Dan Reiter
Article Category: Dan Reiter, Local Scribes
Moonrise Serenade (in Gmaj7) • By Dan Reiter • Don’t be fooled, friend, Life undoes itself in every age, The world cracks and cracks, Sprouts up again through fissures, Nothing, everything is new. Don’t be fooled, Don’t doubt yourself, These days are better than before, These end of summer days, Swept with wind, Cusped with gold, These days of indigo And storm swells, Cocoa Beach days, Days of light, Days of sadness. As one empire dies, And dusts up the skies, The newborn rose Pushes... [Read more...]
Dan Reiter
Article Category: Dan Reiter
A Tale of Two Cities By Dan Reiter Cocoa Beach has a Vision Plan for its downtown. But a vocal minority stands in opposition. It’s summertime, and somewhere near Minutemen Causeway, some stalwart young gentlemen emerge from a yellow Mustang, hats angled sidewise, necklaces glinting in sunlight. They flick their cigarettes to the curb as they unburden their car of beer, footballs, snack bags, beach paraphernalia. One of the gentlemen squares himself up to an abandoned building, unzips, and moans... [Read more...]
Dan Reiter
Article Category: Dan Reiter
My Wish List, May By Dan Reiter Here’s another exercise for those of you in need of a good soul rattling. I always find writing these lists is like cracking the shell of a hard-boiled egg with a spoon; bit by bit you chip away that calcified layer of cynicism, until all that is left is the truth, glistening from within. It’s a wish list, simple enough. My hopes and desires for the month of May. I admit I was feeling somewhat mired in the sludge when I scribbled it down last night…... [Read more...]
Dan Reiter
Article Category: Dan Reiter
How To Be A Kook By Dan Reiter Kook \kük\ (n): 1 one whose ideas or actions are eccentric, fantastic, or insane 2 in surfing parlance, a beginner. Ever wanted to try surfing, but were afraid you’d embarrass yourself? Don’t worry! Just follow these nine simple steps and you’ll be surfing like a kook in no time! Step 1: Head to your nearest surf-megaplex. Need directions? Easy — just drive east from Orlando and follow the billboards! If your surf-megaplex has advertisements... [Read more...]
Dan Reiter
Article Category: Dan Reiter
Slater, In Bronze By Dan Reiter The drive through Cocoa Beach has changed forever. The moment the tarp was pulled from the Kelly Slater statue on A1A, our kitschy little stretch of asphalt swelled up and leaned itself ever-so-slightly seaward. City engineers who were on hand to stop traffic for the ceremony confirmed the half-inch inclination of the road, but could not explain why or how it happened. They could only speculate… Kelly Slater, after all, is known for transforming things far greater... [Read more...]
Dan Reiter
Article Category: Dan Reiter
THOUGHTS ON THE COLD-WATER SEASON By Dan Reiter Another morning. The cream snakes into the coffee, swirls, and disperses in pools of white oil. Cormorants gather at the river’s edge, necks retracted, mute black sentinels of the dawn. Faraway clouds range the horizon like coral mountains. Cocoa Beach, November. When the boy wakes up, he is still moaning, half inhabiting his dreams. His diaper is full, eyes puffy, hair damp with sweat. He makes sweet, sad sounds in the Daddy’s arms as he... [Read more...]
Dan Reiter
Article Category: Dan Reiter
The Creator • Dan Reiter • Life is like a heavy south drift. Months reel past like beach houses; years sweep by like streets. You’re born on Minutemen and you’ll probably die somewhere near South Patrick Shores. If you’re lucky, you might coast all the way down to RC’s. With each block you’re afforded a change in perspective, a new outlook on the world, and yet you float continually over the same unbroken sandbar, always in the same wind-swept sea. And here... [Read more...]
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...]
