I’ve personally found “Sunshine State” to be the most interesting and engaging essay so far. Maybe that says more about me as a person than the essays themselves but I thought it was a great combination of information, drama, intrigue, personal discussion the matter, investigative reporting, and character. There’s a lot happening in this essay so I didn’t mind the length like I did in some of her other essays. It followed pretty much the same structure, parts of history of some subject combined with her personal experiences, but everything was complicated, interesting, and was filled with interesting characters. Ralph was such an interesting figure with so much going on from his past and his current state and his relationships with other people. There were mysteries involving money and people dodging Gerard. There are birds dying and birds being hoarded. There’s this weird relationship that this man has with birds and his weird complications with his father, Jim, his ex-wives and children. Gerard actually has reactions to what’s going on, something I think she was missing in some of the other stories. There’s humor (like finding homes for the little spideys). Honestly, I just really liked this essay and I think it was because there was a lot happening and lot of characters at play and it made the essay really interesting. The things that are at the heart of this story that is seemingly about a bird sanctuary (like the crazy bird man and his relationships with people and animals and the past) are what make this essay come alive.

I think it also captured another aspect of Florida that has been touched upon in earlier essays but never fully discussed and that is Florida’s wildlife. This is the story about a bird sanctuary and wildlife and birds and preservation are (as I understand it) an important part of Florida itself. She’s talked about consumerism and history and the circus and golf and now she’s discussing nature. It adds a fuller picture to her world and the book as a whole.