In my final workshop in my final MFA residency we were given a prompt to write a piece with the title “No such thing as an ending” and that the piece should come from the perspective of a place, and to chronicle the passage of at least 50 years in that one spot.

I don’t write things like this, typically. But it has been such a joy, especially after spending the last 9 years on a singular book (and the profiles I usually write (and love) take a minimum of 15 hours to complete), to be able to write something in 20 minutes, to start a piece with a vague idea (“I’ll write about Florida!”) and not know where it is going to end up.