"Crane Creek Sunset":There is a tropical Crane Creek where I spent several years "growing up" in Florida, which is what I first thought of when I improvised this piece. It feeds into the Indian River (actually the world's largest lagoon) and it has a small boat harbor at the widest part. But I was remembering and thinking of how peaceful it is further up stream, where local people say they have seen many manatees browsing around. However, I have always regretted that I only have a couple of photos of it.

"Drifting Seed": The score on this was written to commemorate a person and the spirit of the area. (See the explanation on the sheet music). 

"Edge of the Lagoon": When I was  about 11 my family moved to the Cape Canaveral area, during the period of early space exploration. My father was a civil engineer and he had a role inspecting the small "tracking stations" that dotted the Atlantic, to make sure they were structurally sound. One time he used animal trails to lay out the access to one of them on a difficult mountain, and sometimes after his inspections he would bring me small things, such as little bead dolls from the distant islands. 

My love of nature started even earlier and I only lived there until 19, but I've wanted to make this music series because of the impression that period left. Besides having a wonderful piano teacher, in Florida I did things like collect water that is always standing in the low areas, and carried it home to watch small creatures swim under my bedroom microscope. My high school principal was an avid amateur botanist, and the lore of science was exciting to the generation growing up during that time. I wasn't any kind of brave swimmer or adventurer, but I did such things as illustrate tropical plants for science fair projects, etc. This piece commemorates Merritt Island as it used to be, before it became lined with private houses.