While I was enrolled for a master's degree program at Bradley University in 1963, I went on my first Spring Break. I spent a week in Daytona Beach, burning my lily-white skin to a crisp while enduring air temperatures in the low 70's. That was my last Spring Break until just a week ago when my best friend and I took advantage of her spring break (as a university faculty member) to spend four days in Aruba. I think this trip was the most relaxing time I have spent anywhere in my lifetime--and I didn't get burned to a crisp--and the air temperatures were in the low 80's. We had a great time. I showed her how easy it was to lose $10 in a slot machine in the casino in just a few minutes and we never went back to the casino again. It was nice being in the Caribbean again, my former trips having been to St. Martins, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas.
Baby Beach in Aruba
Remembering my first Spring Break while attending Bradley University (Peoria, Illinois) in the 1960's, also reminded me that I wrote poetry at that time in my life as well as what I have written more recently. I have added a section to my web site called "Early Poetry," and have begun to add a few poems from those years. The first two, "Atlantic" and "First Shift" were probably my first serious attempts to get recognition for my creative writing. Those were heady years for me as I explored and immersed myself in the culture around me. My friends were artists, writers and other outliers in the university community. We made our own group, but could probably be most closely identified with the beatnik crowd. I valued all of my education from those years, both inside and outside the classrooms. I don't make a habit of living in the past, preferring to live in the present, but those were formative years for me and I am thankful that I had them just as they were.