Well! You'll hate me I know, but I'm outta here Possums! To quote my darling oft quoted Madeline Kahn, "It's twue! It's twue!" I'm off to the land of the Blue Rinse Meanies, of large 1970's Cadillacs, and Blue Plate Specials. Yes my darlings, it's true, after years in absentia, I'm off to visit Maman in Sarasota for the holidays. For eleven days, I shall write, read, sleep, eat, wander the boulevards and byways and beaches, gawk at art deco buildings, avoid being struck by old people who can't see over the wheel of their 1982 Chrysler LeBaron (as they weave from one side of the boulevard to the other) and generally just try to relax, and hope the dog doesn't get devoured by a stray alligator or greedy eaglet on the prowl while we're out walking. (I knew Mother should have gotten a Catahoula Leopard Dog, those suckers can take out a wild boar. Hmmm, that would be a big hit here on Church St.)
Don't cry for me Andy L. Webber, it's on the Gulf, which means, that, (nascent oil slicks aside) the weather should be fair to mildly decent. Which is a helluva lot better than here, which is something akin to hell in an ice-bucket. Dry, cold and without any champagne to dull the pain. Somewhat like being in Stephen Harper's cabinet, I shouldn't wonder.
I'm not a HUGE fan of the Sunshine State (especially when it's not sunny) but Sarasota has always been different in my view. Despite it's reputation for being the destination of the elderly, rich and deaf, (and perhaps because of this) it has, surprisingly, a lovely understated charm to it, devoid of the tackiness of say, Daytona Beach or Miami. True, there are too many condos, and they unfortunately got rid of a lot of historically valuable buildings in the 1970's, but there are still enough around, to give you a fair idea of what this city must have looked like a century or so ago. It was never on par with Charleston and Savannah in terms of it's architectural beauty and historical significance or New Orleans in terms of it's cultural mosaic, but then it was never meant to be. It's not as old, nor was it ever that big. It was just an old coast town on the gulf, where wealthy northerners spent a lot of winters. But it became a city unto itself, and developed a certain kind of charm. Nothing decadent or imposing about it, Sarasota just has an easy going charm to it. At least, that's how I remember it.
I always find I enjoy my visits to the States, and am always a little shocked at how friendly I find Americans, and am slightly discomfited as well. We take such a perverse delight in mocking them up here, that when we actually do meet up with them on their own turf, and are welcomed with such a warm display of cheer and bonhomie, that I always feel vaguely ashamed of my own mockeries. The truth is, I don't know them at all. I only know what the popular media has told me about them. The people themselves, as infrequently as I have met them, I have always found singularly charming and delightful. Now, naturally, you could say I've been lucky, well, of course I've been lucky. But it doesn't make it nonetheless true. From New York City to Sarasota, from Georgia cab drivers to Broadway waitresses, I've always been treated with polite warmth and gracious openness.
I wonder now, if it isn't really a kind of insidious snide jealousy that Canadians have of Americans that works upon us half the time, and I wonder if the media backs us up in that estimation. Like the querulous plain bookworm younger sister of the glamourous, popular older one. We take a secret delight in their failings, but are nonetheless thrilled when they notice and praise us without our having to ask for it. It's a bit childish this notion, but countries are populated by people, not ideas and theories, and people are ultimately, childish. Look around you, and watch a coffee line up at 8:45 a.m. at a Starbucks downtown in the banking district if you don't believe me.
I suppose I'll know the answer better when I'm waiting for a coffee in Siesta Key next week. Anyway, have a lovely holiday all, and I'll see you when I return from the Punic Wars....
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