from A Bone In Her Teeth, chapter one…
When an evening Atlantic high tide seeks the many inlets of St. Augustine, Florida it washes a slow undulating torrent of briny water up into the San Sebastian River and turns the backwater marshes deep and dark with eons-old mysteries. Six hours later at ebb tide the waters flow back into the ocean leaving behind ponds and pockets rich with the salty evolution of plants and animals. The vegetation, mollusks, silt, and sea creatures nearly glow yet hide all their murky secrets and life-forcing activities. Then, a stillness – a waiting for the return of the voyager, the sailor back from the sea – until the quickening of flood tide, sea breezes and the pull of the Earth’s moon cause the whole cycle to happen again.