GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA
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I have never swum in this pool, which belongs to a University of Florida art professor; I have only stood beside it at night while attending an end-of-semester party. The professor paints bright, personable abstracts––lots of fat squiggly spaghetti lines, trellis-like crosshatching, all neat-edged, yellows and oranges, lime green, watermelon green. I steered clear of most of the hors d’oeuvres at the party because I was newly pregnant and cold cuts and soft cheeses featured heavily. Instead I stuck with the honeydew and pineapple. I’m not usually one for a kidney-shaped pool, but from where I was standing, paper plate of fresh fruit chunks in one hand, plastic fork in the other, this pool and its studio backdrop happily reminded me of David Hockney’s “A Bigger Splash.” Though less California, more swampy Florida. That night I also learned that I only like to eat fruit with a fork, which is what I have tried to do every day and night since.