My Dog And Other Wildlife

I used this picture in this morning's essay on the park behind Baby's Coffee on Highway One. I like Cheyenne's pose, not least because she never sits smartly for me when I have a treat, like she did for this stranger, but also because it is classic Labrador.


Like I said she never sits obediently for me. She knows I'm a soft touch and all she has to do is look at me with her liquid brown eyes.


Wildlife on the other hand mistrusts me and prefers to step delicately away.


It's this delicacy of poise that attracts me to Florida's native waders over the rambunctious and messy and noisy imported chickens. Labradors are perfect anywhere.



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Baby's Coffee

I was ambling with Cheyenne when I saw this blob and I had to trot back to the car to get my camera. These things are everywhere and if you search Facebook for Key West Blob there is apparently an explanation.


Call me eccentric but I prefer not to know so I just note them in passing and keep on keeping on. My wife was inside Baby's Coffee buying us an afternoon pick-me-up so I had Cheyenne to myself for a few minutes.


The coffee shop is at Mile Marker 15, whence they moved after starting out life in downtown Key West at the KW Peppers building if I remember correctly.


Then they moved the roasting operation to the mainland to save money and took the retail store to Bay Point.


Which island has it turns out a nice chunk of Monroe County open space behind the coffee shop.


The Lower Keys Shuttle between Key West and Marathon has a stop here, seen above. Below, my dog decided this was where we would have our coffee:


In the company of some locals resting comfortably in the grass.


Soon enough my wife appeared with the coffee and we watched the clouds scud overhead while I listened to my wife's latest tale of woe from the horribly administered school district. I am hoping the idiot Superintendent gets his marching orders before he ruins local schools completely. He is under qualified, inexperienced and as a result has a very inflated ego and a total lack of self confidence. And he hates strong women which puts my wife at risk.


A passing dog walker very kindly offered Cheyenne a treat which made her the poor woman's best friend for life.


Jeez Cheyenne! It's just a cookie!


It's a fine spot behind Baby's. The best place to stop and enjoy coffee on a lovely Keys afternoon.



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County Road 905

They say you can't travel anywhere except on Highway One when riding through the Keys. However there are a few places in the Upper Keys where you can parallel the highway on County Road 905.


The speed limit is lower but the weight of traffic especially in summer is light. You have to rejoin the main highway at the bridges between islands, Plantation Key, Windley and Islamorada, where it's sometimes called just "Old Highway" or State Road 4A.


Sometimes I'll turn off the main road and take the back road for a more relaxed ride and a few mild curves. Some people in spandex aren't necessarily relaxed when they ride this road.


It's worth checking out the little blue signs that mark County Road 905 when cruising the Upper Keys.


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Mile Marker 82

This unprepossessing sign marks an oasis on a stretch of Highway One where the speed limit is slow and passing is forbidden. Better to pull over here and let the funeral cortège roll on without you.


There is a convenient parking lot suitable to feed a dog her breakfast, and take off walking with time enough to take a few pictures.


This part of the Keys is not terribly scenic owing in part to the shortage of water views...


...and the lack of urban planning.


They indulge in public drinking apparently as Cheyenne naturally found a discarded "to go" cup filled with delicious rainwater.


Lorelei the mermaid that seduces men to their doom was sitting outside an establishment named after her. As she is about twelve feet tall it's difficult to imagine who might picture themselves seducing her and being taken by surprise by her overwhelming...personality.


More prosaically the signs at the exit to the parking lot fuss over the poor dears in their cars. Seat belts will save your life but brow beating fools into wearing them seems like a waste of a good opportunity to cull the population.


Cheyenne wanted to pop into the few remaining old trailers in this glamorous community but I figured they probably didn't need to share their last crust with a ravenous Labrador.


The old Islander sign still stands overlooking the highway. My great regret is that I never took the time to drive underneath it when that was still possible. The advent of new landscaping saw the driveway redirected to one side of the sign.


It was a cloudy scenic day when I reached the turn around point and made my slow way back home.


That's quite a waterfront view for some lucky travelers camping illegally no doubt and apparently getting away with it as the sun was up and illegal camping now rated as legal parking.


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More Blobs

Damn! These things are everywhere.


They don't seem to be weatherproof so one can hope they will fade away.


Need a black market watch? There's this alley off Olivia...

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Waterborne

I never tire of acting like Captain Bill the guest at the Admiral Benbow who spent his days looking nervously out to sea.


I look out to sea, not especially nervously as I do not expect to receive the death sentence represented by the terrible Black Spot of Treasure Island fame.


I look out to sea to give Cheyenne time to check out the bushes as we meander slowly back to the car yet again, on yet another morning of exploration by my dog and I.


Looking out to sea one is reminded that nothing much will change after we are gone, even as we are warned of the perils of climate change and sea change and impending rising tides that won't go down again. When I used to sail I would spend hours and even days offshore sitting at the rail looking over the side, like a dog with her head out of the car window, doing nothing more energetic than the waves slip along the sailboat's hull.


Driving the Overseas Highway I observe this fascination with the sea on the part of visitors driving to Key West. They slow on the bridges and take the time to look at the water as though some inspiration will rise up out of the water and explain the meaning of life.


Cheyenne doesn't seek answers. She just needs a rest when we get home from a long morning spent walking and staring at open water.


A girl needs her beauty sleep, even if my girl is eccentric and prefers a hard bamboo floor to her, or even my, soft bed.

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