About Patricia and Pollywog Creek...

Because you often ask:... my camera ... and my email...and my first date with a boy and other randomness

Welcome to Pollywog Creek.

When my husband Louis' career in the citrus industry moved us to this rural community in south Florida twenty years ago, the realtor attempted to sell me on this property by convincing me that the "Pollywog Creek" address was unique and quaint. I was not impressed. Neither was I particularly drawn to the small, ordinary ranch style house, or the acreage with a pond and creek. I might be one of those rare Florida natives, but I've never adjusted to the heat, humidity, bugs and snakes. I've always been more attracted to air-conditioning and weekend trips to the woods only when the weather was perfect. As far as I was concerned, the "Pollywog Creek" address was the only selling point and it took several weeks to convince me to live here. Little did I know that years later "Pollywog Creek" would not only become my trademark in blogland, but it would be the place where God would draw me outdoors with a camera (even in the heat and humidity) and teach me more than I ever could have learned inside the walls of the most beautiful house.

My handsome husband and I have been married almost 33 years and have raised three boys, our nephew Michael and sons Nick and Casey, and a beautiful daughter Emily. All three boys are married with wonderful families of their own and have given us five beautiful, fun and fantastic grandchildren - Tabby, Kari, Mason, Gavin and Austin.

Emily will be completing her high school studies at home over the summer of 2009 before beginning a congressional internship in Washington DC in the months to come. You would think that after 30 years of "mothering" that I would welcome an empty nest, but such is not the case. Children are a blessing, and I have been blessed.

Louis and I are both native Floridians. I was born in the horse country of north central Florida, grew up in Winter Haven surrounded by lakes and orange groves, and have lived from just north of the Everglades to the border of Georgia in the Florida panhandle - and various places in between. As much as I complain about Florida and our hot and humid summers, we have sand between our toes and we'll likely never leave.

After graduating from nursing school in 1972, I experienced a successful and rewarding career in professional nursing. I co-authored research, wrote training manuals, and taught seminars in nephrology nursing and related topics for professional development before retiring in 1985 to stay at home with my family full time. As rewarding as that nursing career was, it doesn't hold a candle to my career at home - "bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, and helping those in trouble"* on Pollywog Creek.

Casey and Jessi's Wedding - May 2005

I've known about Jesus and called myself a Christian all my life, but I was in my late-twenties before I started living like it. I was raised in the Methodist Church, but I'm reformed in my doctrinal beliefs today. We worship on Sundays with other believers in Christ at a Southern Baptist Church, but the truth is I love the Body of Christ and can worship any time and any place where two or more are gathered in His name.

For many more years than I have been photographing flowers, birds, insects and weeds, I've been drawn to write with a love for crafting words into prose. Perish the thought that I should ever leave home without a notebook or journal. Much of my writings are deeply personal - tools for healing and healthy emotional venting - and are hidden in private journals. Nonetheless, a few of them have found a home not just on Pollywog Creek, but on the pages of...

Our interview with Rebecca St. James

Our interview with BarlowGirl

Homeschooling Today

In this empty-nest season I'm poised to enter, I'm trusting that God has plans for my future that will bring glory to His name here on Pollywog Creek, whether it is through the lens of my camera or the keyboard on my desk. It's all up to Him.

* I Timothy 5:10