Good morning world!

Sunday morning in Key West!

Spectacular!

Sun shining. Blue sky sprinkled with white clouds here and there. Colors vibrant. Blue water. Green mangroves and palm trees. Yellow MTV house across the way.

There is a breeze. Strong. Off the Atlantic. Expected to get stronger.

Key West is feeling the effects of Hurricane Igor which is heading towards Bermuda. Stronger than normal wind. Waves in the water. Choppy seas. White caps starting to form.

Igor is no danger to Key West. It will not even come close. However nature has an ever expanding thrust. Igor brings us wind and choppy seas. And along the eastern seaboard of the United States, rip tides.

Today will not be a good boating or fishing day in the keys.

Yesterday was spent doing paper work. Every now and then a necessity.

I needed copies and to fax some documents. My combination printer, fax, etc. is broke. Someone said go to Office Max.

Terrific!

Office Max has a whole section dedicated to copying, faxing and other office needs. I did it all! And for less than $3!

When I returned home, Lisa and the grandkids were in the pool. I joined them. Robert and Ally swim so well! Not uncommon for children here in the keys. Water every where. Kids grow up in the ocean and pools and become excellent swimmers at an early age.

I dined at Hogfish last night. Love the word “dined” as it applies to Hogfish. An old thatched roof restaurant. Beat up. Sitting in one of the worst areas of Stock Island.

But loved by everyone. Good food! Cheap prices! Great company!

I ate out on the dock. The sun was just setting so it quickly became cool. Tarpon were off the dock. People were throwing food into the water. The fish broke through the surface and grabbed at the food. No place for a human hand!

Hogfish was my dinner choice. Tasty, as usual.

I watched an old movie on TV last night. Budapest. Starred Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr. It was about the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.

I was a senior in college at the time. Manhattan College in New York City.

The Revolution began on October 23, 1956 and ended about 2 1/2 weeks later on November 10, 1956.

The Hungarians were winning till the Russians sent in the tanks on November 10th. The Revolution ended the same day. The Russians did not screw around. They sent in a gigantic force to put down the Revolution. And succeeded! Again, in one day!

Two hundred thousand people had to flee the wrath of the Russians.

Fifteen of them ended up at Manhattan College.

College age men. Late teens. Early 20s. They were welcomed with open arms.

I became close to them. We would sit and chat evenings after dinner.

Their story was interesting.

We were not revolutionaries. Never thought of initiating a revolution. We were out drinking beer one night. As college kids normally do. The Russians had been unusually difficult in recent days. We were a bit drunk. We started driving around yelling at groups of Russian soldiers and throwing beer bottles at them.

Eventually the Russians started shooting at us. We graduated to guns and molotov cocktails. Most of us had never shot a gun before.

All of a sudden revolution was in the air! We were winning. Until the tanks came in! Tanks, tanks, tanks! So many. Overwhelming.

The revolution was over.

We had to flee. The Russians were brutal. Our friends were being rounded up and shot.

Free nations all over the world took these fleeing Hungarians in. Many were placed in colleges. The 15 at Manhattan College an example.

Good guys all!

Interestingly, they all spoke excellent English. They had learned it as part of the Russian educational system in Hungary.

I have never seen any of them since I graduated. It would be interesting to know how they fared in America.

Enjoy your day!