I Dream of Cocoa Beach

On returning to Florida for a rocket launch...plus Once Upon a Time in Miami

Dear Wanderers,

Once upon a time, I lived in Florida. Miami Beach, to be precise. North Beach, not South Beach. Even though I was in my twenties, I lived on the end of the beach where the retirees lived, on the ninth floor of a once-fabulous hotel that had been converted to less fabulous condominiums. There was a hair salon in the basement where hair went high and frosty. There was a nail salon in the basement where things got very pink very fast. There was a big swimming pool where I went once or twice to get a sunburn, and there was never anyone there, and it felt weird to lie in the shadow of those tall buildings, with the all those windows looking down, all that pale concrete reflecting the sun.