True Florida Stories
Joe Pimentel could be the most protected man in the world. At the Florida Rottweiler Rescue Ranch, Pimentel spends his days caring for more than 100 large dogs in the beating sun and the suffocating Gainesville humidity. Working through piles of floating dog hair, pools of slobber and a smell only a dog rescue could produce, Pimentel wouldn’t have it any other way … Read moreBig Dogs and a Bigger Mission
Even though the weather was hot and the land swampy, promoters advertised Florida as a paradise on Earth, and oranges were the ambrosia … Read moreValencia’s Last StandÂ
It’s 6:50 a.m. in a nondescript Dunnellon shopping center. Street lights and neon store signs cast a dim glow over the dark lot and Publix won’t open for another ten minutes.Â
The parking lot is almost empty, except for the scattering of cars belonging to the members of the Workout Anytime gym and those of a group of 14 old men sitting along the benches outside of the Breakfast Station restaurant … Read moreThe ROMEOs
As autumn stretches into the icy grip of winter, a curious change occurs in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. The sky, usually a deep, endless blue, turns orange.  The color comes slowly at first, a hint of warmth scattered among the evergreen pines and palmettos, then it descends all at once, painted on the backs of small, fragile wings that have traveled thousands of miles … Read moreA monarch’s legacy Â
The yarn slips through my fingers with a whisper, my hands following the memory of thousands of stitches looped, checked for errors and redone again. Soft cotton or bamboo works best, the gentle tug of string against the crochet hook providing just enough texture to allow a good grip on the task at hand. Ignore the ache of panic behind my eyes; focus on the stitches … Read moreKnotted thoughts