Some people say summer time is too hot in Key West. From my recent experiences I can only say the plains Up North are absolute furnaces this time of year and my hat is off to anyone who can survive the dry heat, the hair dryer winds and absence of cooling sea breezes.
On the other hand far be it from me to encourage people who migrate north in summer to change their habits one jot. Friends find bargains in vacation accommodations and they get to discover why I use a tinny little pocket camera to take my pictures of Key West, instead of their immense and laborious SLR cameras. I used to use a single lense reflex with film but modern digital is lovely. 
Truman Waterfront is up for renewal and renovation but a lot of people find it works just fine as it is. Walking a dog renders no one a profit, unfortunately, for if it did the 34 acres deeded to the city by the Navy might stay as they are.
The Navy warehouse was glowing in the sunset on the waterfront. A short walk from here hundreds were gathered to buy and sell and juggle and entertain in the name of commerce as the sun went down.
It happened I was meeting a friend and Cheyenne needed a walk. I took my pocket camera, the only camera I owned. A second floor cat on Southard (Suth-'ard) Street. 
One imagines this property is marked-to-bullshit to make sure the bank's assets look formidable, even if they aren't real. Imagine the world we live in where these kinds of signs are now being mass produced to stick in buildings all across America. Home of the brave indeed.
A weird world indeed where a sign inside a window says "No Trespassing." Thus dude below looked as though he wanted to become one with the artifacts inside the plate glass window. Despite the lack of signage he held back from trespassing.
On our travels people have told us in various towns that scooters "are really big right now." Not like Key West, where scooters are everywhere and in daily use. 
I still can't identify a real heron when I see one.
Or an ibis. Or the differences between them. I know a travesty when I see one though and covering up the old "Blue Lagoon" sign to make way for a name change at the old motel on North Roosevelt is one such. The Blue Lagoon today:
And the Blue Lagoon yesterday:
One is ugly the other is kitsch. And having a chimney in Key West was merely eccentric until climate change brought us wintry weather...in winter.
Nine months into her new ownership Cheyenne has lost none of her desire to make up for lost time by chasing down every last smell on the streets.
Bahama Shutters on Conch Cottage. 
A Honda 400 twin. Alive and well and old, because these machines were built around 1980. And because it is a CMT, t = tachometer. The CMA model was automatic, an innovation Honda has toyed with for years and now offers on it's flagship VFR1200.
I also noticed the current owner is following a fad from my youth of making a simple and inexpensive "café racer" out of a perfectly nice motorcycle. Instead of buying clip ons he just turned the standard bars upside down to decrease maneuverability and increase the cool factor. 
Years ago the city commission voted (with support from Commissioners who had businesses downtown and forgot to recuse themselves) to outlaw panhandling in a portion of the Duval Street corridor. Luckily panhandlers aren't organized or wealthy enough to mount a spirited legal defense of the First Amendment so the law stands and these signs forced me to ask myself if I hadn't noticed them before or if they are an addition to the plethora of "No This" and "No That" signs littering Old Town. 
No handshaking either. 
I cannot imagine the patience it takes to squeeze goop all day into the gaps in the siding. Someone has to do it, I suppose. 
This sign at Mile Marker 9 has been up for a while. D'you suppose Kendra might mosey on over and pick up her movie sometime soon? 
And someone needs to let Ocean Key House know their expensive and ugly billboard got an update with a private message.
Not actually that private when you consider it sits alongside Highway One buggering up the view of the horizon as nature intended it. Billboards are their own form of poison, though perhaps not as pointed as that of Haggerty's former "friends." I hope whatever he did was more interesting than the usual sex, lies and faithlessness of the unimaginative.
On the other hand far be it from me to encourage people who migrate north in summer to change their habits one jot. Friends find bargains in vacation accommodations and they get to discover why I use a tinny little pocket camera to take my pictures of Key West, instead of their immense and laborious SLR cameras. I used to use a single lense reflex with film but modern digital is lovely. 
Truman Waterfront is up for renewal and renovation but a lot of people find it works just fine as it is. Walking a dog renders no one a profit, unfortunately, for if it did the 34 acres deeded to the city by the Navy might stay as they are.The Navy warehouse was glowing in the sunset on the waterfront. A short walk from here hundreds were gathered to buy and sell and juggle and entertain in the name of commerce as the sun went down.
It happened I was meeting a friend and Cheyenne needed a walk. I took my pocket camera, the only camera I owned. A second floor cat on Southard (Suth-'ard) Street. 
One imagines this property is marked-to-bullshit to make sure the bank's assets look formidable, even if they aren't real. Imagine the world we live in where these kinds of signs are now being mass produced to stick in buildings all across America. Home of the brave indeed.
A weird world indeed where a sign inside a window says "No Trespassing." Thus dude below looked as though he wanted to become one with the artifacts inside the plate glass window. Despite the lack of signage he held back from trespassing.On our travels people have told us in various towns that scooters "are really big right now." Not like Key West, where scooters are everywhere and in daily use. 
I still can't identify a real heron when I see one.
Or an ibis. Or the differences between them. I know a travesty when I see one though and covering up the old "Blue Lagoon" sign to make way for a name change at the old motel on North Roosevelt is one such. The Blue Lagoon today:
And the Blue Lagoon yesterday:
One is ugly the other is kitsch. And having a chimney in Key West was merely eccentric until climate change brought us wintry weather...in winter.Nine months into her new ownership Cheyenne has lost none of her desire to make up for lost time by chasing down every last smell on the streets.Bahama Shutters on Conch Cottage. 
A Honda 400 twin. Alive and well and old, because these machines were built around 1980. And because it is a CMT, t = tachometer. The CMA model was automatic, an innovation Honda has toyed with for years and now offers on it's flagship VFR1200.I also noticed the current owner is following a fad from my youth of making a simple and inexpensive "café racer" out of a perfectly nice motorcycle. Instead of buying clip ons he just turned the standard bars upside down to decrease maneuverability and increase the cool factor. 
Years ago the city commission voted (with support from Commissioners who had businesses downtown and forgot to recuse themselves) to outlaw panhandling in a portion of the Duval Street corridor. Luckily panhandlers aren't organized or wealthy enough to mount a spirited legal defense of the First Amendment so the law stands and these signs forced me to ask myself if I hadn't noticed them before or if they are an addition to the plethora of "No This" and "No That" signs littering Old Town. 
No handshaking either. 
I cannot imagine the patience it takes to squeeze goop all day into the gaps in the siding. Someone has to do it, I suppose. 
This sign at Mile Marker 9 has been up for a while. D'you suppose Kendra might mosey on over and pick up her movie sometime soon? 
And someone needs to let Ocean Key House know their expensive and ugly billboard got an update with a private message.Not actually that private when you consider it sits alongside Highway One buggering up the view of the horizon as nature intended it. Billboards are their own form of poison, though perhaps not as pointed as that of Haggerty's former "friends." I hope whatever he did was more interesting than the usual sex, lies and faithlessness of the unimaginative.
We joined Chuck and Pauline dockside with a gorgeous view. 
We were under close observation. I'm guessing they are used to soft hearted tourists yielding to their charms.
It was an entirely splendid afternoon until these two Cuban refugees showed up to spoil the fun. 
As I watched them paddling in toward the marina I noted, out loud how odd is this new fad of paddling a surf board. I thought nothing more of it as we sipped our tea and enjoyed the afternoon peace. One big thing about this place is the blessed absence of canned outdoor tinny muzak.
Butcher came to Key West not so long ago and I couldn't be there so my wife did me proud. My camera is not the old fashioned tripod mounted machine,obviously. I don't get $38,000 for my mural pictures either. 
It is no surprise that he is compared to Ansel Adams but what I prefer about Butcher's pictures is that for some reason they exude more warmth than the famous Adams pictures of the West. Perhaps it is the subject matter, or Butcher's technique but I like his photos far more.
I started thinking about Butcher one morning when i was walking Cheyenne and found myself taking pictures with no essay subject in mind. 
A one lane street is a test of driver's manners. Imagine how often they fail the test.
