West Cocoa Chat

I shared this incident on Facebook but I'll share it in a blog. This past Monday I did a 5 mile run from our building, down the River Road which runs along the Indian River Lagoon to Hwy 520 in downtown Cocoa, and then back for the return 2.5 mile trip. I wish I could take some video of my runs for it is not unusual for me to see dolphins chasing schools of mullet in towards the shore as well as Manatees feeding on sea grass.

There is usually a nice breeze along the River Road which helps with the massive amount of humidity, some. Monday had a bit of the edge off the humidity but it was high (warning - reason for an excuse coming) nevertheless. When I returned to the building I took off my shirt, head band, and wrist band that I wear over the area that had some skin cancer. As you can imagine (or maybe you don't) these items, shall we say, were "glistening." I used my church key to go inside and get a drink of water for the trip home.

On the way home I decided that I deserved a bit of Mickey D's unsweet tea so I pulled into the drive-thru lane of our local McDonald's. My rout to McDonald's took me up U.S.1 with a speed limit of 45 and over the "Bee-line" (Hwy 528) which we're now being told to call the "Beachline." The speed limit on the Bee / Beach-line is 70 and at one point I do believe I was sucked into a "lead car draft" that propelled me just a bit faster than the advertised speed limit of 70. I surmised that one shouldn't mess with the aerodynamics of multiple vehicles travelling at high rates of speeds but then I digress.

So, I'm sitting in the line at McDonald's when a nice lady bangs on my window. Now, this is not an everyday occurrence with me so I felt compelled to roll down my window and listen to her inquiry. She must have gotten a sniff of the contraband that was attached to my rear bumper because she said, "Sir, there is something on your back bumper." For a moment I wanted to answer, "Yes, that would be the finest plastic Ford can obtain," but I refrained and thanked her.

I got out of my (using my best imitation of Rizzo on the T.V. show, "M.A.S.H.") "motor vehicle" and what did I find on my back bumper? Yep, the sweaty shirt, headband, and wristband that had been part of my person a few minutes earlier. They had survived speeds of up to 70 (cough, cough, something) mph for about 3 miles.

Do the math on that problem! I wonder what people thought as they passed me? What would have come to your mind?

Oh, my excuse - an overheated 51 year old!