The Ghosts of AARP

A great way to work out the kinks from a restless night of motel sleeping is running in a strange town. You won't go too hard, because you have no idea where you are or where you're going. It doesn't seem that tough, because you're distracted by the new environments and fear of being hit by cars when you wander into un-sidewalked territory. Today, I got my butt outside at 7:30, in a beautiful Ft. Pierce, Florida morning, to work out the kinks and get to know the neighborhood.

Most of my reconnaissance mission revealed a crosswalk light across US One that would get me safely to Long John Silver's for lunch, a Sunoco station with a Food Mart, and the highlight of my run, a closed-off road that ran through a mobile home graveyard. The road was closed to cars, but it looked safe enough for running, so I started down what looked like a path to the beach. To my right, past the excessive growth of tropical weeds along the road, I could see the mobile home community called Plantation Manor (An Active 55+ Community). This was no trailer park. Each home had a yard, a driveway, a carport, and a solid foundation. While admiring these pristine white cracker boxes, I realized I was running through the remains of a similar community. Among the weeds were cement car pads, abandoned electrical boxes and steps leading to nowhere. What was once a light pole was bent completely to the ground, giving the cul-de-sac a feeling of hurricane devastation. Among this desolation would pop up shots of color, as in a giant flowering cactus or ginko tree, thriving in the ruins. At the end of the road, there was a sign warning against swimming in Florida's "natural" water formations, like the one behind the sign, as they have been deemed "unsafe" to the extent that children should not even look at them without adult supervision, lest they go blind and or contract leprosy. Or something.

It was refreshing, really. New York children are obviously much heartier than Florida children, as they tend to play in any number of "natural", well, let's say liquid, formations without any kind of supervision!

The Sunrise Theatre in Ft. Pierce is adorable. It's an old movie house, and it's located in the mission-themed downtown district. Because of its origins, there wasn't a lot of wing space, but we made it work! The S.S. Minnow can't be stopped!

Sorry about the lack of pictures, but I didn't bring my camera. There are some people taking pictures and posting them on Facebook, so, you could check my tagged pictures there, but we haven't gotten many of us in makeup and costumes. However, we'll be doing this for a while, so stay tuned!

Currently, we're on the road to Jacksonville, FL, where we will be taking up residence for three whole days and four shows! I don't know if I can handle that kind of settling down!