When I was younger my dad built an epic tree house in our modest backyard. It was bright blue with white trim and really complemented our bold pink house at the time. I’m sure it seemed out of place in the winter time but our bright colored digs would have fit in perfectly in Ft. Lauderdale come the warm season. Now I’m back to that yard for a short but ultimately unknown period of time, and I’m finding it hard to make those personal pictures I was cranking out so consistently before. But they are there, I just need to look a little harder and stop watching Seinfeld reruns. My parents’ home is actually a very dynamic place for being on a cul-de-sac on a square block with a homeowners’ association in a subdivision in an unincorporated suburban township. I mean, just look at all that stuff on the dresser. It’s because the bathroom is getting remodeled.

The man behind our house has a nice little house for his kids to play in now. They moved here from California. They seem to be happy here, from what I hear. I get so sad to leave the ocean, I can’t imagine having years to get attached to it. But it is quiet here and the fall colors have been mind-blowing this year. It’s really not so bad if you can get past a few things…