AMERICA

Mark and Jayne at a quayside restaurant.

My first meal in America, on the instructions of Adam, me eldest, was a hamburger. A few days later, also on his instructions, I bought donuts – the things we do for our kids.

The next day we went to the Perez Art Gallery in Downtown Miami. It was stunning. Most of the paintings were from South America and vibrant with life, colour and imagination.

We decided to leave Miami early and drove across Florida on Alligator Alley. Sadly, I didn’t see any alligators. Mark and Jayne’s apartment was lovely and tranquil and my bedroom, Mark’s office, overlooked a pool with a fountain. They made me feel very welcome. After a shrimp dinner we watched the film Nyad about Diana Nyad who made countless attempts to swim the 110 miles from Cuba to Key West. She made it on her fifth attempt when she was 64. I was impressed and enthused by her passion and commitment while also thinking it was a crazy thing to do. Both are true, I suppose.

Mark and I did a homage to her next day by going to a fish restaurant overlooking a pool.

I had snapper for the first time. Thankfully, despite it’s name, it did not bite back.

In the evening we went to one of Mark’s two reading groups and was made very welcome. There were some excellent pieces of writing, although I didn’t always understand some of the accents.

When we planned our visit we were going to fly internally on Allegiant Airlines. When we had to cancel they gave us a voucher for $500. It had long since run out but when I asked if I could get it extended they instantly said yes. So I planned to use it now. Mark, however, was still not fully recovered from Covid so we agreed that I would go somewhere on my own. Jayne suggested either Ashville or Knoxville but then I discovered that I could fly to Key West from a nearby airport and she recommended that. It was a great decision. More about Key West in a future post.

That evening we went to a wonderful string concert given by young musicians followed by a question-and-answer session. I was impressed at how erudite audience members were.

I went to Costco which I heard was immense. It was. Not only that, the items on sale were also huge, with milk sold in quarts, huge bottles of sauces and wine and even some items sold by the bushel. I’ve no idea how big a bushel is, although I know that you can hide your light beneath it. (Although I gather in this context it means only a cover for a lamp.) Ah, I’ve just looked it up. A bushel is equal to 2 kennings (obsolete), 4 pecks, or 8 dry gallons. So now we know.

Jayne had arranged a whole series of cultural events and the next one was a talk by artist, Judy Pfaff, a Londoner by birth who had lived in the USA for most of her life – although she could still manage a cockney accent. We saw her exhibition which included an installation based on the damage caused by a hurricane. Despite the grim subject there was something hopeful in the juxtaposition of objects, she has a lightness of touch in all her work.

In the evening we went to the Ringling Theatre. It had been built in Asolo, Italy in 1798, dismantled in the 1930s by the Fascists and transported to Florida after the war, where it was rebuilt. We saw a stunning performance by the Francophonies about the dreadful tyranny wreaked upon the Congo by King Leopald II of Belgium. It was one of the best, most powerful and moving performances I’ve ever seen.

Mark and I had pedicures and then we went to anther if his groups to discuss articles from the New Yorker. It is run by Alan Freedman, a very skilled moderator and was hugely enjoyable. Most of these events are run by volunteers and are very impressive. Went to a beach to watch the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico.

The next day we went to a very nice restaurant in Venice for a meal with Phil Mygatt, an author from his writing group and his wife Meredith.

The following day was Thanksgiving. We went to a French restaurant as the American ones can be overwhelming. It was excellent with Turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and prunes. And a very nice bottle of wine. It was my first Thanksgiving dinner, apart from the countless ones we watched on Friends. Janine once exclaimed, ‘How often do they have Thanksgiving in America?’ On Friends, it seemed more than once a year.