William And Catherine

Cheyenne attracted company after we got out of the car. A nearly naked man came round the corner to collect his errant ball of fluff. "How did he get out?" was the question. Beats me I thought as I paid closer attention to......the elderly KZ650. I had the four cylinder Yamaha version of this bike, the Maxim with shaft drive and it ran like a top with no maintenance at all. I bought it in Fort Myers and used it to escape Florida. After a cross country ride I sold it in Santa Cruz, California for reasons I don't clearly recall. Getting married may have had something to do with it. My wife was rather appalled to discover when she met me I owned no car. I bicycled everywhere around town and she asked what I did when I went out of town. "Take the motorcycle, " I said off hand. I don't think that was the answer she expected. Looking at this Kwak reminded me of all that...I have been busy flitting around with my camera and I figured it was time to do another street walk.This block of William, toward United is the back of the Mastic Trailer Park which I also photographed recently for some pictures on United Street.I can't imagine how hot it gets in these trailers in summer. Not least because we have been living lately through a particularly chill cold front so summer seems eons away. The sun manages to give a summery look to bright colors and palms even if it is quite cool.I am a sucker for mature trees, they make any house look good to me. I liked this one anyway with the tin roof and big old fashioned storm shutters.I really enjoy walking around looking at the bright colors of Key West. I think mostly people, if they notice me at all, think I'm a tourist as this sort of photography is quite common around town. people are always clicking away.When people ask I tell them I like to record the town as it changes. There have been so many changes since I first came here in 1981 and every time I came back, by motorcycle or by boat, more things have gone unrecorded even as they changed.This block of William and Catherine is easily identified by the huge Suburban Propane building. The kids on the skateboards buzzed by illustrating how useful those wheels are. I grew up just after the skateboard craze took hold.More bright colors in the afternoon sun.Often I notice the complicated skyline in Key West- all those decks and porches and railings and roof lines. This was Catherine Street one of my preferred cross town streets, looking east toward White Street. El Siboney, the great Cuban restaurant is up on the right.Suburban Propane, a landmark, in all it's glory.
and less glorious but ever so useful, the necessary propane tanks.And that was that. A quiet afternoon on William Street in Key West.