Good morning world!
Another beautiful Key West day to wake up to! Sunshine. A light breeze. Magnificent colors.
A single word to describe Key West mornings is the word beauty. I am a very visual person. What I see here each morning is a wonder to the eyes!
Which reminds me of a phrase involving beauty. One we are all familiar with. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”
From whence did it come? Its origin?
Some say old Greek writing. Others give credit to Shakespeare. Some say Benjamin Franklin.
Actually, the responsible party is an Irish authoress by the name of Margaret Wolfe Hungerford. A mouthful!
Margaret was born in Ireland. Some time in the mid 1800s. Her father was a minister.
Margaret was college educated. Very unusual for a woman at the time.
She wrote successfully in Ireland. Her second book made her. She became a popular writer with it. The book was written in 1878 and titled Molly Brown. It was in Molly Brown that Hungerford wrote the famous line…..beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Thereafter, Margaret wrote for the flourishing American market. It was the time of Irish immigration in the United States. She knew the people, their feeelings and aspirations. For some unknown reason, she did not write in the United Stats under the name Hungerford. Her writing name was The Duchess. She preferred to write anonymously.
Everything The Duchess wrote was swiftly purchased. Whether by way of novel or short story.
Returning to the beauty of Key West, the only thing that could destroy this beauty would be a hurricane.
We are into the hurricane sesason. Problems start popping up in August. September is the worst month.
So far, so good.
The weather reports tell us the fourth storm of this hurricane season has started off the coast of Africa. Most of the hurricanes coming this way start there. The presnt storm has just formed. It is moving swiftly. It is anticipated it will bend north before it reaches land here. Might brush Bermuda and then go out to sea.
We are all a bit anxious this time of the year. Understandably so.
I walked Duval around lunch time yesterday. Stopped into St. Paul’s Church on Duval. Joe Lowe plays either the organ or piano each day between noon and one. Sometimes classic, sometimes religious, sometimes Broadway tunes.
The Church is cool. The music relaxing. It is a good place to rest.
Yesterday was Broadway tune time! Big time! God and the Sound of Music, My Fair Lady and Oklahoma. Performed by organ. Beyond description.
I spent most of the afternoon into the early evening sitting outside by the pool with Terri. She spent most of the time sitting on the steps in the shallow end. Her body half in and half out of the water. Sipping on a cocktail. Smoking a cigarette. Working on her tan.
Terri is naturally black. Extremely so. However, she is not an African American. Rather part American Indian and part Brazilian.
We spoke much of the business aspect of Broadway. Terri is a Broadway star again. Her two recent successes have been Finian’s Rainbow and Chicago.
The business part of being a Broadway star is mind boggling. A maze! Yes, she has an agent. But even more is required. You have to constantly be aware, be on your guard. Terri feels fortunate that she now has Donna to look after this aspect of her career.
Terri is an artist. A musical actress can be thus described. She, too, is enthralled with the beauty of Key West. She constantly comments as she sits in my pool and on my deck of the wonderous beauty in every direction.
I am off to the doctor again this morning. Have to hustle.
Enjoy your day!
