Leaving Florida

I had spent several days in Port Saint Lucie and I had grown tired of searching for my lost equipment. Every avenue a dead end and fraught with heartbreak and disappointment. So I gathered my new old equipment and began walking east. I walked for most of the day and well into the night. I finally reached the east end of Port St. Lucie and spotted a cabbie. I asked him how much it would cost to take me to the nearest bus stop I knew of. He radioed in and said fifteen dollars. I told him this was out of my range and said goodnight. I began asking for rides outside of a Walgreens nearby him and after no success he drove up and said he would do it for five. So off we went south on Highway one.

He used to be a treasure diver and he loved it, but its a young mans sport and he is no longer young. He told me that many times he dove on old wrecks off the coast of Florida. He found chests of gold and that it was just as beautiful as the day they poured it. He warned me of Barracudas and said once he was in open water and discovered that they were distinctly attracted to the silvery shimmer of bubbles from his mask and that when he ceased breathing they would back off. He also said once he was spearing fish and was returning to the surface, when a barracuda bit the fish in half and bit him, but not too badly. He lived in the UK for a year or two with some family and toured Europe on a sailboat and said it was the best time of his life. He was so caught up in his recount that he blew past the stop without either of us even noticing.

He left me at the stop and I bought a cheap kids bicycle and slept between two shipping containers in the lot. I woke up at about five in the morning drenched in rain and shivering with cold. I snatched up my gear and hurried to shelter. After some delicious toasted bagels, I began riding south. I rode from sunup till sundown and finally reached Jupiter. I entertained myself along the way by singing songs that cropped up in my head. I hopped on the first bus and went south to the Mall from there I got on a bus to the Tri-Rail and went south towards Hollywood. I had a clear decision to make and an opportunity to really screw things up for myself. So naturally I took the chance and went to the Airport and bought a ticket to Ponce, Puerto Rico. A whole two weeks ahead of my planned departure. I figured since I was running out of money I might as well go there before I finally really did run out. The flight was two hours long and I slept through the whole thing.