I wonder if I have overdone the scenes of blue skies, blue water and sunshine this week. In case I haven't here's one more.
A cyclist riding the bike path along the southern shore of Key West would do well to stop and admire the scenery. You can't see Cuba from here, 90 miles to the south, but you can see fishing boats.
The oil spilled (and some say still spilling) in the Gulf of Mexico has not reached these waters. Cheyenne is a land dog. She has learned to enjoy streams and puddles but grass and shrubs are more her speed and swimming is out of the question as she has never been trained to enjoy the water properly.
The sandy bridle path alongside South Roosevelt Boulevard gives her lots of opportunity to root around.
As usual wildlife can wander unmolested in the presence of my pacific dog.
The salt ponds are not suitable drinking water.
The plans for the renovation and refurbishment of North Roosevelt call for the elimination of non-native coconut palms, not least because falling coconuts harm people and vehicles and coconut palms take a lot of maintenance to keep tidy. In the spirit of being good stewards of the public monies the city is asking the state to replace them with less labor intensive trees...Well, this attempt to be parsimonious with the public treasury has got the critics' panties all in a wad because they say, tourists expect to see coconut palms in the city, and damn the public expense...Tourists can come to South Roosevelt to see some coconut palms looking suitably tropical.
On the beach side there are mounds of dried seaweed that need to be ignored to enjoy the view properly.
There was a time when someone figured out that you could pitch a tent on the Bridle Path and no one would bother you. No one did until a whole long line of bums in tents sprang up and the city promptly declared an emergency, designated the salt ponds an environmentally sensitive wetland and banned parking, camping, and hanging out in the bushes of the Bridle Path. The No Parking thing is rather annoying because you have to park in the street and walk your dog across four lanes of supposedly 30 mph traffic to get to the path. But that perhaps limits the attraction for everyone and makes it more peaceful than it used to be.
It is waterfront property with exceptional views.
There used to be a few homeless guys who made a quiet home for themselves in the bushes and trails of the Bridle Path but they got swept away in the general clean up. It is a good spot to hang out, criss crossed with trails and shady nooks.
The salt ponds that lie behind the bushes stretch out to the airport and they are a home to wildlife of a more...natural sort.
There is an old pier structure that used to jut out over water but the area seems to be silting up and even though it's the rainy season it was dry enough for Cheyenne to explore.
They call it the Bridle Path because it's where Key Westers used to be able to exercise their horses. Some people misspell it and call it the Bridal Path which is a double entendre worth a smile.
Looking east toward the airport.
Another picture of a dog resting in the summer heat.
One more summer dog walk in the bag.
A cyclist riding the bike path along the southern shore of Key West would do well to stop and admire the scenery. You can't see Cuba from here, 90 miles to the south, but you can see fishing boats.The oil spilled (and some say still spilling) in the Gulf of Mexico has not reached these waters. Cheyenne is a land dog. She has learned to enjoy streams and puddles but grass and shrubs are more her speed and swimming is out of the question as she has never been trained to enjoy the water properly.The sandy bridle path alongside South Roosevelt Boulevard gives her lots of opportunity to root around.
As usual wildlife can wander unmolested in the presence of my pacific dog.The salt ponds are not suitable drinking water.The plans for the renovation and refurbishment of North Roosevelt call for the elimination of non-native coconut palms, not least because falling coconuts harm people and vehicles and coconut palms take a lot of maintenance to keep tidy. In the spirit of being good stewards of the public monies the city is asking the state to replace them with less labor intensive trees...Well, this attempt to be parsimonious with the public treasury has got the critics' panties all in a wad because they say, tourists expect to see coconut palms in the city, and damn the public expense...Tourists can come to South Roosevelt to see some coconut palms looking suitably tropical.
On the beach side there are mounds of dried seaweed that need to be ignored to enjoy the view properly.There was a time when someone figured out that you could pitch a tent on the Bridle Path and no one would bother you. No one did until a whole long line of bums in tents sprang up and the city promptly declared an emergency, designated the salt ponds an environmentally sensitive wetland and banned parking, camping, and hanging out in the bushes of the Bridle Path. The No Parking thing is rather annoying because you have to park in the street and walk your dog across four lanes of supposedly 30 mph traffic to get to the path. But that perhaps limits the attraction for everyone and makes it more peaceful than it used to be.It is waterfront property with exceptional views.There used to be a few homeless guys who made a quiet home for themselves in the bushes and trails of the Bridle Path but they got swept away in the general clean up. It is a good spot to hang out, criss crossed with trails and shady nooks. 
The salt ponds that lie behind the bushes stretch out to the airport and they are a home to wildlife of a more...natural sort.There is an old pier structure that used to jut out over water but the area seems to be silting up and even though it's the rainy season it was dry enough for Cheyenne to explore.
They call it the Bridle Path because it's where Key Westers used to be able to exercise their horses. Some people misspell it and call it the Bridal Path which is a double entendre worth a smile.
Looking east toward the airport.
Another picture of a dog resting in the summer heat.One more summer dog walk in the bag.
It seems like an indulgence to live out of town and be forced to ride my motorcycle on a carbon wasteful commute by Bonneville instead of living in one of North America's most easily cycled cities. But I do enjoy the backwoods of the Lower Keys, and their vistas of woods and water.
Cheyenne and I figured that out a long time ago. Indeed, I don't any humans that enjoy this sort of meandering as much as my dog and I do.
A private tennis court is one of those amenities I would never even consider. Probably because I don't play tennis. A decade in an English boarding school convinced me all sports involving balls are the work of the devil.
These red headed Florida wood peckers make a loud tapping noise when they are at work. It makes them hard to miss, even for a nature photographer as blind as me.
I loathe iguanas not least because they trash my vegetables. They need to be exterminated, not helped across the streets. 
Apparently they do. 
Mind you Cheyenne wasn't particuarly impressed by my equine friend and she did bark when I spent too much time petting the horse. Then she ignored it completely.
We walked on in the heat. These berries are a mystery to me, as is the name of most vegetation.
"Save. No Cut." We should all be so lucky.
I was glad to see some blooms still on the poinciana but the pods were enormous.
I am getting quite a collection of pictures of Cheyenne resting comfortably in the shade, this summer.
And in accordance with the sign it is, quite likley, time to...
...this essay.
Looking down, for some reason I cannot recall, I saw this frog burnished by the sun and painted permanently into the asphalt. You just never know what you will see when you are out and about. In my left hand I was holding the extenda dog leash, in my right I held the poxket camera to my head. And all of that was preserved for posterity, in shadow, with the frog.
My wife ignored this foolishness as she communicated through her iPhone. Students came back to school Monday and teachers have lots to do, even after they leave the classroom, to get the new school year up and running again.
We took the broad median on 17th, a shady walkway back towards North roosevelt in the distance. It's proportions and trees remind me of the so-called "neutral ground" of New Orleans medians, those pieces of turf that used to separate the French from the Spanish neighborhoods of old.
I had previously photographed this garage door with a painting of an elderly Ford, and lately the elderly Ford has been on display with a "For Sale" sign on it. This day it was protected from the sun and hard to view.
I wonder what the value of this camera is to the occupant. These kinds of arrangments make me think that if the camera worked the sign wouldn't be needed. I wanted to scribble "so are you..." on the sign after I took the picture.
Time to collect the mail (or put a stop delivery order on the address).
Cheyenne was getting her money's worth on a short walk. She likes to walk even in this hot time of year but her energy flags much sooner than it does in the cool of winter. I keep a close eye on her when it is this hot.
We got back to the car, watered the panting dog before we set off for some shopping before heading home. As we drove off I noticed this car stop in the middle of the street. A young woman carrying a package or large envelope got out, left the door open and ambled up to a house as though to make a delivery. Meanwhile I observed in my rear view mirror that a truck was coming down the street and approaching the open door. It stopped, puzzled, and I snapped the picture.
It was the work of a moment for the truck to pull out and go round, but the puzzlement was justified. There was ample room for the young idiot to pull up to the curb, parked properly and make her delivery without this display of weird thoughtlessness. I wonder how we will cope as the stresses of poverty descend upon us and stretch our manners beyond the limit. 