SWINGING FOR PEACE

If you shop Vandal’s Family Market in Blooming Prairie or have visited a Blooming Prairie park, you no doubt have seen Alexander Martinez on the swings.

Martinez, 20, loves his job at Vandal’s, and when he is not on the clock at this southern Minnesota grocery store, he is soaring into the skies of Blooming Prairie.

A 2021 graduate of Blooming Prairie High School, Martinez comes from a large family and said he cannot remember all his 10 siblings. He was born in Owatonna but spent much of his early life in Tennessee.

Martinez first started swinging in 2013, after his father was killed in a traffic crash on U.S. Highway 218. He said his father was killed instantly when his vehicle struck a semi-truck head-on.

Currently living with his mother and two younger sisters, Elissa, 16, and Alivia, 14, Martinez tries to find time to enjoy his favorite pastime.

“I began swinging for fun but mainly to cope with the loss of my father,” he said.

A deep thinker, Martinez carefully explains the main benefits of finding an open swing at a local park: It helps him cope with his father’s death, it’s fun, and while swinging, he daydreams and comes up with new ideas.

His favorite park is located just south of the entrance to Victory Field. He can “go high” on those swings to get his peace and quiet. He also listens to music, connected by his headphones.

While he doesn’t count his swinging repetitions, Martinez said he usually swings for an hour and 30 minutes.

“It really relaxes me,” he said.

Asked if he hears feedback about his swinging, he said his mother is “okay with it.” He said his peers don’t criticize him, and “they accept me for who I am.” Some play football or other sports, while Martinez swings and likes to write. He said he did go out for track in seventh grade.

Martinez said he likes murder mysteries, with “Murder She Wrote” as his favorite. He said he was “heartbroken” when the show’s star, Angela Lansbury, died recently.

Truthfully, Martinez said, he wants to be an author.

 “At one time, I thought I wanted to be a detective,” he added.

Martinez also likes to play video games and helps out in the kitchen.

“My mother does the cooking and I do the cleanup and other chores,” he said.

Martinez was not close with his father.

“I cared about him, but I think more about my passion of writing,” he said. “I want to be happy.”

When he is not reading, helping his mother, or working at Vandal’s, Martinez is on the swings–except when it’s raining or cold. Then, it’s time to read or to write.

Short stories appeal to Martinez, whether he is reading or writing them. He likes author Agatha Christie, with And Then There Were None being a favorite. The story follows 10 strangers who receive an unusual invitation to a solitary mansion based off Britain’s Devon Coast.

Alex said he has read romance novels and science fiction novels but still prefers mysteries.

If they ever make swinging an Olympic sport, Alex Martinez would be a natural for the team.