Good morning!

Golf today! Can’t wait!

I finally have a new cap. It only took 5 weeks to get it. I am glad the problem is resolved. Now I can chew on both sides of my mouth! What a difference!

I also had a 2 hour physical yesterday. It was good health day!

My doctor is Jackie Lefferts. A terrific internest!

Dinner was late last night. I was going to stay in. Then got bored. So out I was.

I walked into La Trattoria. It was my lucky night. There was only one seat at the bar. Next to Lee Ann.

Lee Ann and her husband are friends. They moved to Key West full time about 3 years ago from I do not recall where. Both are younger. Probably in their mid 40s.

Lee Ann is a knock out. An absolute beauty! Slim blond type.

Her husband commutes. All over the world during the week. Returns to their Key west home on weekends.

Lee Ann works as Financial Director at the Wellsley House here in Key West.

They have a lovely condo in Truman Annex. I have partied there. Charming hosts.

So what initially was going to be a boring evening, turned into a most pleasant one. Lee Ann and I chatted non stop.

Afterwards I hurried over to the Keys Piano Bar to say good bye to Donna and Terri. They leave for New York thursday. We will not be seeing each other tonight.

Still dark outside. This clock change thing still has me a little screwed up. By the time I tee off, the sun will be up. Hopefully!

I have to move my butt this morning. Dentist at 8 to finally get my new cap after waiting five weeks. Then to the doctor’s at ten for my annual physical.

A health nurturung morning ahead!

I had lunch at Paradise Cafe yesterday. Paradise is a cheapie place. I usually have a cuban toast with melted cheese and tomato and a diet Pepsi for $4 and change.

Yesterday the place was packed! Inside and out! I have never seen so many people. There was no room for the chickens!

I believe the crowd at Paradise is another reflection of the economy. People are downsizing in their spending. An inexpensive lunch is one indication.

Marty called last night. Invited me to dinner. He wanted to buy.

We met at the Chart Room for a drink. Then had dinner at the Hot Tin Roof.

Hot Tin Roof is on the water side of the Ocean Key House. Ocean Key is a part of the Noble chain of resorts. One of the finest in the United States.

The view was spectacualr. We had the setting sun! An orange ball slipping over the horizon! The food good.

I have not eaten there in several months. Maitre de John was happy to see me. And I was happy to see him again.

I rarely go to Hot Tin Roof because it is touristy and noisy. I have become a local snob. The food however is outstanding!

Afterwards I stopped at the Keys Piano Bar for a nightcap.

Donna and Terri were at the bar. Terri had just finished singing for happy hour. We talked of their pending New York City trip. Terri bought me a drink.

And then I was on my way home.

It just occured to me that I did not spend a penny last night!

Morning Joe reports this morning that Citigroup paid $13 million in bonus money to its employees. The money came out of the $46 billion bailout money paid to Citigroup by the US Government. Our tax dollars.

Citigroup excused its actions by saying it had to keep its troops happy in this competitive society or they would move on to to other jobs.

What bullshit!

Unemployment is at an all time high. Unemployed qualified people are all over the place looking for work. A bonus is not required to keep a person working. People are happy to have jobs today! The work place is not a competitive place today!

What makes banks so omnipotent in their thinking? Wow are they entitled! Banks honestly believe they can do anything they want! And the public be damned!

I have to run! Dentist and doctor await!

Absolutely beautiful day yesterday weatherwise!

82 degrees with a cooling breeze.

I decided to lunch at the Pier House’s Beach Bar. I bought some Sunday papers and seated myself at the end of the bar where I had a clear view of the beach activity. A wise move. The college invasion has started and there were a number of lovelies on the beach. I have gotten old! The 20 year olds looked awfully young!

I have recently been doing the Pier House on Sundays because a bunch of locals hang out there that day each week. They are fun and I enjoy their company. I do not go to view the young ladies, though it does not hurt to sneak a peek!

Afterwards I went over to the Coffee House on Duval. A cup of coffeee and the New York Times! Obviouisly spent quite a while there reading the Times.

I frequent the Coffee House often. So do many other Key West locals. A woman was there yesterday afternoon that I have seen at the Coffeee house many times over the years. Sometimes we exchange some idle chatter. Other times we do not talk at all.

Yesterday she opted to talk with me. She asked, “Do you know where I can get a job?” She then proceeded to tell me how she has worked on one of the diving/fun boats that go out every day for the last ten years. No more, though. Not enough business. The boat did not have enough customers to go out every day and she had been let go.

She said the other boats were experiencing the same problem and letting people go also.

She was decidedly afraid. She had lost her job a week ago and could not find anything. Typical of most, she led a hand to mouth existence. She needed her weekly pay check. She would take any type job. It was a matter of survival!

The recession is impacting Key West. My lady friend is just one example. I know many people in the hotel/lodging industry. They are all concerned about April. Bookings are dramatically down from previous years.

I see the streets full of tourists. But only on weekends! Which suggests shorter trips.

The Keys Piano Bar and La Te Da were full Friday night when I was out and about. But not packed so you could not move, as in previous times.

People are not spending money! Those that have any! They are confused and afraid. What is happening is new to all of us. I am 73 and have never seen anything like it. We need an injection of confidence. What it will take, is beyond me. When you see mainstays of American society, such as banks, the auto industry and insurance companies failing, it is going to take an awful lot to restore the necessary confidence.

Dinner last night was with Lisa and the family. I had not seen the grandkids in a week. Ally is growing! Only 3, she is almost as tall as her brother Robert who is 4. Lisa says Ally has been eating non stop lately. She is in a growth spur!

Dinner was fun. The grandkids talk non stop. Ally is into ketchup. She puts it on everything. Her lettuce. And the banana Lisa cut up for her. Ugh!

We sat outside for awhile after dinner and chatted. Then I was off to home. I went to bed too early and fell asleep. I woke during the night and have been up ever since.

I woke with a bang! And not the right one!

The board holding the spring and mattress at the head end of the bed collapsed! All of a sudden my head was down and my feet up!

The last time something like that happened to me was 30 years ago when I was having sex with my wife.

The middle of the night is no time to screw around with correcting the problem. I hauled myself off to one of the other bedrooms and tried to sleep. Could not. I was awake the rest of the night.

Today is going to be another beautiful day! Sun out. No clouds. Water moving ever so slowly.

Have a good Monday!

Good morning world!

The clocks have changed!

We were to move them ahead one hour during the night.

I hate this thing we do twice a year. I find back/ forward confusing. Never get it correct. I do not know how to change most of the clocks. A generational thing. And then my head and body have to adjust to the change which takes a bit of time!

I am 73 and although time changes, my reaction to the change never changes!

I was out and about last night. Key West was full of visitors. People crowded the streets. A lot of families.

Donna and I had dinner together. Terri had to work a double shift at the Keys. Five in the afternoon till four the next morning. Someone was sick.

We ate at the bar at La Trattoria.

Erin was bartending. Always good to see her!

Kathy was waiting tables. She generally bartends on the weekend. A very nice person! My buddy!

And then there is my all time favorite, Beecha. What a beauty! She is the hostess. Dresses magnificently! She was wearing a large black necklace last night, to go along with her long slinky black dress.

Donna and Beecha chatted about the necklace.

Donna makes necklaces for a living. Beautiful pieces.

Her matrerials generally consist of bamboo, jade, silver, brass and glass beads.

The bamboo is grown here in Key West. Donna takes 5 to 10 foot long sticks and dries them out on her back porch. The stalks are green and wet when first cut. When the drying process is complete, the stalks are black or brown. She then cuts them into the small sizes required for a piece and polishes them big time.

All the jade is imported from the Orient. Donna is well traveled and has secured her connections in the Far East for the jade.

Most of the silver she uses comes from some Indian tribe reservation out West.

The brass is from Ethiopia. For whatever reason, she says Ethiopian brass is the best and the only kind she will use.

The glass beads are from Africa.

Donna also keeps an eye out for old belt buckles and any little thing that she thinks can be cleaned up and incorporated into a neck piece.

She makes all this jewlery in her Old Town apartment. She has all kinds of machinery and equipment. To cut, polish, adjust, etc.

Impressed? I always am. Her pieces are absolutely magnificent! More and more women are wearing them in Key West.

She markets by wearing her jewelry. On more than one occasion, a woman has approached us in a restaurant to ask where Donna got the necklace she was wearing. Donna says I made it and my pieces are for sale. Many is the time I have seen a sale made on the spot! Donna takes off the necklace and turns it over to the interested inquirer!

Donna’s necklaces are also on display at the Stone Soup Gallery on White Street. Once a month there is the Walk on White. The Walk is a good sales night for Donna. She is there. The walkers enjoy meeting the artist. Donna exudes charm. Her jewelry is high quality. Sales are made!

She is also on television promoting her wares. Channel 79 that I told you about a few days ago.

Channel 79 is a new promotion venue for Donna. She is terrific in the ad which takes several minutes to show. All of her sincerity and talent and whatever else is good in life comes out at you through the TV screen.

Donna and Terri will be leaving next week for New York where Terri starts rehearsal for Finian’s Rainbow. They are flying up. However when they return, they will be driving a truck back from New York to Key West. Terri still has some of her things in storage in New York. So a Ryder or Budget truck it will be!

Donna says she has had truck driving experience. I don’t know. I have a sense I 95 will never be the same after their return trip! Two independent women stopping for gas, making a pit stop, grabbing a bite to eat and putting up over night at some motel. They will both leave their mark on I 95!

It is Sunday! Love Sundays! The sun is up. Going to be a nice day.

Three things are certain on Sundays. The newspapers, Meet the Press and dinner with Lisa and the family. What happens in between I am not certain. But one thing is certain. It is always interesting!

Talk with you tomorrow.

I had a very pleasant Friday evening!

I ate in. Was undeceided whether to go out. Some days it is just too much work to get ready. Then said…..what the hell! So I shaved off a 4 day beard, showered and hit the road.

Bobby Nesbitt and Terri White were doing Happy Hour at the Keys Piano Bar. A 5 to 9 gig.

I got to the Keys around 8. A good crowd. And good music! I love listening to both singers separately. Together was an over the top situation!

I never tire of Bobby. I can’t get enough of Terri. Each time I hear them, they are better than the last time! I guess you might say I enjoy their singing.

When they finished, I sat around for a while talking with Terri and friend Donna. And listened to a couple of newly imported Broadway singers.

Terri is an experienced performer. A lovely person inside and out. No spring chicken, however. She is in her early 60s. I must say she does not look it.

Terri has spent a life time on Broadway. She is one of those singers and dancers who does 6 shows a week, day after day, week after week and, when lucky, year after year!

Her talents have been duly recognized. A Tony nomination for Barnum. An Obie for her work with Tommy Tune in The Club.

Several months ago, Terri came to Key West to do a one week gig at the Keys Piano Bar. She stayed on for another week, fell in love with Key West and then with Donna. What a combination!

Terri decided it was time to slow down. Do the smell the roses a bit thing. She gave up the apartment in New York, put her furniture in storage and moved to Key West.

Broadway was behind her. Not forever as it turns out. Broadway is beckoning again. And Terri, who thought the Broadway part of her life ended, is returning to New York!

Finian’s Rainbow is being revived. First opened in 1947 and then about 15 years later was made into a Hollywood movie starring Fred Astaire.

Many hit tunes came out of the show. If you are my age, you remember How Are Things in Glauca Mora. Or a song that Frank Sinatra later recorded, Old Devil Moon. And the famous Look to the Rainbow.

The theme of the show is bigotry. A daring intrusion into the issue back in 1947 when discrimination existed as an unspoken cancer. The story involves a white man who is unquestionably a bigot. Through the magic of theatre, he turns black. And the impact of bigatory befalls him personally!

A you don’t know my problems till you walk in my shoes thing.

Terri is playing a sharecropper. She has one solo number. Necessity. Also sings with other performers and as part of the chorus through out.

The show is being developed/sponsored by Encore. Apparently a big deal!

Encore revives old shows for a short period. Generally, five days. It puts on the performance big time. A Broadway show!

If in the five day revival, the show is successful critic wise and at the box office, then Encore packages the show to backers, raises the money required for a long Broadway showing and every one is off and running. Such is one of the ways of bringing a new show to Broadway these days.

We all know of South Pacific’s successful revival a year or two ago on Broadway. It is still running and continues to be a major hit. The South Pacific revival was an Encore presentation.

I wish Terri the same success. May she break a leg! May the show turn into a long time big hit run!

And if not, so what! Hard work, but still fun. A recognition of Terri’s talent.

A good to be back thing!

Terri leaves for New York on March 13. Ten hour day rehearsals start on March 14. March 25 is the invited dress rehearsal. The show debuts on March 26 and runs through March 30.

Terri, have fun! We all love you!

I overheard some one commenting at lunch yesterday that the weather on the waterside back of his house was winter and in front summer.

And he was right!

I know I keep talking about the weather. However it is a major topic of conversation at this time in Key West. We are into March and it is still cold!

The water side of my home is 15 degrees colder than the front. The front is warmer because the house blocks the cold wind coming in from the ocean. I need long pants and a sweatshirt in back. And can lay out sunbathing in a tee shirt and shorts in front!

Played bocci last night. Cold cold!

I wore long pants, a shirt, a sweat shirt and a jacket. And I was still cold!

Some people were huddled under blankets in between shots.

The bocci courts are on the Atlantic and so the cold was blowing in!

We did not do well in bocci last night. Lost 2. Only won 1.

The first 2 games were close. We lost both. 16-15 and 16-13. We won the last game decisively.

It was a money match last night. The defeat hurt.

But, we had fun! We have a great team. In victory or defeat, we seem to be happy! We party!

Maybe that is our problem.

Afterwards it was to Don’s Place for a couple of drinks and serious analysis of our bocci game. An important part of our lives here!

I have a friend up north. Pete Aceto.

Pete is a landscaper. Has taken care of my properties for years. Still does.

Pete is talented. Down here in Key West he would be described as a landscape architect.

He e mailed me a story. It is entitlerd Gennaro’s Leather Shoes.

Gennaro is in this country for only 6 months. He walks to work 20 blocks every day. His walk takes him past a shoe store. Each day he stops and looks in the window. To admire the Boccelli leather shoes. He wants those shoes so much. It is all he can think about. After about 2 months he saves the price of the shoes, $300, and purchases them.

Every Friday night the Italian community holds a dance in the Church basement. Gennaro seizes this opportunity to wear his new Boccelli leather shoes for the first time.

He asks Sophia to dance and as they dance he asks her, “Sophia, do you wear red panties tonight?” Startled, Sophia replies, “Yes, Gennaro, I do wear red panties tonight. But how do you know?” Gennaro answers, “I see the reflection in my new $300 Boccelli leather shoes. How do you like them?”

Next he asks Rosa to dance. And after a few minutes he asks, “Rosa, do you wear white panties tonight?” Rosa answers, “Yes, Gennaro, I do. But how do you know that?” He replies, “I see the reflection in my new $300 Boccelli leather shoes. How do you like them?”

As the last song is being played, Gennaro asks Carmela to dance. Midway through the dance his face turns red. He states, “Carmella, be still my heart. Please, please tell me you wear no panties tonight. Please, please tell me if this is true!”

Carmella smiles coyly and answers, “Yes, Gennaro, I wear no panties tonight.” Gennaro gasps. “Thank God…..I thought I had a crack in my $300 Boccelli leather shoes!”

I am sure you are wondering why I repeated this Gennaro tale to you. This is a family blog!

I am a product of a Catholic education. Grammar school, high school and college. I did high school and college in the 1950s.

Nuns taught me in high school and nuns were part of my college experience at dances at all girl colleges.

At each dance in high school and college, the nuns monitored/chaperoned.

Patent leather shoes were big time! The girls all wore them.

We were admonished by the nuns as we danced not to look down at the girls’ shoes. The reflection off the shiny black gave the same view Gennaro experienced.

Look not! Sin not!

Even worse, if you danced too close, a nun came out, tapped you on the shoulder and said, “Leave room for the Holy Ghost!”

That’s how it was!

Me thinks we have come a long way since the 1950s! Whether good or bad is another story!