Lula Mae has a bad leg, and her limp got worse so she ended up at the Marathon Animal Hospital, where she was caged. When I showed up to see her she was not her usual ebullient self, rather she was the epitome of hang dog:
She was glad enough to see me and she wagged and wiggled just a little and let me scratch her neck and rub her ears in my attempts to give her relief from her awful plastic torture ring. I spent a half hour sitting and talking to her, in a room that smelled to my inadequate human nostrils, of hospitals, not least because that is where we were:
Lula Mae seemed almost relieved to settle back into her bed, exhausted by the contact. I wanted to say hello to her neighbor but one doesn't want to aggravate some unknown condition or other. She looked like she could have used a visit:
Lula Mae is long since home and mending. One of the lucky dogs in a world where animals get short shrift. A hospital as equipped and modern as this would be quite human, never mind humane in many parts of the world.
She was glad enough to see me and she wagged and wiggled just a little and let me scratch her neck and rub her ears in my attempts to give her relief from her awful plastic torture ring. I spent a half hour sitting and talking to her, in a room that smelled to my inadequate human nostrils, of hospitals, not least because that is where we were:Lula Mae seemed almost relieved to settle back into her bed, exhausted by the contact. I wanted to say hello to her neighbor but one doesn't want to aggravate some unknown condition or other. She looked like she could have used a visit:Lula Mae is long since home and mending. One of the lucky dogs in a world where animals get short shrift. A hospital as equipped and modern as this would be quite human, never mind humane in many parts of the world.
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Florida has instituted a new policy on tag renewals and this year one can get a sticker that lasts two years which seems sensible to me. I registered the boat trailer, utility trailer, the boat itself, the Vespa, Bonneville and Nissan for two years and paid a little over $220, which seems cheap to me. My wife's car gets it's sticker on her birthday in January and then the stable will be good into late 2010. Florida is a no personal income tax state so there are a zillion odd schemes and fees to make up the budget. One is to issue a license plate with a special fee to fund particular projects, from Universities to whales, and by my count there are almost one hundred specialty car tags and one motorcycle tag:
I wonder how our officers can figure out what state these tags are from they are so diverse.
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I have only ever heard of Americans moving their houses, and I don't know if this is symbolic of this nation's impermanence or if it is just a practical way of preserving a valued home, but I never cease to be amazed by this sort of technology:
I don't think this house is going to be loaded onto a trailer and moved, I believe it is simply being raised to get a new, and perhaps proper, foundation. Certainly it appears to need one, as it sits looking rather undignified, up in the air above White Street. Key West has an above ground cemetery as noted elsewhere and this is the reason why:
It's not just the dead that need to be kept above the water table on "the Rock."
I don't think this house is going to be loaded onto a trailer and moved, I believe it is simply being raised to get a new, and perhaps proper, foundation. Certainly it appears to need one, as it sits looking rather undignified, up in the air above White Street. Key West has an above ground cemetery as noted elsewhere and this is the reason why:It's not just the dead that need to be kept above the water table on "the Rock."
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The City of Key West has reached agreement with the Truman Annex Master Property Owners Association and a gate is supposed to be built across Southard Street to secure the Annex from Goths and Vandals at night. As part of the agreement the city had to build a second access to the Truman Waterfront that was deed to the city by the Navy some years ago. I happened upon the new road, on one my midnight rambles. It appeared to be awaiting a ribbon cutting ceremony:
The new access road has been built from Fort Street and it splits into two one way lanes at the junction. the inbound lane comes from Geraldine, past a rather tight corner, while the lane that heads into Bahama Village forms a rather tight ess turn of it's own:
I may be wrong but I couldn't help but chuckle to myself as I walked the new street. It has the undefinable air of being something of a passive aggressive statement by the city, as it does open a fresh access to the waterfront which is important to the Navy Base whose Commander has demanded twenty-four hour access to his property. However, while obeying the letter of the agreement with Truman Annex, the city has created a route that defies the ability of any large vehicle, military or otherwise to negotiate the corners. Thus it is, Southard Street remains the only viable waterfront access for trucks. Which is not anymore the city's problem as the agreement to end the lawsuit with the Annex has been adhered to. If the Navy wants 24 hour access for trucks, that will be their problem. A solution worthy of the machinations of the former city manager Julio Avael. I am impressed.
I may be wrong but I couldn't help but chuckle to myself as I walked the new street. It has the undefinable air of being something of a passive aggressive statement by the city, as it does open a fresh access to the waterfront which is important to the Navy Base whose Commander has demanded twenty-four hour access to his property. However, while obeying the letter of the agreement with Truman Annex, the city has created a route that defies the ability of any large vehicle, military or otherwise to negotiate the corners. Thus it is, Southard Street remains the only viable waterfront access for trucks. Which is not anymore the city's problem as the agreement to end the lawsuit with the Annex has been adhered to. If the Navy wants 24 hour access for trucks, that will be their problem. A solution worthy of the machinations of the former city manager Julio Avael. I am impressed.
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This couple has nothing to do with anything but they just looked happy:
This couple has nothing to do with anything but they just looked happy:
And this left over from my cruise ship pictures reminded me that they still want us to keep on shopping to keep the economy afloat:
This one I saw in Miami and I couldn't make up my mind if it has to do with not fishing for alligators or if alligators shouldn't be fished or if one shouldn't be fished by alligators. It seemed rather urban for alligators, the State DOT office complex...
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A few motorcycles just for fun :
I was on my home one evening and I stopped on Sugarloaf to photograph a sunset (see the next paragraph) and I got overwhelmed by a patriotic moment. No nation puts out more flags than the US. If any Cubans were to parachute onto the airstrip at Sugarload Key in their quest for freedom they'd be sure which country they'd landed in...._________________________________________
I rounded up some pictures of Cheryl who died this month in Key West as mentioned in a previous essay:
She was 56 and spent much of her adult life in Key West. My buddy Curt taught her the fine art of living on the water and she spent a good few years living on her Chris Craft anchored near Rat Key. I took this picture of our sailboat anchored nearby sometime around 2000 after my wife and I arrived here from our trip from California via the Panama Canal:
For me the half mile row into Garrison Bight was generally a pain and I was extremely glad when I organized an outboard. Cheryl disagreed:
Curt was always a fanatical rower seen here with Cheryl's dog his stalwart passenger. He still lives at anchor but even he these days has an outboard:
I look back at that time and wished I had taken more pictures, which makes me glad I've got it together finally to do just that. Better late, as they say.... 
...than never.
