Waterfront

I read a rather disturbing article in the paper about this place with the owners found guilty of stealing overtime pay from employees. Makes me glad I work for the city which has never missed a paycheck, pays overtime as required and doesn't play silly buggers with workers' lives. There are lots of things to complain about but it would be churlish to engage that line of thinking now I am so close to a securely funded old age. 

I've also been reading about drought in the west. We have friends who live in Arizona, a popular destination for our generation, and I imagine the gentle bake under 130 degree skies. Warmer days ahead indeed.  I checked Anchorage for fun and future interest and 70 degree days and 55 degree nights sound...bracing. I'm glad the van is well insulated.

I like to toss a nod to Hemingway's bust when I pass by Bahama Street trying to keep up with my dog. My next step will be to lurk here and catch the reactions of passers by. Then write a thesis on it all.

Across town there is a water spigot on the waterfront where I can fill Rusty's gallon water bottle I carry in the car. While I was doing that Rusty wandered around sniffing grass then eating it. A sudden commotion, the Hound of the Baskervilles! broke out from a  car parked across the lot. Some poor bugger walking his out of control hound hung on like grim death and inched the black bastard back to the car which promptly drove off into the night. Rusty, who had looked up briefly at the commotion got back to grazing while I finished filling his water bottle.

I like the modern bicycle racks installed around town. They are almost as artistic as the Hemingway bust on Bahama Street. I still don't like riding bicycles much but I appreciate they are much in demand by people much cooler than me, plodding along with a camera hung round my neck and my dog showing me the way.

I have also learned through extensive accidental research that the cool way to carry a camera is to have it attached to a sling. That being the case I naturally balk and prefer the traditional neck strap. It's nice to be old and not give  a damn.

Rusty telling me he wants to get back in the car and go home to sleep. No need to bark.

Ride To The Waterfront

It is winter when there are lots of people in Key West so I have put my Suzuki Burgman 200 scooter up for sale. Its the one I bought after the accident that wrecked me and my previous Burgman 200 and it is actually a  fine machine. I'm offering it at $2100 and it will make a great ride for someone who isn't worried about being run down by a distracted driver. For myself I just can't risk putting my wife through the wringer of another wreck and having survived near death  myself I don't want to do it again. Unless it is in some new and different way. Hence the van.

Nevertheless going for a ride across town brought back pleasant memories when i wasn't dodging distracted drivers. I rode for nearly 50 years without a serious wreck and when most people saw me in the hospital for three months flat on my back they saw the ruin I had become, not the half century of exciting memories that got me there. And even on this short ride I ended up with magnificent winter views looking across the harbor.

Two peculiar ships of some military or research style were tied up at the Outer Mole controlled by the Navy. I was standing on the Inner Mole looking across the body of water that is known as the Navy Basin, because that is what it is. The Parks Service operates several boats out of the docks behind the Eco Discovery center and the city used to run sailboat and power boat races based from temporary docks here. Not anymore.

Looking due west at the tip of the Outer Mole you can see Sunset Key to the right and open water leading to the ring of mangrove islands surrounding shallow waters known as the Lakes. There is a seven mile channel through the Lakes to Boca Grande Key, a crescent of sandy beach closed for much of the year to protect birdlife. 

Not the time of year I go swimming but the water looks pretty enough even if it is closer to 70 degrees than 80. Not too cold for people of hardier constitutions Up North to go swimming and splashing in kayaks.

It is a matter of some astonishment to me how fast an hour long lunch break evaporates. You get up form the desk and stroll downstairs to your chariot and drive across town and already at least 20 minutes have been consumed. Add in a  stop to park the car and pick up the scooter where you last left it, put the for sale sign under the seat and ride off. So after ten or so minutes of contemplation you get that nagging voice that it's time to start thinking about leaving.

You dawdle because it's a lovely day and the breeze is cool and the colors are vibrant and this is why you are glad you got to earn a pension in Key West, no snow and limited numbers of gray days, and you get to live and work where others vacation.  

I do have to ask myself why this gorgeous weather didn't descend when I was off work but all I got was gray skies and flat light. On a day like this point the camera anywhere and you get these ridiculously lush views:

With the camera hanging round my neck, a small LX100 Mark 2 by Panasonic if you care, I fired off some attempts to garner some color on Duval as I made my way back to the parked car. Not entirely masked I fear but there it is. We apparently need more than three thousand Americans to die every day to make an impression on people on vacation. 

Park the scooter, get in the car, drive back to work downloading pictures to my phone as we go. Lunch break done. What a lovely day for it.

That proved to be the last ride on the Burgman 200 as the next day I sold it, with some regret as it was a great scooter and will be for the Conch who bought it. I enjoyed chatting with him through our masks as we transferred title and reminisced about the good old days of actual motorcycle dealerships in Key West. Then I watched him ride away. I cannot risk putting my wife through the torture of another round of me helpless in the hospital amid ever tighter Keys traffic. Besides which I've seen as much of the ICU as I ever want to and I'd like to enjoy my four wheeled retirement soon. One chapter closes and the next and final one starts.

Waterfront Market

Thursday is waterfront market day in Key West from 2 till 7pm. I took my, lunch at 2pm yesterday and drove rapidly to my destination. It takes longer than you'd think to drive across town, buy dinner, stop for some picture taking and get back to work, put the loot in the fridge and then sit down and say brightly: "Key West 911, where is your emergency?"

I managed it with suave indifference to the hurdles along the way. When I got back to my desk a caller asked me if he was anywhere near the  free overnight shelter, and then he told me he was on Duval Street. So I told him he was almost five miles from KOTS, the Keys Overnight Temporary Shelter, now run by someone called Cornerstone. Five miles he asked with some surprise. Is that North or South?

Yes well, that's why they call it the southernmost city. As you can see above the Truman Waterfront really is on the edge of the known world. To go five miles in that direction you'd need to walk on water. I, however only had to get as far as the Indian food booth. 

Samosas for starters, lamb vindaloo and chicken biryani to share and a few delicious mixtures to add in. Key West has been deficient in Indian food for a long time and a well masked market offering take away vindaloo is a very good thing for the city at the edge of the world. I drove, gloating, back in the direction of my desk.

It was an overcast day, as everyday seems fated to be as we await the arrival of this late season tropical depression. On the way out of the parking lot I stopped on the Angela Street extension and stuck the Fiat in a space on the side of the narrow street. 

I've photographed the old electrical station before but there was new and bright artwork on the wall so like a magpie I hopped out to have a look. I did not hop fast enough apparently because my slow movements to assemble my camera with the door open prompted a nice winter visitor to parp their horn imperiously at me. I did my best to look suitably serf-like as I got out of the way and regretted the Key West protocol of giving an old man a chance to get out of the way.  

I rather like the bright abstract nature of the art. It will be splendid when the brick building is restored and turned into some kind of public space but for now as the bricks teeter from lack of support and care the art highlights the possibilities.

This one looked a bit sparse. I suppose it is Very Modern:

Then I saw the barricades and no doubt causing astonishment among the few passers by I stuck my camera through the fence and did the deed.

Then it started to to rain. So I went back to work. Now it's starting to rain on the days when I work as well the days I don't. I'll need an ark if this goes on. 

Truman Waterfront Dawn

The moral of this story is don't leave your camera in the car. My idea was to refill Rusty's water jug at the fountain at the waterfront walk him a little around the palms as we had just finished a long walk downtown, and then bug out to Publix to walk in the doors the minute they opened, buy fruit and vegetables and head for a nap at home. Then the sun started to peek over the horizon.

The light and the colors were exceptional with a just a couple of thunderheads to add interest.

There was no wind so just to add to the atmosphere the waters were flat.

I was glad I had bothered to sling my camera around my neck. 

Rusty led me by leash but he was slow so I had time to place with the focus of my attention.

Below we see the navy basin reserved for its use by the US Navy.  After World War Two they parked submarines here which was the era before giant nuclear submarines went to see for months at a time. The National parks Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have docks here. From Time to time you'll see Navy ships, including foreign visitors tied up to the far wall, which is known as the Outer Mole where a mole is what civilians call a pier, where the street lights are.  The Inner Mole is at the bottom of the picture and that's what's known as the place where visiting boat racers used to tie u when there were events involving boats in Key West. Power Boat Races? Gone. January sailboat races? Gone. Change is good they say.

The former coastguard cutter Ingham is a museum nowadays owned by a former city commissioner and it was once open for tours.  These virus infested days attractions restaurants and public spaces open and close seemingly at random.

None of this photography and talk mattered at the moment when another dog showed up. Rusty played until a third dog joined the group and the two friends ignored their new playmate. So Rusty moved aside, the spare wheel at the playground. We left.

Truman Waterfront

The platform you see below is that of a ship tied up alongside the Inner Mole at the Truman Waterfront.

 Key West is still home to the USCG Cutter Ingham a survivor of World War Two, outlasting convoy duty and dangerous submarine patrols last serving in the Vietnam War, an extraordinary piece of history here in town, owned by a former city commission member. In happier days you could s troll the quarter deck and have a drink while watching the sun set. Nowadays it feels enough just to see it still there  with the park is reopened to the public. As of June 1st the Keys will all reopen to visitors and the checkpoints will be removed and hotels will be allowed to occupy half their rooms.

 I saw a cutter apparently identical to this one for sale online for some ridiculously low sum of money, $140,000 I think. I believe the guns are disabled but you get a cinema a commercial kitchen and dining facilities for 80 people. It seems to me to be slightly impractical but our financial overlords do seem to enjoy employing people to drive their personal liners around the world for them so I am probably failing to understand some of the nuances of owning your own fleet.

Back on earth Rusty and I practiced for retirement by doing nothing too strenuous and taking our time doing it. My blatant lack of ambition has led me to describe myself as the only immigrant who came to the US with no desire to make a fortune. My fortune has been in knowing what I want and doing it despite the inevitable peanut gallery. As the end hoves into view I have high hopes I may conclude my life successfully by my standards which granted, are not too high. 

Fort Zachary Taylor is one of the parks not yet reopened by the state of Florida which is not surprising really as this is one town in Florida completely closed to outsiders until June. Mind you having unfettered access to the best swimming beach in Key West without a lot of people would be rather nice. Unworthy thought.

For the time being on sunny days we can walk bike and, it turns out sleep on the green sward at the center of the redeveloped open space next to the harbor.  Rusty enjoyed the sniff and then rolled in the grass then sat and watched. 

Sitting there on the damp grass enjoying the bright colors reminded me how much I didn't want the former Navy base developed. I perversely liked the old dump, a mixture of gravel grass and neglect that persisted for twenty years after the Navy gave the city an unexpected gift of 34 empty access of waterfront land.

In the best traditions of seeking not to screw up everyone pretended the land wasn't there until it became obvious something had to be done. Plans called for the expected profiteering and I despaired but instead of marinas sports facilities and restaurants and parking lots some restraint prevailed and we find ourselves the proud users of open space filled with nothing too much.

The splash pad for children is closed for the Monet of course but it is a spectacular success normally giving youngsters a wholesome outlet for their energy while for the al fresco fitness oriented there is a circuit of various torture devices under the trees along the water front trail.

I like my cell phone so you won't find me joining the anti cellphone tower complainers.

Broadband for all would be my war cry were I to run for office which I won't so I'll let others complain about the communications towers and I'll focus on the flowers in bloom.

Oddly enough Rusty wasn't the only dog dragging a human hither and yon.  I find an occasional visit to this park helpful as it gives Rusty a chance to sniff and catch up on the news of who has been and who has gone by. On a glorious sunny day Truman Waterfront is worth the time.

There is also a handy water fountain which accommodates my water jug which when Rusty has drunk the gallon dry, needs refilling. As we head into summer heat Rusty does end to drink a bit more than he does in winter.

It's a simple place, lots of blue sky, green trees and peace and quiet.

Enough to make a boy thirsty.

I am not surprised the Keys will reopen June 1st. For those of us with jobs enjoying living coronavirus free, more or less, the re-opening will be a jolt I suspect and we'll all be taking precautions.  It is becoming ever more odd to live a life that feels more like a petri dish then normal boring living. We'll have to wait and see what happens...Will they get sick? Will we?  Will the economy bounce back? Will w ehave to start again? How soon will we know? Pandemics are not at all what I expected.