Category: Life in Florida
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Changing Cards, Changing Chapters
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in Autumn 2026, Autumn in Florida, Blogging, Family History, Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Life in Madison (NH), Life in Miami (1972-2016), Life in New Hampshire (December 2023 – October 2024), Life in South Florida, Life in the Tampa Bay area, Life in the United States, Miami-Dade Community College, Personal History, Personal Thoughts, Personal Thoughts, Semester in Spain Program, Semester in Spain Program – CCISChanging Cards, Changing Chapters Yesterday, I did something that should have been utterly mundane. I took my New Hampshire state ID out of my wallet and replaced it with my new Florida one. That’s it. One little plastic card came out; another little plastic card went in. And yet, for a moment, it felt weird.…
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Finally?
On the second anniversary of my triumphant return to the Sunshine State, I might finally get my Florida state ID issued (or, more accurately, reissued… again). Last year I was sent packing for missing one tiny-but-crucial piece of paperwork, but this time my landlady has the day off, the stars have aligned, and we’re heading…
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An Autumn Quote (Ray Bradbury)
“That country where it is always turning late in the year. That country where the hills are fog and the rivers are mist; where noons go quickly, dusks and twilights linger, and midnights stay. That country composed in the main of cellars, sub-cellars, coal-bins, closets, attics, and pantries faced away from the sun. That country…
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Autumn, Amazon, and Four Hours of Sleep
Monday, October 19, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi, everyone! It’s a muggy, gray-shrouded autumn day here in Central Florida as a new workweek gets underway. We had a little rain yesterday afternoon and again early this morning, but as I write this, it’s 76°F (25°C) under mostly cloudy skies. The humidity is sitting at 74%,…
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It’s Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Autumn…by Florida Standards, Anyway
Sunday, October 18, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi, everyone. It’s the first truly cool day of autumn in Central Florida. Right now, it’s 76°F (24°C) under partly sunny skies on this Sunday afternoon. It was chilly this morning when I got up, but it’s still relatively early in the season, so I didn’t feel like…
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More October Reveries
Friday, October 16, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Tomorrow would have been my mom’s 98th birthday. My feelings about that are, well, complicated. She died 11 years ago in the South Florida townhouse we had called home for more than 37 years, after a long and painful struggle with dementia, depression, kidney problems, and the other…
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October Reveries
Tuesday, October 13, 2026 – Orlando, Florida October has always been a difficult month for me. Its arrival brings a chill that has little to do with the weather; before the calendar has turned its first few pages, I can already feel the weight of memory settling in. Whether I choose to dwell on the…
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On Writing and Storytelling: When Fiction Meets Reality – an Excerpt from ‘Reunion: Coda’
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, Amazon Italy, Amazon Japan, Amazon Mexico, Amazon Poland, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon Sweden, Amazon UK, Books, Creative Writing, Life in Florida, Life in South Florida, Reunion Duology, Reunion: Coda, South Miami High School in fiction, South Miami Senior High School, The Jim Garraty ChroniclesWhere Fiction Meets Reality – An Excerpt from Reunion: Coda If you’re a regular visitor here, you may know that several episodes in my Jim Garraty stories draw on my experiences at South Miami Senior High from late August 1980 to mid-June 1983. Jim’s academic path, however, is vastly different from mine. He is college-bound…
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Thoughts and Musings for Saturday, October 10, 2026
Saturday, October 10, 2026 – Orlando, Florida It’s a steamy, summery Saturday afternoon in Central Florida — the kind that makes you wonder if the calendar is lying. As I write this, it’s 90°F (32°C) under mostly sunny skies, but the humidity has muscled the feels‑like temperature up to a sweltering 100°F (37°C). Technically it’s…
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Creativity, Cloud Cover, and a Trip Back to 1975
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, Amazon Italy, Amazon Japan, Amazon Poland, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon Sweden, Amazon UK, And the Horse You Rode In On, Autumn 2026, Autumn in Florida, Creative Writing, Florida Weather, Life in Florida, Personal Thoughts, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series)Wednesday, October 7, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi there. It’s another rainy day here in Central Florida — the kind of steady, all‑day drizzle that makes you wonder if the Sunshine State misplaced its branding guide. While the rest of the country is out there enjoying crisp air and pumpkin‑spice‑everything, we’re still stuck in the…
