Key West

I was talking with a friend the other day, last Wednesday actually, and I asked him if he thought much about Hurricane Irma and his decision, like mine, to stay behind when the evacuation order was given. He said he doesn't give it a thought, the storm is now history in his mind. He doesn't leave town very much so Key West, which was tidied up rapidly to restart tourism and get the money flowing is pretty much the same as ever.  

There is much debate as to how much and what sort of tourism the city should be promoting. This is one of those winter debates that arise every year as the I-got-miners appear for the winter and want to pull up the drawbridge behind them. It is heavy tourist season right now but I am intent on enjoying the return of crisp cool air now that we are having another powerful cold front blow through town. Crisp is putting it mildly. 55 by night is cold around here. The tourists from Up North think it's  warm enough for short sleeves and flip flops.

I saw a band aid on a tree root. I had no idea what to make of it: an accident, performance art or a political statement...I have no idea.

The homeless are a constant reminder that the weather is exceptional around here. Pictures of snow Up North left me wondering how the homeless and outside dogs coped. Our permanent homeless crowd cope okay as most of them don't like the strictures of the free overnight shelter on Stock Island and camp around town, often quite skilfully hiding. During the day it's harder to move them on as anyone, even smelly disheveled people can legally hang out. She looks extremely uncomfortable but she is actually just deranged. Key West has lots of help for people that are in need but long term hospitals for people who can't look after themselves  have slipped into that realm of the once upon a time and no more. So we trip over the poor things with not a clue what to do.

Had the Netflix show Bloodline run it's proper length the stories so ably set out in Season One would be starting to wrap up. It was set in the Upper Keys but I thought it was one of the better representations of life in the Keys. I'd like to think I'd vote for the other guy if Rayburn was running for Sheriff: that was a family we like to watch not live with...

 Key West, a good place to wander and look:

 Not forgetting Rusty, as joyous company as ever:

1846 Hurricane

The Bridle Path, the place where people exercised their horses is back to normal and lovely under the winter sun:

I actually checked out the historical marker in front of the National Weather Service Office on White Street. A worthwhile read, especially if you lived through the recent Category Four, Hurricane Irma.

Hurricane Effects

I was standing on Whitehead Street taking a picture through some trees when it occurred to me the window awnings on La Concha, the venerable old hotel on Duval Street, are all blown out.

 I saw the plywood over the upstairs door, a reminder of those frenzied preparations...

I took a walk with Rusty after I started getting over my severe head cold and we ended up near the old wooden mystery bridge at the end of Niles Road. It has been turned to matchsticks by Irma, who knew...

 Look at what's left of what used to be a powerful wooden structure apparently strong enough to support a tank. The weird part was that it led nowhere.

 There was no reason for it's existence. It attached a rough old footpath to another footpath and I never found any foundations or signs of construction at its distant northern end.

 Why it was put here I guess we'll never know. I even hoisted 100 pound Cheyenne onto it once for a walk to the island at the other end.

Someone who used the bridge built a convenient ladder too. Prior to this one had to use the metal spikes as footholds on the post to the right hand side of the picture. It was a scramble. Now it's all gone.

I wrote up a pretty complete photo essay of the bridge and the other end of the bridge here:

A Wooden Bridge. 

Sunny Days

A few pictures of Key West basking in the sun.

 I'd like to think this abandoned glove was waving good bye. For now.

Sunset On Sugarloaf

Like all side roads in the Lower Keys it's a dead end and it takes determination to drive it to the end.

 For me the bridge at Sammy Creek  is a place to let Rusty loose to follow his nose while I play with my camera.

 I imagine the crowds at Mallory Square at about this hour. 

I recently finished re-reading Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. It's a bit of a stretch but the rapidly flowing tidal creek put me in mind of the river in that atmospheric story. 

 The road from somewhere to nowhere...

I was photographing the lacework created by the leafless trees against the darkening sky when a car pulled up. The previous camper drove away without  stopping to talk but this young coupe wanted to know what I was doing. Amusing the dog. He pointed out the bats to his slack jawed girlfriend, I nodded solemnly. I was suddenly a part player in his local knowledge play. 

We talked, I deferred, to his recitation about the bat tower now flat on its back on the other side of the island. I swatted mosquitoes. Rusty stopped leaping around his new friends (they encouraged him) and sta waiting for me to do something. I opened the car door.

I paused on the drive back to US One to take some not terribly good pictures of the sunset across the salt flats. The breeze was cool and Rusty found the ditch fascinating.

 It got dark shortly after six. We left.

Sunset Walk

A few menacing clouds gave way to clear skies as the sun approached the horizon.

 Hurricane Irma debris hasn't come close to being cleared in the furthest backwaters...

 American Shoal light hovering far in the background:

 Wind blown coconut palm:

 Pelican can:

 take offL

 and:

 fly:

 and look at ease doing it:

 I caught him with his eyes closed. He hates the camera and screws me up all the time.

 They shouted a lot as they went but I thunk they were having a  good time. It looked tedious to me:

 Time to think about maybe going home?