Utila Lane

There is no such place as Utila Lane in Key West. There very well could be of course as Utila is a small island off the north Coast of Honduras in the Western Caribbean. It is most famous for being an English speaking island in a Spanish speaking country, and for its diving. I call this alley between Elizabeth Street and Bill Butler Park Utila Lane because it reminds me of the cement paths on Utila, so small it has almost no cars and just two roads.

This is a picture I took in March 2009 when my Labrador rolled by and alerted this yard bound dog to her presence. He has always been there ever since. 

And is still there and still barking when you stroll by even without a dog apparently.  Time passes for all of us. I wonder if he misses all those walks he never took.

 Utila Lane in all its winter glory: 

The alley pops out into the traffic zone on the side of Bill Butler Park... 

...which park has a small wood of gumbo limbo trees  in the middle. 

Bill Butler died in 1984 and was considered the "King of the Junkanoos" which are carnival style celebrants in the Bahamas. They still mark Junkanoo every year in the Family Islands which are of course tied by tradition to families in the Keys. 

From the Guardian newspaper: 

Junkanoo is a street parade with music, which traditionally occurs at Christmas.

The name is said to have originated during the slave trade, from John Canoe, a legendary West African chief who was idolized by the slaves. The African workers were allowed three days off, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day, and would rush out on the streets to celebrate. The tradition continued after slavery was abolished, with parties taking place in almost every town. Junkanoo was commercialized by the Bahamas government in the 1920s and, last year, the decision was made to hold a Junkanoo Summer Festival on the islands' capital, Nassau, and to extend the party over several weeks.

We hear nothing from the Bahamas now the hurricane recovery is in the less dramatic  phase with billions in damage and  thousands of people displaced from the northern islands. They need tourists more than ever on the undamaged islands and all the Junkanoo they can put on. Which is not to say we don't all have more Junkanoo and more hurricanes in our futures.

Mangrove Dawn

The workingman's curse is having a dog who knows what time you normally wake up and on those rare days when the schedule allows for a lie-in no one tells the dog so promptly at 3:45 he's very ready to go explore.

With official sunrise close to seven am there's no point in getting to the trail head before 6:15 or so but no amount of rational explanation seems to reassure Rusty. On a work day I am restricted to walking him in moderately well lit places where I don't risk tripping and breaking my neck. On my day off when I could indulge the benefit that is sleep, as the poet put it,  Rusty is there always  ready to make sure I tumble out of bed at the regular time of 3:45 am, so no extra sleep is allowed. If I listen to him I soon find myself heading into the frigid Keys morning air. If I don't listen to him he pads around the house whining and clicking his nails on the tile until I get up and buy some time with a chew.

“Sleep that knits up the raveled sleeve of care,

The death of each day's life, sore labor's bath,

Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course,

Chief nourisher in life's feast.”

Never mind all that contemplation of sleep - time to go for a walk!

The benefit of that virtue of being an early riser which is enforced on me by my dog is that I get to watch some excellent sunrises among the mangroves. In the good old days when I worked night shift we came out far more often and he seemed to lose interest because perhaps, familiarity did breed contempt. These days he runs with nose down forcing me to keep up an seemly pace. But I do get a chance with the camera. from time to time.

Being out here is an excellent way to cast off the stresses of the night shift and these days I look forward to my days off to find myself deliberately in the wilderness alone with my thoughts and the silence.

Brown leaves among buttonwoods and mangroves are a sign of regeneration but they aren't much to do with seasons as mangroves store salt in their leaves and cast off the sodium filled greenery as a way to enable them to turn ocean water into fresh water for the plant's use. 

And around here there has been a  great deal of salt water as the seasonal extra high tides have kept the trails flooded much of the time. Only salt resistant plants have survived. Salt water immersion is one way to keep your lawn in check.

I cannot say it is really cold as I am out here at down in short sleeved shirt and shorts without a hint of chill, but the air is fresh and crisp and fresh water droplets accumulate overnight.

Eventually even the sun puts in an appearance but not with summer ferocity, when energy sapping humidity soaks a shirt even on a  short walk. It lights up the skies mildly, apologetically.

And far above the other winter migrants, pelicans catch the first rays of the day. This is after all the Florida Keys so sunshine is the natural order of things.  Just as frost most decidedly is not.

They See Us Flooding

NOT SAVING THE KEYS: NEW YORK TIMES

It's an article worth reading, click the link above, if only to read how my neighbors just don't get it.  Take this resident of flooding Sugarloaf:

“What’s government for? They’re supposed to protect your property,” Mr. Silverman said from behind the wheel of his shallow skiff boat on a recent afternoon.

Others quoted in the article are more sanguine about the future acknowledging their time may be short and there is even mention of "stopping climate change" which would involve not only vastly more expense than raising the roads (!) which is bad enough but cutting emissions to make  a difference will require good deal more in terms of lifestyle changes. Overall there is some pervasive belief that something needs to be done to make the effects of climate change go away. 

The article was prompted by a  report presented to the Monroe County Commission by the County Sustainability Director. She estimated that by 2025 high tides would cover the old State Highway 4A along the south shore of Sugarloaf Key and the two dozen homes (that many?!) will be cut off by those high tides. To raise just three miles of road  15 inches, enough to keep it dry year round in 2025 will cost $75 million. Double that to keep it dry in 2045. With 300 miles of road to worry about the County Mayor's response according to The Times was to hope county staff had got their numbers wrong.

All this climate change angst has been brought into focus by Hurricane Dorian, the storm that wrecked the Bahamas and Ocracoke Island in North Carolina. I say that because this is the second article I've seen this Fall by the New York Times discussing Florida Keys flooding. I suppose it makes a change from watching California burn and Illinois drown. The so called "king tides" this year were prolonged for three months and that caused some anxiety as you might imagine.

The first two pictures I took in 2014, the one above a few weeks ago when the tides were flooding the trail. What happened was the hurricane blowing up the east coast stalled the Gulf Stream and blew water back into the Keys right at the time of extra high tides. They are caused every year in the Fall by the alignment of sun and moon whose combined strength creates extra high tides, so called "king tides." 

What all this means is that we got a sneak preview of what rising sea levels will do. Whats really scary to me is the official response: let's hope its not as bad as some people expect it will be. The reason I find that worrying is because it pretty much reflects my thinking on the subject. No one in charge can bring themselves to admit the truth of what's happening because they rightly fear being crucified by people whose biggest worry is their property values. The United States has been built to take advantage of internal combustion and turning that ship around with our distances, urban sprawl, and massive roadway investments is going to take more than wishing we could have public transit the way Europeans do. We don't live crushed together like they do. If you want modern serviceable transit we need to pile on and all live as though we were in Manhattan not Miami.

But even then are we going to reverse climate change? It is a situation that is causing unpleasantness everywhere. Alaskan villages have to be physically moved as sea level rises and the tundra melts. Australia has the most appalling drought and wildfires; storms wreck Asian coastlines and the Marshall islands are already half way sunk. But here in the US at mangrove central we are the hot topic of conversation. The Keys, everyone's vacation memory is only a few inches tall and already they are slipping away to oblivion. Bummer.

No, I had to reassure a friend, house prices aren't plummeting, everything looks normal in the Lower Keys. So far. But I expect we will get more attention as time goes by and the greenhouse effect keeps pressing down on us. The end of cheap electricity and air conditioning for all will empty out the Keys faster than rising seas I suspect. For now we keep calm and carry on. You should do the same.  There is no alternative. 

A Quick Tour Of New Orleans

The well known above ground cemeteries of New Orleans...less startling if you come visiting from Key West.

The story of how the Catholic diocese sells and re-sells graves is unusual and obviously must be unique to this uniquely corrupt north American city. 

In the photo above the plaque bolted to the side of the tomb lists the previous occupants who filled the grave and whose remains were removed to make way for new proprietors. Which is how these are the tombs that keep on yielding an income. Or the occupants might choose to pay extra for "perpetual care:"

 A woman and her dog found their last resting place together:

 Worth the $50  charge. Well worth it and they take dogs too. Doubly worth it.

Stories of the cemeteries:

 A quick buzz through the 1300 acres of city park.

 Three dueling neighbors out painting each others' brightly colored homes:

 Lovely streets:

The columns supporting the freeway are being painted to resemble a forest. Whimsy still has its place in this town:

The Hard Rock building which collapsed on Canal Street killing three workers, all of whom are entombed in the rubble including one body said to be covered by the red tarp visible in the picture below. A Honduran construction worker who tried to blow the whistle on the unsafe status of the building two days before the collapse was declared illegal and sent home to Honduras two weeks ago scuttling attempts to secure his testimony in the scandal. New Orleans at its' finest.

The French Quarter, below. France and Spain fought over New Orleans for decades and a fire destroyed the original French architecture of the Vieux Carre ( the "old quarter" in French) which the Spanish rebuilt in their own style. Thus "The Quarter" is Spanish in style and was only held by the French for a matter  of weeks after the Spanish ceded the territory for the last time in 1803 and Napoleon sold it on immediately to the United States to fund his European wars. Probably more than you needed to know.

A cliche but always delicious. Our tour guide pointed out Cafe Beignet as the better option. Next time we shall investigate. I also very much like chicory coffee which I find to be strong but not at all bitter.

I am not a huge fan of quaint horsepower in the modern world. I wonder how much they suffer to please passengers.

A statue of Pierre d'Iberville an explorer who created the mythical 18th century French presence in these parts.

One of three security guards on 24 hour watch at the crumbling former Charioty free hospital which served the poor of New Orleans and was completely refurbished after Hurricane Katrina but was left to languish by city leaders eager to make money off the location by destroying the hospital and creating housing in its place. The process of self destruction has taken 20 years and the formerly fully operational hospital for the poor is now ready to be transformed into housing. 

On the subject of the 2005  hurricane and subsequent flooding and massive loss of life the location of the ghastly refugee crowding at the stadium now totally rebuilt at vast expense is also a tour site. Waist  deep water flooded the base of the ramp in the picture below:

Canal Street patrially shut down by the Hard Rock collapse. Proudly described as the widest street in North America, formerly separating the post 1803 American Quarter on the left from the French speaking Creole Quarter on the right. Hence the local term of "neutral ground" for street medians.

 Seasonal Vespa!

 An idea copied in Key West, children painting utility boxes on the streets. Very nice too.

Piazza d'Italia which Rusty did not want to explore. All I caught as a passing glimpse of a very 1930s Italian style arch with marble clock face (At six in the morning. The clock keeps time). It's worth reading up on the place if you are interested in this city's inability to finish anything properly..!

The Warehouse and Business District, originally where the new American settlers landed and created their own neighborhood. I like it as it's totally not what you think of, if you think at all of New Orleans.

 French Market workers. Not everyone is on vacation in New Orleans, just like Key West:

 Dogs welcome is an easy way to lure us off the street for a drink. 

 And some people watching from floor level:

The Old Mint apparently has the distinction of being the only such Federal Building to have manufactured coin for both Federal and Confederate currencies. So there, always ambiguous is New Orleans. Now it's also a Jazz Museum, undoubtedly worth a visit.

My traveling hound. He is not fond of horses or mules pulling carriages and foot crowds overwhelm him too.

He was known as the Little Napoleon among other endearing nick names...and he had a home in New Orleans the sort of place I like to explore:

 On the list for a future visit.

 I dare not speculate what happened here:

Dog or horse?  A few street scenes taken as Rusty and i walked and my wife shopped the French Market.

I was hoping to come across Tuba Skinny but they had no events scheduled and were nowhere on the holiday streets of the city. Hope they stuffed their faces properly. I did find some amusing graffiti.

 Don't you sit on a trash can to make a phone call? He does...

 Lovely New Orleans.

Pretty busy tour of New Orleans, I'd say. Time for a nap!