Willie Ward Park

I just discovered they are letting dogs into Willie Ward park, a little pocket park on Catherine Street next to the community pool. It's named for Willie Ward, a civil rights leader, singer, radio host and press foreman at The Key West Citizen for many years according to the only record I've found about the man.

They used to have signs saying "No Dogs" and as I am a mostly law abiding type I kept myself and my dogs well out. These days there are no such prohibitions and I quite like Willie Ward so I was happy to lead Rusty to paradise found.

The pool is a peculiar structure,, raised well above ground which at certain angles gives swimmers views out to the Straits of Florida to the south:

And, lo and behold there are actual park benches in this city park. You don't see these very often in Key West and Willie Ward is covered with places to sit.

Some have the anti sleeping requirement of added armrests but not all.

Willie Ward is lush and green and shady and lovely. I have no idea why this  quiet little corner of Key West is  so ideal.

Every ointment has its  fly and there were a few residentially challenged citizens enjoying the serenity as happens in Key West. 

Rusty found them fascinating but for the most part they fill me with sadness. In this country poverty is frequently equated with some obscure moral failing but in my experience as a reporter and a dispatcher most homeless are suffering mental health issues,distant families and all the attendant de-motivators like drugs and alcohol.

I stopped reading Facebook as I got tired of the negativity and anger but hatred of the homeless keeps seeping into my consciousness when I hear people talk about the homeless as though they are on a  scam by not working. Would you hire him?

My overriding impression is that being homeless is profoundly boring. That and the fact that work gives you a place in society, a purpose and a role. I  recall the plan to save money by closing mental health hospitals and this is the result. Tax money saved, parks filled with zombies.  You get your money's worth.

Then there are dog owners in the park. Or at least this one was hanging out. His  little rug rats were what had attracted my butch masculine dog's attention, not the homeless zombies.

It's a pretty well laid out park...

...barbecue grills....

...the blessing of recycling bins even:

None of which was enough to convince the dogs to stay longer and off they buzzed. 

Lots of rules, none of which mention motor vehicles but I can't imagine scooters are encouraged to be in the park, even those ridden by visitors.

Willie Ward will see more of Rusty and I whenever we need shade and a rest.

Lowe's Lane

From August 2010 this essay which is a reminder to self that six years have passed...Time perhaps to re-visit Key West's extraordinary lanes and alleys. 

I thought for some reason I had photographed this particular alley but checking the search function I found it was not so. I was in the neighborhood previously and photographed Hibiscus Lane so I figured why not put Lowe's in the photographic can because it's just as pretty.I enjoy road trips but I miss enjoying summer in Key West, land of hot sun, bright contrasts and white clouds.There's lots of shrubbery too, which I am unable to name. Labels have never seemed too important to me, so I tend to forget the differences between various birds and flowers and all those other things some people love to collect..I enjoy the light and the colors and the shapes of Key West seen from on foot.
Summer too is the time of silence, relatively speaking and that is a bonus (added bonus if you want to be ungrammatical).If will power were enough I'm thinking this cat would have been indoors already.

Colors and clouds.If I lived a more interesting life there would either be a dead body or a naked body by the pool. Or preferably a dead naked body.

I cannot reconcile myself to the fact that there are people in Key West with the strength of character sufficient to drive a non air conditioned VW in this heat. Especially after it has been toasting in the sun like this.Perhaps the letter carrier has difficulty spotting numbers?

This is Key West, not Sedona, but cactus does do its best.

Lovely summery Key West.

The promise of rain is another summer pleasure.

Niles Road, Summerland

I wanted some peace and quiet that evening at home so I figured a little run outdoors might put the little tyke down for the night. I was right.

I drove to the end of Niles Road on Summerland and parked the car in between the vehicles and boat trailers of people out hunting lobster on mini season...

 The old wooden bridge to nowhere is still standing in the channel.

 I took this picture in 2008 and you'll notice no wooden ladder on the end of the bridge:

Nowadays someone has built the structure on the end of the bridge that you see below:

Cheyenne liked this spot too, at low tide:

That ladder makes climbing up easier I suppose but I managed in the past just using the spikes hammered into the uprights. I'm tough.

I walked the bridge in 2008 and I have no idea why they ever built such a robust structure as there is no sign of habitation or even a road at the north end. I shall go back one day with Rusty and see what we can find:

It was hot, we rested in the shade.

 And so home...

I miss Cheyenne still but I am glad Rusty is in my life.

Bridge Jumping

Therese was visiting and wanted to go on a  walk with my very photogenic dog. So Rusty and I agreed: Sugarloaf Key was the spot. 

We parked at the entrance to The Loop Road and were delighted to see some poor soul got a parking ticket for a violation. I've never seen that before in this spot...suddenly it all feels rather hard core.

We walked over the bridge which was rather heavily populated by youngsters enjoying not being in school and we found some serenity at the edge of the Straits of Florida:

Rusty wandered the rocky foreshore a bit and we stared at the wasteland wondering who comes to the Keys to sit on a  beach?

It reminded me of the Netflix show called "Bloodline" which was recently renewed for a third no doubt excellent season and it will continue to be shot in the Upper Keys.

There's only so much you can do with some salt water, a bunch of rocks and some tufted mangroves so we...

...headed inland and wandered round the rather picturesque quarry:

Back at the jumping bridge, as it's known, the action had not abated.  Testosterone filled the air, and I was glad I am just an old guy walking my dog.

Therese and I watched hopefully as the youngsters lined up to win the fair maiden's hand. Or something. I like watching the peer pressure drive the youngsters over the parapet; I've seen it before.

This is a popular spot and rightly so...

Off he goes...

All is well.

The idyll of growing up in the Keys.

 Cheyenne liked it here too.

Never too late to have a childhood.