Old Florida

Dust, stale ice cube, palm frond, hint of pool chemical--I've been smelling that particular combination, or something close to it, off and on all day, and though it's probably just plain old carpet mold, it inevitably conjures up the Florida of my youth. I've been in Florida for all of 30 hours, but when I smell that smell, time slows and vats, and there I am, warm, wet, and deep in the sinkhole of my thoughts. I'm actually having the best time on my reading tour: sweet students, sweet conversations. And I'm liking the challenge of reading something new and different every day. Just now a thunderstorm is coming in from the Gulf. Outside, beneath the streetlights, the seagrape leaves look scorched.

Most of these pictures come from St. Petersburg and Pass-a-Grille....
















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My Reading Log. (The next week happens to be my version of National Poetry Month. To be updated through next Thursday.)

Tuesday, March 23: RUTGERS-NEWARK
--Two excerpts from THE BURNING HOUSE
--Excerpt from new memoir

Wednesday, March 24: VALENCIA COLLEGE, Orlando
--Excerpt from The BURNING HOUSE
--"Junta" from Famous Builder
--The Boy and His Mother Are Stuck!
--The Pillory
--Two excerpts from LAWNBOY
--Excerpt from new memoir

Thursday, March 25: ECKERD COLLEGE, St. Petersburg
--What Might Life Be Like in the 21st Century?
--Excerpt from "New World," FAMOUS BUILDER
--Excerpt from new memoir

Friday, March 26: USF, Tampa
--What Might Life Be Like in the 21st Century?
--The Pillory
--Excerpt from new memoir

Monday, March 29: MIAMI-DADE COLLEGE, Miami
--Excerpt from THE BURNING HOUSE
--What Might Life Be Like in the 21st Century?
--The Roofers
--Three excerpts from LAWNBOY
--Excerpt from new memoir

Earlier, as part of a class visit, I read The Pillory

Thursday, April 1: UNIVERSITY OF TAMPA, Tampa
--What Might Life Be Like in the 21st Century?
--The Roofers
--The Pillory
--Excerpt from new memoir

Earlier, as part of a class visit, I read:
--The Physics of the Known World
--The Boy and His Mother are Stuck!