Dan Reiter
Article Category: Dan Reiter
A Tall Tale From the Heart of the Redneck Riviera • Dan Reiter • Well you asked, so I’m gonna tell you straight. I reckon you’re old enough to hear it without all the jingle-bells, since life ain’t all roses and ice cream and it ain’t no use pouring gloss over it neither, way Momma does, cause eventually you’re bound to hear ’bout the chemicals in your drinking water, and how them doe-eyed little grass nibblers you’re always gawpin’ at at the... [Read more...]
Dan Reiter
Article Category: Dan Reiter
A Thousand Island Lullaby • Dan Reiter • It is always easy going and very pleasant with a light tail wind, and if you look behind you will see a v-shaped plume rippling over water grooved like elephant hide. The stand-up paddleboard is a biblical vessel — postured, princely, weightless; its glide is cosmic, with elements of the immortal, the Venetian serenade, and shades of Charon crossing the river Styx. It is the nearest you will ever get to walking on water, and by far the finest,... [Read more...]
Dan Reiter
Article Category: Dan Reiter
Excerpts from the Diary of a Three-Year-Old Gourmet • Dan Reiter • April 21: The morning’s menu was uninspired: cold banana yogurt followed up by a single, overripe banana, sliced into 3/4″ medallions. Pancakes with sweet syrup would have added much-needed texture to the menu. Perhaps the addition of an amuse-bouche, a chocolate caramel truffle, or even a graham cracker would have loosened the palate before the banana course. My suggestion to this effect was snubbed by the chef.... [Read more...]
Dan Reiter
Article Category: Dan Reiter
Why You Should Kill Your TV • Dan Reiter • A long, long, long time ago, before television came into the world, people were so exceedingly bored with their lives and had so much free time on their hands that they wasted their days watching leaves flap about in the breeze, gawking at the ripples made by ducks on the river, or staring for hours on end while ants scrabbled in procession up oak branches. People picked flowers, walked aimlessly in circles, started wars, built pyramids, established... [Read more...]
Dan Reiter
Article Category: Dan Reiter
Things I Love About Cocoa Beach By Dan Reiter Here’s a simple writing exercise that could change your life. Take a half-hour out of your day and find a peaceful place to sit with your computer or a pad of paper… a café will do nicely, a quiet picnic spot, even a kitchen table. Your office desk will suffice in a pinch. Sit down then, and write out a list of the things you love. Anything works — food, scenery, people, movies. Anything. Make the list true. Make it extensive. Stay... [Read more...]
Dan Reiter
Article Category: Dan Reiter
Letter to the President of the United States February 20, 2010 The Honorable Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President: My name is Dan Reiter and I live in Cocoa Beach, Florida. We have a charming little town here, rich in history, culture, and scenery, but poor in most everything else. Once –- a half century ago –- the Mercury and Apollo missions launched from these sands to stir the hopes and dreams of the world. For a shining instant,... [Read more...]
By: Dan Reiter
Article Category: Dan Reiter
Marriage By Dan Reiter It happened one idyllic afternoon, over six Valentine’s Days ago. The sunset flooded in through the church windows and shed a dreamlike, coral pink glow over our clasped hands. We recited our vows and donned the rings. I was 26. She, 21. At the reception, a friend of my father’s approached us on the dance floor and said, rather unwittingly, “Cherish it, my boy. This will be the happiest moment of your life!” I thanked him for his gracious words and twirled away to dance... [Read more...]
By: Dan Reiter
Article Category: Dan Reiter
Evolution has a strange, sometimes disturbing way of revealing itself. A species, when faced with a threat to its survival, must either perish or adapt to its changing environment. Usually, this modification process will take thousands of years, but every so often an animal will rise to the challenge in a matter of mere decades… and the transformation can be startling. Just the other day, I was out on the river on my stand-up paddleboard, skirting the periphery of the Thousand Islands, soaking... [Read more...]
By: Dan Reiter
Article Category: Dan Reiter
For all the surfing Harold T. Sweeney did in his life, he should have been happier. Unfortunately, he had too many problems on dry land to be very happy for any long stretch of time. His wife died giving birth to their second son, Melvin, which was about as serious a problem as you could come across, when you think about it. Her death hung like a sick, black cloud over Harold’s life for many years. But Harold was resilient; he watched for glimpses of sunlight through the darkness, and he did... [Read more...]
By: Dan Reiter
Article Category: Dan Reiter
On Beauty, Part II By Dan Reiter (This is the second of a two-part series. The first explored the beauty found in everyday moments, and contemplated the choice we are all given: whether to consciously seek this beauty out, or else to ignore it.) I was surfing alone last week, alone in a warm, green sea all simmering with seaweed, with the onshore winds ripping at my hair, and tattered and broken waves bumping up the surface. Why was I alone? Probably because it was Tuesday, because we were coming... [Read more...]
