Walking And Reading

I took this picture at Truman Avenue thinking I might use it to illustrate some point about the lack of self serve car washes in the Lower Keys. One has to make do, in this instance and I either wash the car at home or sometimes I stop in Key Largo and use the facilities there to restore the car to cleanliness.


Then instead of rambling on about how hard car care is in Key West, the principal piece of advice I have, is to not drive an exotic car as you don't want to have to take it to Miami for a mechanic to do the least thing. Which is where I resume my original thread about a bunch of odd little signs, seen recently.


En Français a bizarre dog is just that with no further explanation offered while the sign in English below makes the case that mayhem may ensue if you ignore the advice.


This sign below, photographed previously on this page is a nice reminder that the sign above originated as the sign below, but 'be aware' is now commonly abbreviated into the more common 'beware.'


A blob behind José's Cantina as was, on White Street. It used to be a Cuba restaurant but I suppose now that it's closed the Blob might as well be eating Chinese dumplings.


I wonder what this bumper sticker means? I rather suspect the owner thinks that if you disagree with him you are flat wrong. And screw you if you disagree. Civility in public discourse? How old fashioned!


I wonder how many people have seen the connection between the Corsican Constitution of 1755 as authored by Pasquale de Paoli the revolutionary leader of Corsican Independence doomed to live out his life in exile in London, and the US declaration of independence published two decades later? I how that comparison would be received by the owner of the sticker.

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Bahama Village Stroll 2

A surfboard as decoration seems entirely suitable to me in a town surrounded only by reefs and shallow waters not capable of creating proper tubular waves.


I have seen a lot of construction and renovation in Key West and I have remarked on it previously on this page, yet there remain not a few homes that are being allowed to fall slowly into their constituent parts, like this one:


I speculated with a friend about why this is in a town where the dirt is as valuable as it is in Key West. The conclusion we came to is that most likely out of town relatives end up arguing over an inheritance and entropy sets in while lawyers debate.


I like wandering around pretending to be a tourist. Like these French speakers marching past this particular residence in the village, I blended right in with my camera and my wide eyed gaze.


I noticed and enjoyed the juxtaposition of the stickers, patriotism and gross bad manners. What was the child thinking when he attached them so carelessly to his truck? Has he never heard of Mom and Apple Pie?


A modern home this next one as though dropped here from some damp moldy redwood forest in the Pacific Northwest. The chimney and the porthole remind me of the desire for heat and natural light often found in buildings in that nasty wet climate.


Public housing and the landmark Cornish AME church on Whitehead Street:


I saw these two dudes on Petronia Street acting all 2005 when any of us had the credit to buy a Key West mansion. I enjoyed the boom years even if they were fake and filled with hopeless lines of credit instead of wealth.


The Lemonade Art Stand has finally transitioned into something new and pretty across the street from Blue Heaven:


Another fine summer day in February in Key West, North America's best walking town.


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Gables

A few shots of some rooflines that appealed to me on a recent walk.


Winter can be hell if you don't like temperatures in the 80s.


Take a seat on your winter porch and watch the world go by.


This is Key West so the theory is the whole world will eventually come by and say hello.


Take your pick of small homes and you'll be wedged into Key West.


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Bahama Village Stroll 1

I spent some time walking Bahama Village checking out the streets that over the centuries have seen little change overall but always see changes in daily increments.



Construction nationwide may be flagging despite the so called economic recovery but home repairs and construction in Key West seem to be booming still.



The cruise ships still call on the city and even as the debate about widening the harbor channel to accommodate huge new ships grasps the city by the throat, the "small" older ships with a mere 3500 passengers each, continue to unload humanity onto Key West's waterfront.



Backers of channel widening want the city to raise 5 million to study the thirty million dollars needed to actually widen the channel. Grant money they say will bring us ships capable of hauling 6,000 passengers each. One quarter of the permanent population of the city. Just what we need I'm sure.



Ignore the guard shack when driving to the Truman Waterfront through the Truman Annex. Sound advice for transiting the Truman Annex which is not actually East Berlin and thus not allowed to prevent access on a city street through it's property. Not as long as the Navy tells them to behave.



Walking up Southard toward the Green Parrot I noticed several nicely decorated homes. I don't generally think of wreaths as year round decoration.



But other people do, to nice effect.



I also passed a bicycle shop new to me. Key West is a vibrant economy and I doubt these customers came off the nearby cruise ship. There are so many elements that make up Key West's tourist economy it seems odd to me that civic leaders want to weight the scales so heavily in favor of one piece of the whole tourism pie.



But the way Key West handles tourism is an endless circular debate, passionate and aggravated like any other civic issue.



I have no idea what a couple's massage might consist of but this is real massage not a whorehouse posing as a back rub store front. Does one sit and watch one's other half getting rolfed? I think I'd rather read a motorcycling magazine as awful as that sounds.



If this Chinese scooter were fast it wouldn't need to proclaim it. Chinese exports are down Bloomberg Financial tells us. Get your Xhongxhing scooter while you can...They are all over Key West.



This is, I think a model T and all American at a time when thatmeant all components were built and assembled in the actual USA. Very splendid I'm sure, and so far from achievable today they insist, though I disagree. If we cannot build things at home, what's the point?



What struck me, on Mickens Lane, aside from thel ack of air conditioning was how this 80 year old logo looks identical to that on my 2007 Fusion.



I discerned a no parking instruction here below. Why one would want to park in a tree, and what one might park there I'm not at all sure.



I got more pictures on my walk and this meander through Bahama Village on a hot winter morning will be continued tomorrow.



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Malabar Almond

Ashe at Frances:


I need to taste my own Malabar Almonds as I have two flourishing mature trees at my house.


The leaves are large and a rich waxy shade of green at their height but they go red and fall off the tree leaving a stark wintery look behind.


I am less enthusiastic than this home owner about picking them up, as a result I have lots of parchment like red leaves littering my yard this time of year.


My trees aren't near as impressive as this giant. I'm glad I don't have tom pick up the leaves from this 1918 model year Malabar Almond.


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Work And Play And Pedestrians

It's winter time and until April guest houses hotels bars and restaurants will see brisk trade.



This is the time of year when money is made in Key West and even though the economy is more year round than ever before winter tourist season is still at its peak during these months.



I could not make up my mind if these towels drying in the sun could be viewed as picturesque or as a blight. I dry our laundry under our house in the suburbs of the Lower Keys, but using Nature's bounty to dry clothes is I am told, considered tacky in the. Better quality gated communities.



I like air dried clothes: they feel softer and they last longer suffering less damage than that inflicted by infernal dryer machines. A tourist in Key West Kino sandals paused in front of sidewalk art:



A bunch of these rather prissy signs have popped up along Eaton Street encouraging pedestrians to take back their crosswalks.



The bright yellow signs are a nice bit of urban blight.



Key West has been designated as one of Florida's more dangerous cities of it's size for cyclists. So now there is a drive across the city to make the streets safe for bicycles.



There was even talk in the paper of creating bike paths and bike lanes which will no doubt produce storms of controversy about cars versus bicycles and parking versus bike lanes and on and on.



A worthy sentiment on a house clearly not occupied by a one per center.



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