Small is beautiful

Since we're hanging around Fort Pierce waiting for this outboard engine part we've ordered from Yamaha, we rented a car for a week and have been playing tourist. A couple of days ago we went to nearby Heathcote Botanical Gardens, which was gifted several years ago with over 100 bonsai trees from a private collection. Apparently it's the largest bonsai collection in the US. It was interesting to compare this collection to others we've seen in DC and Delaware. These were all species that do well in warmer climates of course, compared with the miniature coniferous and other more northern species we've seen elsewhere. Here's a bougainvillea, a Brazilian Raintree, and one other species I neglected to identify.

Yesterday was market day again in Fort Pierce, so we roamed around, checking out baked goods and cheeses and fresh produce with our friends Sharon and Greg who live on their Island Packet Dreamcatcher and are currently located in Stuart FL, just a bit further south. It was a misty and chilly morning, so the biggest hit at the market was the booth for coffee and hot chocolate.

After the market we drove to Vero Beach, a few miles north of here, and spent some time at the Art Museum. We saw a retrospective on American photographers of the last century, and also a commemorative exhibit celebrating the 50th anniversary of the publication of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. The illustration below is from In the Night Kitchen, one of my favorite children's books from that era.

 Here's Jim in a somewhat more open sailboat than Neverland.

 And a well-worn display copy of Where the Wild Things Are

The Vero Beach Art Museum has a lovely sculpture garden. Since the day had turned warm and sunny, we took a walk outside. Below is a Dutch sculptor's work in bronze that we both admired. Two people reaching their arms and hands out towards each other across a table. 

In the late afternoon we left the museum and met up again with Sharon and Greg to go see "The Darkest Hour", a film about Winston Churchill's first 3 weeks as Prime Minister of England.  We all loved the film and ended up having long conversations about it and other things over drinks and a bite to eat at Cobalt, a very nice restaurant overlooking the ocean.  

Today was New Year's Eve day and we met up again with Sharon, Greg and other friends of theirs for a late brunch at the Riverside Cafe in Vero Beach. We have no TVs on the sailboats, and since Jim wanted to watch the Eagles game, Sharon and Greg wanted to watch the Patriots, and I just decided to go along for the ride, a sports bar was the locale of choice for the afternoon. Here's Jim, mimosa in hand...

It will be a quiet night on the boat and we won't manage to stay up until midnight, I'm sure. We took a walk around town late in the afternoon and watched fishermen at a local pier as the sun went down and the moon came up.

Tomorrow we're expecting rain for a few days, so it's nice to get out and enjoy sunshine and sunsets while we can.

May 2018 bring us all peace and well-being. Happy New Year!