Marna Clarke

I’ve lived many places in America, always hugging a coastline as I’ve migrated from my birthplace in Louisiana to North Carolina, Washington, DC, New York City, Connecticut, Martha’s Vineyard, MA, and now West Marin County in California just north of San Francisco.  I suppose I’m drawn by a need of security, of some remedy for my mild claustrophobia around confinement.  I stick my feet into the sea and anxiety dissipates; I’m one with the water and earth.

My two favorite places are Martha’s Vineyard and Inverness, CA, where I now live.  Similarities abound between them:  both tourist destinations with exquisite nature and a broad mix of residents from free spirits living under the radar, intellectuals, return-to-the-earth simpler types, to the rich and famous and accomplished.  There’s also the fresh fishy smell of the sea, the wind whistling down chimneys, the squawking of seagulls overhead, the taste of oysters or clams just pulled from the water, the funky tucked-away places to eat, the far-off sound of the surf, and the embrace of a small community in which anonymity disappears.

Cover image: Trees in Fog