I have been realising how much I miss riding,especially on Highway One which has been plagued with people doing very little to get out of my way on my commute. It's getting warmer too so I have been thinking about my last trip up to the Everglades with Bruce on his BMW: 
My knee is still scabby from the wreck which is annoying but I'm hoping the fall on Big Coppitt will soon be nothing more than a memory. A friend called to tell me he had a similar situation when he rode through the road works, he stayed upright, I didn't!
So naturally I look around and feel envious of people who are riding. Like this overloaded BMW looking like an Andean llama in the parking lot at the end of Front Street:
The machine was covered in dirt and stickers which gave the barest hint what the rider might have been doing:
Here today, gone tomorrow: seen Key West, cross that off the list...
Nearby I saw one my preferred scooters, an Aprilia Mojito, known as a Habana in the rest of the world that doesn't embargo Cuba. I like the Vespa-like looks with the low comfortable seat:
They don't import these scooters anymore which is a shame. I guess Piaggio which owns Vespa and Aprilia doesn't see any point in competing with it's own products, but there are a few of these machines left in Key West. This orange one was in Casa Marina:
This one was near the High School:
The Mojitos were offered with 50 or 150cc engines and with classic handlebars like these or with extravagant chrome motorcycle bars in the "Custom" version. I prefer the restrained good looks of a classic Italian scooter:
The one good thing about being stuck in the car is that one gets added opportunities to take pictures at random. This one I snapped in the mirror as I was driving down Eaton Street:
Of course I never wore a helmet when I was a child. Heads were harder perhaps or we hadn't been trained to be so fearful? And talking about the past I got a blast of history when I crossed paths with this shopping cart lurking on Thomas Street:
So, how long ago was it that Eckerd Drugs sold out to the national chain that goes by the rather bland initials of CVS? This cart reminded me why I keep this blog, because change is endemic to Key West. But somethings don't change much, including the wildlife, seen here on a sidewalk.
I stopped to let them clean their plates and immediately some other pedestrian stepped right into them. People need more vacation. that includes Giovanni, seen here in the mountains abaove Amalfi, south of Naples. 
We had a good time riding there last year. A couple of years before that I took my vacation in Corsica where we rode his BMW R1150 all over the island for two weeks. I even forgot to wear my helmet in the lonely fastness of Corsica's rebellious mountains:
On that subject we were at the doctor's recently where my wife was setting up an appointment for surgery on her shoulder which she injured at work. The secretary peered at my raw knee and asked what happened.
"Fell off my motorcycle," I said a little tired of the story by now.
"So did I," a reply which didn't fail to astonish me. "On gravel" she added holding out her flayed digits.
"You weren't wearing gloves?" I asked as we compared scabs. She shook her head.
And working in that office she knows exactly which bones go where. They call this demonstrator skeleton Mr Bones which I think is rather cool so I snuck a couple of pictures when they weren't looking, I also took a peek inside the skull cavity which was, unhapppily, empty. Mr Bones' bones are all numbered and he grins all the time.
It must be exhausting being a skeleton. Just hanging there grinning madly.
And when I say "handkerchief" that's exactly what I mean:
The sand is quite decent, and the palm trees make for a shady spot to hang out in, so, despite the size or lack of it, Dog Beach isn't an awful spot to hang on a hot afternoon. Especially if you are a dog:
Some dogs have the misfortune to be owned by dorks, like this guy who brings his dog to the dog beach but won't let the poor thing play:
So the energetic young thing gets to hang out with a listless bunch of humans:
It can be a busy spot, Dog Beach, with vehicles on the street...
...and of course, this being Key West, wepresent the the obligatory cyclist:
And a well patronised bicycle rack as well:
Not forgetting the eccentrically decorated van:
Out at sea the tourists were getting their rides aloft:
And up the street at Vernon and South I spotted a tableau featuring a collection of touring vehicles to be seen on many Key West streets:
Waddell Street by contrast was empty:
Well, not quite:
Waddell Street dead ends into a rather attractive little alley which is made of sand and reminds me of places typical to mainland Florida which unlike the Keys, is made of sand:
But back to the point of the essay,this is a dog beach though it's not the only one these days. There is a fenced in run for dogs at Higgs Beach and across from that, between the White Street Pier and the West Martello tower (home of the Garden Club) dogs are allowed to run on the beach. Water access is a bit awkward as there is a seawall there but the beach area is open to dogs, on that county operated beach.
And once the dog is walked my wife says the tapas at Louie's Backyard right next door are excellent.
Prices at Louie's make my nose bleed but she says sunsets there are excellent.I doubt the dogs would care much one way or the other. 
It has happened again, and I got invited out to dinner by a dude who reads the blog.
Marybeth and her husband Keith cornered the wife and I at El Siboney and forced us to accept their hospitality, so under their protective wing I was able to order the breaded and fried palomilla steak and boiled yucca.
It's hard to starve at El Siboney so my wife and I usually share an order but for some reason she was feeling expansive so she ordered a Siboney steak which comes with shredded parsley, Keith got stuck into a plate of fried pork chunks, hard core Cuban fare and Marybeth took the restrained route following my wife's lead. El Siboney does not overflow with decorative warmth as it were:
Keith and Marybeth live in the mountains of Colorado but vacation frequently in Key West where Keith was stationed in the 1970s. It's the rare visitor to Key West that takes an interest in the past but Keith is one of those and he enjoys organizing himself around the book Streets of Key West, that I quote from. Marybeth got stuck in with my wife and I was happy to let those two do their thing.
Keith watched me whip out my little canon SX100 and said: "You take your pictures with that?" as I swiveled in my chair to catch a patron involved in enjoying her food:
If we ever get a revolution around here text messaging will be the first thing I vote to ban. However the crass younger generation did not set the tone for the whole place. Some people were visiting this Key West institution to enjoy what El Siboney is famous for, low prices and excellent Cuban cooking: 
I also took a sneak shot, in the style of A Scooter in Turkey, with rather sneak-shot results, so I will need to perfect the technique apparently:
We nattered on for hours it seemed like, time enough to have a Cuban custard, natilla, and coffee, but as I was going to work Keith sank the Presidente beer by himself. El Siboney has moved into the 20th century and now takes credit cards. I rather seem to think it has been doing that for a while but I have got into the groove of paying cash when I eat there: 
I hope when they return next year they will take up the offer to stop by our house and see how the rubes live in the country outside the metropolis. Rather to my surprise they took me upon my offer of the nickel tour of the police station so I have high hopes we shall meet again. Perhaps with pictures of Key West as was.
I like eating out at El Siboney, despite the restaurant's sale a few years ago the place hasn't changed one bit. It's still slightly funky, particular and very neighborhood oriented.
We weren't the only people hanging out happily at 900 Catherine Street.
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.