The Dog And The Puddle

I have long since noted my dog doesn't much like tap water or clean water and prefers puddle water, anything that gives it a tea colored shade of mud.


I watched her lap up this Sugarloaf Key puddle and the thought crossed my mind she had a long way to go to drain that lake.


It was a lovely morning fresh and sunny and dry after a downpour. I was feeling frisky and making fun of my dog seemed the best way to start the day. In my defense she didn't seem to mind.



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Trash And Treasure

When I see birds perched on power lines I feel inspired to write a haiku.


Then I remember I'm not a poet and I'm not sure how to write a haiku and Solares Hill has become a boring weekly supplement to the daily paper and doesn't do poetry anymore.


Wire in the sky, bird flies off, alone with my dog.
Damn, I'm pretty sure I need more syllables.


Alone with my dog and lots of wires overhead which slice the clouds like a cheese cutter.


Cheyenne looked at me and wondered out loud why I was lying on my back making appreciative noises at the sky. We started to meander back to the car, past the liquid trash field.


Wind and waves tend to pile garbage into these islands and all the detritus of civilization slips up against dry land as well. I imagine the second mate of some tramp steamer in the Gulf Stream is wandering the ship frantically looking for his other sandal. Too bad dude, it's right here.


Last seen resting comfortably in the dead seaweed was a box of fruit juice.


And of course indestructible plastic riding high on the sargasso.


Styrofoam and plastic. Lovely enhancements to a field of boring natural grasses.


Stuff just gets away from you sometimes and on the water it just all gets blown down from the horizon.


On the seawall anglers abandon bags of stuff that smells so good Cheyenne can't leave it alone. She looks like Eeyore munching a thistle field but it's all human left overs.


I see dog owners tugging like power winches on dog leashes trying to prevent their animals from being animals. I think exploration is the purpose of life even for and perhaps especially for a dog that has but one way to experience the world.


Cheyenne agrees. It's hard work though, sniffing through all that trash.


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Bicycle Town

I was moved to take a few more pictures of bicycles around Key West when I caught this busy couple studying a map quite determined to get it right this time and find their destination without further ado.


Usually I offer to help and frequently get rebuffed but this pair acted as though map reading was pretty important to them so I limited myself to a picture. This picture below, taken on Simonton Street reflects typical hard core winter cycling in Key West. Note the long sleeved top, heavy duty cap and expensive sandals.


People who know this stuff suggest one third of the city's population of 23,000 doesn't own a car. Just because one is carless doesn't mean one can't behave badly and text while driving:


Bear in mind cyclists must obey traffic rules, like one way streets and stop signs and while they may ride on sidewalks they may not ride two abreast. Plus women are required by custom if not by law to cycle one bike length behind their men.


Why? I haven't a clue but they all do it. Personally I like following a woman on a bike because I like the female form and feel no need to worry about the size of my weenie if a woman is cycling in front of me. Other men are less self assured and none of them ever ride in pink Crocs. Go figure.

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Shadows And Light

I was trailing around behind my dog rather less interested in my surroundings than she was, when it occurred to me one doesn't often think of Key West as an industrial city. Yet, this tiny slice of light between two County buildings on Whitehead Street make this town look like something positively industrial.


That set me to thinking, an activity I tend to indulge in to excess. So, I reasoned I bet there are other pointless pictures to be taken.


It was a brisk sunny evening and as a result the shadows were crisp and well defined around the Freeman Justice Center on Fleming Street.


This sort of play of light is something I am used to seeing in summer in temperate climes when it's snow free, say on a warm summer evening when the shadows are long on the ground.


Around here coconut fronds are often found lying on the ground which can look interesting.


These two had nothing to do with anything except I do like seeing couples dressed alike. Did they get up ad say to each other "Let's do the red and white sporting outfits," or was it just happenstance?


More shadows and light through the mesh link fence.


Ten. I saw two shades of yellow, that found in Nature and at which comes out of a can.


Cheyenne kept ambling and pretty soon we were round on the other side of the county building complex.


This is the old jail which was closed tow decades ago but whose reputation for overcrowding and inhumane conditions is legendary even today.


I have seen pictures of the jail towards the end and it was a classic row of cells with bars on the front stretched along a dank dark corridor. Above you can see the bars on the windows.


Above is the sally port where prisoners would be unloaded behind closed doors and entered into the jail for processing.


The old sign would indicate the building is still used but I doubt it. The new jail is massive and complete with all facilities on Stock Island


This old building really needs to be torn down and replaced. Perhaps China will loan Monroe County the money at a favorable rate.




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Snowbirds

This Hummer stopped in the intersection while I was filling the car with dead dinosaurs. And stayed stopped for ages, long enough that the white car pulled up behind. Long enough that I had time to reach in the car, turn the camera on and snap a couple of pictures and only a minute later did he pull out. I have no idea what possessed this guy with a Michigan tag to park in an intersection turning onto Highway One, when there was tons of space nearby off the roadway.


A few minutes later trundling through Summerland Key a New York tagged red car stopped suddenly in the traffic lane, forcing everyone to slam on their brakes. Then they took their sweet time moving into the turn lane and seemed surprised by an aggressively honking local van with a tag that read "DA BRONX" and was thus presumably trained on horn use earlier in life.

People driving Highway One in winter with out of state tags need to drive properly because otherwise it is too easy to dredge up those negative stereotypes about visitors. And I got two opportunities in five minutes on Sunday. Bloody snowbirds!


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Grinnell And Environs

I captured several essays- worth of pictures with remarkable light this past week. Everything had a golden glow and I enjoyed walking around in it feeling illuminated.


Then I found this mass produced sign and everything started to fall apart. Trespassing isn't that hard to spell is it? Especially if you are planning on printing up millions of signs with that very word embossed on them.


There has been some lively debate in the paper after a letter writer in the Citizen pointed out a few grammatical improvements we could all employ. Now I worry that I have standards to attain.


On the other hand there were a bunch of responses in the Citizen that showed the notion of correct grammar and syntax really does get some people's backs up. Public spelling is hardly an issue you'd think.


Bonnie Albury the former teacher might have had something to say about that but she died four years ago shortly after I started this blog. Her former home is still being worked on, slowly slowly restored.


As I was sitting there enjoying the light and the sound of my dog panting a family rolled by.


All present and correct Key West style, dog, roller skates and bicycle. The family SUV redefined.



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