Prayer And Reading

My two favorite buildings are on Fleming Street, or perhaps I should say among my favorites are two on Fleming Street. Though I count myself an atheist I find the churches in Key West are among the most varied and interesting buildings in town, and dare I say beautiful. 

I amused myself by tucking my little Jetson scooter, the lunch break runabout, against the vast edifice of the newly renovated church. It runs about 9 mph, a stately bicycle pace for up to maybe two hours. Once it got to me Stock island and back to the police station for a car drop off. It has no chain or grease and is easy to fold and car and rides on the back seat of the Fiat 500.  It has no pedals so range anxiety is an issue but I am coming to terms with watching the charge indicator drop as I ride.

I am very fond of this cream colored building that looks like a fort and has now received some attention and plenty of exterior paint. 

I did once find the doors open and I managed a quick visit inside and took the obligatory phone pictures in October 2010, just yesterday more or less. Link to 2010 .A decade ago. I was 53, a mere stripling.

The name has changed since the recent renovation and it has been turned into a non profit doing some form of God's work training young people to provide companionship to the elderly if I scanned their website correctly. 

This isn't the first renovation this venerable church has undergone and it's old name is preserved though I believe originally it was simply the Methodist Church.

I rather like the new logo and let's face it Williams Hall is much easier to remember than the old name.

The other cool building on Fleming isn't Fausto's though that qualified, as in this case I scooted over  to the library a block away, frequently used as a home base by the residentially challenged:

It is the oldest public library in Florida and offers all the amenities you might expect in a full service facility, books magazines, videos and computer internet access. 

The roofline is particular and puts me in mind of Boer homesteads I have seen in photos from South Africa.

The garden in back is most often closed when I happen by and I suppose abuse of the modest shady facilities is to be expected one supposes if adults are allowed in here unsupervised. Hence my picture composed through the bars at the main gate.

I have to say the scooter seat though actually quite well made rides up with use and taking frequent breaks for photography and contemplation helps make the ride more comfortable. It gets me back to work not too sweaty and is unobtrusive fun to use.