Cloud Appreciation

I am told there is a cloud appreciation society but in my haphazard way I just like looking at them.

 Above in color, below in black and white and shades of gray.

 Rusty slipped past me as I stared skywards.

Flame Trees

Its that time of year when the orange blossoms are out in force or supposed to be, except it's been rather dry this Spring. It's Latin name is Delonix Regia, which is often translated into English as "royal" poinciana. 

 The tress are either magnificent or gaudy depending on your point of view.

 And they drop carpets of orange on cars, sidewalks and anything that happens to be underneath.

No, this isn't a poinciana fence. It's just my little joke, the orange construction fence in the same shade. 

 The orange flowers creep into every picture if you aren't careful, it's just the way it is this time of year.

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Rusty In The Rain

I left home without my dedicated camera and after a short shift at work I took Rusty for a walk, he armed with his nose, me with my iPhone. And I ended up liking the pictures I took in the half light as the sun supposedly came up masked by heavy cloud cover.

The streets were empty on a weekday morning around six. The rain kept everyone indoors which was funny as the light drizzle faded rapidly away leaving us barely wet and the streets gleaming with water.

Key West is at its best in some ways between 4 and 7 in the morning when alcohol can't be served, bars are closed and drunks are abed.

Life stops and considering how heavy the rain has been lately it was an excellent way to shut the chickens up for a few hours. Usually they are making enormous noise as it gets to be daylight. I am not fond of roosters crowing though there are fans of the obnoxious birds.

The streets of Key West look suitably mysterious in the dark, street lights are scattered about but heavy tree growth can cast wide shadows. I find the empty streets serene though I know some people are very much afraid of walking alone but you would have to be unlucky to get beaten up in Key West if you are out walking your dog while sober and alert and sensible. It has happened but this is a town where most violence occurs between people who know each other or think they know each other and have usually been drinking.

 I enjoy the views instead, the particular architecture and the flowers and the light and darkness.

I took these pictures walking the area between Bayview Park and White Street, wandering Eliza, Duncan and Catherine Streets at random following my dog who was following his nose.

Rusty was ready for a street walk in the city and he was very busy. For me the colors and shapes and lights kept me busy. the absence of traffic of any kind meant we circled each other untangled  by a leash. That could only last so long until people started to wake up and peel out for work.

 We made the most of it. The new city hall was looking good:

Hurricane season has started but peak season usually comes in September. They monitor all that stuff from here at the weather station across from city hall and issue warnings and stuff. Sort of reassuring.

I remember when they built this place a few years ago people complained endlessly about the building including the fact the walls were painted red. It turns out that was undercoat and all the complaints ended up getting buried under rather more tasteful wooden panels. 

Usually we see boring No Trespassing signs or  private driveway warnings and I like this one by contrast.  Walk up and get your signature verified...

 Busy dog heading back toward the car.

We got back to the car in time, then the clouds let  loose again. What a great feeling, a decent walk through silent streets and home to bed. What a strange bunch of heavy windy rainy weather we've had.

Getting Around

I don't like cycling around Key West, I'll be honest. You don't see me cycling partly because I am walking Rusty but partly also because I don't like the business of cycling.I rely on my walking skills. So when I saw a lone shoe abandoned at Flamingo Crossing ice cream I wondered what happened. Did they keep going in one stockinged foot? 

Some people absolutely love their bicycles. If I lived in town I'd ride my scooter instead. It's not because I dislike the physical effort but because bicycles occupy a strange place in the hierarchy of the road. On the one hand they have to obey the rules of the road but on the other they are able to take short cuts that enable them to circumvent other road users. And that tends to annoy car drivers. So there is tension. Also the fact that you are an actual road user requires you to pay attention as you pedal, so the delightful ability to be distracted (and take pictures!) as you walk is no longer possible.

And yet bicycles are so sensible why would you want to drive a  big old car or truck? Because you do. Everyone does. I've seen some communities, places even not connected by roads where everyone still has a  car. The smallest islands have traffic. Cars are just part of the fabric of our lives. I see tracks across pristine land on satellite views and its obvious they are made by cars. The car leaves its mark across the planet.

I have always held the belief that if everyone rode two wheels the traffic would be that much more bearable. When I was a youngster motorcycle magazines offered up that vision as a way to make motorcycles socially acceptable- good for the traffic! We still rode like hooligans. We didn't care if anyone else rode. Now I live in a place where scooters are useful transportation and I like it. 

 My trainer at the gym grumbles that people have forgotten the validity of bicycles in Key West and he feels everyone should ride "like they used to" but its not going to happen. There are cars in every street picture of Key West, a city two miles wide and four miles long.

 There is also some self expression on two wheels in a state where cornering is not such a big requirement and motorcycles can be so low slung they barely ride above the ground: 

And I admit it, having the ability to take a road trip i a great thing because these aren't really islands, but a peninsula and there is that one congested highway out of town. Happily.

The Overseas Highway means you can be in San Diego in four days without taking a ferry.... 

The Look Of The Thing

Those "Conch Pride" signs tell the story- sports is a big deal in Key West, home of the "fighting conchs." I like the small town feel these signs express, the part of Key West that belongs to families that have always lived here, who live apart and don't much care for the face Key West turns to the world.

I read in the paper the head of the Historic Architecture Review Commission is retiring. The suggestion was that his departure might end the practice of approving these weird additions to the Old Town uniformity of wooden homes and picket fences. 

This one further down Truman Avenue wouldn't be ugly in many places but it sue looks out of place to me.

 I like the beach towels drying, vacation time uder the bright orange petals of the poinciana. 

I like walking around town with a camera around my neck so I look like a tourist. People leave me alone and i fit in as I watch them all go by intent on squeezing their vacations dry. Make lots of memories though there is a lot more peculiar stuff in this town than a restaurant that makes sexual innuendos out of it's menu.

I am glad payphones are going away. I wish I hated my iPhone but I don't. I like my kindle app, my magazines online, my camera my maps and so forth. I don't miss the bad old days of hunting for quarters and asking directions and breaking the spines of  heavy books hauling them around in my backpack. I see a payphone and I fondle my iPhone happily.

 The gym at the St Mary's school. I thought the Catholics had gone all Kokopelli for a moment.

Here is how Old Town Key West should look.