The Beauty of the Past

I am jealous of my main character.  

For those of you unfamiliar with my story, she can see the past.  And in a city like St. Augustine, this can be a very confusing gift.  For Alex, "it can be very difficult to keep the line between the past and the present."  (A little tribute to Edie Beale :)

This gift is sometimes unsettling, as many of the events of the past are not very pleasant.  Many battles were fought for this city- many lives taken.  There are dark secrets, grisly murders, and mysteries around every corner.  And yet there are also moments of overwhelming beauty in the past- like when the city was filled with orange groves, the the men were dapper and chivalrous, the women were elegant and refined, the Alcazar was an oppulent hotel, where they enjoyed the indoor pool in the afternoons and held concerts in the ballroom above.  There are stories of romance, honor, courageous deeds, and love.

Alex has access to all these events, though at first she is unaware of the power she possesses.  But for me, I am only able to imagine what it must have been like.  And yet, I suppose there is beauty in that too- in learning what we can from the past and telling our own story of it.