Keys Center Academy

So what was Chuck doing helping himself to fruit at a private function at Mangoes Restaurant on Tuesday? He was celebrating the middle of another strong year for the Keys Center Academy for Girls.

Mangoes Restaurant put on their annual incredible spread for the youngsters who go to school at my wife's place, the Keys Center Academy, so this essay is entirely appropriate for today's particular holiday, giving thanks and eating food. I had two pieces of French Toast and they were both excellent like all the food which kept our server running between all the tables. Keys center Academy is a special school, and it's designed to help young students who don't do well in the regular high school. Some people think the Academy is for underachievers or problem kids who get shunted off to the sidelines. In fact the girls who apply have to go through a rigorous interview process in which they convince the Academy bosses they really want to learn. If they get in, and only about two dozen qualify, they have to keep up their school work under the eagle eye of their instructors. The student/teacher ratio is so low (six to one on average I think) there is no way to avoid the work. My wife also instituted a no cell phone rule which has been amazingly successful.At Thanksgiving mangoes puts on a spread to celebrate the achievements of these youngsters who without the supervision of the Academy would be left by the wayside of the general school educational system. The Academy also demands parental interest and that's a change for parents who think the schools should manage their kids without parental help. Community members like Wayne and Lucy also get involved volunteering, and the kids enjoy their day out:Superintendent Joe Burke was seen yukking it up with program boss Carol, and as he's the man who keeps the Academy funded they are all happy to see him noticing their success.It was a great moment, sitting out on the terrace at 700 Duval, and program Office Manager Nan was helping herself.

The Academy also counsels students to help keep them on track, Miz Heather, the counsellor.

Duval Street looking good under the sun.

I was feeling pretty good myself, stuffed with mango, bagel, French Toast fried potatoes and iced tea. I hope Super Joe saw these young girls loving school, a big change in their lives. Onward and upward. A moment to give thanks.

Big Pine Shadows

When I took these pictures last week it occurred to me that we were just a couple of days away from a full moon and I really like full moon nights in the Lower Keys.When we were out cruising my wife and I used to enjoy the full moon on nights when we were out sailing as the unobstructed moon made the ocean almost as clear as day. But at anchor far from city lights the night sky would leap out filled with stars on nights when the moon was new or below the horizon. I enjoy walking out even now, at home on a dark moonless night to enjoy the stars in our street light-free neighborhood, but the full moon gives the endless mangroves a particular surreal quality.I was off last Wednesday evening and I decided to take Cheyenne for a late walk on the south end of Big Pine Key. The idea was to catch the dying sun's rays in the trees, maybe capture some of the golden evening light that we get so often around here. However the plan fell short for a couple of reasons.The first reason was the sun's decision to get close to the horizon behind a striation of cloud. And secondly I forgot to apply insect repellent as a result the sand fleas on the warm humid evening air made my life a living hell. I spent much of my time slapping my legs and scratching my arms, neither or which activity was effective in dissuading the irritants from bugging me.Cheyenne's fur serves a purpose and she was just fine mooching about as usual. Lacking the rich glow of a golden sunset that I had been hoping for I started taking origami pictures of shaded trees and patches of sky.

The Straits of Florida had a magnificent flatness that I usually see in summer calms.

These pictures might almost have been taken in black and white.Pelicans are back which means, flat water or no, it's winter.

A reflected sunset, looking east.

A bunch of ibis, little white dots in the half light picking up dinner on the way home.

The light was fading fast and the zombies were stirring...

So we hot footed it out of the woods back to the car.

Splashing through the standing water I saw this, which I am pretty sure is a roseate spoonbill, a bird I have seen in it's more usual habitat of the Everglades down into Florida Bay. The quality of the photo is crap making it look like I am chasing Sasquatch or something through the undergrowth.

there were three of them and this next (exceedingly crappy) picture captured more of the pink color on the bird. They aren't unknown in the Lower keys but they are unusual, and here they were, if they are actual spoonbills on Big Pine Key. And finally as we blew the joint the sunset put in an appearance. And weary plods the homeward dog.

I got bitten half to death, I saw a good few birds, got some pictures of mixed quality and the dog had a great time as usual.

Power Boats

I was quite surprised to find I was not alone in choosing to photograph the beached power boats at Truman Waterfront. The boat races ended last week and these few boats were left, the rearguard of the body of boats that had already streamed off Up North after a few days of buzzing round Key West harbor like angry bluebottles.

I got this picture off http://thisweekontheisland.blogspot.com/ to return the favor to Doug Bennett for his compliments on my blog.

They put up these rather cool tent-like structures to protect the poor dears from the weak winter sun. They looked rather handy."Over sized load" indeed. These boats carry a lot of strange baggage with them. In Key West mention of power boats tends to evoke the same sort of reaction as Bike week gets. People that like engines and racing extol their virtue as one more form of tourist income. Opponents of noisy blue bottles dashing dementedly around the harbor ignore the wealth potential and wish them gone forever.I fall somewhere in the middle. When I used to work as a sailboat captain they were a mild nuisance, pretty much as they are a mild nuisance on the Overseas Highway as they trek slowly in and slowly back out. Beyond that their noise and roiling wakes leave me indifferent. From a distance they look sleek and rather scientifically improbable. Close up they carry fiberglass scars like any boat that has come up hard against an immovable object.What they do is pretty much what's illustrated here: They buzz up, with a quick u-turn at one end of the course whereupon they race madly back in another straight line. Whoever does this fastest wins. The Citizen had a breathless report in the sports pages of the gut wrenching excitement of a close finish to the races but it wasn't what really interested me.I am no great sports fanatic but power boat racing seems crazy to me. Drive in a straight line one way then go back the other way. Enormous skill is involved I'm sure but really...so what? The whole business rather reminds me of the car race in On The Beach by Nevil Shute. The end of the world is closing in on Australia and in one last burst of fun they organize a car race to burn off the last of their hoarded gas. In a world where future energy supplies are a subject for debate (among some of us) the idea of burning fuel to do this seems weird. But there again, no more so than a lot of other human activities.I've been told that it takes millions to run one of these boats competitively and they are just one more play thing for the Lear jet crowd. They seem to have fun with it.I had fun with the camera, as incomprehensible as I find this stuff.Frankly I am no great fan of sail boat racing either even though I know how to sail. I think that stuff is pretty boring from a distance too, but boats are always cool to photograph.It was a pleasant sunny afternoon and I enjoyed wandering around keeping an eye on Cheyenne as I went.I turned my camera on the ramp where they launch these behemoths and found this guy looking for dinner.Who won? I haven't got a clue.

More Old Key West

Don't you love wordy notices that, reduced to their bare essentials say: please be well behaved. Which if they were going to be well behaved would mean they would need no sign to remind them how to behave.I was so astonished when the puppy pictured above rolled on his back in act of submission to a bleary Cheyenne I forgot to take his picture until he had moved on half a block. Cheyenne spent a good twenty minutes grazing around the base of a kapok tree at the Old Harris School on Southard Street. http://conchscooter.blogspot.com/2008/11/harris-school.html The school was in the running to become a cultural and art center through the Rodel Foundation, which never happened and the place is now supposedly going to become office space for rent.I'm not sure this next picture worked as well as I intended but I liked the silhouette riding past Mangia Mangia.This is a spiky palm which is about as botanical as I can get. There are tons of these around and I really like how they look.

Classic old Key West, a small house on rocky supports, wooden shutters and door. Welcome to the almost-Caribbean.

This lady shuffled by carrying her dog, Francisco, who as far as I could tell was a year old and recently orphaned and came into his owner's life as a replacement for her much lamented and recently deceased dachshund.

When a safe distance from the fearsome Cheyenne she put Francisco down and they resumed their conventional perambulation. It's that time of year when you can sit in your car with the door open and you don't need to button it up tight and crank the air. That rates this is the pleasant time of year.I was sitting next to Cheyenne and looking across the street I saw this odd play of light and shadow.It was a balcony at the island House seen below in it's context.

This old decoration for the rest Fantasy fest was lurking in Fast Buck Freddie's warehouse, where Cheyenne took her second pause of the walk.Endless downtown roadworks to install storm drain improvements, they say.

I have omitted to photograph this mural which was completed some time ago. Now my omission is rectified.

I have been on a con leche diet for some time and I miss the coffee and cheese bread fix. I'm thinking it's been a while since I photographed a Cuban meal (or snack) for the blog. For the blog of course I might have to yield to temptation. Old Key West on James street, still hanging in there.Sometimes there are slow dogs as well on James Street.

And slow bicycles on Olivia Street

And they weren't in a hurry, but they did eventually pull over for me.

I hung back and was very patient and polite, as one should be. Looking below I am very fond of unintentional irony. Especially from Realtors who would sell their grandmothers if you believe their advertising. The newspaper said yestersay that home sales in Key west are as low and as slow as they have ever been. I think sellers need a reality fix if they think homes will sell for as much as they did four years ago.

I haven't eaten at the Southard Street Bobalu's though I have enjoyed the odd bit of southern food at the original Bob and Lu's on Big Coppitt Key.

Old Key West? Probably not but it looks kind of old and funky and all outdoorsy.