Eaton Street

I walked and I took some pictures as I followed Rusty and his nose.

This house at 616 Eaton caused a lot of bother when some people bought  the old wreck that it had become and then announced plans to not only restore the house but also to build a massive modern family compound in the back completely outside the historic construction guidelines mandated by the city. In the end the incomers gave up and now there is only work to restore the original house in the historic character as required. The defeat of the proposals by popular vote quite surprised me. Never thought they would pull it off.

 The Methodist Church at the corner of Simonton Street is a never ending source of pictures:

 I love the Polynesian swoop of the roof of the hall:

 On guard!

White Street Pier

The White Street Pier used to be described to the gullible as the stump of the old bridge to Havana that was torn down after the revolution. It is possible to get a vehicle on it but that is an activity reserved for emergency vehicles as a general rule. Bicycles pedestrians and dogs are welcome.

 Higgs beach generally is a good spot to contemplate the meaning of life.

 Th waters south of Key West offer refuge for shrimpers in strong north winds:

 While the pier offers refuge for people ready to sit and contemplate the view:

 Views like this:

The seaplane flying to the Dry Tortugas:

 The view due east toward Smathers Beach:

 Lines and shadows:

 

And the abominable jet skis which happily are not allowed too close.

 A short walk through the Aids Memorial to White Street:

 Higgs Beach, the eastern section:

West Summerland Key

I had a meditative walk near the Old Bahia Honda Bridge last week. It was the evening of my day off which is a circumstance that pushes me to take Rusty to this area in hopes of a spectacular sunset to end the day.

I come here a lot so I was looking for different views and because I was thinking too much as I usually do, I was moved to consider the damage caused by Hurricane Irma in September 2017.

Furthermore I wanted to find beauty in desolation. I still haven't got over the wholesale destruction of green trees and shrubbery that used to provide shade and the atmosphere of a park miles from anywhere.  

The wreckage Irma caused to human structures is being repaired, and in many cases has been repaired. In my neighborhood houses are restored, landscaping is flourishing and streets are long since clear of trash. Indeed the reconstitution of the new bridge's buttress is coming along nicely:

But Nature's wreckage lays around, a stark reminder of what happened:

Rusty ran alongside me ahead and around and that sort of activity catches the occasional burr. Usually he gets them out before I can get there:

 Nature's Art:

Sunset fishing, protected by the reef from the east wind, nowhere to be, nowhere to go if he doesn't want to.

 It's green at ground level now and a few trees are coming back:

Good night Mrs Calabash, wherever you are.

Cycling

A few pictures from around Key West of people pedaling. 

This was at the same time of day as above just taken from a  different angle with more emphasis on achieving darker lighting.

I have always enjoyed the utility of Key West bicycles, a town that is perfectly placed to encourage cycling with flat streets and no huge distances. Consequently there's always someone hauling something somewhere.

Others of course ride for pleasure and tour the landmarks like the White Street Pier.

 Or use their bikes to get them where they want  to relax and enjoy the views:

Part of the color, part of the scene of Key West:

An Afternoon In Paradise

I took a  close up of the fisherman's statue wondering what he was looking at. The weather has been fabulous lately, if you ignore the occasional showers, and an afternoon by the water was indicated.

Christmas is long since over but the decorations are still being taken down. I found these boxes for city storage carefully labelled. 

Not specifically Christmas but still on the roof of the Schooner Wharf Bar:

 Down below work continued, resupply:

While the visitors were out having fun. That's the issue, living in Paradise is one thing  but  playing in Paradise is entirely another.

 Noted performer Inga was out getting an airing. Inga moved to Key West actually from Sweden according to her BIO.

Sailors  sometimes raise their sails at the dock to dry them out and it's been windy lately so I'm guessing this foresail got sprayed on a  few sunset  cruises. I determined to get a picture... 

 ...or two:

Looking down Greene Street on a  sunny afternoon. I never tire of seeing the cruise ships over shadowing downtown. It amazes me how we put up with these behemoths day after day flooding the end of Duval Street. Money talks. 

 Meanwhile the resupply at Schooner Wharf continues:

Another working day in Paradise.

Words And Pictures

My wife says writing comes too easily to me. Webb Chiles, an actual published author that people pay to read and enjoy reading says he is surprised by my one a day format on my web page. It's easy i say and my wife cuffs me 'round the head. My resolution for 2020 inasmuch as I don't do resolutions unless they are easy and a continuation of what I already doing, is to keep on keeping on.

 The photography I enjoy as it is a real challenge. Digital photography is way harder than I thought or expected. The problem nowadays is that cameras do everything and what they don't do the photographer has to do in a computer. In the bad old days of film the camera had two settings and you chose the film speed, but nowadays you can and sometimes do change everything for each successful picture! And if I were to shoot RAW which I don't I would have to spend ages processing and refining each shot. 

 To fill the gaps between the pictures I write words which may or may not be read. I have to be careful what I write so I only refer to local current events as reported in the paper and I never write down what I hear or what is not known publicly. that's is the short path to getting in trouble in a small town and I really want my pension. Besides which practical consideration I want my page even though it is small and inconsequential, to be a relief from advertising argument and Internet sniping. I am sorry Net Neutrality was washed away as every search now comes up as advertising giving pride of place to the organizations with money. 

But if you can find this page it is a place  that a friend once called the Seinfeld of blogs because its about nothing at all. I plan on keeping it that way, a simple stream of consciousness that is easy to write (for me) and rejoices in this strange place where I live and do nothing particularly spectacular. I am looking forward to turning this page into a travel diary and exploring places and history without restraint, thus creating a record of retirement that will stand me in better stead when my mobility leaves me and I find myself back in the hospital bed if I am lucky.

I have no idea how inviting such a prospect might be but time grows short and part of me is relieved. I have been too long in my job and even though i say Key West is a great place to work I have done my time. My wife and I were astonished to find we could get jobs with pensions in our forties and settled down to secure our old age. Most people see Key West as their vacation headquarters, where they come to let off steam and live a fantasy for a week or two. I have found the simple act of showing up gives you access to work and I was lucky enough to walk into a  job that paid regularly and offered health benefits and a pension. To do my job in mainland USA would be next to impossible for me, in the strait jacket of conformity that Key West avoids for the most part. I consider myself fortunate and hope I have given the city value for money over the past  16 years.

I look forward to coming back as a visitor, a snowbird perhaps, a temporary resident or simply as a year round pensioner. I have a chance at travel but I also see a chance with my preference for unconventional living to find a way to live on a boat, avoid hurricane season and spend some of the year on road trips. I see that possibility but we all know that man proposes and god disposes so I am not looking to far into the future. I just keep writing and studying photography.

 My camera has replaced my motorcycles, as I feel I can no longer expect sympathy from colleagues friends or most of all my wife in the event of another catastrophe. And let me tell you the standard of driving in Key West nine months of the year is appalling as people don't know their way around, aren't used to mixing it up with bicycles and scooters and often block short cuts known only to road rage triggered locals. It's maddening to find your carefully planned back route blocked by a  sightseer or confused lost rental car...That's when you know you are losing the plot. Key West is supposed to be home to the confused unsure and lost of all types.

The other reason I want to come back is to observe and write. There are stories to be told in this town and I just can't do it in my current situation. By that I don't mean uncovering terrible things but I do mean having the time to sit and talk and think and ponder rather than dashing from pillar to post and spending altogether too much time sitting at a desk answering phones. And yet for 2020 that is my fate apparently. 

 So no changes for now, more stream of consciousness and more of infilling pictures with words. It's what I learned years ago when I was writing news for radio. I took the recorded quotations I lifted from interviews I did in person and on the phone and wrote the narrative around the quotes. When I started this page I did the same, using photos instead of quotations. Often I take pictures knowing what I want to say around the story in the photo. Sometimes there is no story, be it ever so diaphanous and in those cases I simply throw up the pictures and let you make of them what you will. I am not pursuing perfection, its not my nature, what I am pursuing is a record of my life and the best pictures I can make to illustrate the path.

I am 62 years old and I have no idea where my life will lead, even with the active enthusiastic participation of my ever patient wife. I grant you that is a bit unusual in an Old Age Pensioner. We OAPs are supposed to be settled by now. I am excited this period of being settled is closing its door on me. I have no idea where the story goes, who I will meet along the way nor how it will end other than with my new friend Death. In the meantime roll on 2020.