I GET MY FIRST SOCIAL SECURITY CHECK TOMORROW

I have heard the term southern hospitality my whole life. It is true! This past week proof.

Jean and Joe the most hospitable without question. Opened their home, refrigerator, etc. to us. Jean just took my dirty clothes and threw them in the washer.

They can never be repaid. Nor do they expect it. They will be remembered, however.

Then there are Jean’s neighbors. Three full dinner meals prepared. Desserts and breakfast food. Even a few bottles of booze and wine.

All because they were friends of Jean and Joe and felt sorry for us.

Last night’s benefactor was Cindy. A cheerful woman. Widowed some 40 years. Prepared Greek chicken and accompanying dishes. Outstanding!

Cindy a die hard Democrat. Hard to find in this Republican state. Very outspoken in her opposition to Trump and Republicans. Loved her!

Cindy was all excited. She told us that tomorrow (today) she would receive her first Social Security check. An event! I recall when I received my first. A return on something you paid for and had to wait a long time to receive.

We ran out of wine at dinner. Eight bottles.

This hurricane evacuation thing is emotional. Very much so. All of us are just coming down. The knowledge Irma did not hit Key West as hard as expected, the knowledge that our homes sustained little damage helps.

Peter Petro called me last night. We now have cell phone service. He is the realtor who takes care of my home. I lost 3 trees. Two in front and one in the back. A dented rain gutter. No water damage. House stinks because I left food in the freezer and refrigerator.

Talked with Anna this morning. The roads in Key West itself are open. She is going to the house today to clean out the freezer and refrigerator.

Spoke with Lisa last night. Still in Jupiter. Their home looks ok. From the air. Roof still on.

The family’s first report was from two of Ally’s girl friends. Note Ally and the girl friends are in the seventh grade and 12 years old. The two young ladies walked over to Ally’s house, checked things out and reported to Ally everything looked ok.

There is humor in tragedy.

Mark Watson reported on Facebook this morning that “I got to sleep butt ass naked in a/c…..I lived like a free man!”

Key West has a For Sale column that runs daily on Facebook. free. Someone from Ramrod Key advertised yesterday…..House for sale free. A picture accompanied the ad. The home totally destroyed. Flat on the ground.

Tragedy without humor, also.

Carol Schreck lives on a 53′ Defever trawler docked at the Key West Yacht Club. The vessel sunk in its slip. Even though Carol and friends securely tied it to posts, etc.

Carol had planned to stay. Her boat strong and properly secured. Fortunate she did not.

The boat began jumping around when Irma hit. A few men from the Yacht Club jumped in the water to further secure it. Could not. The water too rough. Dangerous. Had to get out.

The Garrison Bight Pier is roughly a quarter a mile away across the inlet. Carole’s trawler has large pieces of concrete jetty material attached or in the trawler which it is assumed came from the Garrison Bight job.

Hers was the only boat to sink at the Yacht Club.

I have a negative comment to retract.

I mentioned a few days ago that people were lighting candles at the St. Mary of the Sea outdoor Grotto. Tradition tells us praying and lighting candles at the Grotto will prevent significant storm damage to Key West.

Many prayed once again. I questioned and doubted.

I have read several reports today where persons attribute the lack of bad damage to Key West to the candle lighting and praying.

Maybe it works. Real devastation was only 15 and 25 miles away in Cudjoe and Big Pine

I plan on visiting the Grotto, lighting a candle and saying a prayer of thanks when I return.

I suspect I will not be leaving till monday. Perhaps later.

Power presently limited to 16 percent of Key West. Water limited to 4 hours a day. Must be boiled. Medical services available on a very limited basis at the Community College. Hospital still closed. Search and rescue on Cudjoe Key and Big Pine still ongoing. Only food is that government is bringing in. Stores still closed. a few gas stations open. Curfew dusk to dawn continues. Call service spotty. AT&T and Verizon up and running.

Perhaps the worst problem from a practical perspective is the stink. Got a call this morning. Told don’t hurry home. Key West stinks! Seaweed, fish, garbage and trash all over. Waste Management not able to clean yet.

Cathy Hakola wrote me yesterday. Facebook, I believe. Told an interesting story. I cannot find it this morning to recite in detail and correctness as received.

Her story has to do with ghosts. Key West has several ghost stories. Most probably false. I suspect a couple true.

One of the true ones involves the Gato House which once was a hospital. Now an apartment house.

Cathy a nurse. A nurse who also rented an apartment in the Gato House after the hospital closed.

History tells us the hospital was run by a very dedicated nurse. Well respected by all.

The claim is her ghost still resides in the Gato House.

Cathy was sick. She woke in the middle of the night to discover someone holding her hand and rubbing her arm. A woman. The ghost.

This went on for several minutes. Cathy says she was not afraid. Found the episode comforting. Woke the next morning much better.

Enjoy your day!

NOT AN ORDINARY DAY

I spent all of my yesterday into the early evening completing research and writing this week’s KONK Life column. Did not finish till 7 in the evening. Unusual to have taken so long.

It was the subject matter. The plight of the Afro-American in today’s society. Not boring. I approached the problem from a different perspective. I specifically addressed three situations. World War I’s Gene Bullard, World War II’s  Josephine Baker, and the recent Charleston killings.

I have discovered over the years that the writing of an article in the first instance does not take much effort. Once research is completed, the first draft goes quickly. It is the rewrites that take time. The devil is in the details.

I generally do three rewrites. To me, it is polishing the material. Words and phrases corrected/changed. Much like apples when sold in years gone by. They were purchased dirty at the fruit counter. Today, they come to us polished. Then, needed some buffing.

Writing involves a lot of buffing.

The unusual amount of time yesterday kept me from Father’s Day dinner with Lisa and the family. Dinner was set for six. I telephoned Lisa at 5:30 to tell her I needed at least another hour and a half to complete my column. It was already several hours late to the publisher. I told her the earliest I could make it was 8. I still had to shower.

Lisa said the meal was ready. It would be cold by the time I arrived. She said she would feed the family and save some food for me. I knew I would be exhausted by 8. I said…..Love you…..will not be stopping by. She understood.

My ankles came into the picture. I sat at the desk all day. By 7, they were swollen. Water filled. As if I had been on a long flight to Europe. It was water pill time when I went to bed. This morning, normal ankles. Helped by three nocturnal bathroom visits.

Caught the end of the U.S. Open. The last three holes some of the most exciting golf ever.

There was a house fire on Ramrod Key yesterday. Ramrod is two keys above me. All of 2 miles.

A mother and her two youngest died. Sad!

Fire fighting is a bit different in the Keys. There are few fire hydrants. The reason simple. The Keys are at water level. Ocean water sometimes 6-12 inches below ground level. Difficult to lay pipes.

There are a few fire hydrants near U.S. 1. The one for Key Haven is almost a mile from my home.

Fire fighters draw water from the ocean to fight fires. They have it down to a science. Works effectively. Hoses are dropped in the water and sucked into the hoses. Most homes have water available to them. Either from being on the ocean or on a canal.

Another police brutality situation the past few days. Owasso, Oklahoma. Involved a police officer from the Nowata Police Department. Shotgun butting of the person to be arrested while in his truck. After he had been tasered. Then again six blows to the head while the tased man was on his stomach on the ground.

All recorded on a camera. Interestingly, a camera set in the back window of one of the police cars.

The officer has been suspended.

Have to move! Anti-gravity treadmill later this morning.

Enjoy your day!