The Beauty of an Ellipsis

A most satisfying thing is to drive from Miami to Key West in the dead heat of summer. Traffic can be rough, but not nearly such as it is during the Season. The drive is a special thing in that it cannot be captured or adequately described to someone who has not made it. The Keys are…very dear to me.

A visit to Key West by flight is too a grand thing—I’m sure. But to drive it is to learn something about yourself you didn’t know before embarking. It may be years before you recognize the merest hint of the lesson, but it will be there. I assure you. On that drive you are the beauty of an ellipsis on a two-lane. You are a suggestion of every conceivable possibility, nestled between the Gulf and the Atlantic, stealing into the distance ever toward the end of the States. There is a certain finality about the place, so drink it in and remember it well before deciding when or whether to return from whence you came. And while you are there, sit high above Duval Street, order a dozen oysters, and drink a toast to letting go of whatever it was that sent you there. Gaze across the street at the tourists posing for pictures with the gracious and graceful drag queens. Hit the trendy bars because you must. And then find something off the beaten path and make it your own. You won’t regret it. And slow down and breathe deeper than you think you can. Look for that thing inside you that you never liked and be rid of it. Walk to the pier and swallow the ocean. Take a seat on a crescent moon and smile at a stranger. Go mad if you need to; then give it to the breeze. Pause for as long as it takes you to grasp that you are at the end of the world. The end of the world and it is wonderful.

Embrace the wet night air and decide what you will do with that knowledge. It will be the only time in your life when every possible option is right.