I missed the chance to do this post-college, and I wanted to. It just seemed like it would be so fun to travel around in one. Now, looking at this VW Van it’s those fresh stripes that I love — the concept of the sea breeze blowing through — a trip along the Gulf Coast of Texas to see the beaches and all along the coast of Florida down to where Hemingway lived. The Keys.
Then, the entire coastline of the East all the way up to Maine.
All the men in my life told me that a VW Van wasn’t going to be good — but I have always loved them. I love the older VW’s too. You can still see some of them where I live.
Certain things symbolize the freedoms of my childhood — like VW’s and paper lanterns and old fashioned Victorian white-washed houses. Those are the kinds of places to write in. They really are. For me anyway.
So? If I can sell my two books, maybe I’ll do that!
Travel.
What I would take is a butterfly chair too. Two butterfly chairs. I love those. I have lots of folding ones, and folding chairs in my garage.
There is this stuck feeling I have had for quite some time and on the road is the opposite of that feeling.
This van above? Candles and wicker and straw bags — one of those little hammocks you use on boats to carry things — I wasn’t a hippie. My generation missed that in toto — but they had so much freedom — they just kept going.
I’m in some kind of space where I feel like I have to keep moving? Really.
It’s wearing on me not to.
Anyway, going to the beach and dream about striped vans and happiness and freedom and travel. I’ve been taking pix of the beaches here the plastic washing up on shore. That book I wrote is about that — an intervention for children around that — Heart of Clouds. I figure that if I can sell that book to Hollywood — a film might be able to get made?
When kids see a turtle cry over the gyres? They are going to understand…
Here is info on the Gyres in the sea from 5gyres.
This is the beach of my childhood above…
This is a beach alien! It doesn’t belong here — the beach is covered in small bits of plastic that have floated in from the larger gyres. We have got to stop this. I have a really fanastic editor for Heart of Clouds — and the book will be going out to the really fantastic literary agent I met at the Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference several years ago now. I wrote it intending for it to be a film!
xxoo!
Love,
Adrienne
VALENTINE BONNAIRE - WRITER 