Cold People

The National Weather service predicts Sunday's night time low for Key West should be 46 degrees (8C). In light of the fact the lowest temperature ever recorded is 41 degrees (5C), this is will be a weekend to be remembered.I was talking about this main subject of conversation and we thought back to the winter of 2002 which i remember as a week of temperatures around 50 degrees (10C), when i rode the bus around town as the scooter froze my bones. The only people we took out sailing was a family from Alaska who thought the weather was summery. Perhaps it is even now, seeing as how flowers still bloom on the streets of Key West:
A powerful fish sandwich and heavy weather clothing will keep patrons comfortable in outdoor seating at Buddy Owen's Fish wagon on Caroline Street:It's the tourists who have so little time in town and find themselves caught in the middle of a prolonged cold spell. This one doesn't appear likely to ease up before Wednesday at the earliest and that's enough time to swallow a whole vacation. So much for shorts and t-shirts in January: Not everyone seems to feel the frigid cold of low temperatures and biting northeast winds. And the sight of a bare knee these days is worth appreciating around Key West: I'm not kidding when I tell you this weather is hard on some people. If you think I'm joking and this secretly feels warm you have no idea how one adapts to warm climates year round. Blood really does thin in response to perpetual heat:

The owner of the coffee shop was congratulating himself on buying the gas heater/blower. He uses it at home where he has no heat at all, but he brought to his Cuban Queen Coffee Shop to help the customers who perforce stand outdoors. I laughed and told him I had figured out my reverse cycle heating system in short order. The sky hasn't been completely blue either which lends a slightly menacing air to the day. Another cold front is expected this weekend bringing a chance of rain and absolutely no let up in the cold.

It may seem odd to see people riding scooters and bicycles in bare hands but not everyone has gloves. And not everyone that has gloves can find them.Sometimes, when you lack proper cold weather gear the best thing to do is smoke a cigarette and just look cool, rather than cold.

The idea that the Key West sun may be harmful is hard to let go, even when your ears are burning from the cold:
I have to be honest; the idea of taking a tour is to me anathema just at the moment. I have forced myself to commute by Bonneville the past couple of nights when my wife was home to take care of the dog, but it is a cold joy to be riding once again. The engine takes forever to warm up properly and I wonder what people who routinely ride in colder temperatures do. I remember in my callow youth being cold a lot of the time, but the fun of the chill is not as acute at age 52.Ooh, look! A scarf! I think that's what that is...

Bloody tourists showing off their lily white knees and enjoying the cold.

And what, I ask you, is the point of a padded jacket that has no sleeves? This guy at least has an excuse- he's working:

For women a cold snap is an opportunity to show off some real winter wear, like fuzzy boots and jackets and stuff:And hoodies ( the Harley in the background is purely a coincidence). Churches have been opening their doors to people who need help, and that's not just for homeless people but for people without heat- including homeowners and people who live on boats. I have lots of unhappy memories of cold nights on a boat, and the blessing of 110 volt electricity is not to be overestimated when the nights are cold. Fireplaces are as rare as hen's teeth in Key West. You are more likely to find flames ...on a jeep?

It's too cold for me to think about lighting up my outdoor fire pit, I'd burn one side of me and freeze the other sitting around a fire. However some demented wastrel was running an outdoor fan on their porch:

When the sun did put in a timid appearance it was a pleasant scene to ride a bike through, even though when I got back to the car the temperature gauge read 57 degrees (14C) at 2:30 pm.

The equator is about where I'd like to be right now, sweating like an honest tropical dweller:

I found bitter irony in this Portuguese (or Brazilian) named home. "House of the Sun" indeed! This dude had it figured out, a hat under a helmet, heavy gloves, sweat suit, socks and a big shaggy sheepskin on the saddle to keep his bum warm:

This lady on Summerland Key had it all color coordinated too. She must be prepared for cold snaps:There are a few hard core riders still out on the Overseas Highway (Notice everyone wearing a snug warm helmet? Those lids have a purpose after all!):

So what is the well dressed Labrador wearing this cold winter season? A snug fur coat of course, all enveloping, with a color coordinated green nylon collar and a nice purple and yellow pair of id and rabies tags to set off the ensemble.
And a great big shit eating grin as these temperatures are what Labradors live for.

DuPont Lane

Key West managed somehow to elect a black Sheriff in 1889 and his name was Charles Fletcher Dupont, the son of freed slaves. He has a lane named for him east of Duval off Petronia Street.

DuPont wasn't the first black Sheriff of Monroe County, that was James A Roberts who was appointed in 1877 and the first lawman killed in the line of duty in the county was also black as it happens, a Sheriff's deputy called Frank Adams was shot to death while trying to effect an arrest in the city in 1902. You'll hear his name come up at the head of the mercifully short roll of officers who have died every time there is a memorial service in their memory.
The entrance to this very short lane is marked by this rather startlingly imposing wrought iron fence. The lane itself is short, but half a block long though unusually for these kinds of streets in Key West it has an ample turn around at the dead end. It is lined with plush mansions:

And at the dead end it makes a sharp turn into this tunnel like walkway.
The fence is so high that I felt like I was in a cave looking out at the sky:
And seeing hurricane shutters still up, blocking out the sparkling winter sun:

These are my favorite Key West colors, white and green and sky blue:

A carpenter was busy improving some already magnificent home, his workshop was outdoors though his concession to the season was a sweat shirt:

"Good fences make good neighbors" is an ironic quotation frequently attributed to the poet Robert Frost (whom the hospitality industry make great play of as a winter visitor to Key West) and on DuPont Lane they do certainly make the little street rather more blank and uninteresting than others of it's type.This example of over sized, protective picket fence was staffed by two extremely yappy little dogs who stuck their obnoxious snouts between the pickets and dared Cheyenne to approach. She ignored them, reminding me once again that the prejudice against silent, easy going big dogs, and in favor of noisy small brats is arbitrary and misplaced.
This picture I took looking east along Petronia toward Simonton, a much more varied neighborhood street than DuPont.
And this night picture of DuPont I used in my post New Year's Eve essay contrasting the peace and quiet of the lane to the trashed nature of Duval street the morning after.
There is a very complete article with photos at this website if you want to see and learn more about Charles DuPont:
http://thenewtimesholler.com/ARCHIVE/chaldupont.html

Brother Sun, Sister Moon

I haven't stopped for the sunrise in a while but the arrival of the sun is once again coinciding with my departure from work, and the shades of sun, sky and water are irresistible.The anchorage between Stock Island to the west and Boca Chica Navy Base to the east was completely still New Year's morning, without a sign of life. I could have helped myself to this conveniently located Conch cruiser but in the interests of not making the crime statistics worse, I left it alone. Besides it is most likely somebody's only set of wheels, despite the fact they treat it so cavalierly:
Cheyenne was busy on her own account. She seemed rather energetic despite her recent exploration of the delights of Duval Street the morning after the biggest party the night before. All those pizza crusts give a girl energy, apparently.The pickings at the Key Haven boat ramp were rather slimmer. It never hurts to check though:
I couldn't help myself at Mile Marker 14 and I had to stop again. I was in an advantageous position going into the long stretch of uninhabited 55mph (90km/h) zone on the Overseas Highway, with no cars behind me and none in front but I wasted the opportunity to be alone on the road and pulled over. I blame that full moon for my distraction.On the south side of the highway the sun was putting on a show of it's own:Ho hum, another boring stop with nothing to eat. Low tide as revealed by the roots of the red mangrove. The water was as still as on a summer day.

Fiddle with the shutter speed for a little more contrast and voilà:

The long white strand in the picture above is a piece of monofilament ready to snag a wild animal, as it hangs from the power lines above into the water below.

Well, that seemed like a worthwhile stop at the time, and there was so little traffic on the highway New Year's morning we still got home in plenty of time for Cheyenne to have her breakfast before she expired from lack of nourishment.