Hi everyone. We are freezing in the Keys! Of course that doesn't stop Trevor and Tisha from begging for attention.

This is the coldest Jan. any of us can remember. When I walk down the dock, the wind nearly knocks me in the water. It has been great for shrimping, but that's the only good thing I can say about it.
Sunday we had a shrimp boil in our community chickee hut at the end of our dock. (A Chickee hut is open sided with poles that support a thatched roof - very popular in the Keys) My friend Mark, the only one on the dock hardy enough to stand out in the cold night wind with a net, provided the shrimp and we all brought a dish to pass.
That's one thing I love about the Keys. Everyone works together and celebrates together. It's like living in one continuous small town from Key Largo to Key West. It's a great place to live and an even better place to visit.
I think everyone knows I take care of an 89 year old gentleman. He says he's ready to move to Cancun because the weather in the Keys has been so cold. That sounds good to me if he'll take us with him. My novel is still in progress and John is threatening to lock me in a closet until it’s finished. This one is more of a mainstream thriller with a little romance thrown in. It’s about a serial killer in the Keys and the eccentric deputy that solves the case. The Key’s papers and radio stations are waiting for the date it’s published. Read the excerpt on my website.

On Our Way Home

John is homesick. We did everything we wanted to, so now we are pointing the motor home south ... to the keys. It's cold in Kentucky in the mornings, and he is longing for Florida sunshine and being rocked to sleep by the waves. The old man keeps telling me that it's going to snow soon, and we could get stranded in a blizzard.

Our stay at Mammoth Cave National Park was fantastic. It was a great chance to research and write something different for a change. The deer are so tame you can get within three feet and there are wild turkeys everywhere. I kept hoping someone would run over one so I could throw it in the oven. I finished two articles, and wrote "Zemmie's Story" for the National Park System, and they were really pleased.

This weekend we are at the Kentucky State Horse Park in Lexington. I wanted to ride, but walking trailrides were all they offered, and I would have gone crazy not being able to trot or canter. Besides seeing everything in the park, we got to watch a hunter/jumper horse show. The campers next door took a Grand Championship. I don't know which class, but they are really excited and people have been stopping by to congratulate them.

Tomorrow we are headed for Clinton, TN and the Museum of Appalachia. It's our last planned stop. The end of a trip is sad...it's like a mini death, but I will be glad to smell the salt water, rock to the waves, watch the fish jump, and the osprey dive. Yeah, I guess I'm a little homesick too.