Spring Break
I haven’t posted anything here for quite a while. You see, it’s been a long cold winter and I’ve been hunkered down trying not to freeze to death. Yeah… I hear ya. I’ve been in a nice warm house, so it’s not really like I would freeze to death… and it’s not really hunkerin’ down. It’s just that with the short, dark, dismal, cold days I don’t go off on many adventures. And it’s mostly adventures I write about. Ok… there was that short six day cruise in early January, but since that was a Pacific cruise, that hardly counts. I didn’t even go in the water.
But finally… FINALLY!!! It’s Spring Break!
The good thing about not being in college… or any school… is that I can take spring break anytime I want. I don’t care how old you are, everyone deserves a spring break. For several years, I went to the Northernmost Caribbean and participated in the happy times. The good thing then was that I got to be there for all of the spring break weeks. Starting around the end of February and going till the first week or so of April, the Northernmost Caribbean fills up with “Spring Break.” And I got to be there for all the weeks.
Yes… some years I had to go to work at a regular day-job. Just the same, the days got warmer… the water got warmer… and each year those luscious mounds of white sand got more luscious. I would go to the beach both week-end days for sure, and I would often go dip my toes in the water after work once Daylight Savings Time kicked in.
And now that I’ve traded in my “day-job” for writing, I can go anytime I want. I can stay as long as I want. Of course, there are still deadlines so I tend to cram all the stuff I can in before spring comes along. I work long days and nights… kinda hunkering down while it’s cold and wintry. Then when spring breaks I’m a little ahead of the game. I can spend as much time getting a fresh sunburn and having as many frozen concoctions to help me hang on as I want.
The last couple of years have been a bit different. I sit here today, far from the Northernmost Caribbean, daydreamin’ and wishin’ I was there. I’ve been spending a lot of time lately on the Internet looking at inviting pics of tropical places. What makes it worse is that the weather has turned “nice” where I am… and I’m not in one of those inviting tropical places. So, instead of working on one of the books I am in the middle of writing, I started dreamin-n-schemin on the months ahead.
First, I’ve already booked a quickie. No… not that kind of quickie. I’ve booked a four day cruise out of Long Beach going to Catalina Island, and Ensenada. OK, it’s not the Caribbean, but this year, it’s the best I’m going to do for now.
Then in May sometime, I’m finally heading for the Northernmost Caribbean. But I’m not going directly there. For some time I’ve been working on a book titled, “Travels With a Naked Parrot”. (That was the first working title but then, aren’t all parrots naked… so maybe it will be “Travels With Sergeant Pepper.”)
“Travels With a Naked Parrot” was inspired by a John Steinbeck book I read as a teenager… “Travels Charlie”. Steinbeck pulled a travel trailer behind his car and went all around the United States. It was a sort of a “discover America” journey. He took his dog, “Charlie” along with him; thus the title. After reading “Travels With Charlie”, I thought that someday I could make a trip like that and write about it. By the way… a lot of folks now believe that Steinbeck, being the novelist he was, sat in his travel trailer and made up most of the book.
So… this year as I make my way to the Northernmost Caribbean, I’m going to make a bunch of stops along the way. I’ll be taking my time getting there doing research. No, I’m not trying to “discover America”. Instead, I’m going to go to all the places that I’ve said, “One of these days I’m going to go there.” Well this year, I’m really going to go there.
I’ll be taking my parrot, Sergeant Pepper, with me. I’ll share some of my “Travels with a Naked Parrot” with you here on the blog. I’m going to keep kind of a journal and I’ll be posting stuff here. Of course, you’ll have to wait till I finish the book to get it all. Just the same, I hope you can have fun with me along the way.
Next Stop – The Colorado River