Vignettes XXXV

There are times when I think that taking pictures and organizing them in an on-line diary is an indulgence that should perhaps be put on the back burner. Then, the back burner suddenly imposes itself on me and I get vexed and frustrated that I have nowhere to put silly looking pictures like this one. Two chairs, on a roof, ready to enjoy an unconventional Key West sunset.My home Internet connection is restored and my camera has not been completely idle as I fretted, waiting for American Telephone and Telegraph to send me my replacement wireless router. The weekend intervened but they did indeed get it to me overnight, so even though our economy is going resolutely Third World, we aren't there yet. I am still a valued customer. And the best I can do with my restored connection is this:A view looking south from the upstairs at Louie's Backyard. I was at a fundraiser and managed (with my wife's unwitting help) to break a wineglass, that had no wine in it. The manager said I could have a replacement only if I promised to take proper care of it, hold it thus, and be a good boy. Fuck you, I wanted to say, but I was a good boy and hung my head in shame, silently promising I will never spend a dime in this shit hole, now or in the future. By me a drink on the back deck if you want but don't expect me to reciprocate. I am nothing if not good mannered and I did flush the toilet after I used it on my hurried way out. They never yell at me like that at El Siboney where my bill doesn't amount to the cost of a goat cheese sarnie at Louie's.On the never ending subject of tachometers Chuck Pefley told me recently that the Honda Ruckus scooter is cool, and even though they imported very few 250s, the 50cc model is frequently seen on the streets of Key West. Here is conclusive proof that this cool scooter does not come equipped with a tachometer, just like my plain jane Bonneville. I will have more to say on the subject of the imminent arrival of unofficial summer but this house in New Town made me feel cheerful the day before yesterday. I have had reason lately to feel not very cheerful at all.
This gumbo limbo is still growing in the Meadows and it still fills me with awe. Robin Hood could hide in it's huge leafy branches and ambush a dog walker passing below.I guess I have needed cheering up because this mailbox caught my eye:And this one is uncharacteristic in that it invites one inside. "Welcome" it said and I think Cheyenne was ready to take them at their word.I saw this Mel Brooks gate standing unattended by any fencing. I wanted to open it and walk through like I was in Blazing Saddles, except I didn't have a dime and couldn't pay the toll. My dimes currently are going to pay for all the crap in my life that has failed and needs to be replaced so I will be spending a lot more time with Nelly in the weeks to come:
Spring break is over for the most part and night dispatching has quieted down a fair bit, but things still do go bump in the night and police work never stops. Keith has been hitting the overtime pretty hard in a drive to pay off some extra bills of his own.We are still hiring in dispatch and as lucky as we are to have great jobs we are even luckier to still have access to overtime. It hits me every time I ready about the unemployment numbers as our fake economic recovery powers ahead.Key West, the small town, makes me laugh out loud from time to time as I walk Cheyenne around town. This personal note, parked for all to see in a New Town driveway, was one such moment:This I thought, was every bit as cool as a Honda Ruckus, and might be the way of the future. Note the orange cord supplying the energy re-charge on the right side.A cyclist exemplifies good eco-etiquette and this young woman did an amazing job of safely negotiating a series of intersections along Thomas Street in Bahama Village, talking madly on her phone, cycling one handed and barely ever having to put even one well turned ankle on the ground as she flowed smoothly along. I felt compelled to stop at the stop signs which allowed her to keep up with my cumbersome 28 mile-per-gallon eco-wrecker.I saw these people on the little pier at Simonton Beach and they put me in mind of youth, living on a boat, existing outside the mainstream. That kind of thing.Similarly with this dude photographed outside Harpoon Harry's. I discarded this picture for that essay but I just couldn't get his jaunty stride out of my mind.I made a U-turn to photograph this hack on the upper (south) end of Duval Street. This is why a sidecar will never work for me. Metered parking? Huh? Never say never. I would rather be seen in a hack than in something like this. Can you imagine parking this thing in a street barely wider than one of these tires? Oh and gas has popped over the three dollar-a-gallon mark this week even at my ultra cheap Shell Station on Ramrod Key.I saw this tag at Boondocks, speaking of Ramrod Key and it started me on this essay, thinking about the madness of driving a quarter million dollar car in the middle of an economic Depression and then putting a populist NASCAR tag on the back? Oh sure, just one of the guys! Florida is cutting the four million dollar Healthy Start program to balance the state budget this year. Let the little tykes and their improvident mothers get help somewhere else will be our attitude."There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land." Deuteronomy 15:11