  Computer?  Dictate into a program or your phone? Quill and scroll? It doesn’t matter how you start writing.  The number one rule to be a writer is you MUST write.    2.          ...

  Tooling Around Florida: The East Coast Last year Mike and I bought a Corvette to “tool around in.” We have driven it to a few car shows in town and plan to take it to “Vette Fest” in Old Town (Kissimmee) next month. One of the “tooling around” deals was to drive it to Rainbow River.  Next, we drove it to parts of Florida I hadn’t experienced. To Chiefland for barbeque, on to Fanning Springs to the Suwannee River then to Cedar Key. Those were great trips. If you missed the posts about them, I’ll include links at the end. This week we decided to head a different direction. I had visited the Space Center and camped on the east coast of Florida with my family to watch a launch up close, but when Mike heard I had never visited Ron Jon’s Surf Shop, he was determined to fill that gap in my “1970’s girl” education.  So this past week, we headed east, taking the Florida Turnpike, which starts only a few miles from our house, over to the east coast, then traveled a state highway ...

  Finding a New Dentist  Can Be Like Pulling Teeth Memory of my first dentist is of a cowboy named Webb Davis. We lived in Tucson, Arizona. Webb, that is…Dr. Davis, had a flat tire. That’s how my dad came to know him. Thinking he was a poor, tired ranch hand, my dad stopped to help him. The two men hit it off as did their wives. The Davis’ had three children. Their daughter was a bit older than me, but not by much. The boys were younger. I was only four or five at the time. But what I remember most about having Webb Davis as my dentist were his boots. He always wore honest-to-goodness cowboy boots. I was in awe. I wanted to be a cowgirl and ride in the rodeo more than anything back then. It didn’t happen. We were living back in Ohio before I got my first pony.  When we lived in Florida, the Waters family recommended Hugh Tyler as a dentist for me. I was engaged to Tom Waters at the time.  So, Dr. Tyler, who lived on the same road as the Waters’ became my dentist. He ...

Tiki and the Dogs   As many of my readers know, when Mike and I married he had pets. Two dogs and a cat to be specific, though one of the dogs actually belonged Mike's son. Roxy is a pit bull and the most loving, caring dog I’ve ever known since Max Lightening the Wonder Dog died several years ago. The other dog in our house, a Blue Healer named Honeybee didn’t have much to do with me at first. Typically, Blue Healers are “one person” or “one family” dogs. Honeybee, or “Bee” as we often called her, eventually opened up a bit. I could pet her behind her ears without her fussing and she didn’t mind accepting a bite of food from my hand. I think she knew I loved Mike and he loved me, paving the way for a more positive relationship. The cat? Tiki, named after a resort in Islamorada, remained a creature unto herself. Though Roxy longed to play with her, Tiki turned up her nose at the offer and ducked under the bed to avoid the awkward social situation of a dog and cat friendship. When B...

"Exploring “Old Florida” Most folks around the country hear the word ”Florida’’ and immediately think of warm weather, orange juice,  and sandy, sun-kissed beaches. I get it. But if you read my post about Rainbow River a couple of weeks ago, you begin to see the beauty of Florida’s interior. After church Sunday, Mike suggested we take a ride to Chiefland for a sandwich at a great barbeque place he knows and maybe poke around the area a bit. Mike has been all over that part of the state and knew I would like to explore it a bit.  A Sunday drive in the Corvette around Florida? I was in! I like those impromptu dates with my husband.  Mike was right about the barbeque place. It was delicious. I trust Mike, but when you walk in a restaurant and it looks like everyone from the county is there, you know it’s going to be good food. And it was. Barbeque pork sandwiches and sweet tea. It doesn’t get any more Southern than that. We were off to a good start. A few miles north of...