Arlene Mandell:  

Life Hi everyone. I'm a retired English professor (William Paterson University in Wayne, NJ) now living in Santa Rosa, CA. Deep in my heart, I always knew I was a California girl, though I don't surf. And I must confess that Rockaway Beach is much nicer than Bodega Bay. Santa Rosa is 1 1/2 hours north of the Golden Gate Bridge in Sonoma County, a wine country region sometimes called "the new Provence." We live on the side of the Sonoma Mountain overlooking the Valley of the Moon. Our nearest neighbors are: red-tailed hawks, owls, hummingbirds, quail (like pigeons only prettier), jack rabbits, white-tailed deer, wild turkeys and the occasional snake and scorpion. Our trees are nothing like whatever grew in Brooklyn - madrone, manzanita, toyon. Larry and I will soon celebrate our 24th wedding anniversary. I have a son in San Francisco and a daughter and beloved (only) grandson on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Our pets are Gabrielle, a 12-year-old bichon, and Gatsby, a Turkish angora cat who prowls and hunts all night, then returns to eat and sleep all day. I write poetry, essays, and short stories. Nearly 300 pieces have been published in the past 15 years in such diverse places as The New York Times and T...Expand for more