Criss Crossing Truman

There are  some days out walking Key West when you wonder how it is not everyone likes tropical climes. Blue skies, green trees, warmth verging on too much and here we are almost in August. A conch cottage, a motorcycle, a palm; what more could a resident want or need?

Pretty soon we will be hearing how much seasons matter Up North. The changing of the leave sis so important they say. I rode to new York State on an Iron Butt ride a couple of years ago and I saw leaves changing all round a town called Binghampton, and it's true the Catskill Mountains were pretty. I also recall freezing my butt off the motorcycle as I climbed the mountains one frosty morning. 50 degrees in October? Whatever next?

Recycling has come to the Southernmost City. It seems green bins with yellow lids were aethstetically challenging to city residents who resisted recycling for that reason we are told. So the city got blue bins in the hope that dismal recycling rates will improve and save the city some waste management money.

I can't say that these blue bins are particularly pretty but happily I live in the county and cope manfully with small bins like the one seen in the background in the picture below. I have two and if I have more recycling I fill a cardboard box and put that out. Waste Management's single stream recycling program is very accomodating.

The thing about walking around Key West with a camera is that sometimes you feel like you have taken too many pictures of certain places or things. I figured this octopus has been in the blog quite enough but then I also figured it has been a while...and the paint has been refreshed...and Cheyenne doesn't give a toss about it which I liked...so here it is, on Catherine Street. Still.

I thought I'd close with a picture of a possibly typical Key West houses, if such things exist or could be called "typical" such is the variety. I liked the green paint and the massive greenery, hedge and trees surroudning it. I like my tree house on stilts with lots of trees around it.

On the subject of trees  I must confess I haven't been around this corner of Royal Street in a while so I was slightly surprised to see the arboreal nudity at this corner:

I remembered it more like this:


I suppose the tree was leaning a tad bit too much...shame it had to go though.

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Doughnuts

I did it. No excuses, well, I do actually have one excuse and that is my wife pushed me to try them.

This is the place that caused a laugh by asking for a wine and beer license - and got it! The box of assorted wildly flavored cakes cost sixteen dollars which is cheap for two breakfasts eaten twice. Chocolate, ample syrup and bacon, praline and pecans, plum, Key Lime Pie, and mango.

The woman behind the counter and I shared a laugh of our own as I stumbled along trying to pick six but in the end I got the job done and took them home.

Yorkshire Gold tea and doughnuts. Not an every day breakfast.

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Big Pine Woods

I admit I got whiny and bitchy with all the rains last month. It seemed like everyday the skies were gray and they opened over and ver dumping feet of water on South Florida. It was not the summer weather I wanted. However, and here's the thing, those weeks of rain were good for the water tables of course but they also kept summer's heat at bay.

Usually summer kicks in around May in the Keys with increasing hours of sunshine, sudden clots of rain, and massive humidity. Unusually this year we didn't star sweating till the middle of July. Cheyenne loved it, as she do e's alive in winter and hibernates in summer.

But in the end summer's heat got to my dog and her walks started to get shorter, which is great for me as I get to bed earlier after a night spent sitting up. I love my Labrador so she gets to walk as she wants, it's her time of day and I'm just there to chauffeur her around... She led me a pretty dance though the pine forests because Cheyenne has a sense of humor and making me plough through the scrub palmetto was a good joke. Actually I had fun getting lost alongside her.

We sat about for a while until we found ourselves back in human controlled turf, the pine forest gave way to suburbia and all the fear that involves. This property protected by Smith and Wesson. I wonder how many suburbanites think they have what it takes t deliberately choose to shoot a human being. Even a trespasser.

I like walking the woods, they make a serene. Meditation for me to end my night at work. I make sure Cheyenne gets the walk she wants and needs but sometimes I need to see trees and wonder why bracken grows so well in the Keys.

The subject of banning plastic bags in supermarkets is off the table as a violation of human rights. Good job.

 

Back in civilization I found this guy. Do you envy him his mortgage? His freedom? I look and wonder how it is closing mental hospitals to save money was ever considered a good idea. When will we ever learn?

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Walking Whitehead

Whitehead Street as the sun comes up.

The gate that was smashed by an errant car is close to being rebuilt at the Caroline Street entrance to Truman Annex.

They are doing it right, restoring the original US monogram on the gate posts the marked the entrance to a military base.

However we were exiled from the leafy paradise that is Key West's biggest gated community.

No worries, the actual city outside the gates works fine for us, trees leaves and all.

I find it weird that people put their names on their mailboxes. In a land paralyzed by fear of absolutely anything and everything I suppose it's the mark of brash self assurance to tell the world who lives here but the purpose of the name tag escapes me.

WPA! Here comes Public Works to straighten out the mess. Some days when I am sick of dispatching I quite fancy a pay cut and a chance to drive the Zamboni.

I really like the look of the man Post Office, the place that delivers mail all the way to Nay Point at Mile Marker 15. It's one of those government buildings that look right, a symbol of solidity in the sifting sands of modern life. Nothing seems secure in a world littered with debt, diminishing resources and weird weather, but the Post Office is still delivering mail on Saturdays in all weathers. I wonder how long private corporations would last if they were required by Congress to set aside pension payments for the next 75 years. What they actually do is raid their pension funds to meet current expenses. Oh well, better to blame the Post Office for failing.

Dammit, the sun's coming up.

I prefer the dark. I can't see my own feet.

Cheyenne was on a mission and no piece of food was safe.

The post office parking lot is home to the city's largest collection of free range chickens. If you want to see a real live genuine Key West rooster head to the post office on Whitehead Street.

I caught sight of this resident trying to shoo a loud rooster off her porch, evidently exhausted by the endless crowing. How cute are those chickens now? Cute enough to get you out of bed and staggering into the dawn in sleep wear. Makes you glad to live Up North, no doubt. And just imagine what the rent is on that there chicken roost...

It is lovely though isn't it? By the time people were here on the street I was home abed, chicken-free on my little out island.

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Duval By Night

It's the iconic neon sign that says Key West to visitors who come looking for history and Hemingway and all those cliches that sell the Southernmost City. Because I live around here I tend not to see that which is under my nose every day, it's what we all do when we live someplace where other people like to visit. You get complacent which was the thought uppermost in my mind when Cheyenne and I found ourselves strolling Duval at six in the morning.

I am not much good at bar hopping, I'm not good at small talk, I get my etiquette muddled up and I don't like noise. I used to like the Porch until it got loud and popular so my idea of a drink is a pint at Finnegan's Wake a traditional Irish pub with a decent selection of draft beers. I have never had a drink a Sloppy Joes or Ricks though I have manged to sit at the counter once at Captain Tony's. I prefer the modern bright bar a Braza Leña on Caroline Street where you can get bottled beer only and a plate of Brazilian grilled meats. It's ironic that I could go daily to bars that visitors look forward to visiting as a vacation treat.

I'm not a shopper and find myself astonished when I come across shops I've never heard of, like the iPhone repair shop above. At work, if I didn't have a computer with all the Key West businesses listed I'd be lost trying to figure out where many of these little Old Town businesses operate.

To me Key West is the best walking town in the world. I love the secret corners of this town, the stairs to somewhere, the alleys and pathways, the profusion of plants and the funny little signs.

They are all the oldest bars of somewhere as though age invested them with value. The funny thing is this place started out as Hemingway's bar and when Sloppy Joe had a falling out with the landlord he moved to a new bar that he named aft himself and that became Hemingway's favorite bar. They tell the story over and over and the bars all claim Hemingway's patronage. They sell beer in nasty plastic cups and sell trifles as souvenirs and everyone's happy. They don't miss me!

A couple of hours ago these streets were packed with revelers seeking out the Key West that sells itself so well. By the time the pink Crocs got on the scene everyone was off home sleeping it off and the janitors and cleaners and the happy Labrador had the place to themselves.

It was surprisingly cool for July after a lot of wind and rain had blown through and taken away the heat and humidity. I enjoyed myself doing nothing much more than trailing around after my dog who was in morning after heaven.

An hour after I passed through here the city's public works team had the place spic and span and ready for another day of frolicking.

Check this line of trash cans...do you suppose there are enough? Cheyenne was over the moon.

Flooding is a constant in Key West when summer dumps on the city and Charles Street got its share of puddles.

Smokin' Tuna has been around for a while on Charles Street and that's always a good sign. Colombian Grace, the newer restaurant on Petronia Street has gone and yet Salsa Loca, a Mexican joint with apparently no fixed address will not die, as it's now re-appearing on Petronia Street. I have no idea how people can start businesses in this economy and far less how they keep it going, but happily optimists abound.

Chickens are everywhere and they love to get their pictures taken. Like Hemingway the chickens are part of the history and myth of this town. Hemingway loved his home above Havana, Finca Vigia, "Overlook Farm" but put in ten years in Key west fishing writing and traveling. I may be wrong but I don't think Key West today would attract the great man.

Myth or reality? Who cares. Visitors come to get away and the same can be said of those of us who choose to live here.

My Key West is best before sunrise. Yours is yours to figure out, chickens and all.

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