The next day was Thursday. Anne was due in town around noon. It was her first visit to Cedar Key. She was excited about the trip and when she crossed Number Four Bridge in that red Honda, she was beside herself with what she saw here. We walked around town.

            Right off, we ran into Curtis. He wanted to visit. We went back to Gulf Side. After a few minutes, he suggested a flight in his One-Seventy. We went to the airport. I climbed in the back. They call that One-Seventy a four-place plane. In front are two small seats and in back all you have is a bench. Anne sat next to Curtis.

            It was Anne's first flight in a small plane. I knew what to expect, and sure enough, after a quick trip around the islands, Curtis handed the controls over to Anne. She was already high on Cedar Key and adrenaline and now this. She banked and made some passes, very low, I might add, a bit low for me, a seasoned pilot from the past. It was fun. She saw the Cedar Keys on her first day here from the ground and from the air.

Curtis lived in Tupelo. The storms in the north and west delayed his departure for several days. The weather was too unsettled to fly visual. He got to know several people in town and spent one night with Linda and Sailor of Gypsy's, sleeping the rest in his plane.

            Anne and I got to know Curtis quite well. He was a tennis pro in an exclusive club somewhere south of Memphis. He called the club several times to tell them the storms made it impossible to fly. After a couple days, they told him he was having too much fun and they were docking him vacation time. Finally a hole opened up between storms and he flew out. He said he'd be back.

            A couple days later Anne and I were walking at the airport and found this green tennis ball in the sand at the end of the runway. Curtis had dropped it "marking his spot" as he taxied for lift off. We sent it back with a note and he returned it care of the SeaBreeze. He inscribed the ball with "I will return to Cedar Key."

            A few days back while driving by Natural Expressions, this guy wearing pressed shorts and a designer shirt passed me on a bicycle. He had on sunglasses and he was wearing a broad brimmed hat. I recognized the bicycle. It was Anne's. And on that bicycle was Curtis. He had again dropped in out of the blue, found our house, and caught Anne just as she was leaving town for a five-day trip to Carolina.

            We went to the house and talked about old times and our recent pasts over a bottle of fine red wine. Too bad Anne wasn't here. And Linda, Curtis couldn't find you at Gypsy's so he asked me to say "hi."

The next day, I drove him to his One-Seventy. It was just as I remembered it, full of dirty and clean clothes in the back and in need of a few instruments. He has updated a bit. He now has a radio that works (I think) and a GPS locating system.

            As he left he said he'd see us again. I have no doubt of that. And in the meanwhile, if you'll look in the fishnet that hangs over the bar in the SeaBreeze, you'll find an old note from Curtis along with that now soiled, green, tennis ball with that infamous inscription in his hand, "I'll be back to Cedar Key."