RETURN TO NORMALCY CONTINUES

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I love being back in Key West!

Things continue to return to normal. Which means I am going out and enjoying myself in Key West fashion. My Key West state of mind has returned.

Did the Key West Lou Legal Hour yesterday morning. Just me and Crystal. Mary Deasy was at the studio. Jenna deserted me. She was in Los Angeles enjoying an extended weekend. We spoke long distance Thursday night.

The Nazi/Greek story impacted most people. I received the most comments regarding the issue post show. Basically, people were shocked that a Nazi oriented group can be gaining power again.

I had to go grocery shopping for the third time this week. The cupboard was bare when I returned from Europe. Anna had thrown everything out.

Bought a lot of fruit. Including figs. I cannot tell you how many figs I ate in Greece. In Santorini and Amorgos, my landlords brought me fresh figs daily. Large and plump. Everyone has a fig tree on the Greek isles.

I enjoyed three figs for breakfast this morning. Hope they are not fattening!

Sloan and I spent a couple of hours yesterday afternoon organizing some of the material I will be using in my first book to be published. I will be working further on it today.

Later in the afternoon, I enjoyed an old time favorite of mine.

Mario Lanza was a big time singer back in the 1950s and 1960s. He sang great love songs and opera. He made movies. One was with Ann Blyth. It was the life of Enrico Caruso.

My grandfather turned me on to Caruso. He had a victrola. The one with the dog next to its name on the inside of the top cover. The victrola was big and black. It stood at least four feet tall. It was not run on electricity. It had to be hand cranked. Just like automobiles of old.

My grandfather had a collection of Caruso records. He played them constantly. I would be with him. His playing the records with me sitting along side him developed a love in me for Caruso’s singing. Which made me appreciate later in life the great voice of Mario Lanza.

It was the Chart Room and Hot Tin Roof last night. Enjoyed the company of Emily, Sheila, Jean and Stephanie, amongst others. Stephanie looked especially stunning.

I chatted a bit with Joseph at the Hot Tin Roof. I ordered a book he recommended from Amazon yesterday. I am anxious to start reading the book. It is a heavy political work.

Someone last evening filled me in on my team’s final bocce game thursday night. You will recall I was tired and left to go home to bed after the second game. We won 16-15. Can’t get any closer than that! We won 2 out of 3. Not a bad start.

When I returned from Europe a week ago, the downstairs air conditioning unit was blowing hot air. Sub-Zero came and fixed it. I got up this morning, it was blowing hot air again. I do not know about Sub-Zero’s weekend service.

Enjoy your day!

CRANBERRY NUT BREAD AND SHEILA

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The Chart Room again last night. Peter and Che at the bar. A good crowd otherwise.

Sheila came in after a while. Lovely Sheila. The trolley train lady. A friend to all. Loved by every one.

Sheila had a bag full of small cranberry nut bread loafs. In aluminum pans. Still warm.

This is for you, Louis. Happy Thanksgiving! She handed me one of the loaves.

How nice! How thoughtful!

When I left the Chart Room, I was headed out to dinner. Not sure where. As I got in the car, I said to myself…..go home…..eat the warm cranberry nut bread. That is what I did. Made some tea and covered the still warm bread with butter. My dinner! The best!

Thank you, Sheila.

While I was at the Chart Room, Sheila introduced me to Cori. Same pronunciation as son in law Corey’s name, except spelled differently.

Cori just received her doctorate from Exeter in England. Her PhD is in Maritime History.

She works at the Custom House as Curator of History. Knows my Corey well. Knows Lisa, also.

Yesterday morning after finishing the day’s blog, I received a telephone call from Jenna. Could we do my TV/Internet show at 4 today instead of friday? Krystal wanted to take a long weekend to spend the holiday with her folks. Ok, I said.

Only one problem. I prepare the show during the week a bit at a time each day. Ergo, I was not ready to do the show at 4. I could get ready, but would have to work diligently till 4. I did.

The show was recorded and will be shown at 10 friday morning as usual.

The topics are interesting. Let me share a few with you.

Thanksgiving. I did a history of the holiday. The pilgrims and Indians did not give us Thanksgiving. Abraham Lincoln did.

Since the show has many viewers from foreign lands who are unaware of Thanksgiving, I explained from a practical perspective what happens on Thanksgiving Day. The Macey parade, a glutonous meal, and falling asleep in front of the TV while watching college football after dinner.

The Hostess failure bothers me. A particular union is one of the problems. Another and greater problem however is the sugar industry. By virtue of a 1934 law, heavy tariffs are placed on sugar imported. As a result, no one ships sugar into the U.S. The U.S. sugar industry has a monopoly. So…..sugar costs twice as much in the U.S. as elsewhere in the world. Hostess obviously used sugar big time.

The sugar law is a form of corporate welfare. Similar to the subsidy paid oil companies. The sugar lobby in Washington is strong. They make sure the tariff program continues. There is more to this story.

A secession follow up. This whole thing is a joke. For real. Not real.

Took a walk back in history with Enrico Caruso, Casablanca, war time rationing, and Doug Flutie’s Hail Mary pass.

Three interesting stories where today’s cell phone was instrumental in catching wrongdoers.

The aforementioned are some of the topics discussed. I will share more with you tomorrow.

Needed a gas fill up yesterday. Stopped at the Citgo station on the boulevard. The boulevard of construction. I chatted with the woman running the place. I noticed there was a sign saying free coffee. I asked why. She told me business was down 60 per cent and they were trying to induce business. She further told me that the nearby MacDonald’s was down 61 per cent and was considering closing.

I find the MacDonald thing hard to believe. The Key West MacDonald’s is one the highest volume MacDonald’s in Florida. I hope the lady was wrong.

The boulevard construction is a rip off. Two years to complete. I can understand why. Very few people working the job. Some days no one. The highest number I have counted for one day is 7. I drive past the site at least two times a day.

Tomorrow the bird! I am excited. I was excited as a kid and continue to be excited as an adult. I love holidays!

I suspect the reason holidays excited me back when was because my family was of modest means. Not on holidays, however. The table was full of goodies!

Enjoy your day!