Downwind

Last night we ate with a firm grip on our plastic beer glasses as we watched paper plates wing by like Frisbees.

 We’d arranged to meet friends for a pub dinner at the new Atlanta Braves summer training ball park in nearby Northport. It had just been completed this year and though there was no game, we thought it would be an interesting place to meet.

          The day had become increasingly windy here. The forecast promising wind all day at speeds of 24 MPH had been accurate, but it mostly just blew you about as you went from car to building to run errands. It was a different story at the grounds of the ball park. We forged ahead anyway and, leaning into the wind, went up to the tiki bar overlooking the field, basically an area open on all sides with a roof. You know, the better for the wind to travel through.

          A look at the beer prices and the happy hour all-you-can-eat grilled shrimp dinner and we knew we were staying. It was about 75 degrees out, and because there were only a few other people there nutty enough to stay, we had our pick of tables. I slapped my ball cap on my head to hold down my hair and dug in. It was actually a lot of fun.

          Late last night the rain arrived and so did Mamie, digging for China in our bed as the thunder clapped outside. Good thing we hadn’t known at dinner that the Skyway Bridge to St. Petersburg was about to be shut down and there would be a tornado watch not much later at a town only 30 minutes away from us, with residents told to shelter in place.