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October 26th
Florida 2010
From New Orleans we reached Florida – for me a magical tropical land, although a territory in which our beloved Stefanie, following the Broward County chad fiasco of 2000, refuses to set foot. For our first three nights we stayed at the Crones Cradle Conserve – a splendid organic farm in the prairie wetlands of Citra south of Gainesville. Here we had some lovely times with Jeri Baldwin and Deborah Ann Light – two most remarkable and accomplished women. The house alone is a wonder of natural wood paneling and crafted detail to the minutest degree. We feasted, drank and rested and loved every minute in this all-embracing atmosphere with the most welcoming and engaging staff from Lee, Brian and Dawn to Jennifer and several more whose names I cannot now recall. Armed with jams, jellies and organic honey, we then departed for Sarasota.
Jay Wilson was the Peter Lang editor with whom I published my first book on The Roman Festival Calendar of Numa Pompilius in 1986. We have been good friends ever since. Jay is wondrously easy and erudite and fun, and we stayed here four nights out of five with him and Markus. We were 'exposed' to a full range of antipodes from a Hallowe'en costume mega-shop that epitomized for me the crass American materialism as it has evolved that is utterly horrifying to the Ringling Museum with its magnificent house, stunning grounds and splendid collection of art. We also had the better part of a day in Tampa at both the University of Tampa where Markus is attending business school and America's cigar capitol, Ybor, where we had lunch in a Greek restaurant. UT's central building, Plant Hall, is the lovely former Tampa Bay Hotel that was built in 1891. Photos along the corridors convey a former era of aesthetic grandness. Even today, the campus must be one of the most beautiful there is.
We interrupted our stay with Jay and Markus to drive down to Naples where my mother had lived and to see her dear and lovely friend Fern Pepe. With her grandson occupying her guestroom at present, we were set up in the Naples Bay Resort in a veritable suite with full kitchen, washer and dryer, living room, balcony overlooking the water and all lacking for nothing. I even had wifi. With Fern's beautiful daughter Michele and Michele's husband Chip, we were taken on a perfect cruise of Naples Bay, the river and to the edge of the Gulf where we saw dolphins and watched the sun set into the sea – all while drinking champagne. Dinner at the Bonefish Grill, and the next morning we attended the service at the awesome Unity Church of Naples where I got in addition to see the memorial stone I had requested for my mother and the one that she had previously done for my brother. Fern took us afterward to Fifth Avenue South for breakfast. After driving back toward Sarasota, we met Jay and Markus on Casey Key and had dinner at the Casey Key Fish House. The following morning, just before departure, Jay showed us some awesome video recordings of earlier Bolshoi performances
The next sojourn was Gainesville as guests of Bron and Beth Taylor. Bron had me give two talks at the University of Florida – one on the 'future of religion' (of which I have no real clue) and the other on a narrative perspective of counterculture religiosity. Apart from a wondrous walk in a memorial woods near where we stayed, dinners at the 706 and 101 restaurants, lunch with Deborah at Oak Hammock, a viewing of "Modern Family," and assorted malts and martinis, it was a flowing time for always interesting dialogue and conversation.
This last was little different for the next evening with Phillip Lucas in DeLand where all ensued well past my more usual bedtime. The beverage on this occasion was beer which included Redhook ESB and later some milk stout when we listened to the guitar band music of Crazy Otto at a beer garden. This was central Florida at its most authentic though perhaps toned down for a university town. The Main Street of DeLand is a touch of old-fashioned Americana. Everywhere there are hints of what we also just chanced to see in Gainesville when we missed a turn and found ourselves in the 'Old Florida' of tropically situated venerable Live Oak trees dripping with Spanish Moss.
From DeLand we stopped for a late morning / early afternoon at Gary and Hedi's in New Smyrna for a visit with Gene. From there we also talked to Susan in Woodstock. After twelve unsuccessful hip operations, Gene has been bed-ridden for more years now than I can recall. His additional ailments are countless – including merely 20% of normal vision. As his care-givers told me, Gene seems to have increasingly acquiesced and surrendered to his fate. Easier perhaps, but the fight has gone. The warmth, however, remains.
And we also learned via email that Marlowe was feeling unwell, went to hospital and had his blocked gall bladder removed. Apparently it is not necessary to have one. I have yet to be able to speak with him, but Dan is looking after him in San Diego. If Dan has said it once, he has said a few times, "There isn't anyone else to look after Marlowe. I guess it's me." We are grateful for that.
And one other thing we are grateful for – specifically here in Florida now along the Atlantic Coast – has been the heavenly loan from some dear friends of a condo overlooking the ocean. Think of spice-strewn beach along side a grove of palm trees. It does not get much better than this. We have been savouring paradise, resting, swimming, preparing for the imminent AAR gathering in Atlanta, seeing an early Gena Rowlands performance in a Suspense Theater production that included Ida Lupino, and watching the blood-red autumn moon rise over the sea and dance with stars and clouds while an extensive but silent thunderstorm flashes to the north. And all this with the surfeit of memory from these cross-country travels and of having so many wonderful times with so many wonderful and much loved people. It does not get much better than this.