Seven days in the sun (and much rain) of central Florida. Orlando. St. Petersburg. Cocoa Beach. Kennedy Space Center. Sea World. Universal Studios. Tampa. The Salvador Dali Museum. Hydroplaning tires in a 6 and 1/2 inch rainfall (in twelve hours) at sixty-five mph. Slight sunburn. Standing in the pouring rain at Universal to get on the Simpson’s virtual ride (Krustyland Amusement Park). Manatees (both in the wild and at Sea World). Shamu (back after having killed a trainer by drowning her). Sharks. Walrus. Seals. Sea lions. Otters. Jelly fish (thankfully, only in the tank and not at St. Pete or Cocoa Beach). Sam Adams. Wine. Good food. My wife’s fingernails digging into the skin of my right arm as the rental car slips and slides through the heart of a storm that brought 70-100mph winds. Thirteen year old Jack joining in, criticizing the fact that we’re on the road (could have been in the ditch). Great food. Terrible atmosphere (Joe’s Crab Shack…we booked before the waiter arrived). Bikinis. Muscle bound guys who could bench press me one handed (that’s a bone to Rene’). And reading:
The Big Sky by A.B. Guthrie, Jr. (See Mark’s Reviews on the dashboard in a day or so for my review.)
The Writer Magazine (April, 2011: No review; just great practical tips for the guys and gals like me who want to write and sell their words.)
The Paris Review (Winter, 2010: Again, no review but if you can find a copy, Wow! The interviews with Jonathan Franzen and Minnesota author, Louise Erdrich are worth the price of the issue, not to mention several terrific works of short fiction and some outstanding poetry.)
Minnetonka Review (Spring, 2011: They rejected my stuff but hey, who hasn’t. Won’t hold that against them. A nice collection of fiction and poetry, though a bit disappointing that they don’t have but a couple locals contributing. Must be we hicks can’t write. Oh, shit. I said I wouldn’t do that!)
Glimmer Train (Winter, 2011: Like I said, this magazine and The Sun are my two favorite periodicals after The New World Finn.)
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway (Restored Edition. Again, watch for a review in a few days or so up on the “Mark’s Reviews” portion of the dashboard.)
Red Moon over White Sea by Laila Hietamies (Given to me by my buddy Henkel to inspire me to complete Sukalaiset: The Kindred, the sequel to Suomalaiset I’m working on right now. Again, watch “Mark’s Reviews” for my thoughts on this Finnish novel.
To be honest, I’d started Red Moon, The Writer, The Paris Review (sadly, sans Plimpton), and Glimmer Train before I left Duluth for the sun. But I pretty much ate up other writers’ stuff while the sea crashed, my kid chased waves, my wife lounged, and spring breakers cavorted around us. I was so engrossed in Glimmer Train while basking in the 90 degree day on the coral sands of St. Pete that I missed the manatee that came into a crowd of kids in thigh deep water and scared them shitless.
“He bumped up against my leg,” one of the little suntanned girls said to her mom as she ran shrieking from the water, likely having confused the curious mammal considerably. “I thought it was a shark.”
Jack saw the manatee. It likely made his trip.
I guess that’s all that really matters.
Peace
Mark
P.S.
Yes, the title of the Hemingway memoir is spelled “MovEable”. One of Hem’s habits, I guess, adding “e’s” where they aren’t needed. Seems odd for the guy who invented sparse writing to toss in surplus vowels. But that’s the way it is.