Determined not to be caught out by the weather again I concocted a cunning plan today. The morning dawned bright and sunny so I got to the boat early and tinkered with the liferaft cradle half-heartedly until about 10.30 by which time the sun was heating up nicely. I downed tools, jumped in the car and hit Interstate 95 heading north to my favourite beach in the John D MacArthur State Park in North Palm Beach, an hour up the coast.
It was absolutely perfect beach weather with a cloudless blue sky, scorching hot sun, and gentle offshore breeze. The calm clear sea was was just right for snorkelling so whenever I got too hot I just jumped in to play with all the brightly-coloured fishy-wishies. Lovely! The sea has actually heated up quite noticeably since I’ve been here and is wonderfully warm now, not quite tepid but definitely getting there.
My paternal grandmother used to have a beloved umbrella called Lady Hester which accompanied her everywere and was an excellent multi-purpose tool serving as a sunshade, walking stick and pointer as well as the obvious. It also had a fearsome spike on the end to fend off farm dogs during her countryside walks and keep her errant grandsons in line.
I learnt well from her and always carry an umbrella with me, though mine is not quite so impressive being one of those little executive fold-up jobs. However, it saved me from a drenching on the beach yesterday and came in handy again today for protecting my tender bits from the harsh midday sun as I topped up my tan (which is coming along very nicely, thank you).
By 3.30 it was getting uncomfortably hot and some ominous looking clouds were rolling in from the west so I reluctantly traipsed back along the sand to the car and hit the Interstate heading south again. I love cruise control as I can pretend I’m Captain Picard on the Enterprise and say things like “Ensign Crusher, set a course for Starbase 17 at Warp 8… engage!” in a booming authoritative voice while pointing boldly ahead. Unfortunately I don’t have the benefit of young Wesley to do it for me so I have to press the button myself but it still makes me feel important, and that’s the main thing.
Anyway, just as we reached cruising speed and the star field melted into a blur I was delighted to see big splatters of rain hit the windscreen, and before long it was bucketing down again. It didn’t stop till I reached Fort Lauderdale and the sun came out just as I arrived back at the boat to finish fitting the liferaft cradle in the warm evening sun.
Hah! Needless to say I felt very smug indeed at playing the weather at it’s own game and winning. I shall celebrate in style at the Coliseum tonight 😉