Although I have not read all of his short stories and novels nor did I have the chance to meet Ernest Hemingway in person, there is that je ne sais quoi feeling that I know Hemingway all too well. Just take a look at the similarities that I’m finding as I’m heading to Cuba for my second adventure this year.
We are both from the Midwest with well-educated parents. Hemingway was born in Illinois; I’m a Wisconsinite. His father was a doctor and his mother a musician. My parents have various degrees from a PhD in theatre to two Master’s degrees each in different fields, including healthcare administration and counseling.
Ironically enough, early in life, Hemingway would summer on a lake in Michigan. It is said that this camping and adventure instilled a passion for travel to unknown and remote places. I feel that my childhood on a small hobby farm in an unincorporated town was like camping. The over 100 year old house at that time was an adventure each winter with frozen pipes and feeding the wood burning stove. You could say that this upbringing fueled my interest to explore the unbeaten path.
His life as a journalist proceeded his career as a novelist taking him to some destinations that I too have stumbled across such as Spain, Florida and the Keys, Cuba, and Toronto. It is almost uncanny as if I were in sync with his explorations having spent years in Spain, almost a decade in South Florida, going to Cuba for my second time this year, and with a trip planned in May to Toronto.
So maybe all these Hemingway coinkidinks are pointing to a sign! Perhaps it’s time to start writing more short stories, publish them into a novel, or just have a rum and go fishing.
Here’s to more good times and good stories. Stay tuned to future adventures by connecting with me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and YouTube.