Cyndi and Rick (and me)

Bob and Leta

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50 Was the Goal!

Dang it. I planned to get to the magic number of 50 blogs before I stopped writing. Technically I have gone past that number with 3-4 having been deleted after being written. Officially, though, this is #49 and my last. In a moment of clarity on a 400 mile road trip Monday, I realized that I've noticed all I can notice about Key West. And, as far as personal stuff goes, anything more would be exploitative of the people I now share my Key West adventures with. On the one hand I was able to experience life down here with an ear for how it might sound to someone reading the blog. On the other hand is the heavier load. I've developed friendships and don't intend for those relationships to be blog material any more than they already have. I'll say that writing the blog was a lot of fun and gave me something to focus on while I was getting assimilated. I enjoyed the feedback immensely. This whole process has kept me in touch with folks in a way I would not have anticipated.  But, I've decided to be a participant only as opposed to a participant and a blogger. I am going to keep the blog open so I can record the untanned faces of my visitors and allow you folks coming down to get the very limited publicity that goes with that. Ciao.

Cross Culturally Speaking

I started my "Survival Spanish" class today and I'm killing them so far. The first thing, I was early to class and because of a traffic accident, everyone else was late. (Plenty of time to schmooze the teacher, if you know what I mean). Next thing, I did the alphabet great. No one else was close to how great I did the alphabet, matter of fact. After class, I went to the bookstore to get the required text. Whoa...I called the teacher of the class that the bookstore only had so many left... Far as this class goes, I'm made out of gold. A certain, "satisfatory" rating is sure to follow all this ass-kissing.

On the other end of the spectrum, I had a chance to use my new, limited Spanish vocabulary on someone I know. These were the rules: She would use English words and I would use Spanish words. My words were maestra (teacher), attractiva (captivating), and escote (cleavage). Her words were lazy (perezoso), sweaty (sudor) and elderly (mayor).  I had this exact same problem when I took an intro psych class in the 60's. I told the cute young coed she looked like a compassionate person  and, by the way, did I have a chance? She said I was crazy. I never liked the rules to begin with.

I Don't Work On Christmas Eve.

It's impossible to ignore the homeless people in Key West. In Detroit I had immunized myself. I ignored the panhandlers except for one favorite, Marie. Otherwise, I just kept walking as if he/she didn't exist. I certainly don't want you to think I wasn't compassionate. It was a survival thing. If one was identified as an easy mark...well, it just got more difficult. In Key West, because it's a small island, the number of homeless (mostly men, but women, too) seem to be a high percentage of the people here. Added to that is the fact that a lot of folks live in their cars down here. As I walked along Smathers the other day I saw a half dozen people living in their cars. One guy who's there daily, puts up clothing around the windows of his old Honda Accord so the sun doesn't get in too early. Friday's Key West Citizen had a lengthy article about the "underground society" of folks who sleep in the mosquito infested mangrove swamps and under bridges. The story involved the city's mayor going on a tour with an officer to view the makeshift camps that pop up - particularly during the winter months. I've met a few fellows who are homeless on my morning walks. This one guy is known as Blue. Someone who knows him better than I do said he went to the University of Iowa. He paints coconuts and sells them for $15 per. Christmas Eve was nice down here. I remember because I swam in the ocean that day. Well that meant a lot of tourists were at the beach. My friend asked Blue if he was painting that day. Blue said, "Hell no. It's Christmas Eve. I don't work on Christmas Eve." Another guy I know runs a food wagon at the beach. Blue and others try to hang out near the wagon because of the traffic and the opportunities to panhandle. The problem for Dave, who has been very generous to Blue, is that people steer away from the wagon when Blue is there. He can be profane if he's drinking and scary looking either way. My friend estimated 20 or so homeless folks died in 2010 and sure enough, the Citizen reported 19. The deaths were mostly attributable to health problems that were ignored and, of course, substance abuse. The article concluded with an admission by the police officer and the mayor that there are no easy solutions to the problem. 

Home Sweet Home

The Beach

If you want to know the truth, I could have written about the beach every week I've been here. Generally the beach at Fort Zachary Taylor has been my destination 3 or 4 times per week. I typically read the Key West Citizen and The Miami Herald at the beach. The two papers take about an hour and then, I either swim out to the swimming area buoy or I don't. Sometimes I do it twice - particularly if it's hot. Fashion at the beach is something I've paid attention to since day one. There are the outfits at either end of the appropriateness spectrum. An old guy, a regular, wears something called "a Hammock" and parades up and down several times for all to see. He has three, I think,  in different colors. Today, I saw my first, topless female. I positioned myself so I could see the reaction of folks as they noticed her. Without actually looking at her, I noticed the wives/girlfriends sock their man in the arm for either looking or making a comment as they passed by. The most fun was watching how often a group of 5 teen age boys found an excuse to walk by. Mind you, I did all this without even glancing over my own self. I think this about women's swimsuits: Black and any of the neon colors don't work down here. For a while, I was sold on green, but now that the crowds are here, I realize that purple bikinis are the hot item this year. They're not that common, and the really cool looking people at the beach are wearing them. And, oh yeah, there's a lot of nature and stuff at the beach, too.