It took a woman to point it out to me many years ago, a Florida native of course, that there is a noticeable change in the quality of light between winter and summer in the Sunshine State.
It isn't easy to quantify the change exactly but once you've seen it you will know what she meant, just as I do. In winter the sunlight has a harder edge to it, in summer the light burns with a white heat intensity that spells heat and humidity and lassitude. It may be that summer just naturally produces more heat as the sun gets overhead and thus the sunlight looks hotter. Perhaps the heat and humidity and the stillness of the air gives the sunlight a more summery look.
You know it's summer around here because the air gets thicker, the clouds get thicker and the saltwater gets warmer, above 80 degrees (27C). That water temperature is the indicator that tells me when we are in hurricane season. Hurricanes use the energy in warm water to power up and until water temperatures reach 80 degrees there isn't enough energy usually, to get the storms going.
So early and late season hurricanes (normally the season runs June 1 to November 30th in the Atlantic basin) tend to form in the Western Caribbean where the waters warm up ahead of the main Atlantic Ocean and stay warm later into winter. Meanwhile we learn to live with and enjoy the bright white heat intensity of summer sunshine:
I like the colors of summer, defined for me by the green of the vegetation in various shades, the blue of the sky and the puffy white clouds that grow dark as they bring the promise of rain. That's another great virtue of living in South Florida, the rainy season comes when it is warm.
I spent too many winters dreading the onset of California's viciously cold winter rainy season which turn dust into mud and sidewalks into streams. Of course it'snothing compared to the cold dark winters of the Far North but I hated winters in cold damp coastal California. Winters in the Keys are a time of occasional cold but the low tempoeratures rarely last more than a few days at a time and rain is light in the winter, a few drops fall as the cold front arrives. I can enjoy the drama of summer wtorms when the temperatures are hovering above 80 degrees.
The heat of summer is, I find, less oppressive in the islands than it is on the mainland, due no doubt to the water surrounding the Keys. Supposedly that also helps keep winter temperatures a little warmer than the rest of South Florida. Which of course suits me. Besides if there are sugar apples growing there's not much wrong with where you live. At least I'm pretty sure this is a soursop nestled in a halo of sunlight:
I mentioned in another recent essay that there is a realty company soliciting bids on homes and I found another such sign on Thomas Street:
I'm not sure about this "make an offer" stuff but it all comes down to two of my favorite colors for the time of year, blue and white.
We piled into Josh's modern comfortable Nissan Altima, a fine automobile but not as splendid as my aging Maxima, loyalty to inanimate machines seems misplaced yet obligatory to me, and we drove north with Josh at the wheel:
I was delighted to be the passenger in the rear seat, an unusual place for me to be and I took full advantage of the opportunity to look out the windows and fully enjoy the views that can only be snatched when operating the vehicle. First stop: Arby's in Key Largo for roast beast sandwiches for brunch. Josh is from Texas you see, and he lives a deprived life with Lisa so he was salivating at the thought of a mountain of beef and bacon wedged between buns. "No lettuce, no tomatoes," he groaned in anticipation, a sentiment I shared as my wife keeps me on a culinary short leash too. They also had something called curly fries which bore the faintest relation to potatoes but appeared to have been cooked in lard which gave them extra calories with the extra taste. I was even more happy to take a back seat and burp quietly to myself for the final leg of the trip to the mainland.
The range is a family affair with Papi burning cordite while los ninos play nearby in the jungle gym.
We the novices, made it back from the casino in time for the safety lecture and were awarded our range cards for unimpeded future visits. It costs $9 to shoot your weapon here which is a bargain in the world of entertainment and it was great fun. Lisa, eat your Seattle-raised heart out.
The shotgun wasn't the weapon of choice for my comrades in arms but they promised to retrieve hand guns currently in storage along with a "proper" rifle for future use. Being as how I'm not a physicist I was quite happy to pop off a few slugs (no buckshot at the fixed target range) and hope they travelled more or less in the direction of the paper target. The scientists in the party spent some time lamenting the absence of rifling in a shotgun and they spent some happy time arguing lobbed trajectories and stuff I didn't quite get.
It was a gray drizzly sort of day at the range, and it happens quite frequently that a bright sunny day in the Keys turns into a rainy summer day on the mainland. This was a good spot to be on a rainy day though, as the shooting portion of the range is under cover:
The rules at the range are strict but simple enough to follow- no naked weapons behind the red line, 
no concealed weapons on your person, and get help if you have a misfire or if you need assistance to clear a jammed gun. For the rest the loudspeaker told us when it was time to shoot and when it was safe to walk out and check our targets. It was mighty civilized:
They even had a dude out there with a dustpan and brush to keep their place tidy what will all that spent ammunition flying around:
And there were tons of empty casings lying around as we weren't a.lone at the range:
This guy was shooting with an intensity and calm purpose that we all noticed and talked about later. We were speculating that perhaps he still hadn't got over the surrender in 1975, but who knows really. He was obviously very experienced and I hope I got some good tips from watching him at work:
Now the smell of cigarettes was overlaid with the smell of gun smoke in my seersucker shirt and that wasn't the end of the boy's day out. Scott is planning a cross country trip on his Kawasaki KLR 650 so we had camping gear to seek out and buy, Josh had cigars to pick up so I beat them at dominos while they puffed on the poisonous weed. We ate more fried food and drank beer and eventually pointed the wheels towards home.
I was half passed out in the back of the car as the two front seat riders spent a happy few hours bickering their way home. They discussed their personalities, the value of science in every day life, memories of childhood and they stropped a couple of times for more food as our dinner of Peruvian food hadn't quite filled them up. 
It was for me quite the unusual day, not at all like going shopping in Miami with my wife.
Much to my astonishment we are almost half way into the month of June already, and half of the year 2009 is on the back side of the calendar. So it came upon me slowly that this is the month that poinciana trees choose to bloom. You would have to be oblivious to life itself not to spot these bright orange flowers glowing all over town: 
In the Keys they are known as Royal Poinciana, Delonix regia to give them their latin name, but who gave them the regal appellation I don't know I'm sure. The size and quantity of the blooms varies from tree to tree though the clusters of flowers always make an impression:
Even though I live in a corner of the United States which overflows with fantastic flora, I am no botanist, so you can take my word that you can't miss the poincianas anywhere around town, Old Town:
Or in New Town:
The poincianas, known in the Caribbean islands as "flamboyants" create a backdrop all their own:
In parts of Asia and Africa they are known as Flame Trees (Australian flame trees are I think something a little different):
The picture above is Eaton Street at Elizabeth, this is William Street from Eaton looking towards the Schooner Wharf area at the waterfront:
Look up and there are flame trees burning overhead: 
Look down and the petals become so much debris, littering driveways, sidewalks and parked cars:
There are trees at the post office on Whitehead Street:
And the green and orange of the tree contrast nicely with the classic white wood of Key West homes:
The flowers themselves look like orchids to me, seen close up:
In New Town the Poinciana Public Housing complex is converted Navy Housing which is now affordable rental apartments for city residents, in the the sort of spacious tree lined tract that one doesn't generally associate with public housing. Personally I think public housing could use fewer high rises and more poincianas:
And across the street is a Key West version of a strip mall:
And just up the street Smurf Village has its own flaming poincianas to brighten up the street:
Call it what you will, royal poinciana, flamboyant or flame tree, its a bloom worth celebrating.