Saturday, July 1, 2023

Ike


At midday today, Dave and I will be heading down to Pevensey Bay with Olga on the train. Of course the weather is gray and damp, because we're going to the beach! There's even rain in the forecast on Tuesday and Wednesday. But we'll make the best of it.

It's not like I won't have anything to do, because I'm bringing Jonathan Franzen's book "Crossroads," which I've been meaning to read for a couple of years and which, being a Franzen novel, is typically HUGE. (Actually, now that I'm looking at it, it's only 580 pages, which isn't that bad. Besides, as I always tell kids, a long book will seem short if it's good -- and the inverse is also true.) I've liked his books in the past so I'm not dreading it.

There's a possibility the house we rented doesn't have WiFi. So this may be a wireless holiday, in which case I will be scarce in blogland. I can always post on my phone, but they may be very short posts -- maybe even just photos. We're not sure what we're getting into. Dave is a bit anxious about it, but I think five days unplugged would probably do us some good. How long has it been since I've spent five days without going online? I can't even remember. Maybe not since we went to China back in 2014.

There might be a cafe or some public place with WiFi, but I get the impression our house isn't close to much.

Last night I watched a PBS documentary called "Dear Ike: Lost Letters to a Teen Idol." Any readers around my age will remember Ike Eisenmann, a child actor in the late '70s and early '80s. He was in a lot of Disney fare like "Escape to Witch Mountain," which was one of my absolute favorite movies as a little kid. The documentary tells the story of a nerdy boy in Ohio -- about my age -- who was obsessed with drawing and eventually wrote a whole movie with invented characters that he intended to animate. He became convinced that Ike Eisenmann should be part of his project, and he wrote Eisenmann letter after letter, trying to get him interested. Some of his letters were returned by the post office and somehow he still has them -- as well as his childhood diaries, drawings and the storyline for the movie -- and they form the basis of the documentary.

An added twist is that this boy ultimately grew up to be gay, as did one of his current friends, the documentary's producer (who is from my hometown). So there's also an element of having an early and innocent crush on a teen movie idol, even though they may not have entirely understood it as such at the time. The movie "Escape to Witch Mountain," which is all about kids who have supernatural powers that make them outsiders, had a special appeal to kids who felt different from all their friends and didn't quite know why. (I can attest to that myself!)

Anyway, it was an interesting documentary, and Eisenmann himself participated in it. You can get it on the PBS streaming site if you want a poignant shot of '70s-'80s nostalgia.


I have to gloat once again about our rescued ficus tree. Remember how terrible this tree looked when I found it on the street? I don't want to get too excited because I might jinx it, but seriously, it looks much better than I ever expected.

Coming to you tomorrow from Pevensey Bay, one way or another!

(Top photo: A ladybug on a teasel in the garden.)

21 comments:

  1. Hope that you enjoy your holiday and the weather is kind. I just looked at Pevensey Bay on Google street view....pebble beach!

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  2. All that..and you have a ladybird...in short supply this year so we have more aphids.

    Enjoy the break

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  3. The ficus looks amazing (touch wood). I hope you three have a great time no matter the weather or connectivity. I don’t think I've gone without connectivity for 5 days since the existence (in my life) of connectivity.

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  4. I hope you are now enjoying your visit down south.
    A cruise to New Zealand and back in 2019 without internet when at sea. I nearly died for reasons doctors would never establish.
    Gay men of a certain age have so many untold stories about their childhoods.

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  5. I would like to say that gloating is one of your special gifts Steve - but in all fairness you are not an habitual gloater. I hope that the three of you have a lovely break down in Pevensey.

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  6. Enjoy the getaway. We were away for a weekend last month and had no wifi and I loved not being able to access the internet, so enjoy it if you can.

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  7. That's what I remember as beach weather in my Yorkshire childhood. Running into the freezing North Sea in pouring rain, since you couldn't get any wetter anyway! Enjoy your trip.
    Ficus is tough. It can recover from setbacks.

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  8. I googled Pevensey Bay and you can charter a fishing trip! Your favorite! And I'm sure that Dave would love that too, right?
    Hahahahahahahaha!
    Seriously, it looks like a fine place to go on holiday and I hope you have enough good weather to get out and ramble because there is a lot to see.
    Hurray for the Ficus!

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  9. Enjoy your holiday, Steve. A week without going online actually sounds restful and would probably do us all good every now and then. Take lots of pictures to share when you get back!

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  10. Sending good wishes to you, Dave, and Olga for a wonderful journey to Pevensey Bay. Looking forward to your photos and stories of your adventures there.

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  11. I love that you rescue plants. Have a wonderful trip.

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  12. Wow, what a difference with that ficus. Great job saving it.
    I've enjoyed several of Jonathon Franzen books but I haven't read that one. I can't wait to hear what you think. Have fun on your little get-away.

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  13. I've been in a reading frenzy lately, so as long as I had books your vacation sounds amazing. Especially with the news today - a break from doom scrolling would be very welcome. In fact, maybe I'll just self-impose that for this weekend! Thanks for the idea - ha!

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  14. Enjoy the holiday! I hope the weather is better than expected and that you can get wifi when you feel like it although getting away from technology sounds very tempting right now!

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  15. I love that first photo with the ladybug!!

    I hope y'all have a wonderful time (all THREE of you!) and I look forward to hearing about it, however you manage.

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  16. Enjoy your days away from home!

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  17. Your palnts always look well cared for- they hit the jackpot! Ours not so much- although I am taking intensive care of our ficus at the moment. Have a jolly time at the seaside!

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  18. Ihat's a Disney movie I didn't see. I've been off TV for a few and haven't seen American Experience for a bit. I might have to look that one up online.

    I hope your vacation isn't totally rained out -- that the reports are figments of some meterologist's imagination!

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  19. Ficus trees are very quick to drop their leaves at the slightest chilly draft. He certainly does seem fond of your garden though. Enjoy your vacation! WIFI or not.

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  20. Frances: Yes, it is a shingle beach. Olga doesn't love feeling her toes on those pebbles!

    GZ: I haven't seen many ladybirds, or butterflies either.

    Rachel: Yes! William the Conqueror!

    Mitchell: It's funny how it has so quickly become an essential part of our lives, when as I recall we all did perfectly well without it before!

    Andrew: Indeed, we all had to hide so much. As someone said in the movie, we were locked out of so many of the touchstones of teenage life, like dates and romances. Thank goodness that's less true for kids now.

    YP: Well I'm relieved that if I'm a gifted gloater, I'm not overusing my talent! LOL

    Bob: I guess it's not even possible to be truly disconnected, because even with no Internet we'd have our phones. Unless we were in a REALLY remote place.

    Boud: Yeah, I might wade, but I'm pretty sure I'm not getting in!

    Ms Moon: Ha! Yeah, there's no way in hell I'm getting in a boat on this ocean.

    Jennifer: I've already been on a photography binge!

    Robin: It was a long journey but we made it!

    Pixie: Thank you!

    Sharon: I will let you know!

    Bug: Yeah, the news has been grim lately. I'll stick with fiction!

    Margaret: It's actually somewhat sunny this morning, so yeah, maybe it will be better than we thought!

    Kelly: Looks like posting as usual!

    Catalyst: Thanks!

    Linda Sue: What are you talking about? You have that amazing orange African lily (or whatever it's called). You have nice plants!

    Jeanie: I was 10 when it came out so I was right at the "sweet spot" for Disney movies at the time!

    Debby: He doesn't normally live outside. I just took him out to water. He lives just inside our back door.

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