Graffiti Bridge Pensacola

I want to pause  a moment and think back to my few days out of town. Therese gave us the run of her house which is where my wife and my dog came to hide from Hurricane Irma in 2017. Rusty ran up to the gate eager to be back and you can see why.

A cool winter day in the Florida panhandle is ideal for sunbathing and people watching from the porch:

 Or just laying around in the grass:

We took a walk and I found a rather interesting sand dune by accident when checking out a local landmark. It was there among the brush a fellow hum and  and his dog popped up. The dogs did not get along too well after a good tart and it soon became apparent to me that little Jock was defending what constitutes his home.

We talked across an open space and he told me he was living there, known to the police he hastened to assure me, and away from people who he doesn't much like. I liked the hermit a lot and was annoyed the dogs couldn't allow us to get closer but the conversation was pretty much over and he returned to his encampment and I went back to going someplace else. Notably past Kismet's grave, apparently a much missed dog.

He was a laid back dude and wasn't at all freaked out by the dogs arguing which I liked. Most dog owners think bared fangs indicate a fight to the death whereas its just a sign of dominance and Rusty wasn't going to be dominated by the little dog who thought he was defending his home. For Rusty this was just a  very cool public space...

We were taking an early morning Thanksgiving walk and at the Graffiti Bridge (look it up on google maps if you like) I came across this message:

We wandered around  and eventually crossed the bridge, no train could be heard... and eventually walked the dune on the other side visible to the right in the picture:

This is simply a public space where any painted message can be sprayed. Amazingly the messages are often artistic frequently boring but never obscene apparently.  

 Human nature sometimes has the capacity to surprise us.

 You have to wonder what it is that fascinates him. Clearly not the painting.

That the city positively encourages this wildness is amazing. There for all to enjoy and I'm told changing daily.

Bahama Street

One of those jobs you don't know if it constitutes eternal boredom or eternal opportunity to the holder. Watching out for the scofflaws attempting to sneak park in Fausto's parking lot on Fleming Street which is for grocery customers ONLY:

Other things are forbidden in downtown Key West, sometimes in not one but two languages. I never put Rusty to urinate anywhere, rest assured. 

Old world charm still exists:

Winter sunshine, lovely:

Bahama Street connecting distant Southard to Fleming Street at this end.

Duval Street seen down the alley on the 600 block where Onlywood has it's original location serving Italian food. 

Warm enough for bare feet apparently, though not for me.

Winter sun: my favorite.

Winter Flowers

I read one of those strange articles in the newspaper that took some time to digest and I still struggle to understand the meaning. You read words and think you get it but upon reflection you realize you have no clue what the words mean.

I have written here previously about the city's decision to shut down the Duval Mall for evaluation next February. The argument is it isn't working out which is a surprise as lots of people seemed to have enjoyed it. Perhaps the businesses outside the 2 block pedestrian area got fed up. Which, were it the case would seem to be an indication perhaps the experiment should be expanded. 

In the latest odd moment at city hall the mayor says she wants to reduce the number of city commission meetings. She says she wants to meet once a month instead of every other Tuesday. The weird bit is the idea of reducing the number of meetings to increase public access and ease staff workloads. 

"By meeting during the day, the Key West City Commission would have more time to discuss important issues and receive more input from staff. Currently, the commission has to vote to extend its meeting if it doesn’t end by 10 p.m.

If people are unable to attend, the city has set up an “e-comment” portal on its website that allows people to email their comments to commission agenda items, Johnston said.

Having it once a month instead of twice would also give staff more time to work on items before bringing them to the commission, Johnston said."

At the moment the city meets in the evening to allow citizens to attend easily and the commission has to vote to prolong meetings after 10 pm so they don't accidentally drag on into the night endlessly.

Daytime meetings the mayor says would allow the commission to discuss things at greater length and allow staff more time to join the discussions. I suppose all too often the residents of the city (I'm not one) don't have that much to say. However I know there are times when people get seriously miffed and crowd the evening meetings. 

I suppose in the end the city commission will do as it pleases and in its defense the mayor did point out the county commission already meets during the day. Once a month doesn't seem very often though.

For me Key West is a place of work and recreation, of street walks filled with light and color in a kaleidoscope that never seems to bore me. Spanish moss:

Fleur de lis that reminded me of my recent visit to New Orleans where they like the distant connection to the French Bourbon royal family.

May the sun never stop shining. Carbon dioxide levels could happily be reduced of course.

Light On Water

I will confess straight up I am not a huge fan of sunrise photography and it must be obvious by now that there are tons of "Sunrise and Sunset Over Key West" pictures plastered all over the web. So I opt out! The thing is I have no idea what a sunrise represents except a band of colors. I see no art and no struggle in trying to express a sunrise in some interesting fashion. I suppose if Glamis Castle were the subject illuminated by a  rising sun....or something...but this is the location of my favorite (and only) hill in the Lower Keys. The Old Bahia Honda Bridge dirt railway ramp has now become a limestone hill but the sunrise especially on a  cloudless  morning is what it is.

 I liked this one, another reminder that most trees killed by Hurricane Irma are dead dead and not coming back. The half dead trees are sprouting leaves but the dead dead ones are firewood nowadays.

A mad thought - a black and white sunrise. I acted on a whim, impulsively as usual but the result I quite liked as I sat and waited for Rusty to finish crashing through the bushes. 

 As we walked along the bike path separated from traffic by a convenient cement barrier I noticed a man sharing the space with me. He apparently likes sunrises a good deal more than me as he was all equipped with a  tripod on a precarious rocky island ready for any surprise moves by Apollo on his ascent into the heavens (I mean the sun coming up).

I was grateful to him, as he gave me a sunrise story to photograph and he looked like a print from an early book on the art of photography.  

 With the sun safely up and the photographer hot footing it back to the car with apparently dry feet I turned my attention to a  bird on a  rock. And give the pelican credit it had chosen an excellent spot to perch with scenic views far and wide.

A  sparkling crisp morning it was and a thoroughly enjoyable moment unless you were a dog more interested in dead seaweed in which case any day with a reasonable low tide is a great day.

 We followed the pelicans examples and made like leaves and blew. 

 On the subject this is a much better way I think to enjoy the act of a rising sun.

 But once risen the shadows are black and the sunlight is bright and I like that.

 Except Rusty was rendered almost invisible so here he is relaxing after his labors.

Utila Lane

There is no such place as Utila Lane in Key West. There very well could be of course as Utila is a small island off the north Coast of Honduras in the Western Caribbean. It is most famous for being an English speaking island in a Spanish speaking country, and for its diving. I call this alley between Elizabeth Street and Bill Butler Park Utila Lane because it reminds me of the cement paths on Utila, so small it has almost no cars and just two roads.

This is a picture I took in March 2009 when my Labrador rolled by and alerted this yard bound dog to her presence. He has always been there ever since. 

And is still there and still barking when you stroll by even without a dog apparently.  Time passes for all of us. I wonder if he misses all those walks he never took.

 Utila Lane in all its winter glory: 

The alley pops out into the traffic zone on the side of Bill Butler Park... 

...which park has a small wood of gumbo limbo trees  in the middle. 

Bill Butler died in 1984 and was considered the "King of the Junkanoos" which are carnival style celebrants in the Bahamas. They still mark Junkanoo every year in the Family Islands which are of course tied by tradition to families in the Keys. 

From the Guardian newspaper: 

Junkanoo is a street parade with music, which traditionally occurs at Christmas.

The name is said to have originated during the slave trade, from John Canoe, a legendary West African chief who was idolized by the slaves. The African workers were allowed three days off, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day, and would rush out on the streets to celebrate. The tradition continued after slavery was abolished, with parties taking place in almost every town. Junkanoo was commercialized by the Bahamas government in the 1920s and, last year, the decision was made to hold a Junkanoo Summer Festival on the islands' capital, Nassau, and to extend the party over several weeks.

We hear nothing from the Bahamas now the hurricane recovery is in the less dramatic  phase with billions in damage and  thousands of people displaced from the northern islands. They need tourists more than ever on the undamaged islands and all the Junkanoo they can put on. Which is not to say we don't all have more Junkanoo and more hurricanes in our futures.