A PLEASANT YESTERDAY

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Before getting into yesterday, let me tell you about today. This morning to be specific. It is absolutely beautiful outside! Calm everywhere. No breeze. The water a mirror. A blue and white sky. The MTV house across the way radiating.

If today ended at this moment, it would have been a perfect day.

My yesterday was easy going all day. Just flowed along from one pleasant experience to another.

Lunch at Roostica. With the grandkids. I was babysitting. I have to find a new word. Babysitting does not seem to fit any more. Robert and Ally are big. Ten and 9 respectively. They act like adults.

We decided to order two things and share. A meatball sub and four cheese pizza. We agreed the sub was outstanding. None of us were completely pleased with the pizza. One of the cheeses was gorgonzola. I enjoy gorgonzola on a salad. But heated and melted on top a pizza, too rich!

We tried to figure out what the cheese was that was adversely affecting the pizza. Robert came up with the gorgonzola

The grandkids wanted to make their own pizzas. Unfortunately, there was no room at the bar. Four other kids were seated making theirs. We agreed, another time.

Took a three hour nap in the afternoon.

Started my friday evening at Don’s Place. Always a good crowd fridays. Chatted at length with David. Hellos exchanged with Don, Hershel, Erika, Toni, and others.

Decided to grab the newspapers and have a quiet dinner at Tavern ‘n Town.

As I walked through the lobby of the Marriott Beachside, I ran into two of the nicest people in Key West. Mike and Tina. Love them both. Tina more. They had just finished dinner with friends.

The room was relatively quiet. I sat at the corner of the bar. A few locals nodded hello.

On the way into Tavern ‘n Town, I picked up a copies of this week’s KONK Life and yesterday’s Wall Street Journal. My reading material while eating.

Mike Emerson was playing the guitar and singing. I enjoy his work and him personally. He was playing Cole Porter’s Night and Day. A few days ago, I researched Cole Porter for one of my writings. The music was nostalgic. Not because I researched it. Because it brought to mind Cary Grant and Kevin Kline, both of whom played Cole Porter in separate movies. I preferred the Cary Grant one.

Harmony and Andrew were working the bar. Harmony took care of me so I did not have a chance to chat with Andrew. Perhaps next time.

I read my column in KONK Life each week to make sure there are no printing errors, phrases left out, etc. This week’s column involved the almost 50,000 children who made their way into Texas from Mexico. No mistakes present. A good column. Read it, if you have not.

Early on in this week’s edition, KONK Life had a questionnaire for two candidates for the school board. The first question asked of each was…..How old are you? One was 67 and the other 70.

I will be 79 in two weeks.

I thought how amazing it is that people our age are still out there functioning and doing things. When they say 70 is really 60, I think it might be 50. When I was must younger, I viewed the 60s and 70s as old disabled folk. Not necessarily so today.

KONK Life was followed by the Wall Street Journal. I rarely read the Journal. Too conservatively slanted from my perspective. I was glad I did last night. There was an Opinion article by Rand Paul. Not only do I generally disagree with the Journal, I also generally disagree with Rand Paul. Too far to the right.

The article was titled America Should Not Choose Sides In Iraqi’s Civil War. His thrust was that the United States should stay out unless there was a clearly defined objective and reasonable support from the American people. I totally agreed with what Rand wrote. A rarity. However when a person is right, his position cannot be disputed.

Another article in the Journal involved bocce. Bocce’s popularity is spreading. The Journal reported upscale new apartment buildings in New York City, Cambridge and San Francisco have bocce courts in addition to fire pits, swimming pools, and fitness centers. My Italian relatives of old would be both surprised and pleased.

Today should be fun. I have a pool party to go to this afternoon. I can’t wait. I look beautiful in a bathing suit! A joke, of course.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

MIKE AND DON

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What could be better! An evening with Mike and Don. Drinks with Mike at the Chart Room. Dinner with Don at Hot Tin Roof.

I stopped into the Chart Room first last night. Mike of Mike and Tina fame was seated at the bar. A friend. He and Tina are starting to feel like family. We had an enjoyable time talking about everything. Everything includes parts of our Italian ancestry. Tina included in the stories. She is of Italian extraction, also.

I like Tina more than Mike. Who would not! The lovely lady is in Washington working on a special project. She returns to Key West tonight or tomorrow for the weekend. Then back to Washington.

Mike’s friend Nick Pontecorvo arrived. Mike is a pilot and co-owner of Key West Seaplanes. A cool job! Flies seaplanes all over Florida and occasionally into Georgia. His company has 4 seaplanes going soon to 5.

Nick occasionally pilots a party on a seaplane to Little Palm Island for lunch or dinner. What a way to travel to one of the world’s most exotic places!

After the Chart Room, I stopped in Don’s Place. Don was at the bar with John. Don and I chatted a while. Don said he was hungry and wanted to eat. Unusual for Don. He never eats!

I took him over to Hot Tin Roof. Don was the usual cheap date. A couple of drinks, a shrimp appetizer, and he was full.

Don is one of the best people in Key West. Friend to all. I am pleased to know him.

I spent the afternoon writing next week’s KONK Life COMMENTARY column. Titled it: Obama and Putin. An interesting piece.

Bocce tonight. Always a fun time. Hope we win.

This morning’s Key West Citizen has a front page picture of Stan Ellsworth. Stan is the host/star of the television show American Ride. He’s the guy who rides the Harley. Stan was in Key West yesterday filming his show at the Hemingway House.

Enjoy your day!

THE BEST OF YESTERDAY…..MIKE AND TINA

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The best part of my yesterday was dinner last night with Mike and Tina. Key West friends I have not seen in several months. We had dinner at Deuces Off The Hook Grill.

Mike and Tina are world travelers. They fly worldwide doing business for their clients. They related to me a recent family trip to Italy. Tina was born in Italy. They went back to visit her Mom. Mike took his parents along. A good time was had by all! They did some traveling. Visited Switzerland. They were away a whole month.

Tina told an interesting story. They were somewhere in Italy and there was a traffic screw up. The Italians were blaming the Americans….They did not know how to drive. The mob was unaware Tina was born Italian and understood the language. She got out of the car and ripped them new butt holes.

An ugly american? I think not.

I was hurt. They have not ordered my book The World Upside Down. I hope they will now. Speaking of buying the book, Billy Schott wrote that he and Cindy received their copy from amazon.com yesterday.

On the way home, I stopped at Don’s Place. Good company. Stan, Clara, Hershel, Erika, and Stan and Hershel’s sister who has just moved to Key West.

I spent most of my day at the computer. Researching further the farm bill. I will be writing the KONK Life column later this morning. Read the article! It is revealing! You will be shocked at who eats off the law.

Tonight, tonight…..Syracuse basketball. At 6, Syracuse plays Clemson. Syracuse is undefeated, Clemson has lost 6 games. I will be watching the game at Lukas’ Sports Pub. Syracuse fans join me!

I worry about every game at this point. Someone is going to beat Syracuse. Could be any team on the right night.

Enjoy your Sunday!

A FIRST COMMUNION LUNCHEON

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A terrific lunch yesterday!

Anna has been my housekeeper for 8 years. A Polish immigrant, now a proud citizen. Her daughter Julia was making her First Communion. Anna invited me to the celebration following Church.

The luncheon was at Sole’s. Anna’s husband is a chef there.

What a meal!

Perogies, lobster tails, lamb chops, egg plant in oil, and on and on. Fantastic! I made a pig of myself on the lamb chops.

Little Julia was lovely. Anna was lovely. First time I have seen Anna dress dressed.

Anna’s mother and sister flew in from Poland for the event. The mother I knew from the times she has visited in the past. The sister was new to me. Very attractive. Unfortunately, English not spoken by either.

Then to Lisa’s. As soon as I walked in the front door, I knew something was wrong. Robert and Ally were seated on small chairs at the coffee table. Busily doing home work. Never raised their heads to acknowledge me.

They had been bad. They were being punished.

Lisa said they were behind in their homework and had not helped to clean up the house mess they had made. Whatever Lisa said must have been forceful. I have never seen Robert and Ally so cowed.

There was a benefit to me. Jake had no one to play with. He was stuck with me. Yesterday, we were friends. I hope he remembers the next time I visit.

I watched the Kentucky Derby at Don’s Place. A great race. Orb looked terrific in coming from behind in the mud to win.

Joanie was sitting next to me at the bar. We had all bought into a pool. There was a $10 one and a $5 one. Joanie bought one of each. You pulled your horse blind out of a glass. Joanie got Orb each time. She was moaning and groaning……How can I win?

She won $300! God bless!

I was down for some reason last night. Intended to go directly home from Don’s Place. At the last minute, I changed my mind and headed over to the Chart Room.The race crowd was still there.

Spent some time chatting with Sheila.

Then Mike and Tina came in. Two of the grandest people! Worldly. They are frequent travelers. All over the globe!

I had not seen them in well over a year.

Good people! I am especially enamoured with Tina.

Mike and Tina own a home in Key West. On the street across from the cemetery. Should be dead at night. Not recently, Mike told me. Too many tourists partying till late in the morning.

Tina and I talked quite a while. About everything.

By the time I left the Chart Room, I felt good. Actually, terrific! My spirits were up. I give Tina the credit.

Mike and Tina were with some neighbors from the cemetery street. Don and Sue. Wisconsin people. Snowbirds. Don was or still is in the food business. Sue in marketing research. I spoke with Don a while. Sue got lost in the crowd.

JJ was bartending. JJ was a celebrity yesterday. His picture and a brief bio were in the Key West Citizen. JJ was Person of the Day.

The Audubon House was pictured in the Key West Citizen also yesterday. Obviously named after John James Audubon. I have always wondered why the Audubon house is named after Audubon.

Audubon lived the home roughly one month back in 1832. That’s all! He painted birds and plants from the house’s backyard. He also painted them from other areas in Key West and the Tortugas. Some ended up in his famous compilation The Birds of America.

Someone must have decided to name the house after Audubon to make it a tourist attraction. It is. However, a local’s also. The grounds are lovely. Many the party I have attended on those grounds. The interior is a bit spartan. Many antiques. Not enough. Worthy of a visit.

May 5 is Cinco de Mayo. I never heard the term till this past week. There are reminders all over Key West that Cinco de Mayo is to be celebrated today.

Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for fifth of May) is a holiday held on May 5 that commemorates the Mexican army’s victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 12, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin.

So what!

I am confused. Not only have I never heard of the holiday in the 25 years I have been frequenting Key West, there is not a sizable Mexican community living here. There are many of Spanish origin and descent. Few of Mexican.

If the city fathers came up with Cinco de Mayo as another Key West holiday to be celebrated, they are crazy! We have so many holidays now that they are overlap each other.

The last item I want to talk about this morning is peanut butter.

I love peanut butter! Not on bread, not with jelly. Directly out of the jar on a tablespoon 2-3 times a day. I am a creature of habit. I have enjoyed Peter Pan creamy peanut butter for years. Yesterday, I discovered a new and better peanut butter! Sorry, Peter Pan.

Jif creamy! Smoother in texture and better taste. The only reason I bought it was Publix was having a sale.

The best parts of my day yesterday were chatting with Tina and discovering Jif peanut butter!

Enjoy your Sunday!