Rain

It has not been a very wet year so far this year. There have been sporadic thunderstorms but heavy drenching rain has come and then all too quickly gone. Anecdotal evidence says it wasn't always so. One anecdote could be this essay I wrote in September 2008. This blog has been around a long time I guess.

So, here you are, finally in Key West, your vacation has begun, your worries are few and you are all set for some sunshine and blue skies. Until that is, a monstrous large black cloud, half the size of Greenland heaves into view over the northern horizon, and vacation plans get interrupted. What does a a visitor do? What so many of them do anyway, rain or shine:Talking bull isn't limited to the corner of Duval and Caroline. No prizes for guessing this is Sloppy Joe's:Or somewhere on Greene, Guy Harvey I think but I could be wrong. I don't frequent the bars, as must be obvious:
Or at whatsits name on Duval, Fogarty's perhaps? I could see someone was not making the most of a bad thing, with that body language. Pity the poor people depending on his tips to make ends meet:Those are the better known watering holes where I saw people stranded by a typical summer downpour. Locals have their own hangouts, for instance a beer never tasted better than at the Hilltop Laundry on Elizabeth:Or just hanging with a bud at the Arab's store on Caroline. That the owner is actually from Bangladesh doesn't mean much in a culture devoted to the easy pigeonhole. If you dial 9-1-1 from the 700 block of Caroline and tell me you are at the Aay-rabb's this is where I'll send the cops, and I won't even plague you with a short history of the partition of India either. We'll just agree that this place is run by an Arab...Talking of Caroline Street the red Humvee is back, and I read in the paper that the Coffee Plantation is for sale if you feel like running your own business here:Rain storms come and go in Key West mostly between June and October more or less depending on droughts and the moods of the gods. They lower temperatures to a brisk 75 degrees (24c), they wash off the dust and leave the air sparkling and fresh after half an hour's downpour. Locals keep working during the rain:Or, if there are no customers they shoot the breeze while the raindrops fall like snow flakes all around:Some locals take refuge:While others don't bother:Some take advantage of overhangs as they go:While others can't:Some people like to hide behind umbrellas:Others don't have the patience for that folderol:Others wrap themselves in plastic while some people just take their clothes off. Duval can start to look like a wet t-shirt contest but I am not bold enough to shoot blatant close up pictures of the wet bold young women striding down the street:
People who ride the Conch Train get free body condoms in bright yellow:The tourists who choose to take the Trolley Bus on a rainy day get the benefit of modern technology, called windows:One of the pleasant things about choosing to live in Old Town that is often touted as a blessing is the ability to live without a car, an advantage touted only in Key West and Manhattan (in the US) as far as I know. The advantage Key West holds is the mild climate, nevertheless it's a climate that can lull some riders into a false sense of security and they neglect the simplest of weather precautions:Some two wheelers come prepared to fight the blizzard of rain:Others don't:In the end it doesn't matter much. I got to the Tropic absolutely soaked, for I was surprised by the intensity and duration of the downpour as I strolled across town taking pictures. I sipped my coffee and and watched Bottle Shock as my clothes steamed gently in the darkness. What a pleasure to live where rain bothers one so little.

Gone But Not Forgotten

I was just thinking about things that aren't here anymore and some days I wish they were. Fast Buck's the preposterous department store where I worked for a brief while, that's long gone, a victim of internet commerce they say.  Goods were pricey, store display was astonishing and the store gave Duval Street a certain flair. A modern pharmacy in the same place is not at all the same thing.

In 2007 Atlantic Shores was gone. I liked it because you could tell visitors it was "straight friendly" and in those days that was rather scandalous. Atlantic Shores was a full service independent motel with a diner attached and a liquor store as well so one had no need to leave the motel. They had pool parties at the clothing optional pool though they weren't for me. I attended the outdoor movie screenings on Thursday nights with my Labrador Emma on my lap.

I don't hate the waterfront brewery in the same way I dislike the building that replaces Atlantic Shores, but I miss the grocery store which had it's own organic vibe and juice bar and internet cafe. The brewery is okay if you like vast barn-like spaces, the food is okay but for some reason I don't feel compelled to go back there. It's not a warm inviting atmosphere as I prefer my drinking space to be. But then again I don't drink much. I miss tying up at the dinghy dock and ordering a  sandwich and getting online. That's all.

I looked forward to Thursdays and the weekly rag appearing. Solares Hill made Key West feel connected to the past. Nowadays the Blue Paper survives as an internet page but back then a weekly paper was a requirement for a town to have independent journalism and Solares Hill provided it. When it got bought out by the Citizen it became a Sunday supplement and I lost interest.

There was a time when the Old State Highway 939A on Sugarloaf was open to vehicles. That allowed the less energetic to get access to a particular fishing hole. That privilege has ended and though I walk Rusty down here frequently I have to say there were never that many cars on the road, and it was fun piloting the Bonneville in the dirt. Oh well.

The 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons were brutal. They drove a lot of people out of the Keys, and those that stuck out the flooding and disaster relief built some kind of a bond. I can't say I miss those awful endless stormy summers. Another decade of peace and quiet would be nice.

Jack Riepe And The Pine Barrens

It's not everyone's idea of fun but someone has to do it: we got ambushed by Jack Riepe and ate fish with him in New Jersey. He exhausted my wife so badly she had to retire early and I was left alone with the Great Writer Himself. Unnerving.

But I get ahead of myself. We left the safety and familiarity of Burlington with some trepidation but my wife was healing and we knew it was going to be a long slow drive home as she couldn't stand more than six hours in the car in a day and needed plenty of walks to keep blood flowing in her legs. Like I say there's nothing routine about gallbladder surgery. I know that now. For some reason known only to Google, if there is a gravel road no matter how painful for postoperative passengers, the blue line will follow it: 

 Vermont is very picturesque. Too bad the winters resemble antarctica.

We were the last on the 11:30 ferry across Lake Champlain to Essex, New York. $14:50 and thirty minutes for the car, us and Rusty.

 New York's Adirondack mountains were on the horizon. Too bad we had to go south.

New York road 22, more postcard picturesqueness:

Eventually the next day we arrived in New Jersey and found our way to the Riepe neighborhood. Rusty gathered his strength outside our motel room while my wife slept in:

Riepe came by and picked us up for a drive to the famous New Jersey Pine Barrens.

These woods are known to the world at large thanks to an episode of The Sopranos wherein the mobsters let us all know what a handy place this is to dump bodies. 

Unfortunately for Rusty the rain was bucketing down and he only got a brief scamper before we retreated to dinner in Tuckerton.

 Miles of roads through the woods in gathering darkness...brrr.

 Barnegat Bay Riepe explained to Layne while Rusty and I took our ease in the rain.

 It was a fun drive with a tour guide and I was in the back with my dog which made a change.

 We ate we talked we got exhausted.

The next day early I loaded the dog into the car and I followed the phone's GPS to a spot I had marked the night before. The rain had stopped and Rusty was ready for the Pine Barrens:

 From what I could see you park and walk. There is some private property but state lands, miles of them are marked by little white triangles. It's all wonderfully empty and unregulated and filled  with foreboding and rumors of dark deeds and dangers.

Someone had fun:

 The light was terrible, just after dawn so my pictures are here to show the joy young Rusty felt.

This is the reason anyone knows about these remarkable, undisturbed woods from the third season, episode 11 aired in 2001:

Valery insults Paulie, prompting him to attack the seated Russian. Christopher had tried to stop Paulie from acting out, but he jumps in on Paulie's side. The three men fight, and eventually Paulie chokes Valery with a floor lamp, severely injuring him and apparently cracking his wind pipe. The situation causes the Mafiosi to panic and they wrap Valery in a carpet before wheeling him out to their car. While trying to figure out what to do with the body, Paulie suggests that they take it to the Pine Barrens, as it will be deserted and is in close proximity to Atlantic City. Christopher, who has not yet eaten, wants to stop for breakfast at Roy Rogers but Paulie insists that business must come first, and will soon be completed.

In the woods, Christopher and Paulie open the trunk to find that Valery is still alive and has chewed through the duct tape. They lift him out of the car, present him with a shovel and force him to dig his own grave. When the pair are distracted, Valery smacks them with the shovel, delivering a blow to Christopher's head and a jab to Paulie's groin before fleeing. Christopher and Paulie draw their guns and give chase, but are amazed when Paulie shoots Valery, clearly hitting part of his head, and the Russian immediately gets up and runs into the woods. They try to track his blood and footprints in the snow but are eventually left with no clues. Still on the hunt, the pair hear something and run, firing some shots. Paulie slips down a slope and loses his shoe. They discover that they killed a deer. They try to return to Paulie's car but cannot find it, and soon realize that they are lost in the woods. Paulie uses his cell phone to call Tony for help, but communication is limited by poor reception, interference and crosstalk.

Later I took Rusty to another spot and let him run while I took some pictures for my pleasure: