A Snowbird in Paradise

...at least that is what "they" said. I didn't read it for myself. I always wanted a photo of the Full Moon through a palm tree. I used to draw that scene when I was in high school, doodling on my notebook. It was about 6:30 in the evening and the sky was bright blue a few nights before the official Full Moon but the shot was what I wanted.
The neighbor said he had seen the moon a few nights before, rising over the Indian River Lagoon between us and the beaches and ocean. So about 6:30 two nights later we drove down to the Rotary Club pier and boardwalk to wait for the moonrise. I should have looked up the time on the web because we had about a 2 hour wait. I can't complain, though. It was warm...I was in a short-sleeved blouse; the lagoon was beautiful; the tide was out; and there were shore birds to watch. A great blues band was playing in the outdoor bar across the street. I told myself that it doesn't get much better than this.

Our neighbor came down with his camera, too, and we waited as it got darker and darker. We noticed clouds around the spot we guessed would be the moonrise. then we THOUGHT we saw a lightening of the clouds. Suddenly there was a sliver of orange below the clouds, which had lightened from the rising moon.