Working Duval

My bicycle needed new tires so at the ripe old age of 62, never much inclined to wield a wrench, I simply put the electric bike on the bike rack and I say that without fully expressing the effort required to lift that heavy lump of metal, and drove it to Recycle on Stock Island. That was an exercise in coronavirus management. I called and spoke by phone made the drop off without meeting anyone and walked next door to Shifting Gears to make a date for the Fiat which has a passenger window that no longer, after eight years, opens as it should. Then, finally Rusty got a walk at Little Hamaca. 

I was curious after all that good work to see how Duval Street looked on the first weekend after the roadblock came down. If you think of this as the quieter season, after the winter but before schools are out, then it looked pretty normal. On the other hand the reality is that bars only opened on Friday and not all stores are open and we are all hyper aware of the damned virus.

Looking up you can check the distance apart for the stools at the Whistle. This was mid morning so the absence of patrons is simply a fact of the hour not the shortage of people out bar hopping. Restaurants and hotels have occupancy limits, thermometers are in use and social distancing is still happening in the Keys. 

I have been impressed by the people I have met who are not wearing masks. I don't wear my mask on the street, in the open as I walk, but everyone who crosses my path. appears as conscientious as I try to be about avoiding the dreaded close contact. The occasional oblivious walker I avoid easily by stepping aside. I carry my mask in my pocket for emergencies much as one always carries a cellphone. 

I avoid Facebook controversies but I have been reading what the scientists have been advising us as they work on learning to understand the virus and from what I gather the surest way to transmit the virus is to be in a room with an infected person for a period of time longer than a casual encounter. Therefore indoor restaurants are out despite the distancing they practice. Outdoor seating is possible but you'd have to sit as far apart as Arthurian Knights at the Round Table which defies any idea of social intimacy. I wear my mask entering a business as required in key west and recommended in Monroe County. I no longer worry about touching objects but I do wash my hands and keep sanitizer in the car. Bear in mind my wife has no immune system and I cannot risk exposing her as she is locked down at home for now.

I found the idea of dropping in for an ice cream to be symbolic of the new world I want to live in and yes, had I been carrying cash I might have put my mask on and stayed distantly in line behind the customer already in there. Ice cream at ten in the morning was a bit too robust for me. I found the sign over the entrance to be ironic in these difficult times.

There is a common thread that runs through conversations among locals about driving downtown. Everyone hates and despises people who step off the sidewalk agains the light and risk getting run over by cars crossing Duval. Well guess what? After two months of having downtown to ourselves Rusty and I forgot all our rules of the road and stepped right off the sidewalk seconds after taking this picture. We were in no danger of being run down but I had to shrug apologetically to the driver who thought sounding his horn would  improve the situation. Rusty and I had a long talk about road traffic awareness after that. I think he ignored me. 

It was a funny moment for me as an hour previously I nearly ran over a pedestrian at Little Hamaca, actually two people and a dog. Believe it or not I was doing 20mph and as I came around a blind corner the two women were right there. Out of consideration for the innocent dog I stopped in plenty of time and the women stared at me as though I should have been ashamed of myself for not bothering to run them down...I didn't even tap the horn. Mistakes are easy to make as I found out later. What a good little adult I have grown into.

I drove home after noon with a tired dog on the back seat and while he snored I looked at a long, endless line of cars filled with holiday makers on their way to the vacation of a life time. May we live in interesting times. That is to say we are living in interesting times whether we want to or not. 

People On The Streets

The chamber of commerce told the paper that the return of people to the Keys amounted to a trickle.

When I drove home around 6 o'clock the first day of the re-opening I saw  large groups of cars on the highway driving toward Key West and each had more than one person inside, which is the usual sign of a visitors. Single occupant travel is the norm in the Keys for commuters. Not many people commute with kayaks on the roof either.

It may I suppose have been a trickle but after two months of empty streets it felt like a flood.

The official statistics are good too with only one person hospitalized at the moment and 110 cases reported throughout the Keys. 

I haven't been to check out the open bars but I plan to stay on the sidelines for as long as I can before  returning to normal. I find the level of certainty among amateur epidemiologists to be rather disturbing but I am keeping my fingers crossed for a vaccine. Then of course the anti vaccination mob will descend with fury I am sure. I cannot understand why anyone would run for public office. 

The van shop called and said the van is finished and should be tested detailed and ready for pick up sometime next week, We haven't got the final bill yet so the details are being polished I expect as we said we would be able to pick it up the last week of the month. They are a fussy lot at Custom Coach Creations as they don't like to hand over the vehicle until they are sure all details are correct and they won't send me pictures because they like a big reveal. 

We did get one picture as they wanted to make sure we are okay with the placement of the faucet...Looks okay to me as the idea is it will also work as outside sprayer for Rusty and so forth. 

I have a vacation planned for mid July when we want to test this mad retirement plan out. Suddenly traveling like this becomes an exercise in social distancing and self reliance in a way I had never imagined. Life really is becoming interesting.

Marathon

My wife has been locked down at home since the Ides of March and she hasn't minded at all much to her surprise. Teaching Adult Ed from home has caused some loud frustrations from the corner "office" at home from time to time as the computer system spat back predictably as the district gurus worked to redefine its purpose and use as a home schooling system. Apparently they have succeeded beautifully as she surprised me earlier this week while swimming when she remarked how very useful some particular Google school app is proving to be. For my wife at least it works smoothly and is integrated into her system. The future of teaching may be at home especially for teachers like her with immune issues. And only one more year to go till retirement.

So the news that she had to go to her classroom in Marathon to do some obscure paperwork surprised me but nothing loathe I agreed that getting an oil change for the Fiat would be a good idea. A former student works at a shop and she likes to stop by and see him from time to time. In the era of coronavirus I am  the one who shows up masked and goes face to face with an adult former student who cares not one jot to see me. Nevertheless an oil change is a Good Thing so Rusty and I dumped my adult ed teacher and headed over to meet the grumpy owner of the most grumpy oil change shop in the Western World - and his mechanic the cheerful former English language student who now speaks English but never does when Mr Grumpy is around.

After we had exchanged grunts, myself with Mr Grumpy, he being unmasked as you might expect from a man who makes my social ineptitude look positively gregarious, Rusty and I abandoned the car and went for a walk. It was as you can see, a gray Tuesday in Marathon. I think the only reason it didn't rain was because I was actually working my scheduled weird four hour evening shift and was not therefore a day off technically. The weather made up for the mistake by sending the mother of all thunderstorms Wednesday and quite putting Rusty off his food.

Walking along the sidewalk on the frontage road next to the Overseas Highway I could have tossed a pebble into tidal water as illustrated above. The north ("gulf" side as it's known to locals) is similarly close give or take a couple of blocks depending on the shape of the island. For a city of ten thousand there's a reason why Marathon is miles long as it is only yards wide and it's a collection of narrow islands not a wide short lump like Key West.

Compared to Key West Marathon lacks a "there, there" to quote Gertrude Stein speaking about her childhood home that vanished from Oakland. And like the second city in Northern California Marathon tends to end up playing second fiddle to Key West despite the fact that perception tends to cause annoyance. As though to prove the point we came across a block of wilderness a small spot of eccentricity in a town built to conform..

Rusty sniffed while I stood and looked, pondering my chances of getting wet...

The gray threatening sky contrasted with the bright primary colors on the ground and as we strolled back on the other side of the Highway I saw more colors and shapes to attract the eye. There is no doubt Key West has architecture and many more restaurants than Marathon, more theaters and movies and more offshore destinations among sandbars and islands, but Marathon, in a time of staying put offers its own retreat from the world. Not having a commercial airline at the airport suddenly seems like an advantage where travel seems to pose certain risks. I wonder indeed if movie theaters will even exist after all this with AMC going bankrupt.

They did a good job as usual at a reasonable price for synthetic oil and the ex-student gave me a secret smile to show he remembered to whom the car really belongs. Mr Grumpy avoided me while Mrs Grumpy took my credit card with her usual graceless fierceness, as though I had asked her on a  date rather than offering to pay what I owe. After 90 plastic dollars changed hands she glared at me like a lioness protecting her young and wished me a "blessed day." A reminder if I needed one that being blessed does not always lead to a sunny disposition.

I wore my new mask throughout the transaction of course and even though instructions on the door said to wear one neither Mrs Grumpy nor a bored dude on the couch, possibly a customer or family friend, were wearing one but as usual we have to fall back on the bromide that we live in awkward times and we do what we feel is right. I enjoy taking the car to a place where fake corporate customer service is nowhere to be seen and these unhappy people prefer to wear their grumpy hearts on the their sleeves and very much in your face. This isn't a namby pamby tourist joint but a hard core hard work oily working class shop. Take it or leave it. I love it and I find them refreshing though I am glad I don't actually have to live with them. Trust your car to them that's all the transaction is about and they will do you proud.

With the bars and theaters reopening today in Key West I fear the notion is now running rampant that the crisis is over and my wife and I still distancing ourselves will be considered to be living on the eccentric fringe, not alone but in a minority. I hope we really have seen the last of this blood clotting virus but history indicates it will probably be back. I can hardly wait.

Duval Re-Opened

Irish Kevin's sells food and thus has re-opened where other bars derive less money from food than drinks and therefore may not open until Friday. The idea is to allow less crowded activities as the city and county allow visitors to return after two months closed to outsiders.

On a first visit downtown I could see a complete change in atmosphere obviously with actual live people walking riding and driving but the sidewalks aren't yet crowded.

Masks, social distancing and trying to follow the rules is evident. My drive in to work has shown tons of traffic on the highway, a bit of a shock really after two months of no traffic at all. Fogarty's separated dining scene:

Some names didn't survive the shut down though whether they were thriving and simply ground to a  halt or whether they were on their way who knows...and who cares because the sense of normal life slipping away is only reinforced by the sight of empty store fronts.

Answering phones at the police department has been unusual to put it mildly. Mostly we have been getting administrative calls from people out of town wanting me, a police dispatcher, to tell them about the re-opening. Suggesting they call the chamber of commerce or gasp- try google! - is not a satisfactory answer so we have been telling people about the fifty percent occupancy rule, the masks and the distancing and on and on.

Most people are cool but you would be amazed by the occasional caller who goes off on the subject of being required to wear a mask inside. I'm not sure why they feel a need to berate us as far as we are from the centers of decision making but more than that I'm not sure why one would plan a vacation to a place that has, before you get here, made you annoyed. People are not always at their best in a  time of difficulty it turns out. Suffering does not ennoble.

Need a job? Apparently some people are hiring. I feel as though we are in a holding pattern at the moment caught between the shut down that was clearly delineated and the re-opening has all kinds of nuance and uncertainty. One has to wonder how much coronavirus has come into town but that won't be clear for weeks. We can hope summer will drive the virus underground but the future as Doris Day put it so  memorably is not ours to see. One day at a time.

Then Tuesday evening there was a peaceful march to protest the George Floyd killing. The police, Sheriff's department and Fish and Wildlife all marched with the protesters and yet the afternoon was filled with rumors and alarums about riots and and mayhem planned for the evening. Then people call the police to demand to know whats going on. No amount of reassurance that the chief and the sheriff are walking in the parade would calm the callers down. Facebook rumors ruled the city.

The march was entirely peaceful of course and went off without a hitch I am told. But the frisson of fear animated Key West for a few hours. And made my ear bleed with all the fear filled demands for information of which of course we had none. 

I look at my own pictures of key West coming back to normal and part of me rejoices and part of me sucks in my breath afraid for our own future. 105,000 dead and cases increasing in number, nationwide riots and an active hurricane season on the horizon. These are times that are sent to try us.

On top of all that parking rules are back and the parking control is out there ticketing and towing. Masks and parking meters! What a  town!

Duval Street has been repaved which is excellent but Simonton Street isn't  quite covered back up and some gravel was showing at the Caroline Street intersection.

The triangle at the entrance to the city may become a traffic slow down as the bridge into the city is operating on only three lanes at least into November so we shall see how that works out too as traffic builds. My wife and I will continue to order food to go to support our restaurants and now that we have people from distant places in the islands our own social distancing will have to be vigilant toi protect her own impaired immune system. 

I never felt able to encourage the highway to stay closed as my wife and I both have government jobs and too many people were hurting for money to be able to say keep the road closed with an easy mind. Now that things are going back to normal we have to hope that visitors will respect the rules and help keep the keys peaceful and as infection free as possible. I wonder how that will work out.

Sunday Morning

I took these pictures last week but they are emblematic of a Key West closed for business. 

I spoke with the van builders last week and they said they were working through this weekend to finish it so they can test it next week. There is no certainty but my wife and I may be driving up next week to pick it up. That is a journey fraught with complications but my wife has decided we can rent a  car, spend one night at the Hilton in DeLand  and once they hand over the van to us we have our own self contained space for the return trip. 

It's decisions like these that make post Covid life so complicated. I was going to go on my own but neither of us felt good about only me being on hand to check out the result of two years of scheming and planning, a van that holds the keys to our futures. 

Custom Coach assured us they will wear masks for the walk through and the explanation of systems and we felt it necessary to pint out that masks are required for my wife because we live in a  world where mask wearing is a political statement as absurd as that sounds. The Hilton has got the highest marks according to my wife for sanitary rooms and I have noticed new guidelines form the CDC discussing viral contamination where objects are unlikely to transmit the coronavirus. It always struck me as odd how the worst outbreaks centered on crowded cities to the exclusion almost of rural backwaters. Apparently now they think the best way to catch the disease is to sit indoors with someone for fifteen minutes or more preferably unmasked to enjoy the easiest transmission of the virus.

It feels ridiculous to plan a 350 mile trip across Florida like a military campaign but we have no choice. Once we get the van home our horizons will expand even in a world dominated by virus talk. Riot talk is another subject which hasn't touched the Keys. 

Repairs repaving and a gradual reopening.  Now we are told hurricane season will be "active" with two storms already logged. However what they don't point out this early is where all these putative extra active hurricanes may appear from and go to. I am a lot more knowledgeable about hurricane preparedness than I am about virus awareness. There is plenty of time to test the van out before it has to stand by as a self contained evacuation vehicle. By September, peak month for hurricane season, storm shutters in use here, below, to protect windows from maintenance chores, could be up to keep out flying debris.

It has been odd to see the gradual littering by Nature in corners of the city where people aren't walking.

There are quite a few empty storefronts and how soon they get filled will be a measure of the confidence people have in Key West's ability to draw vacationers.This is a resilient town nearly wiped out by the Great Depression and saved ironically by government intervention. 

It seems as though we must save ourselves this time and I have no doubt Key West will be up to the challenge. I hope visitors will get in the spirit of the thing and recognize that being different deamnds different behavior. 

I wonder what I will see here next week, I wonder if traffic crashes and drunk driving will come back on the books like before? 

Key West has had a dreadful reputation for bicycle accidents, the worst per capita in the State of Florida. Since the lock down  car crashes and drunk driving reports have vanished. As much as people like to say the side effects of the lock down have been bad, some of them have actually been good. Obviously this situation can't go on but a return to a more mindful normal would be nice.

Rusty found clean cigarette butt free water in the bowl at the entrance to Casa 325, the first time in memory he has been able to drink from that spot on Duval Street. 

"Online" is the default now showing experience of our lives. I enjoyed the radio broadcast of the 39 Steps on US 1 Radio, a substitute for a proper playhouse version of the play but I do look forward to sitting in a  theater once more I have to admit.

Fingers crossed, its all we can do.