Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters Indeed

“I finally remember, for the first time in a long time, the day in third grade when, during recess, Chris Burkland announced that Santa Claus did not exist. His brother had told him so. I stepped forward, rationally explaining how the man had been eating the cookies and drinking the milk I left out for him for years now. Chris Burkland would not back down. Neither would I. It came to blows. When my teacher learned of the cause of our fight she visibly blanched. Even though it was the middle of the day, my father was called. I was still crying when he picked me up, still infuriated. On that short, very long ride home, something about my father’s silence kept me from asking the question I suddenly knew the answer to. And how strange that was.”

— From Longform’s round-up of their best sea-creature themed stories (and a happy Monday to YOU), Tom Bissell’s delightful “Loch Ness Memoir” is 80% weird travel narrative, 10% monsters, 10% childhood.