Swimming

In the bad old days I never went swimming after the time change. I was strictly a warm water, daylight saving time swimmer only. Not any more. 

I swam in a lake in Colorado at eight thousand feet elevation this past summer. I am a bold old cold water swimmer now. The change happened last January on a Mexican beach in San Carlos. A man from Iowa convinced us swimming in cold water is good for you. I thought Ron was full of bollocks but the new retired me was game for any stupidity. Actually I have to admit that he was right. It was great fun getting used to the cold water. I was proud of myself. 

The Ramrod Pool is a lovely under developed spot to take a dip if you feel so inclined. The sides were squared away to make a deep water dock for a development that never happened. The county threw up a couple of signs and called it good. Locals use it after work to drink beer, swim and be noisy. Excellent therapy. 

We like serenity of the pool in the morning when everyone is at work and swimming isn’t on the agenda. It was for us. 

High high tides can flood the place a bit. The access road takes a dip creating a shallow ford. I drive it slowly to stop spreading salt water everywhere. We park, we swim, and we rinse using our solar shower. 

Rusty does not like water and he doesn’t swim. He sits in the shade and keeps an eye on us. I watch him. 

After Layne went to California to see her friends I drive out to the pool for a solo swim. And there I found the “King tides” had swamped the rocky surroundings of the pool. I turned back. Nothing daunted I was determined to swim so I went to the new Pine Channel Park on Big Pine Key. 

Years ago we swam here in another artificial cut out in the rock. It was a wilderness with occasional boats abandoned and tied up to the bushes. We swam anyway. Now it is all perfectly scrubbed trimmed and built out. 

In addition to the stoutly built lookout there is a toilet block with outside shower, no need to bring your own solar rinse machine.

SWIM AT YOUR OWN RISK! Danger Will Robinson!  The water was lovely. 

The mile marker used to be in the middle of Big Pine on Highway One. It was roughly in front of the Salvation Army and the Tom Thumb gas station. It was an original from the Flagler Railroad. It just sat there marking 30 miles to Key West. Now it is preserved as a monument and any that see it won’t know it was real. Time passes. 

I fear the Ramrod Pool will get a makeover before long. It’s not that a proper park is a bad thing but like the refurbished mile marker with fresh paint and a new location the old pool is a connection to a past that is submerged by make overs. I value the rough edges and lack of amenity. Long may they last. 

Key West Bight

Rusty enjoys walking Old Town. He was over it by the time we left last year but by then we were both a little tired of the repetition. I was looking forward to hitting the road; he had no idea what was coming. 

We spent an hour wandering from Caroline Street to Simonton Street and as I encourage Rusty to stop and sniff as he pleases our walks become more like gentle meanders. 

I figure the walks are his time so he sets the pace and direction. If a place doesn’t interest him he can let’s me know in no uncertain terms by stopping and staring at me. On the other hand he is polite enough to stop and wait while I make a picture. 

We are a team, he sits and I click the shutter. He doesn’t look out over the water, that’s my job and check it out, the little brown dog is turning his back on this splendid view:

It is also time for the powerboat races, this year delayed slightly out of respect for the distant passage of hurricane Nicole. 

I’ve told him a hundred times he needs to learn how to ask for phone numbers but as often as he attracts them they end up boring him. 

He got fed up with the attention and wriggled away and sat down on his own. I apologized for him then I explained that he does that to me too if I let him too much. I suppose he’s even more shy than am I. 

He’s lucky too that I don’t drag him round the waterfront in the heat not stopping to let him sniff and explore at his own pace. So often people get dogs as part of their exercise program. I tell Rusty his walks are his time to use as he pleases. 

Visitors to Key West get to use their time as they like, sitting and watching boats or sitting and listening to music at Schooner Wharf. 

The thing is they need to change the name of the bar. The Western Union has been replaced by a shrimp boat. A long time ago the entire bight was filled with commercial boats just like this lone survivor now in display. 

For less hardcore anglers there are the regular charter boats:

I have come to understand how to approach Key West in my new role as outsider. I am a visitor and once I figured that out I revel in the assignment. The city has lots of plans including hiring a new city manager and revamping Duval Street and fixing up the homeless shelter. None of it is my problem. I’ve heard the city attorney wants the top job. As long as he doesn’t screw up the pension plan he will be someone else’s problem. The newspaper says the mayor is mad at him already. And publicly. Bummer. I went swimming. 

It’s a great place yo north, to watch people, to know you are in Key West. 

Gary likes to know if the Galleon Resort is still standing. It was the last time I looked.  Though Rusty that particular dog, did not feel like walking out to the breakwater in front of the building. 

An excellent day to be a tourist in Key West. I enjoyed it. 

Friends In Key West

I don’t think of myself as a social being but I think I end up looking that way. I was at the Tropic the other night for a talk about Ft Jefferson and the Dry Tortugas and very good it was too. 

Standing outside waiting for the others of my party to escape the crowd I was accosted. 

A couple from New Jersey, long time visitors to Key West spend far too much time on this page sbd wanted to say hello. I hope I didn’t disgrace myself but then another couple stopped by…I managed  not to faint because they were all very gentle with me. I am really sorry I didn’t drag them a block up the street to meet Rusty. But Paula was there finally to manage my life and she took the reins and led us off to dinner. I was full of admiration for the blog readers who accosted me with charm and overcame my social ineptitude. 

Mind you, I can smile for the camera. Unlike Paula’s Dad who in person is really funny but he looks at a camera like Winston Churchill with indigestion. 

On the subject my wife says she is shy but I wouldn’t know it from the way she makes and maintains long distance relationships. I get exhausted by all the socializing she creates so what follows is a short and most probably incomplete list of what it takes to learn to be a visitor and guest in the town where people live their own full lives.

Doug lives downtown and has for as long as I can remember. He loves his Huskies and you’ll seem him cycling downtown on a tricycle with furry partner. We appreciate our dogs.

I have admired Doug's tenacity in a city that chews people up and spits them out. He and his wife have made Key West their home in a way few people seem to manage. 

They take joy in Key West, in friendships forged and new friends who have a habit of dropping into town. Doug’s retirement doesn’t look much like mine but we share a contentment and an appreciation for this town. 

Chuck and Wayne of course. Remarkable success story of learning to live in the Keys and Kry West. 

Rachel and Kristi holding down the fort without me. Rachel has twenty years in dispatch and started three years before me. Kristi has more than a dozen in the room. Their partners are both city employees which steady work gives relationships a chance. They both own their homes so they have stability. Success stories. 

Carol hired Layne as a teacher taking a chance on the lawyer who wanted a new less stressful career. Carol threw amazing parties in her sprawling tree house in New Town supported by rental  apartments she carved out of the house to make it economically viable. She’s retired to her long desired Old Town tiny house part of a cooperative of small units in a landscaped lot out of the flood zone. Happiness in a small package. 

Nick lives with three rescue dogs and extended family across the island. One of the reasons I didn’t go completely nuts sitting up all night answering 911 for more than a decade. And below Keith from New Jersey with a wicked sense of humor and the smarts to get his own place in New Town. He used to own his own business but realized working for city is the best retirement plan in Key West. A few more years…

My dentist of all people. Claude gets it, the van thing. He travels every chance he can and posts pictures on Instagram at his account msflossdaily  I think it’s Africa pretty soon. 

Jonathan last seen in Maine. Sailor and circumnavigator married to one of my wife’s best friends. We sat on the deck listening to the rain and drank red wine and I thought of the other sailor who inspired my travels Webb Chiles the writer. 

I met Robert sailing the Bahamas in the 1980s. He’s retired to Cudjoe Key with Dolly. He came to Key West in 1976 and watched the bicentennial fireworks from the deck of his boat. A life spent on and under the water as a fisherman and later an employee at the marine sanctuary he initially opposed. He’s all about conserving the oceans. 

Me, the shadow drifting through their lives. 

Nicole, a healthy reminder of some of the challenges faced by Keys residents. Tough people.