Spring time in Florida is not a matter of peeping violets or bursting buds merely. It is a riot of color, in nature–glistening green leaves, pink, blue, purple, yellow blossoms that fairly stagger the visitor from the north.
-Zora Neale Hurston
As a child growing up in Miami, Florida, I remember how familiar the persistent humidity, buzzing mosquitos, palm fronds, relentless floral blooms, and noncommittal-rain showers felt. The flora and fauna would transport me to my family’s small ancestral island in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico. Miami’s tropical topography always felt like home: mangroves, families of banana trees, blue skies adorned with construction cranes and crimson cardinals, all drenched in the distinct aroma of fried plantains and mango composting on the moist soil…