If you look really closely you'll see rain drops on the windshield. However even not looking too closely you'll notice the car was on a six lane highway thus it was not in the Keys. One should be grateful it seems to be raining cats and dogs every afternoon on the mainland because that is where our water supply comes from, but still I am ready to see lots of lush greenery even in the Keys.
Every morning I see big black clouds overhead promising me a day off watering the plants. Fat chance. Every day they blow away and when I wake up at lunchtime its a blindingly bright sunny day outside. Poor me.
I don't mind at all because the breezes are still blowing and though it may be 91 degrees outside its an absolute delight standing around for ten minutes, hose in hand watching my mango grow.
But still, it seems like it would be the socially responsible thing to wish for rain. They say it rain heavily in Key West a couple of days ago, but that's just a rumor. Come on down, the weather is lovely, if you're not a plant.
Every morning I see big black clouds overhead promising me a day off watering the plants. Fat chance. Every day they blow away and when I wake up at lunchtime its a blindingly bright sunny day outside. Poor me.
I don't mind at all because the breezes are still blowing and though it may be 91 degrees outside its an absolute delight standing around for ten minutes, hose in hand watching my mango grow. 
But still, it seems like it would be the socially responsible thing to wish for rain. They say it rain heavily in Key West a couple of days ago, but that's just a rumor. Come on down, the weather is lovely, if you're not a plant.
There was one rather bizarre looking but very functional apartment building overlooking the canal to the north:
To the south the canal went sort of nowhere.
I couldn't imagine the amount of work that went into digging this massive piece of engineering, and then ending up with no development to justify it. I stumped through the dry grass and spindly trees, wishing my dog were there to enjoy the fun, and reached the edge of this imposing waterway. 
The bridge to the left is Valois Boulevard while the waterway to the right reaches the tidal waters of the Straits of Florida. Of Houses along its banks there were none to be seen at this end. It seemed deserted.
The corner was built up in an extraordinarily elaborate way. It looked almost like the haul out space of a marina or boatyard.
So it was I got back in the car and drove to the end of Valois Boulevard where I walked along a little trail to the end of the canal which it turned out was completely closed off from the ocean by a cement barrier.
"No Fishing In The Canal" was the message stenciled everywhere. Clearly there's no boating and swimming would be an exercise in drowning as there was no way up or down the tall stone walls.
The fresh breeze and open waters beyond the cement barrier looked doubly entrancing, liberated from the confines of the mysterious and blocked off canal.
It takes huge amounts of energy to keep 75,000 people living in these islands, and other than recreation I wonder what our purpose is. Nothing is manufactured here, except for t shirt slogans and some skin creams and nothing much is exported except for seafood.
Yet here we are in the midst of the magnificence of nature, out on a limb providing space for the harried masses to come and recreate. 
I spent twenty four hours on the mainland recently and was struck by how many people live and move in the suburbs of Miami. Sometimes I watch the cars rumbling over the bridges over the water near my home and think to myself that this is a huge convoy of cars rolling by on the cement props of the Overseas Highway.
And, pausing in traffic on some six lane autoroute through the city I realize what a lot of traffic really amounts to.
I read about the Greek government selling it's public spaces and considering the sale of some islands and I wonder how bad things get here before the Koch brothers put in a bid for Grassy Key, perhaps. A billionaire's playground indeed.