Sea Glass, Seaplanes and Summer
by Jamie Brazil
August 16, 2022
Tell people you live on an island and questions will follow.
Island life brings to mind images of sandy beaches, floppy sun hats, floppier flip flops, and sea glass jewelry bought on a whim.
Islands and fictional settings are a tempting pair. Almost every writer I know has dipped a toe in those waters.
There are many other types of islands— you can probably name a few off the top of your head:
Vancouver Island, Catalina, Corsica, Japan, Rikers, Fantasy Island. I wrote a script in 2020 set on a fictional Bliss Island. It had the requisite seaplane and tourist shops at the end of the dock.
These days I live on an island. As I write this, I’m sitting on my patio surrounded by lush, large-leafed tropical plants — all Fejkas sourced from Ikea – and I have something to confess:
My current home is less aspirational resort living and more, “I can see the freeway from my front door.”
I live on an island. I do!
My island life is not as fake as my banana tree, it’s just that not all islands are created equal. While there is a sandy shore here — if you know where to find it— there is also the din of traffic 24-7. I own several hats, all useful in the various seasons of walking the dog along the water. And yes, there are sandals too. The orthopedic kind.
Sea glass and seaplanes? Not so much, but my windows sometimes rattle with low-flying commercial jets. There’s also the blast of train horns in the distance, a bridge that sounds a siren every time the deck is raised for ships, and pedestrians at all hours — it is summer after all.
Idyllic island life? Well…. We can’t all be Hemingway sipping cocktails in Key West, but weirdly, yes, this island is inspiring. The noise, the action, the relentless activity from construction to tourists to transients. It’s all here in a few square miles surrounded by water.
Stay cool this summer!
Jamie Brazil is a lifelong morning person, happiest when the sun is rising. She writes novels and screenplays with her husband, and had a hand in a certain book of wisdom authored by her beloved Bloodhound. Writing life aside, Jamie has worked as a unit production manager for multiple television documentaries aired on NHK, BBC, and throughout Asia. Learn more about Jamie at her website.
