October marks the last quarter of my gap year, now in Bend, Oregon, just past the geographic apex of our transcontinental journey. “Milton,” our up-fitted Transit Trail, continues on his ‘sea trial.’ A couple of days ago he had his routine 10,000 mile service appointment in Tacoma. At the counter, another customer cast an admiring eye on our tidy campervan. I mentioned that this was his first big trip, aka his sea trial – and the man laughed. I hazarded a guess. “You’re Navy, right?” Bingo. He confessed that he was a retired submariner who knew from first-hand experience that the success of a sea trial is measured by whether you are lucky enough to make it back to shore. Guess we should pick up some life preservers.
Milton needed only routine service, despite luggage that includes three factory recalls. We accessorized the young gent with some trendy bling: a new antenna and multi-lingual router, some outdoor lighting and tenting, vastly improved space management and organization.
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“Of Human Bondage” proved to be an excellent novel. I brazenly marked up the margins. The protagonist, Philip Carey, had a birth defect – talipes equinovarus, club foot – the physical and spiritual significance of which percolated throughout the hundreds of pages. Philip endured adolescence and early adulthood and showed clear promise. Of course he chose certain adventures over easy success and was nearly wrecked upon the shoals of self-defeat. To my great relief, after trying his hand at several professions and romantic relationships, Philip emerged as a wise and generous physician, poised to enjoy a tidy seaside medical practice and engaged to Sally, years his junior but in many other ways his elder. She addresses him, “You silly!”
My low-residency MFA in fiction will begin in the summer of 2025. Four acceptances, one rejection, one pending application. The next weeks to months will require some work on my part to come to a decision. Primarily this means a focus on faculty, what they have written and how they teach, the latter more difficult to know. All leaps require a little faith.
Scott D. McLean, MD 