THE MASTERS AT DON’S PLACE

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I was in a thoughtful mood yesterday. My thoughts had to do with my life and Key West.

I discovered and started visiting Key West 26 years ago. Bought my home here 16 years ago. Retired to live full time in Key West 8 years ago.

My life has changed. There has been a total transformation over the years. I no longer dress. It is hard to remember the last time I wore a suit and tie. I do wear long pants (khakis or jeans) about six times a year when it is cold. I rarely know the date or what day of the week it is. I always wear shorts. Crocs, sandals or sneaks depending on the occasion.

Everyone else who has spent a number of years in Key West is as I am. A wonderful world!

I referred to Don’s Place yesterday as the adult playpen of the world. It is typical of Key West. Key Westers enjoy playing games. Just as when they were kids.

Yesterday was the 1st Annual Don’s Place Masters. Seventeen of us played before a huge crowd. The bar was packed! We putted on the bar floor into plastic cups. Not easy. Don’s floor is three different stages of concrete. The undulations were amazing. You could not see them. However, they were there. It was like putting on the closest cut greens ever. A light touch of the ball took you ten feet passed the cup!

The plastic cup holes had miniature flags on them. Hershel served as warden. He had signs saying Quiet Please. The whole scene was like for real.

We played 14 holes. The course was laid out with 7 holes. That is all there was room for. We played the layout twice. I had the highest score. Consistent with my life long lack of physical dexterity. I also attribute it to my age. I was the oldest person playing. Keith won. The spread between his score and mine was a city block!

I have been a Mad Men fan since the show’s inception some ten years ago. Last night was the first show of the new season. I was disappointed. As I was with last season’s shows. The story line has become boring.

However, credit must be given to the accuracy time wise of the presentation. It was around 1970. The accountants were taking over businesses, penny pinchers who knew nothing about a particular business running them. The sex. Wow! Women’s  clothes and hair perfect for the time.

The show brought me back.

Do we understand? What has been going on in Europe can easily cross the Atlantic and happen here. I refer specifically to protests and demonstrations and neo-Nazism. A body of water is no protection from what has been and is occurring in Greece, Italy, France and England.

We have experienced a touch of it in recent days.

There is Charles Bundy in Nevada. Apparently a man of principle. He opposed federal intervention re his cattle raising. Of itself, nothing to get excited about. What did concern  me was the 1,000 armed people who came from all over the United States to defend Bundy against the government. Militia men. Dressed in military camouflage uniforms. All carrying a weapon. All prepared to shot if the government took steps they deemed improper.

You wonder why gun rights have become so important in the United States. There are a sizable number in our society who do not trust government. They are anti-government as government exists today. They arm themselves in preparation for the day the government turns, from their perception, on them.

It almost happened in Nevada this past week. It did not because the government backed off. Whether correct, I have no judgment.

Then there is the neo-Nazi movement. Thus far primarily visible in Europe. Yesterday, in the United States. A group of neo-Nazis killed three Jews at two different Jewish Centers in Kansas City.

Does Kansas City represent the beginning of overt anti-Semetism in this country? Perhaps.

None of this is healthy. I sometimes feel as a nation we are teetering on the edge of a cliff. We must pull back. I am not certain it is possible.

Enjoy your day!

FORD THEATER

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This is my last morning in Washington. I return to Key West today.

Though I began yesterday under the weather, by early afternoon I felt fine.

I took a walk. My hotel is within 2-3 blocks of most things. I ended up at the Ford Theater. The place where Abraham Lincoln was shot. The theater is now part of the National Park Service.

I did the tourist thing. I waited in line.

Upon entering, a sadness overcame me. I felt as if I was visiting a friend on view at a funeral parlor.

The theater was much larger than I had anticipated. It seats roughly 800. On the night of the shooting, it held 1,700. There was an upper area where those not financially well off could watch the play. Standing rom was $.25. Seats were $1 each. Box seats $6-$10 each.

Lincoln was seated in a box with his wife and friends. There was no Secret Service protection. It did not start till 1901. Lincoln did have one police officer guarding him. However, his function was to protect the President on his trip to and from the theater. Not while at the theater.

The villain John Wilkes Booth was friend of the theater owner John Ford. He was a familiar face at the theater. Booth was also known to the President. The relationship was described as friendly.

Booth shot the President. One bullet. It entered behind the left ear, traveled through Lincoln’s brain, and lodged behind his right eye.

Lincoln, still alive, was removed to a boarding house across the street. The Petersen House.

Lincoln was a tall man. Six feet four inches. The bed was not large enough. He had to be laid diagonally.

Lincoln wore a great coat to the theater that evening. A three quarter coat. He had purchased it at Brooks Brothers.

Lincoln died the next day, never having regained consciousness.

Someone besides Booth had to be punished. So thought the people who stood in the street between the Ford theater and Petersen House. They decided to tear down the brick theater building. Federal troops were called to protect the building.

I left the Ford Theater more knowledgeable and more sad.

The Petersen House still stands across the street. I could have toured the room Lincoln was taken to. I could have viewed the bed he rested on. It was not in me. I had had enough of Lincoln’s death.

I treated myself to lunch at the Willard House’s outdoor café. A beautiful setting. Sits on 14th Street, just around the corner from Pennsylvania Avenue. The weather was perfect. The huge trees a dark green shading the café. I had a leisurely lunch while enjoying the Washington Post.

Last night was Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. My blog talk radio show. I did the show from my hotel room. A first! I was excited. It worked.

Next week I leave for an extended European trip. Italy, Greece and France. I shall be able to broadcast the blog talk radio show from where ever I am. The shows should be terrific! I am excited.

Last night’s show was a travelogue of my Washington trip. At the beginning however, I felt compelled to comment on the surveillance news of the past few days. I refer to the government having access to our telephone call numbers and e mails, tweets, etc. A big brother scenario of a size never before attempted.

I view this overview as surveillance out of control. Protection against terrorism is important. There must be a balance, however. Our liberties must be protected at the same time. I believe…..To protect our freedom, we must safeguard our freedoms.

I will dwell on the issue further during my Friday tv/internet show, the Key West Lou Legal Hour.

Sunday or Monday night is the Chart Room anniversary party. Forty five years. I will be there!

Enjoy your day!