28 March 2015

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings in Cross Creek, Hawthorne, Florida

'FRIENDS OF LIBRARIES U.S.A.
LITERARY LANDMARKS REGISTER
 
CROSS CREEK
 
Beloved home of
MARJORIE KINNAN RAWLINGS
 
FROM 1928 TO 1953
 
Designated by the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Society and the Florida Center for the Book
on the occasion of her 100th birthday.'
 
Marjorie Kinnan (1896 –1953) was born in Washington D. C., graduated from the University of Wisconsin in English in 1918, married Charles Rawlings the following year, and moved to this 72-acre property in Cross Creek near Hawthorne in 1928. This is now the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park, where virtually all of the furniture in her house is authentic.
 
 
At the entrance to the park are two photos of MKR in Cross Creek.
 
'"IT IS NECESSARY TO LEAVE THE IMPERSONAL HIGHWAY, TO STEP INSIDE THE RUSTY GATE AND CLOSE IT BEHIND. ONE IS NOW INSIDE THE ORANGE GROVE, OUT OF ONE WORLD AND IN THE MYSTERIOUS HEART OF ANOTHER. AND AFTER LONG YEARS OF SPIRITUAL HOMELESSNESS, OF NOSTALGIA, HERE IS THAT MYSTIC LOVELINESS OF CHILDHOOD AGAIN. HERE IS HOME."
 
MARJORIE KINNAN RAWLINGS
CROSS CREEK, 1942'
 
In the property is a citrus grove, of which this is one of the orange trees.
 
Spanish moss dangles all over.
 
A replica of the original barn on the same site.
 
 
And a replica tenant house.
 
One of the chicken pens.
 
And a duck pen enclosing a small pond.
 
I've no idea what the bell has to do with the wood-cutting area (if is at all related).
 
The pump house.
 
The garden at the back of the house.
 
 
And at the side of the house is a replica of Rawlings's Oldsmobile. She didn't learn to drive until she was in her early thirties, and was notoriously bad: she had several prangs, but was unhurt.
 
 
 
The house itself was in Rawling's name, which was financially convenient for her when she and Charles divorced in 1933, the year she published her first novel South Moon Under. This was originally three properties, but only one when they came here.
 
 
This is where she wrote her books, such as The Yearling and Cross Creek, and the typewriter belonged to her.
 
The bed where MKR rested from her work (right next to her car).
 
The living room, and in the center of the photo the cupboard which was the hideaway where she stashed her moonshine.
 
Opposite the liquor hold, shelves of books.
 
A posthumous bust of MKR by Lee Burnham.
 
The bed in the guestroom.
 
MKR's own bedroom – complete with original quilt – which she later shared with her second husband Norton Baskin.
 
The bathroom next to the bedroom.
 
The table in the dining room is not the original.
 
Finally, the outhouse, which directly faced the dining room. Our guide said that MKR always sat in the dining room chair directly opposite when entertaining guests so as to avoid them staring straight at it. I'm uncertain of the truth of this tale.
 
The park claims that this is 'the real Florida', and I certainly can't help thinking that this is light years away from the unfortunate tackiness of parts of Key West, or the beach areas, or the theme parks of Orlando: we swiftly moved away from the first, and didn't go anywhere near the second two. Yes, this park is very agreeable. My other Rawlings post:

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The Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Journal

4 comments:

Vagabonde said...

I read all your posts on Key West. I have been there twice before but not for long. We are going back for 10 days this time at the beginning of June. I know it is touristy, but I still like this town. I like the fact that you can walk in it. I am so tired of having to drive everywhere. I also think that, as in any city, there are areas that are touristier than others. I’ll make a note of all the writers your mentioned. I already visited Hemingway’s house and twice his gardens (mostly to see the cats) but I may go back again. We are flying so won’t be able to go to other places in Florida this time. The Rawlings property must have been a lot of fun to visit – it was a lot of fun to see it on your post.

Dr Tony Shaw said...

Thanks so much for your comment on Rawlings's farm - it's well worth a visit if you're ever in the area. But you'll certainly be able to see the San Carlos Institute (or Casa Cuba) at 516 Duval Street where the Martí plaque is, and where there's a small exhibition. Don't get me wrong though - we really enjoyed Key West, it was just a bit in-your-face in places.

Snatch51 said...

My introduction to Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings was more than 50 years ago, when I was just a young boy. My mother gave me a book of Snake Lore, as I was a snake nut, and one of the excerpts was by Rawlings.

She was phobic to snakes rather than sharing my fascination with them, and as a general rule was ready to kill snakes on sight as all too many do, but one time was dismantling a heap of something and unearthed a Coral Snake. She was enthralled by its beauty but eventually killed it to make a decoration for her riding crop, which I thought was pretty mean.

She quoted one of her neighbours (?) saying something like "The Lord looks after fools and children!"

The Coral Snake is of course quite deadly if you get a bite, but very few do, even if they handle the snake, which Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings was sufficiently injudicious as to do.

After surviving an ordeal inflicted entirely by her own ignorance, she reverted to her previous intolerance of serpent-kind. So another time, she encountered a (presumed) Cottonmouth, and killed it with a book which she snatched off a shelf. This happened to be one of her own works, and when she recounted the incident afterwards the response from her (neighbour, employee?) was:

"It sho' do come in handy to write books!"

Dr Tony Shaw said...

This is a very interesting comment, and then there's the story about her killing - and eating - a neighbor's pig that was running riot among her petunias: she loved flowers more than animals, I think. Rawlings, I seem to remember, created an enemy in this act - the man was very attached to his pig and refused financial compensation in return for the Rawlings' meal at her neighbor's expense!

We found Key West Cemetery crawling with iguana-sized lizards, but which were much more timid than the handsome African rainbow lizard that had no fears about posing for me at Coral Castle, Homestead - in fact, I'd say the little monster was positively preening: fourth photo down: http://tonyshaw3.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=coral+castle.