Category: The Wandering Writer

A Love Letter to Key West

On the last night of my three week residency at The Studios of Key West, I reflect back on that first day, when, bone tired from missed connections and a four hour shuttle ride, I arrived to find that almost immediately I was in love.  It might have been the smell of flowers in the air, or the ocean breeze, or it could have been the wonderful staff of TSKW waiting to greet me.  Or maybe it was the umbrella of the mango tree dripping with fruit, its branches filling the sky above my little house. Or the house itself, with its spiral staircase and deck up in the midst of the mangos.  Or the geckos that raced across the sculpture garden outside my door.

My love affair with this magical island started that night.  But as love does, the more I got to know Key West, the more my affection grew.  Key West, I love you for your Victorian architecture, for your rich history and your diverse culture, for your food, and your sunsets and your beaches.  I love that I can get a Cuban coffee, walk next door for a French pastry, then head another block down for conch fritters.

But mostly I love your people, the welcoming, non-judgmental, creative and varied people who call this magical island their home.  The people who show up for gallery openings and readings and fundraisers for the arts.  The people who work hard all day and still have the energy to go salsa dancing half the night.  Who welcomed this traveler and took her in, took her to Louis’ Backyard and to the Green Parrot, took her dancing and gave her space to create. 

I’ll miss you, Conch Republic, but I’ll be back, I swear.  And we’ll go dancing on the beach at sunset.

Hemingway slept (and wrote and drank) here

Hemingway House

During my last week in Key West, I’ve been trying to do some of the touristy things I haven’t bothered with before:  conch train ride, shipwrecker’s museum, that sort of thing.  Today I spent several hours wandering through the Hemingway House.  I hadn’t planned on going .  I’ve been on a tight budget and it seemed silly to pay $20.  But as things so often seem to happen in Key West, a new friend down here arranged for me to get in, and this morning I hopped on my bike and rode over. 

And I am so glad I did.  Not only did I get to see original furniture and a well-preserved house, but the tour guide was a wealth of Hemingway facts and gossip.  I learned a great deal about Hemingway and his women, Hemingway and his cats, Hemingway and his pool, Hemingway and his writing.  And I actually got a little chill peeking into the study where he wrote, geek that I am.

So now I’ve seen where he worked, I’ve seen where he slept, and I’ve seen where he drank.  You really can’t go anywhere in Key West without running into some reference to him.  

Hemingway's study

There are many other writers and artists’ that have made Key West home, at least for a while.  Tennessee Williams, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, and currently Judy Blume.  Even Robert Frost wrote here in the winters.   But Hemingway is the name you most often hear associated with Key West.  And the name tourists associate with the island.  Which sometimes causes debate among the locals.  One night some people I met got into a great discussion over whether Hemingway was as talented a writer as Tennessee Williams.  It was a fun and lively argument, and the men were well read and knowledgeable, much more knowledgeable than I am about either Hemingway or Williams.  As things became more and more heated, I mostly listened.  My horse ain’t in that race, as one of the guys said.   

I don’t remember if anyone conceded victory, but listening to the smart, passionate arguments on either side, I thought, what a wonderful town, where the late night fighting is about the virtues of one (dead) writer over another.  Where but in Key West?

What I am, and am not

Welcome to my thoughts about writing and life and the writing life.  About finding your passion, no matter how late in life, and following that passion, wherever it takes you.  Oh, yeah, and sometimes about just stuff.    

First, in the interest of full disclosure, let me tell you what I am not.

1.  I am not a travel writer, in spite of title of this blog, though I am a writer, and I may at times talk about my travels.

2.  I am not a graduate of an MFA program.

3.  I am not an expert on craft, or getting published, or how to get Oprah to look at your brilliant but misunderstood unpublished novel.

4.  I am not a self-proclaimed intellectual who will review inaccessible books that only other self-proclaimed intellectuals read and pretend to understand.

5.  I am not really an expert on anything other than perseverance. 

Now, what I am.

1.  I am a struggling writer.  But all writers are struggling in one way or another, so I’m nothing special there.

2.  I am passionate about everything to do with literature: reading it and writing it and talking about it.

3.  I am a late bloomer, only beginning to submit my short stories in my forties.

4.  I am a believer.  I believe that hard work will pay off, that good work will eventually find a home, and that the most important thing we can ever do in our lives is try.

5.  I am a cheerleader.  If you need a push, or encouragement to take the next step, if you need pats on the back or kicks in the butt, I am your girl.   Ask my writing group.  They’ll tell you. I’m the one who’s not interested in excuses.

So now you know.  This is not about teaching you how to write, or how to get published.  It’s just one writer’s journey.  Hopefully I’ll learn something in that journey that will help you along in yours.