Red Specks Of Christmas

Tonight is Twelfth Night, not the Shakespeare play but the twelfth night after Christmas and it's an important landmark. That is because tonight must see the removal of the last of the Christmas decorations upon pain of some severe bad luck in the coming year. After 2020 no one needs any more bad luck this coming year.

In the spirit of Twelfth Night I found a bunch of little red odds and ends around Old Town, and I photographed them as a nod to this auspicious date. In some cultures Twelfth Night is the gift giving night as it marks the arrival of the Three Wise Men in Bethlehem bearing symbolic gifts for the newborn King. When I was a child in Italy we celebrated the visit of the Befana, an ugly old woman on a broomstick with a sack of gifts.  One more inexplicable Christmas tradition.  

A fishing float used as a decoration is a common sight around Key West so  I can’t say for certain this counts as an actual Christmas bauble:

The stuff on the fence is decidedly Christmas stuff and therefore in peril of triggering gross bad fortune.

I like these old street signs, cement blocks at the street corners and there aren't many left but this one has a red stripe to forbid parking next to it. Red? Good enough for me to include in an essay on red things. 

I could drive myself mad photographing every red winter flower blooming in Key West so I do try to show some restraint.

I liked this one below; social distancing required but only for humans. I guess wetsuits are free to bunch up. 

The morning after the night before, as usual, but in this case red:

A nice use for a used beer bottle, seasonal too and I think this counts as a way to bring misfortune crashing down on your head. Has to be gone by tonight!

Fantasy Fest beads mixed up with Christmas sounds about right on a holiday celebrated any way one wants apparently:

And to end we have a few official city decorations:

And of course Rusty.

One Wise Man (And His Dog)

Usually this time of year I drag my sorry backside around the neighborhoods to photograph Christmas lights on houses. This year I thought to myself I'll do something different. The thought was prompted when I noticed this delightful example of Tropical Adaptation. No fake snow here, just a Christmas Alligator. How suitable for the season:

This lot seem to follow the theme though their actual species is a bit indecipherable to me. Possibly a crab? A clam? A stingray?

The usual tree at the end of Green Street this year with a  new  Key West Bight sign. Except the Bight has been renamed the Historic Seaport to bump up the pomposity a bit. A Bight is an indentation in a  coastline suitable for anchoring boats. Or its a loop of rope which it isn't in this case.

My sentiments precisely even if my purveyor of happiness wasn't cooperating and dodged out of frame. His tail held high shows his state of happiness.

 I trust this provocative sign refers to the peppers and pepper flavorings within:

I quite like the Christmas Carol effect of the wreaths on the decorative lamp posts around Old Town. Rusty couldn't care less:

 Kermit's looking extra festive though he does get a leg up with his normal decor of green on yellow:

 And of course Christmas lights in the palms always look good and I have more photographed below:

This, below, is about as many icicles as I ever want to see again. My wife and I were watching a  movie set in a dark moody Alaskan village in winter, HOLD THE DARK was the title and at one point she turned to me and said with a  worried tone in her voice: Will we have enough heat in the van? I pointed out we may lack heating elements but our retirement home will have wheels and we shall go south as soon as frost threatens if not before.

I plan to come back to Key West and live on a  boat again to wrap up a busy life. Perhaps a Viking Funeral to end it all. Perhaps not. More likely a slow dreary fade to black in a nursing home! 

Pepe's on Caroline Street has got into the colored light thing too.  I think the oyster shells could reasonably be viewed as representative icicles this time of year...

I noticed these decorations on White Street presumably ready for darkness to fall. I like the winter season snow free and full of fresh spring greenery.  I never have been a fan of four seasons.

It's all about nostalgia in Key West and it does look a bit absurd when you view it rationally but this is not a time to be rational, it's a time to decorate.

Christmas

For Christmas Day I collected a whole bunch of related photos and put them here. Enjoy.

To the Blog Reader and gentleman who held the door open for me at the Tropic Cinema loo yesterday: thank you.  Mary Queen of Scots was a long tedious soap opera of a movie and my bladder was full.  The seconds you saved me are still appreciated, as well as your kind words. Merry Christmas and thank you. 

From Miami these two displays at the Doubletree Hotel:

The original concept, on display at Poorhouse Lane.

Festivus for the rest of us...

Tropical snowmen abound.

Not always successfully:

The cat on the bench is a statue:

 From the holiday parade courtesy of my wife:

 Bayview Park:

From the police department's door decorating contest: