The long slog down Florida's east coast was considerably lightened by fresh mp3 music, including Vangelis's soundtrack to Bladerunner, Tibetian Yungchen Llamo's Coming Home, and Lindsay Buckland's Getting Karma. Deployment in Key Biscayne was complete by dusk and I motored over to the free overnight digs at the lovely state park. The next morning I grabbed an invigorating shower in the plein aire and hit the show.

I displayed the big Ruth prominently in the booth for the first time, and she attracted plenty of appreciation and disturbed at least one guy. Susan the stone carver and her husband Gary were fun neighbors and though sales were pretty slow for most everyone, I had an incrementally better show, and got to use my visa knuckle buster for the very first time!

Incrementally better means that though I have yet to break even for any show, sales are a little better each time. Cultivating optimism significantly amplifies encouragement and so this modest upward trend feels very pleasant indeed.

Steve the jeweler who I had met at the first show in Bonita invited me and the cats to crash at his place in Miami. He inspired me to check out South Beach and to find a place to stay within striking distance of my next two shows in Aventura and Boca Raton. In the morning I set off to find a spot.