Fri Feb 7 - In which we see authors Preston & Child

Vero Beach, FL - no travel today
(Rick speaking...)

A large line of thunderstorms passed through around 2 am last night, and gave us a good shake but the storms passed quickly and left us alone with almost no wind afterward.   We were under a tornado watch until 3 am, and we wondered how we would know if a tornado was coming so I set an alarm from The Weather Channel app to notify us if we moved to tornado warning (when a tornado has been reported). (Melanie here:  A TORNADO ALARM!!  What FUN!!!  Almost as great as my old friend the anchor alarm...)  We slept pretty well with our earplugs in and after the storms all was quiet.

We worked and did some route planning during the lazy morning.  We both really enjoyed the lack of a sense of urgency to get anywhere.  Later in the morning we took advantage of the Vero Beach free bus system to get over to Panera for lunch and a quick stop at Lowes for a plumbing part (M: he does know how to show a girl a good time). Have we mentioned that the sink is leaking?!  But many other things have been fixed so my record is good thus far....

Riveting picture of sink...

We are trying to do local things where we can, and on the way to the doctor yesterday I saw that the authors Preston and Child (Pendergast book series, among others) would be giving a talk at the Vero Book Center on the 7th.  We got to the Book Center with time to look around, and I was able to find a book on the history of Flagler, who I've been wanting to learn more about. 

The talk was very well attended, with standing room only.  I've gotten interested in the Pendergast series, finishing book #1, Relic, recently. This was after wanting to read more by Preston, as I really enjoyed his non-fiction book, Lost City of the Monkey God. (M: I'm not at all interested in this kind of series, but the authors were so interesting that I'm going to jump right in at Crooked River.  Because it's about feet washing up on the beaches...  Right?!?  Gotta know what that's all about.  We were BY FAR the youngest people in the room, so I guess now we know what retired people do...)

Actual authors!

A quick stop at Publix - we shop often because our storage space is small - and we Ubered home (the buses go to bed at 7pm).  (M: there were FL Girl Scouts!!!) 

At the marina all the dog people were doing their last 'business' of the night.  Gosh I'm glad we don't have a dog along.  It's all I can do to get Mel fed and to the bathroom.

We had hoped to see the moon rise, but Pendergast was more important, so the moon was up by the time we got home.  It was a stunning sight, with an ice crystal halo around it.  This is the kind of sight we are so privileged to see, and that we need to remember as we SLOG through Florida...

PS:
So the doctor says I have may have a touch of gout.   Isn't that something pirates get?  If you combine that with my new beard I think Melanie is afraid I may be turning into a pirate - she's thinking that soon I will  be wearing an eye patch and calling her "wench". (M: he LITERALLY called me wench the other day, when I was pulling up the anchor.  Or, possible, he said winch...)