This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Lorraine English, a 72-year-old Floridian who moved to North Carolina in 2025. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity. I lived in San Francisco for many years, but in 2000, I moved to Bradenton, Florida, a town between Sarasota and St. Petersburg. I lived there for more than 20 years, right along the Manatee River, which runs into the Gulf of Mexico. Bradenton is a medium-sized town, but like a lot of places in Florida, it's