Thursday, October 23, 2014

Drowning, Not Living.

My neighbor popped across the street to re-introduce himself after a summer spent in Minnesota (poor bugger) and he was all teeth and happiness under the drizzle. Don't be afraid of the weather he said, reminding me of rugby coaches at the Hogwarts of my misspent childhood. His enthusiasm was not infectious. I liked the greenery of New England this past summer, the shadows cast by big deciduous trees, thick hedgerows, long slow descents into dusk and darkness. Great stuff, but winter is unbearable, fog and frost dripping off cold and leafless limbs.

I am happy under bright sunshine, hard shadows, heat haze on the turquoise waters, sweat running down my arms, dripping over my eyebrows, I love the lubrication of heat, life lived in primary colors.
In Oregon they expect this misery, in San Diego they pray for it as they are about to die of dehydration.

In the Keys I loathe this endless endless heavy cold rain. Photographs on Duval? I wish. My one night off and Cheyenne and I are trapped at home with tea and a crappy book. Bugger this.

 

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Pet Parade

Lots of activity at the Casa Marina Resort, but no pet parade. Rain stopped play. The big question for these frustrated would-be participants: How do we get our money back?

Rain Won't Stop Play

They tell us rain from the tropical depressions in the Gulf of Mexico will peter out Friday evening before the locals' parade starts and dry windy weather will continue into Saturday evening with cooler temperatures and no humidity as a cold front takes over. Should be nice but so far... Everything is damp and dark and gray and moldy.

With all the overtime my wife and I pass like ships in the night so I went to Marathon for her lunch break where we walked Cheyenne in the drizzle. This landmark on the Overseas Highway is to be replaced by a restaurant. My wife remembers shopping here when we lived briefly on our boat in Boot Key Harbor. I have no memory of the place, as usual.

Cheyenne was clearly dissatisfied with the short walk program so as we drove home filled with cheap Middle Keys gas ($3:10 gallon) I figured she needed a booster walk.

This weather is crap. Bahia Honda looks gross in this mess.

More on the way.

My cunning plan involved a stop at Big Pine's Bark Park, a place where I could shelter under trees and Cheyenne could root around in the rain. Mosquito Control was out patrolling no matter the weather. I am very fond of their white trucks making outdoor life bearable.

Someone abandoned their pink Croc here. Foolish child, Crocs are special.

Undeterred she sploshed off through the submerged playing field.

I read my Kindle under my umbrella. Life in the Keys under endless rain clouds, in the slow lane.

 

At home I wonder what she's thinking perhaps bored, grateful, tired, happy. She's giving nothing away. Rain can't stop play. Not for a Labrador.

 

Raining Frogs

There is a school of thought along the lines of: cold nasty wet weather is the right weather to sit indoors under a blanket with a cup of tea and a "good" book. I say screw that, I am perfectly capable of hunkering indoors on bright sunny days if I feel like hunkering. As to what constitutes a good book versus the alternative, I have no suggestions. I like a book that absorbs my interest and whether it's good or bad I don't much care. And if you are an anti-Kindle holdout let me tell you electronic books are amazing wonderful and utterly brilliant. You don't need weather like this to get into your Kindle:

There is a part of me that likes the idea of renting a cabin in February, a week in Vermont say, under a blanket of snow with supplies, a fireplace and a happy dog. The trouble is I keep forgetting how antsy I get when the sun stops shining. On foul weather days I stand at the window with a vacant stare like I'm waiting for my ship to come in. Actually touching snow gives me the creeps, I don't like being cold and the invigorating effects of cold noses and cold feet do nothing for me. The idea of being trapped in a cabin in Vermont is, in reality, so absurd for me that I catch myself wondering how self deluded am I really?

It's an ill wind that blows no one any good, as the saying goes, so the forecast that predicts heavy insistent rain all this week has its good side for night police dispatchers the week of Fantasy Fest. Rain usually keeps calls for service in check. Alcohol consumption drops and with it we get fewer incidents which is great. Which also means less money is changing hands which isn't so great and a lot of people are watching their much anticipated vacations in the sun turn into soggy mush which is even less great.

On the other hand rain at Fantasy Fest seems to be a tradition even though this year a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico is pushing a stream of rain at us. So dampness should be expected, if not this level of continuous heavy rain. Cheyenne does not like walking in the rain nd her frustration s palpable as though this stuff is my fault, a state of affairs created to please me, and annoy her. I wish it were because then I could turn it off.

I am benching my Bonneville this week to commute by car. It's not so much the rain as the number of distracted drivers. Next week we return to highway somnolence until Christmas but this week people are arriving in long lines of drivers texting, or fiddling with GPS as they drive the sole route to Key West. At night one can add a high proportion of alcohol impaired people nd riding a motorcycle becomes a losing proposition. In the rain people drive even more badly so I'm sticking to the Fusion.
It's been raining so hard my wife sent me this picture while I was at work, a frog escaping he rain by clinging to the patio door.

And that wasn't the only wild animal she had to contend with while I was at work.

Rain, rain,go away...before we all get cabin fever.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Idling In Key West

I must look like a member of the idle rich, out and about during daylight hours, wandering with my dog, no place to be, obligation free. Wishing that were true doesn't make it so, but working at night does give me time during daylight hours to be out while industrious persons, and there are a few in Key West, are busy working more conventional hours.
My dog is a hard worker in her own  right, on a a perpetual clean up of the rubbish humans leave behind. I have decided that when people denigrate humans as behaving "like animals" they need to clean up their language. Cheyenne for example has never, that I know of robbed a bank, threatened anyone, abused children or engaged in cannibalism. Those are all traits belonging to people, the higher species.
I quit doing Facebook nonsense a while back not least because the thing is so depersonalized and filled with annoying platitudes and  aphorisms about life and mindfulness and all that. So when I come across a gate like this, I wonder what exactly does it mean? 
 I thought this picture expressed the fantasy that animates  people who want to live in Key West. A comfortable seat overlooking whatever action there might be on White Street, something good to read and possibly a delicious Cuban something to sip or snack on.
A carefully covered bicycle frame. I thought of a horse blanket and wondered what on Earth was it doing on a bike frame?
And that other big imponderable is what are they going to do with Finnegan's Wake when they've finished tarting the building up? The Seashell Motel is going away and its cheap funky beds are to be replaced by something very modern and doubtless expensive. All change as is usual for Key West.
 Cheyenne doesn't change much. She has enjoyed the cool north breezes and her walks have got longer and more energetic as a result. This Fantasy Fest week might work out for her as thundering rain is predicted in increasing intensity as the week progresses. Heavy rains mean cooler temperatures, even though my Labrador doesn't like getting wet. 
She doesn't actively mind getting petted by strangers but she's a bit stand offish like me. Good girl.

Monday, October 20, 2014

The Two Faces Of October

I went to the Tropic to see "The Two Faces Of January" which I greatly enjoyed. It was a good ride in, under sunny skies and I almost regretted going to the movies in such weather. But I love stealing a march on the worker bees by being able to attend a matinee.
Regret increased momentarily coming out as the sky was black, promising heavy rain, but nothing daunted I got into my Frogg Toggs and put my head down. The imagined downpour never struck as I rode the Overseas Highway 25 miles home. Seen here at the Harris Channel Bridge, Mile Marker 18.
Yes, it rained slightly but I was dressed, I enjoyed the challenge, and a good time was had. I always enjoy riding in the rain as it's not properly cold here, so hypothermia is hard to catch with minimal foul weather gear, and there aren't the added problems of slippery mud or dead leaves to contend with.