Tree House in the Woods
by Lois W. Stern
Somewhere nestled amongst lush green foliage, variegated ferns, pines and oaks sits a little tree house in the woods. While on my April visit to Florida’s West Coast, I decided to investigate. Here I discovered a most charming home owned by a dear friend Susan Haley.
It was quite a feat dragging my oversize suitcase up the entrance staircase, but what the heck, muscle building is a good pastime. Broken backs are not!
We spent lots of time on her screened porch, chatting away and eating our meals – me more than my hostess, who eats like a bird! Now mind you, it’s hard to keep Susan still for more than 10 seconds. Then up she jumps to sweep a floor, clean out the litter box or stroke one of her cats. I, on the other hand, (being allergic to cat fur) spoke softly to them from a respectable distance.
In perusing Susan’s living room, I came upon some meaningful memorabilia.
First, the picture wall, with framed photos of family members – all still with her in heart and mind. Center stage is a loving photo of Susan with her beloved Jerry.
In one corner I discovered a stand for walking sticks, which I learned Jerry had carefully carved from a fallen tree trunk. Apparently this was a labor of love, as I understand he worked for many hours scraping embedded grit from its tiniest crevices. Notice too, the beautiful natural wood walking canes, which he crafted from selected branches.
Susan is such a lover of wildlife, that even the stuffed ones hold a prominent place in her living room. Bears of many sizes, outfitted in various wardrobes, adorn her living room. But occasionally we did venture from the tree house. On one glorious day, we drove north toward Sarasota to lunch with Dr. Karen Pirnot. Dr. Karen Pirnot was the psychologist assigned to Garrett Lee Frey when, as a 4 year old boy, an accidental fall from the back of his father’s motorcycle rendered him a ventilator-dependent quadriplegic.Together Garrett and Dr. Pirnot collaborated on the book, As I Am, A True Story of Adaptation to Physical Disability, which, believe it or not is an uplifting story of courage, determination, and perseverance.
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The three of us ate outdoors, enjoying both the conversation and a yummy lunch of yogurt, topped with fresh fruit and crunchy granola.
One evening we ventured to the Nokomis Fire House where Susan serves as group leader for the Sarasota chapter of the FWA. Every Thursday evening writers of all genre, seasoned and newbies alike, come to share their written words and receive gentle critiques from their peers. The level of enthusiasm was markedly high. The critiques, on target, perceptive and kindly delivered. Here Susan poses for a moment with her assistant, Russ Heitz, another fine author whom I had corresponded with in the past and finally got to meet. Now I am the proud owner of his newest book, Dying in Deer Country, and look forward to that as a future read.
All good things must come to an end, and so it was with my visit to Nokomis. On my last evening, Susan took me for a ride in her Spyder, Eclipse, lowering the convertible top once the sun settled lower on the horizon.
As we drove along the coast, Susan acted as tour guide, pointing out the homes of some of the rich and famous. Although incredibly beautiful, I dare you to find more spectacular sunsets anywhere on earth than those we saw that evening.
I returned home with my autographed copy of Susan’s beautiful new book: Amber Returns to Maine. Did I love it? You bet! Click here to see my review.
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Lois W. Stern has written a number of nostalgia articles, including Grab a Pickle, Share a Memory, originally published in the New York Times. She has written feature articles for LI Beauty Guide, numerous articles on health and beauty posted at her website: www.sexliesandcosmeticsurgery.com/ and is the author of: SEX, LIES AND COSMETIC SURGERY and TICK TOCK, STOP the CLOCK ~ Getting Pretty on Your Lunch Hour. |
Lois Stern |
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