The sun is shining bright this morning in Key West. Nary a cloud in the sky. The temperature 59 degrees!
I am cold!
Today will go to 64. A heat wave!
Before my northern friends think I am crazy, please understand the following. When you live in a tropical climate all year long, your blood thins. When you enjoy the change of seasons as up north, your blood is thicker. Thinner blood means Key Westers feel the cold!
Key West is loaded with all kind of fun activities. This saturday night, the annual Lighted Boat Parade. Boats are decorated as people do the outside of their homes at Xmas time.
I have been on one of the boats several times. A fun event! It will be cold saturday night during the parade. Whatever the actual temperature is on land, it will be 20 degrees colder on the water. People will be wrapped in winter attire. Not a hard trip to experience, however. Drink and food available. Dancing on the larger boats. If you are with someone you like, a constant close embrace. Combined, these factors tend to warm.
I will miss the Boat Parade this year. The police have decided to have a traffic stop from 7 pm saturday to 2 am sunday. On US 1 and Cross Street. The only way home for me is up US 1 and across Cross Street. A gambler, I am not. I will play it safe and stay home. Perhaps have dinner at Roostica which is up from Cross Street.
Key Westers know how to play. I discovered there is a New Year’s Eve event I was not aware of. In its tenth consecutive year. It is called Dachshund Walk. Would you believe! People walk their dachshunds over a specific route. Dogs and owners playfully attired. The parade route is intentionally short to accommodate the participants’ short legs and long bodies.
There is a serious event of which I was unaware. A Homeless Persons Memorial Day. Roughly 50 homeless people died in Key West this year. A memorial service will be held at the Key West Cemetery on December 21. The remains of the 50 will be interred.
We are one human family.
Did my blog talk radio show last night. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Enjoyed doing it! I thought Pope Francis’ story re showers for the homeless in St. Peter’s Square interesting. The French not wanting anything to do with the new trade pact Obama is pushing because it would mean the introduction of GMOs into France revealing.
Then Greece. A last minute topic. Things were happening in Greece through radio time last night. Greece had riots in 6 major cities sunday. Not the orderly type. Police and protestors fighting. Tear gas smoke engulfing them. Yesterday, the Greek stock market faced its largest one day drop since 1987.
It is all tied into austerity. The Greeks borrowed too much from the European Union. They cannot pay it back. The Greek government has had Greece on an austerity program for several years to help pay the bill. Germany has been strangling Greece in its hard demands for repayment. Austerity has led to a loss of jobs. People cannot feed their families. Farmers cannot sell their produce because people do not have money to pay for them.
All this has led to a build up of the Greek Nazi party. Known as the Golden Dawn Party. They are anti-austerity and cater to the thinking of the suffering people. They are presently the third largest party in Greece.
Greece’s President yesterday announced he will be calling for new elections. There is no question in my mind that the Nazi party is a sure bet for a second place finish. Perhaps, a first. Their influence will be overwhelming.
I know Greece. I have written and talked about Greece the past three years. On my TV show, blog talk radio show, in my KONK columns. Even in my book published last year The World Upside Down. I suggested Greece was a tinderbox. I predicted if there was a third world war, it would not start in the Middle East. Greece was the place. Greeks hate Germans. The austerity Germany has imposed on them one reason. The abuse they were subjected to by the Germans during World War II another.
We live in dangerous times.
Tonight, dinner with Roger and Cheryl. We meet at the Chart Room for drinks and dinner later at the Hot Tin Roof.
I have hit 20 pounds lost on the diet. I am impressed. Only seven weeks.
Enjoy your day!
