I was standing there enjoying a moment of peace and quiet in the sun, taking a moment before plunging into the tree infested alley, when with a rattle and a rumble an Historic Tours of America trolley came charging down Elizabeth Street."And that's what we call the Wedding Cake house..." or some such thing the driver announced as they drifted past the pink and white concoction frothing up behind the trees. The rest of the spiel was lost in the strong southerly breezes that have been sweeping the islands for what seems forever. The Conch Train Tour isn't a bad thing to do if you've never done it. It's ninety minutes of talk all over the island for $22 (I think). Locals go free with a visitor, or they did in the age of abundance, so there's your money saving tip for the day. J Wills Burke in his book "Streets of Key West" tells us the home was built as a wedding present to his daughter by the man for whom the lane is named..jpg)
In 1885 Benjamin P Baker, a contractor and undertaker had his men build the house and they set to with a will. The author suggests in his/her deliciously dry nom-de-plume's voice that the workers were so relieved not to be building yet another coffin they added garlands and garnishes at every opportunity:.jpg)
J Wills Burke also suggests Baker's Lane is an ell-shaped half-street but it did a dead end for me in a straight line. Unlike many of the other 105 lanes in Key West, Baker's is relatively wide under its bower of natural shade:.jpg)
And it even provides off street parking. I could barely make out the tank on this elderly decomposing Harley:.jpg)
I don't doubt someone can identify this old MG down to the chassis number. I've seen it parked on Elizabeth Street for some time, its splendid Triumph Bonneville green color getting a bit faded in the sun:.jpg)
It is a roost for local wildlife and I hope it continues to run, it sounds and looks quite magnificent in motion. Less magnificent as a perch:.jpg)
Incorporation of wildlife seems very much part of the scene for peaceful Baker's Lane. Including guard cats of assorted shapes and ages:.jpg)
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And if you have a tree blocking your property line you just deal with it:.jpg)
They used to build quite a fair bit in limestone rock and there are plenty of examples around town. I always like to snag a picture when I'm in the neighborhood:.jpg)
And evocative porches abound on Baker's Lane as they should:.jpg)
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And then there is still at least one visible example of Old Florida jalousie windows, the type that open out with a handle you push on:.jpg)
My home has 1980's versions of the same and very slick they are too as you can leave them open at quite a wide angle in the strongest of rains and they keep the water out. Except in summer of course when the central air cools the house a treat. These shutters do the same with intrusive sunlight:.jpg)
You can't stroll Baker's Lane without being asked to think, even by the boring old municipal trash cans:.jpg)
And there was the obligatory stained glass window bearing a message I struggled to interpret. Possibly "Celtic Christian Poofs Rock" ? It seemed a rather mixed message at best, but delightfully bold and cheerful a splash of color, irresistible to my simple minded pocket camera..jpg)
Further up I saw another slightly odd message suggesting the recipient could be in two places at once:.jpg)
Which was extra confusing to me as I could see at least three ringers...Whoever it was has money to burn, literally, in these tough economic times. Foreclosure does not appear to have struck Baker's Lane and there was a refreshing absence of For Sale signs. Indeed it would he hard to descend to live among mere mortals after a period of residence in what is an Olympian lane:
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All green and everything even if the porch light is left on at all hours:.jpg)
Back to the tedium and noise of Conch Trains and people and stuff on Elizabeth Street. Oh but wait! Is that a Bonneville I see parked at the curb and waiting for me...I can tear myself away from Baker's Lane on that.
In 1885 Benjamin P Baker, a contractor and undertaker had his men build the house and they set to with a will. The author suggests in his/her deliciously dry nom-de-plume's voice that the workers were so relieved not to be building yet another coffin they added garlands and garnishes at every opportunity:J Wills Burke also suggests Baker's Lane is an ell-shaped half-street but it did a dead end for me in a straight line. Unlike many of the other 105 lanes in Key West, Baker's is relatively wide under its bower of natural shade:And it even provides off street parking. I could barely make out the tank on this elderly decomposing Harley:I don't doubt someone can identify this old MG down to the chassis number. I've seen it parked on Elizabeth Street for some time, its splendid Triumph Bonneville green color getting a bit faded in the sun:It is a roost for local wildlife and I hope it continues to run, it sounds and looks quite magnificent in motion. Less magnificent as a perch:Incorporation of wildlife seems very much part of the scene for peaceful Baker's Lane. Including guard cats of assorted shapes and ages:And if you have a tree blocking your property line you just deal with it:They used to build quite a fair bit in limestone rock and there are plenty of examples around town. I always like to snag a picture when I'm in the neighborhood:And evocative porches abound on Baker's Lane as they should:And then there is still at least one visible example of Old Florida jalousie windows, the type that open out with a handle you push on:My home has 1980's versions of the same and very slick they are too as you can leave them open at quite a wide angle in the strongest of rains and they keep the water out. Except in summer of course when the central air cools the house a treat. These shutters do the same with intrusive sunlight:You can't stroll Baker's Lane without being asked to think, even by the boring old municipal trash cans:And there was the obligatory stained glass window bearing a message I struggled to interpret. Possibly "Celtic Christian Poofs Rock" ? It seemed a rather mixed message at best, but delightfully bold and cheerful a splash of color, irresistible to my simple minded pocket camera.Further up I saw another slightly odd message suggesting the recipient could be in two places at once:Which was extra confusing to me as I could see at least three ringers...Whoever it was has money to burn, literally, in these tough economic times. Foreclosure does not appear to have struck Baker's Lane and there was a refreshing absence of For Sale signs. Indeed it would he hard to descend to live among mere mortals after a period of residence in what is an Olympian lane:All green and everything even if the porch light is left on at all hours:Back to the tedium and noise of Conch Trains and people and stuff on Elizabeth Street. Oh but wait! Is that a Bonneville I see parked at the curb and waiting for me...I can tear myself away from Baker's Lane on that.
"Now there's a trick," I thought to myself. The business clerk didn't share my amusement. Also this week Solares Hill, the formerly free weekly now incorporated into the Sunday paper, had an article describing the travails of the college president. Jill Landesburg Boyle has been the object of a whispering campaign because she has improved the college beyond all recognition and in so doing she trod on some well entrenched corns. One got the feeling from the article she may have reached the end of her tether which would be too bad.
The scarf actually belonged to Paula who grew up in New England and is used to the cold. Or used to be used to the cold before she moved to Key West in 1988.
She uses the scarf to keep out the blistering cold that the police station creates to keep our banks of computers cool and comfortable. We, the operators, just get cold, but it's weird to step out into even colder air...
I figure it's just another way we get to pay for the banksters' bonuses. On the other hand riding the Bonneville makes up for it, at least a bit.
As I trudged up Elizabeth Street it became abundantly apparent he wasn't peeing at all, he was just standing so for some reason I can't fathom I took another picture, perhaps because she found him interesting...
And as I crested the rise on Elizabeth Street (The Hill proper is 16 feet (5 meters) above sea level more or less, depending who you believe), all was explained:
A solid citizen, a family man, out walking his child and their dog. He called out to her that there was too much traffic as I approached but as they toddled off I wasn't sure if it was generic traffic or my arrival that prompted their departure:
No use, I suppose, telling them I am the police.
They remind me of how Germans used to take over large chunks of camp grounds when I used to ride around Europe with a tent. I had a friend visit Key West last week and she was huffing and puffing at the numbers and sizes of vehicles parked along city streets. I tried to point out that a most people who drive Hummers in Key West use a lot less gasoline than she does circling Palm Beach County in her Honda Civic, because most drivers here are reluctant to even leave town. My point was lost on her but the conversation did remind me of just how many cars are filling the city even in this winter of a catastrophic economy:
You'd think a cab would make a whole load more sense around town:
The pink cab is leased from the Five Sixes Company on Stock Island. It's called five sixes because the phone number is 296-6666. In the old days when phone numbers were standardized to seven digits, all prefixes in Key West started with 29 so residents got in the habit of describing their pone numbers as five digits. 292-1234 would be reduced to 21-234. Thus the five sixes. Cell phones have wrecked that five digit system. 
I guess picnickers and terrorists will now only be able to approach the pine forest by boat. Bummer.
Why I have no idea.perhaps just for the fun of wasting baggies. I washed this one and stuck in the drawer smelling only sightly of delicious coffee (Sexpresso? Oh dear Lord). The drinks sold at Baby's naturally come in most unnatural Styrofoam,- sigh-
the more ecologically correct paper, Starbucks style, has yet to penetrate the local consciousness. Besides Chris Belland had a column in the Sunday Citizen explaining exactly why Styrofoam is quite bad for one's health...
There are still a few voices protesting cruise ship visits to the city but the budget is shrinking and port calls are a much more needed source of income than previously. Looking out across The Lakes to the west of Key West you can get the critic's point, this is a beautiful view:
Some people enjoy the view from aloft:
But my streak of envy was directed here as I stood in the cool north wind and photographed the statuary at Fort Zach:
Jib and jigger on a broad reach- next stop Mexico! Or, more likely, Sand Key, seven miles to the southwest... 
There was a front page article in Monday's Citizen about recycling in "Frisco," which is the commonly accepted abbreviation for the city of San Francisco (commonly accepted by everyone except residents of The City who hate the overly intimate abbreviation). It seems San Francisco recycles fully 70 percent of their waste and the mayor wants to increase it to 75 percent. However that doesn't seem possible to Mayor Gavin Newsom unless he requires all residents to compost. Which seems draconian even to them by their own eco standards. 
And I know there are naysayers who argue that recycling is not particularly useful in the grand scheme of things. To some extent I agree, so I try to follow the rule of R's- reduce, reuse recycle and in the end the bromide is that something is better than nothing. I reuse the moisture from the air conditioner by pouring it into my rainwater collection system:
When full it amounts to just over three gallons of purified moisture (the stick is a ramp for geckos that have fallen in). I put the water into the black collection tanks under the house. When its hot and humid I can get three gallons every time I leave the house, it seems like:
The black tanks behind the Bonneville settle the rain water I pump out of the 12,000 gallon collection cistern that collects rainwater off the roof. There is a series of pumps that moves the water around:
And a series of filters on the wall of the cistern, which purify the rainwater that gets pumped into the house in lieu of aqueduct water:
Year round we use very little aqueduct water which is supposed to be a good eco thing, helping preserve the South Florida aquifer. We hang our laundry out to dry which is pretty effective in this climate especially when there is as is frequently the case, a breeze:
If all these small steps aren't saving the planet they do no harm, actually save me some money and use very little extra time. I'm pretty slack on the composting front and we are getting psyched to move into creating a small composting area outside. I'm reluctant to compost because our waster stream is already pretty tiny- we get two pick ups each week and I'm pressed to put out garbage of any kind on two out of three visits by The Man:
The composting thing fills me with anxiety because when we eventually develop a supply of fertile soil we will then have to find a way to use it and that means building a bed for planting. Which means gardening and that my friends is a pain. It always was and always will be. So I need an attitude adjustment. Gardening in my middle age will not become the chore it was in my youth and we will enjoy home grown flowers and vegetables. In the Keys no less. So composting is on my to-do list. 
In my defense I do keep the trees around the house trimmed but palm fronds are fibrous and abundant and they would take three lifetimes to compost down to soil so I put them into garbage cans for yard waste pick up on Fridays. My wife has noted I seem to enjoy the tree trimming routine and I guess it is true, being outside in the heat is much less of a chore for me than struggling with lawn mowers and out of control growth and cold wet dirt. There is hope for me yet.
The City of Key West reports a modest savings of $30,000 in the trash bill annually thanks to a modest increase in the amount of stuff recycled. If nothing else one would think taxpayers would recycle to save the community some tax dollars but I have my doubts about the willingness of the stubborn down here to be led in that direction. One does what one can- to avoid the trash can!