Amelia Near Whitehead

I was impressed by this raised bed which is now in a race against time as summer and searing heat seems to be upon us.


Friday morning I was drizzled upon by summer-like rain clouds. In winter rain is usually associated with cold fronts but lately it's been raining seemingly at random.


There is a major murder trial underway in Key West this week. A Miami visitor to Fantasy Fest two years ago stands accused of stabbing a popular young Key West man in a dispute. The defense, according to the Citizen's reports, is based on making the victim the aggressor, which is bound to upset those involved.


Not too long ago a hotel worker was stabbed to death in a dispute with a colleague over a boat, as reported by the paper. I was dispatching that night but as odd as it may seem I don't learn the details of the investigations until they are reported in the paper as the investigation is not relevant to what I, a civilian, do in the 911 center.


I prefer it that way as it gives me separation from the random cruelty and some of the stupidity of daily life which so often manages to create a web of pain that spirals far out of control. The murder trial currently underway may bring justice but it will certainly bring grief as well as an inherent by product of the process of investigation and defense. Much better to leave the knives at home.


The dramas of daily life are carried out behind closed doors usually, in the lives of those who live on the edges of these public streets in this very public little town where thousands live and millions visit to claim an emotional piece of tropical paradise.


My wife is casting around for a new job in next year's school district as the outgoing superintendent, apparently determined to wreak as much havoc as he can before an ungrateful citizenry dismisses him, is dismantling all alternative programs that help and support children with problems and frequently with problematic families. These would be the future occupants of expensive jail cells, the future hopelessly unemployed with no diplomas to their name.


My wife will do fine in whatever job her seniority lands her as she works hard and is smart and loyal, uncomplaining and patient and genuinely likes teaching. The children she has to abandon to their uncaring fate bring tears to her eyes as she prepares one final 100% graduation rate at her alternative school.


The future is bleak when we consider the direct correlation between education and success. The US spends half the entire planetary budget for weaponry, far more more than the next most spendy nations, yet education is failing and jails are ever more crowded.


And here we see the little acorns of future failure being planted before our very eyes.



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Road Works At The Ramp

Old timers know the corner where South Roosevelt meets Bertha Street as "The Ramp," because there used to be a boat launching ramp pointing due south at this spot, behind where the runner can be seen in the picture below.



Some brilliant engineer figured the start of Spring Break would be the perfect time to tear up the corner which connects the city's longest beach, much beloved of the visiting students, to the rest of the city.


Coming into town along Smathers Beach in this sequence of photos we have made the turn from aiming west in the top picture to turning north up Bertha in the second picture and here below we see the line of cars waiting for access to Smathers Beach. What a business!


All this work to install some valuable piping which doubtless will make
life tons better for all concerned.


And had it been installed two months later before schools vacation and families invade Smathers no doubt some indescribably awful Mayan Prophecy of Doom would have overcome us all. Far better to disrupt traffic as much as possible in peak visitor months; it's the Key West way.


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Mysteries Of Thomas Street

A ladder on a roof with no way to reach it. How odd.


This faded thing looked to me to be the first national flag of the Confederacy and what it was doing here is another of those mysteries.


Someone went to great lengths to have this lovely sign chiseled out of a piece of wood and painted. Too bad they can't spell.


Back to reality for a minute and a happy cyclist touring Key West.


And some lost spring breakers. "Does this sign mean pedestrians too?" No dude.


And now a lick of paint on the north side and the building will be complete.


When viewed from the sidewalk I love watching people stop in the middle of the roadway to chat.


I thought this sign enhanced the church front no end. I'd rather see a nice fence around the dusty dog toilet instead, but I am one of those dog owners who is attached by umbilical cord to an endless supply of plastic bags.


The weather was bad enough to tear up the walking club sign that said "postponed" because I guess weather was not permitting. I wonder what a walking club does?


I never heard of three olive vodka before I found this Spring Break party favor perched outdoors. How it got here I can only imagine as this is the time of year for odd drunken finds.


This picture is a mystery. I can't remember for the life of Meir it's Julia, Amelia, Virginia or some other side street. Oh well.


Big house, big scooter.


This mystery: how is it tourists on scooters aren't falling down all the time. I've been paying particular attention this week and they ride so badly, beeping their horns as they go that I wonder they aren't committing suicide all the time.


Roosevelt Sands public housing to close out this walk.


It is a mystery to me how some people manage summers in these apartments without air conditioning. It seems impossible but some do just that.


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Choose Your Ride

This lively scooter took me by surprise, for I hardly expected to see a Captain Outrageous creation in daily use, sitting by the street.


I suppose enough time has gone by that the death of the artist who styled himself thusly:


...means that his art is largely forgotten in a town with a hugely transient population. Maybe not, one can hope he and his eccentricity are remembered.


I saw this big old cruiser parked and ready to go. I liked the headgear tossed casually on the handlebar


Florida does not require helmet use among adults and even though I usually wear mine I like having the option of riding around town bareheaded.


My Bonneville hasn't put in much of an appearance lately on this page but the love affair continues as strong as ever. I have almost 60,000 miles on my 2007 Triumph.


Trouble free cheerful miles on the few roads, flat and straight of the Florida Keys. Two wheels: the only way to travel around here.


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Key West Not The Beach

We had a quick cold cold front the other day bringing sudden cool winds and rain and gray skies which soon blew away. Trees lost their leaves but cars did not lose their bumper stickers.



This guy looked more rural than you'd think Key West would warrant and a couple of miles away the beaches were starting to fill with youthful sun worshippers on break from schools Up North.


I keep finding lost shoes across Key West and this one was lying on the dead space surrounding the old Harris School.


I saw a hand written sign hanging on. The porch and wondered what sort of sales plan the homeowner was dreaming up.


"Beautiful Home" it. Says and I suppose that's true. I wonder what the price might be and if the owner has done the comparative checks so beloved of the professionals?


For a town filled with people, I managed to take a picture of a very empty Margaret Street.


The beautiful house is close to some pretty lovely views.


St Mary's spires visible, just barely, across the cemetery.



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Big Pine Dog Park

Cheyenne is not a very sociable dog, and when dog parks are full of dogs she gets overwhelmed.


I wanted to check out the new park on Big Pine so I went there after work one morning, and because I get off work at 6am in Key West we were in Big Pine before seven.


Dog parks are absolutely littered with signs and for some reason they obsess about dog shit.


I wonder if they have signs at the tennis court warning players to pick up after themselves.


The park opened in the summer of 2011 and it took a fair bit of money and effort and coordinating and permits and all that stuff.


It's located off Key Deer Boulevard at Watson Field, a county backed athletic field, whence the sound of leather on tin bounces across the mangroves sometimes when I'm walking Cheyenne in her natural habitat.


I liked how they put emergency numbers indelibly on the storage shed. I do like it very much that when they dial 911it won't reach my call center, but the county's in Marathon.


We had no emergencies, Cheyenne and I, though we did get mildly anxious when a car pulled up in the parking lot and we thought we might have to share the space with some other dog and it's neurotic owner.


She went to the small dog park with her medium sized dog so I expect she figured we were as neurotic and anti-social as she was. Good woman.


Cheyenne liked the smells so I had to spend some time with my camera taking clever pictures. I fooled the Canon well enough it put the signs in focus and not the fence, like it originally wanted to.


The woman in the small dog park was banging a tennis ball around to work the dog. I am happy Cheyenne doesn't chase balls as a matter of course. I have lived with a dog that did that sort of thing obsessively and it's hard to read and throw a ball simultaneously.


Ball throwing is over rated as a human activity, though millions of TV watchers disagree.


It was a nice open space for us both.


I outlasted my dog.


Then we went and had a real walk with mud and mangroves and everything.


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