CHICKENS OF KEY WEST…..THE STORY

Good morning world!

I feel great this morning. Slept well. The best in ten days. Even my back feels good. I suspect that is why I slept better and am vitalized this morning.

I am into my 26th year of Key West. First as a tourist. Then as a regular vacationer. Then as a home owner. And now for eight years as a full time resident. In all that time, I have been under the impression that the chickens roaming the streets were the result of a City Commission folly.

As the story was told to me early on, the City fathers imported a number of chickens to add to the local color. The politicians did not realize that chickens are sensuous beings and propagate. I think the gestation period is 28 days. Soon the chicken population was and continues to be out of control.

A new story has come to my attention as to the source of the chickens. This one has to do with Cuban immigration. In  the 1950s, many Cubans escaped Castro’s revolution. They came to Key West to work in the booming cigar industry.

They brought with them chickens. For meat and eggs. And for cockfighting.

Over time, many of the chickens escaped or were released. The supermarkets became larger. It was cheaper and easier to buy chicken and eggs at the market.

Chickens have no known predators in Key West. Now generations later, they still roam Key West streets. Running freely here and there.

More Beatles lore.

This morning’s Key West Citizen, in its Florida Keys History section, reported that during and following the Beatles visit at the Key Wester Motel, people wanted to buy anything the Beatles had touched or used. Including the pool water they swam in.

Did my blog talk radio show last night. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Most of the show involved income inequality. Seems to have been well received based on the post show comments.

Some of the facts exposed included net worth. Since 2007, the average net worth of most Americans has dropped 43 percent.

There was another time when Americans were faced with a 1 percent / 99 percent situation. In 1928, one year before the Great Depression.

Another interesting tidbit involved a babysitter’s pay. A babysitter’s average hourly nationally is almost twice the national minimum wage. More than that in Key West from what Lisa tells me. She pays $20 an hour for a babysitter.

KONK Life hits the stands at 5 this afternoon. I have an extended article in this week’s publication titled Income Inequality. Take the time to read it. You will the column interesting and revealing.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

BEATLES AND KEY WEST

There was a time…..Yes, the Beatles came to Key West…..By accident…..Not planned.

The year 1964. The Beatles were flying to Jacksonville to do a show. Hurricane Dora was on its way to Jacksonville, also. The Beatles plane was diverted to Key West.

The exact day, I am not certain. Today’s Key West Citizen suggests 9/9. I searched the internet a bit. I came up with 9/10 and 9/11 also. Some articles suggest the Beatles were here a couple of days. Others, merely overnight. One of the articles has them arriving around 3 in the morning.

I suspect the Beatles were in Key West more than 24 hours. They broke loose!

They were staying at was then the Key Wester Motel. Gone now, replaced by a Hyatt facility. The Beatles at some point found the Key Wester bar. They took their instruments and played and sang for hours. Word spread they were in town. Other musicians showed up after their work day ended and played with them.

The articles are consistent that the Beatles did a bit of drinking. They became inebriated. One of them is described as having made love to the toilet bowl. Something most of us have experienced on one occasion or another.

Whatever, the Beatles enjoyed Key West. The locals enjoyed the Beatles.

It was fortunate their plane bypassed Jacksonville. Dora hit Jacksonville hard. Five dead and over $2 million in damage.

I have not mentioned JJ in ages. A friend. Formerly a bartender at the Chart Room. JJ now bartends at the Galleon. JJ’s wife’s picture is in the Key West Citizen today. Ann Jonas. She is Citizen of the Day. The brief article mentions that she and JJ will be celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary this week. Congratulations! I only met Ann once. JJ obviously many times. He always spoke of Ann as if he were deeply in love. Obviously he was and is.

Turtles in the news again. Sharks, also. Our friends and foes in the sea.

There was a recent newspaper article concerning the two. A world wide study was completed. Apparently man has been killing off too many sharks. Sharks kill turtles. With fewer sharks, the turtle population has over grown.

Turtles eat seagrass. Sharks do not. Little fish live and eat in and off the seagrass. In some areas such as Bermuda, the seagrass is down to nothing. The turtles responsible. Scientists are trying to figure out a way to diminish the turtle population.

It does not appear there is a similar problem in Key West. Our seagrass is in full bloom. Our ocean conservation people are interested in protecting both sharks and turtles. We even have a Turtle Hospital in Marathon.

Since the study was world wide, does it have any validity as regards Key West and the rest of the Keys? I don’t know. Perhaps. I am sure some of our ocean people will be playing close attention to the situation over the next several years. In the meantime, there is no plan to kill a portion of the turtle population. I hope there never is.

Scotland votes soon re independence. The people will vote. They want to disconnect from the United Kingdom/England.

The southern states wanted to and did the same thing in the U.S. back in 1860-1. State legislatures voted to secede. Lincoln stood up to them. The Civil War occurred. You know the rest.

Re Scotland, the people are voting as opposed to their elected representatives. Does it make a difference? Will the Queen and Parliament stand by and permit the secession? It seems like everyone is waiting for the vote to take place before taking a public position on the issue.

My back problem has returned, though not as bad.

Because of my back, I have been late with certain of my writings. I did not do my KONK Life column which publishes tomorrow till Sunday. The article is titled Income Inequality.

My blog talk radio show is this evening. I did not get to preparation till yesterday. Spent all day working on tonight’s show. A significant portion will concern income inequality. The reason is there are so many interesting sidelights to the issue. Some pieces of information most of us might not have known.

Join me this evening. I guarantee you will enjoy the show. Nine my time. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou.  www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Enjoy your day!

A MIXTURE

There is much I wish to share this morning. Ergo, the title A Mixture.

My back! No better. In fact, worse. It started up again yesterday morning. I am taking pills. Gone to a heating pad. Last night, I said screw it! I had been in for several days. I decided to go out and have a few gins. I figured gin would take care of the pain.

After the first two at Don’s Place, the pain was gone. I had one or two more to make sure. Then to Tavern ‘n  Town for dinner. And a couple more medicinal gins. I know. Too much. Especially when driving.

Whatever, I was painless till two this morning. I woke with big time pain. Lower back around to the front. Down the side of my left leg to the knee. My hip was especially sore.

I was not going to drink in the middle of the night. Popped some Motron and got out the heating pad. The heating pad is almost instantaneous relief. However when the pad is turned off, the pain returns equally as fast.

I continue to hurt this morning. I have the heating pad propped between my lower back and the chair. Great! However, I can only take so much. I am beginning to cook my back end!

Don’s Place was not my first stop. It was Bottle Cap. ML is running for Fantasy Feat Queen. I support her. I had not attended one of her fund raising events yet. I decided to do so last night. At Bottle Cap.

There was a fund raiser. Not for ML, however. The Shriners were having a party. I knew no one. Smiled, said hello, and left without even having a drink.

Then to Don’s Place. Two fast pain relievers as previously indicated. Sat with Joanie, Jimmy and John. Stayed quite a while enjoying their company. Michael was bartending.

Football season has arrived. Much of the bar talk concerned football. With a little bocce thrown in. John had picked 12 out of 14 college winners last week. He asked my thoughts for this week. I told him with a 12 out of 14 record, you need no help from me!

Don fixed the air conditioning in the bar. What a relief! Thank you, Donald!

Tavern ‘n Town was quiet. Very few people. I was glad. Last month it was packed every time I went. I sat a the bar, spread out the newspapers and had some more pain killing medicine.

Mike Emerson was entertaining. Great music! I was humming to myself as he was playing. Manager Judy there. She did double duty last night. Played bartender and then returned to the floor as manager. She changes her clothes in between.

I never went out on the back deck this week. I should have. When I stepped outside yesterday, the pool was only about one third full. A leak! The man who fixes pool leaks came. He has been doing it for thirty years. He wears the black diving suit which also keeps him warm. Uses air tanks. The leak was in the deep end and he had to go underwater.

I am refilling the pool now. I am going to have a hell of a water bill this month!

There is a new U.S. Navy vessel in Key West for the weekend. It is the USS Winston S. Churchill. A guided missile destroyer. Over 200 sailors aboard. All will be on liberty in Key West. Enjoy, guys!

I read a front page article in the Key West Citizen this morning that disturbs me. Apparently birds nest in rooftops of commercial buildings in Key West. Probably all over the United States. Probably all over the world.

The law is that if a roof is under repair and a nest is discovered, construction must stop. Most of the birds are a protected species. A mid keys biologist wants Key West to adopt an ordinance requiring the contractor to check first before construction begins.

An example of over government. I was an environmental attorney. Protect water and air. I had no problem with that. However when it came to protecting some species of small animal, fish or vermin, I drew the line. As protection of this nature generally increases the cost of doing business dramatically, I was opposed. Everything in life should be a balance.

Back to Ferguson, Missouri for a moment. I listened to Attorney General Holder’s report to the nation this week. I was not impressed. His office  is examining the situation and the Ferguson police department in general for civil rights violations. There needs to be a federal investigation of the shooting itself. I do not trust the local authorities. On the other hand, I am not sure the federal government has jurisdiction to investigate the shooting as an isolated incident.

The US Post Office announced it is making price cuts. Significant ones. Hopefully to increase business. Fed Ex and UPS are upset. I use Fed Ex. However the price of doing business with them has risen to the point that it is burdensome. US postal authorities have come up with a good idea. A pleasure to see the price of a service/commodity go down instead of up.

I spent more time yesterday researching income inequality. Sounds boring. Not. I am excited and cannot wait to share with you what I have discovered in next week’s KONK Life column.

I said at the beginning this blog would be a mixture. It is. It is also longer than usual. For which I apologize.

Enjoy your day!