Arising at 6am

Earnest Hemingway is one of my son's favorite writers. He picked up _The Old Man and the Sea_ last summer and to my surprise, he read it and enjoyed it. He and his mentor have moved on to a couple of other Hemingway novels and Frank relates stories of fishing and bull fighting and hunting. He grasps what I think is most complicated about Hemingway - the expression inherent in the story that is not specifically stated. While watching Star Trek together one night, Frank observed that Hemingway was similar to a Vulcan - everyone has feelings, but not everyone has to act on them or talk about them.

So when we talked about going to Florida, Frank and I knew that we wanted to go to Hemingway's House, and the girls knew that they did not.

"His writing is simplistic," Anna says. (Her view is actually shared by one of my favorite writers - Nabakov - who commented, "Hemingway writes nice books for boys.")

"He won a Pulitzer Prize," I say.

"You're simplistic!" her brother says.

"Yeah, well, I don't care what prizes he won. I am not going to some stupid museum just because other people think he's a good writer," Anna said.

Mary's objections were a little different. She has political issues with him.

"He was a drunk and killed animals and fish for fun," she said.

"That's true," I say.

"It's a sport!" her brother says.

Ultimately Frank and I set about doing what we wanted our first morning in Key West. Frank and I set the alarm to get up for the sunrise. I sat on the beach while Frank walked and explored as the sun came up. We went back to the hotel for breakfast, checked in with the girls (who were still sleeping) and then went to the Hemingway Home.

We got a little lost and asked for directions from a man on the sidewalk.

"We're looking for Hemingway's?," I said.

"He's not home," the man said in deadpan. And then he told us we were close and redirected us.

The tour really was a highlight for me. Frank and I loved the cats and the pictures of fishing. We enjoyed the stories about Hemingway's relationship with his various women and his children and pets. I think Frank was the most well versed Hemingway fan on the tour. At the end he and the tour guide talked about the pictures in the hallway and the difference between a sail fish and a marlin.

I learned a lot about Hemingway. His home is a small two story home. He arose every morning at 6am to write in his studio. He wrote until lunchtime and then broke to eat and go fishing. He would then go to Happy Hour at Sloppy Joe's. The bar owner teased him that he bought a house next to the lighthouse so he could always find his way home at the end of the night.

We went back to the hotel to find the girls still lounging around. They had eaten breakfast and been to the pool. We cajoled them to join us at the beach.

"Cats?! I didn't know there were cats!" Mary said when she heard about the Hemingway Cats. She suddenly wished she had come with us.

I could have made them, of course. But it was nice to have quiet time with my easiest kid. I will note that the girls were easy at this age, too. 11 is a nice age - adult-like but not teenager snarky.

Teenagers are kind of like toddlers that don't nap. They were in great moods the rest of the day and I credit it to the extra sleep they got that morning. I am proud that each of my kids know enough about Hemingway to have an opinion about him. Even if it is a grumpy teen-aged girl opinion of him. :-)