About

I've lived in four states including Arizona and Florida, and nothing has inspired me quite like the desert and the sea.

The Sonoran Desert surrounding Tucson is almost otherworldly. It doesn't feel like any place else, and that's because it isn't. Towering saguaros that take over 50 years just to grow one arm bloom flowers under a sun that beats up everything it comes in contact with. Try putting an umbrella on your patio, and I promise whatever color it is will fade to nearly white in a few months’ time. Nothing man-made seems to survive very well there, but nature absolutely thrives. Somehow palo verde trees flower for months at a time. Packs of coyotes roam the washes. Doves become your alarm clock every morning, whether you like it or not. And honeybees swarm so loudly overhead, you sometimes mistake them for drones.

And then there's the Florida coast. It's the complete opposite of the desert. There's so much water in Florida, plants don't need to be patient. They just soak it up and enjoy. There’s nothing more peaceful to me than wading into the ocean – particularly on the Gulf Coast – and looking down at my toes in the clear water while schools of fish try to avoid my legs. My perfect Saturday is letting the waves carry me while I gaze out at boats and jet skis in the distance. Every so often, sea planes buzz by doing tricks in the sky above me. On my bucket list is to get a metal detector and comb the shore for buried treasure. At the end of the day, my car is always full of seaweed, sand and pure happiness.