Irene is now yesterday’s news.

However, its residual remains.

There are three parts to a hurricane. The anticipation, the hurricane itself and the aftermath. Each is disturbing in and of itself.

It will take time to remedy the ravishes of Irene.

I recall several years ago after a major hurricane hit Key West. Its name escapes me. I escaped the hurricane. I returned up north before it hit.

Yankee Jack stayed.

After the storm passed, I telephoned Yankee to see how he was. It took four days for him to get back to me. The telephone lines had been down. No power to charge cell phones.

What can I do to help, I asked. He said we need water and electric power.

Yankee lived in a large van at the time. The hurricane took the van. He was talking to me from his girl friend’s apartment. He said there was no electic power and no running water. It was hot as hell!

He and his girl friend had thrown a sheet over the couch. They were sitting naked on it. They were rubbing each other from the one bag of ice cubes provided that day from the back of a federal truck. Their water consisted of one gallon each per day. To drink, flush toilets and any other needed use.

The aftermath of a hurricane.

Yesterday was a good Sunday! A busy one for me.

I started with breakfast at the Waffle House. First time to the Waffle House. It sits in a motel to the left of US 1 as you enter Key West.

Aida wrote to me on Facebook yesterday. I met her several months ago. The only time I was ever in her company. Asked her to read my blog. This blog. Her Facebook message was that she had just found the blog. Some people can be slow.

I recalled that she worked at the Waffle House. So off I went for breakfast.

Aida I saw. We were happy to see each other. We will probably will do dinner some night this week. But, that is not the important part of the story.

It is the Waffle House! Was I impressed!

The place was jam packed. Not a seat to be had. And small it is not. Aida told me it is that way all day and even at dinner time.

I could understand why. The menu was cheap. I had two eggs, sausage, hash browns, wheat toast, coffee and a huge waffle for $6.99!

I stopped at Walgreen’s to pick up some prescription pills. They were not ready. So I went next door to the Home Depot to walk. Did a half hour. Then returned to Walgreen’s.

The three presecription  pills cost me $199. Wow! I am into the donut of my drug coverage. How do people do it? With some, it has to be a choice of medicine or food. An absolute disgrace!

Then to Lisa’s.

Robert has been reading one of the Harry Potter books. It has to be 700 pages long. He is only seven. He reads one page per day. Even takes the book to school. The teacher permits him to read the one page to the class.

I asked Robert to read to me from Harry Potter. He looked me in the eye and said, “I’m not reading today.”

I can’t win.

Lisa and Ally were on the floor playing Scrabble.

It was Publix next. I was out of food again.

The worst time to shop at Publix is Sunday afternoon. Everyone shops Sunday afternoon!

The only thing that makes Sunday grocery shopping a pleasurable event is that I run into many friends. And occasionally make a new one.

Last night was dinner at the bar at La Trattoria with the lovely Jean Thornton. Great company!

We drank and talked a while before eating. Afterwards, we headed over to Vino’s. It was a bottle of water for Jean and a diet Pepsi for me.

Vino’s is beautiful! Earthy and tropical at the same time. Elegant, also. And the absolutely best bathroom in Key West! It is worth the visit to Vino’s just to see and, if needed,  use the bathroom.

Enjoy your day!

It is all Irene!

I get hooked on these things. I slept very little last night. I was watching the storm as it progressed. Stupid, I know. But my nature.

I sent a text to Donna and Terri in New York City yesterday. R u ok? Donna telephoned me. All was well, she said.

Donna and Terri live in the upper east side. Good. Unless the East River overflows, there should not be a problem. They live in a first floor apartment. Bad. If the East River does overflow, they and their possessions will be saturated.

Donna said they had taped all the windows as a precaution. It helps to prevent the glass from blowing in.

Donna lived in  Key West for many years. She is an experienced hurricane person. I do not believe Terri has been exposed to one yet.

I asked Donna if the tub was full of water. It is needed to flush toilets. And to drink if one runs out of bottled water. Donna said the tub was empty. She and Terri only shower. Never soak in the tub.  Yesterday was the first time they ever turned the tub on. It was broke. No water. And no one to call at the last minute to fix it.

Donna said they hustled back to the store and were able to buy extra gallons of water. They had already purchased flashlights, larger battery operated lights and some sort of battery operated radio to receive outside news in the event the electericity shut down. Oh, and candles too.

The theater is closed. Broadway is dark.  Terri will not be singing for at least two days.

Be safe, my friends!

I love watching the newscasters reporting. They are all in a beach area. Nothing is really visible but some water, wind and maybe a bit of ocean. As the hurricane hits the areas where the broadcasters are situated, I admire their courage in standing there half bent over and getting beat up by the rain. My fear is that some day one of them is going to be blown away never to be found. That would really be news!

It seems the broadcasters at the scenes never sleep. They never change. Each was with me all night.

Generally, the pictures of damage shown are not revealing. How can pictures be taken in the dark? The videos which people take after the storm has passed and send into the TV stations are excellent. Post storm pics, the damage, if any, is evident.

There is something called expectation. We in Key West have learned from experience that the national media tend to over dramartize a hurricane. What they preach will occur, genrally does not. The storm is not as strong or damaging as first thought and reported. Ergo as the night went by, it seemed reporters were straining to report the event. Irene was not cooperating.

This is not to mean that Irene is not a bad one! It will be recorded as a hurricane that caused much disruption and did much damage. But, I suspect no where near what had been anticipated. Which is good!

I could be wrong in my observation. Tonight and tomorrow will show the actual damage incurred.

The wind intensity with Irene is not the major problem. Water level is. Surge is the word. The increased water level which rushes over land in varying heights. A danger to person and property.

Key West experienced a 6.5 foot surge after Wilma. Lisa’s home as well as many others were water soaked and ruined big time. Within 48 hours of the surge, streets were lined with water
soaked furniture and walls which had been ripped out. As far as the eye could see. A sight to rip out the viewer’s heart, also.  With the heat being what it is in the keys, mold is the danger. It must be removed/thorn out before it has an opportunity to take hold and destroy an entire structure.

The first floor walls in Lisa’s home had to be immediately ripped out to a height of 6.5 feet. Easy to know how much to tear out. The water leaves a line on the wall.

Fortunately, Key West missed the horror of Irene. It was not our turn to dance. We haved danced too many times in the past. This hurricane sought new partners.

The glorious Key West weather yesterday gave me an opportunity to visit the coffee house on Caroline and read the newspapers. My usual coffee house on Duval is closed for a week. Afterwards, I took a thirty minute wall in Home Depot. Lisa and family arrived later in the afternoon to swim.

I spent the evening in alone glued to the TV set.

I will be out tonight. Jean Thornton and I are having dinner at La Trattoria with Kathy.

Enjoy your Sunday!

The most talked about woman in the U.S. today is Irene! On all the TV channels. Part of everyone’s conversation.

North Carolina did not do too bad so far. Wind and rain. Little property damage. No lost lives reported.

Key Westers have learned that the real problem in some instances comes after the wind and rain has passed. The water surge! Sort of a tsunami.

A few years back Wilma hit Key West. I recall Larry Smith telling me that he and Christine were sitting in their living room and saying in effect…..We missed another one! The french doors to their back yard and pool were open. All of a sudden the water came trickling in. Then more and more.

Wilma produced a surge off the ocean several hours after the hurricane actually had passed. Measured 6.5 feet. Larry and Christine’s home suffered serious damage. So, too, did my daughter Lisa’s home. Six and a half feet of water also. They had just moved in three months before after completing a major and expensive renovation. It would be a year before Lisa and her family could live in the house again.

TV keeps warning of post hurricane surges. Such could be the worst part of Irene.

Let me share with you some of the more prominent off the wall comments regarding Irene and the recent earthquake in the northeast.

Pat Robertson, the world famouus evangelist and host of the religious 700 Club on TV, referred to the earthquake this past week as God’s revenge on gay people. It was a warning. The worst was yet to come unless society straightened themselves out on the issue.

Then there is that governmental official of recent prominence. A man who is getting his fifteen minutes of fame. Eric Cantor. Cantor is Majority Leader of the House of Representatives. The congessional district from which he is elected is in Virginia.

Following  the earthquake (which did some damage in his district) and as a precursor to Irene which was projected to pass over Virginia, Cantor made a public statement to the effect that there was money in Washington to cover such disasters. He would make sure his constituents received what they were entitled to.

An openly generous statement from one of our political leaders who wants to destroy or minimize Medicare and Social Security, who refuses to tax the rich more than they are presently taxed,  and who lead the tea party fight in the recent debt ceiling debacle. But these were his people in Virgina. He was responding to their needs in typical political fashion. His principles out the window.

They were not. Several hours later, Cantor’s office issued a statement that any emergency relief would of course require a reduction to the national debt in equal amount. An impossible dilemma. Emergencies require immediate assistance. Cost is not of concern. Debt reduction requires Congressional action. That comes later. Imagine the Congressional debate on the issue of debt reduction on an emergency spending issue.

The guy’s a creep.

Glenn Beck is back in the news. He has been in Israel speaking this past week. I find this unusual in itself since when he was on FOX he appeared to be anti-semetic. Beck said on his radio show yesterday that Irene was a blessing. It would teach people to be prepared for disasters. That Irene would prove a valuable lesson for those who have not heeded his warnings.

His warnings ???

Beck is off the wall. He has some sort of Messianic complex. I think he thinks he sits at the right hand of God.

The best, and probably most accurate comment, was made by Gweko Wild Phlocker on Facebook this morning. I do not know Phlocker, though we are Facebook friends. He is probably one of the people like you and me.

Phlocker said in effect that in spite of those against a public work stimulus to create jobs, that Irene might very well accomplish such a result. Irene would require huge public works to correct the damage done. Such would in and of itself create jobs.

Irene, to significant damage, to public monies for recovery, to jobs. A brilliant observation. Probably  very true. And Phlocker’s wisdom did not require God in the mix.

Sorry for the length of my dissertation. Sometimes I get a hair up my butt and need to express myself.

Which leaves little time for me to tell you about the terrific internet show I had yesterday, how the Chinese Apple store topic received the most comment, the luncheon with my friday group that was very stimulating, my manicure by Tammy, the Chart Room last night with Emily, Captain Peter, Sean and Sheila, that it was Sheila’s second night out without a wheel chair, she now relies on a cane, that Sean was alone, Katherine was on a girl’s night out, that Sean and I had an enjoyable dinner together at Hot Tin Roof, that John was his usual professional self, that my jaw started hurting like hell again during the day, and that I found gin an excellent pain killer.

There is no room for any of these remarks!

Enjoy your day!  

Whoopie!

We won all three bocce games last night. The way to start the new bocce season.

The first game was close. We won by one point, 16-15. The next two were no contest. We decimated our opponents.

Everyone played well. Each team member made a contribution.

We have two new ladies on the team. Lori and Kathy. Outstanding! Both very good. We acquired them by accident just last night. They were to have been traded to Larry Smith’s team. Somehow he apparentlly was not aware. There was confusion. Don settled the problem in his usual swift fashion. He took them on our team!

All to our team’s benefit. They both rolled well. This Kathy is a killer. I thought she was new to the game. Till she rolled. Wow! She has 17 years experience.

I thought the ladies carried us last night. Michelle, Erika and Lori were terrific, also.

I was at the dentist’s office first thing yesterday morning. A few adjustments were made. Bingo, the pain was gone!

Thank God!

The Key West Lou Legal Hour this morning. Ten sharp my time. On the internet world wide. http://www.konkbroadcasting.com/. Join me for what I assure  you will be an interesting and thought provoking show. From things you may not know about our present Congress, to protests in the streets, to a very basic example of what the economy drives people to do, to the weather, to a funeral parlor losing a body, and more.

Enjoy your day!

My best friend is back! The blender!

I had a dentist visit yesterday. Thought I was on the down side, close to the end of the process. Close I am, but not with out pain. Big time pain again! And what a headache!

Forget chewing!

I am back to the dentist at 8:30 this morning. I called last night and made the appointment. Need some pain relief.

The weather this morning is surprising. When I opened the sliding doors in the kitchen leading to the water, heavy humidity hit me. Very heavy. Unusual. The water is moving fast. Wind a bit strong coming in from the Atlantic.

In my amateurish fashion, I attribute it to Irene. Irene is not even close to us fortunately. But its effects are being felt here in the keys.

I feel sorry for those living in the Carolinas and north. Irene is now a 3. May go to a 4. Could be devistating. I hope people are getting out! There is still a two day window to leave. Two days is the time frame within which to make the decision as whether to run or stay. The time is now for such decision making.

No way was I going out yesterday after my dentist visit. It was bang your head against the wall time! I stayed in all day. Got the blender out of the cabinet. Finished up Friday’s internet show.

Big night tonight! The start of a new bocce season. No matter how much I hurt, I will be there! And…..with an excuse to drink!

My team is excited. Two seasons ago, we were last in league standings. Last season, we came in third. Even made the playoffs. There is an air of confidence about us at the moment. We believe we can be as good or better than last season.

Watch, we’ll lose all three games tonight! Don will deficate all over me for even having such a thought. I can hear him already.

It is rare that I have my Friday internet show ready early. It is a good one this week. But then, every week is good! Not because of me. Because of the crazy world we live in. Life’s reality provides the fodder for my show material.

I am opening with some interesting tidbits about Congress during this August. Items that further prove these guys are not with it. Then some political thoughts about the uprisings worldwide. Followed by Google paying the government $500 million for permittiing Canadian drug advertising, a funeral home that lost a dead body. Interesting is a segment about earthquakes with a touch of Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls, sex on a mountainsude in Spain and Carol King’s “I Feel the Earth Move.”

There is more. A malpractice case presently on trial where it is claimed the doctor cut off part of a man’s penis improperly, the end of the Strauss-Kahn case, a ferry boat captain who was stuck in the toilet causing his boat to go aground, fake Apple stores in China, and more.

Join me. Friday morning at 10 my time. World wide on the internet. http://www.konkbroadcasting.com/.

The thought running through mind…..Pain, pain, go away…..little Louis wants to play! I do not have visions of sugar plums dancing in my head. Rather they are of laying down, having a funnel placed in my mouth and gin poured into me! I need a good pain killer!

Enjoy your day!

Interesting day yesterday!

A surprising one!

Every one along the eastern seaboard is concerned about Irene. An earthquake occurs. And the hurricane is still 2-3 days away!

Wow! A double hit in the making.

My friend Rosanne lives in North Carolina. Irene is projected to come ashore in the Carolinas. We fortunately will miss Irene in Key West. Rosanne emailed me yesterday, “We are worried about Irene. And pow earthquake!!!!”

Hemingway is involved earthquake wise, also. He spent ten years of his life living in Key West. Wrote one or two of his novels here. In addition to partying at Sloppy Joe’s and other Key West establishments.

Hemingway’s earthquake tie in did not originate in a Key West writing. It is from a book he wrote in 1940 while living in a Cuban hotel in Havana. The book: For Whom the Bell Tolls.

I would like to say one of Hemingway’s best. But…..they were all his best!

For Whom the Bell Tolls begins with the famous John Donne quote, “…never…to know for who the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.”

There are other quotes/lines from the book which have survived with lesser notoriety.

At the start of chapter 13, Hemingway’s hero Robert Jordan has sex for the first time with Maria. On the ground. Jordan “…feels the earth move out and away from under them” during the act. Afterwards, he asks Maria, “Did thee feel the earth move?”

Travel in time now to 1971. Carol King was a prominent songwriter and singer of the time. She recorded a song which was a hit then and comes to some minds whenever an earthquake occurs. The song: I Feel the Earth Move. The concept/words for the song relate back to Jordan’s utterings during and following the intimate experience with Maria in chapter 13. Neither the concept for the song or its words have anything to do with an earthquake. King’s words as sung reference a woman experiencing an orgasm.

From Hemingway to For Whom the Bell Tolls to sex on a mountainside in Spain to King’s hit song I Feel the Earth Move. All because of yesterday’s earthquake!

I would like to take credit for all the information just shared. Like George Washington however, I cannot tell a lie. I had a vague recollection of the words Robert Jordan uttered during and follolwing sex with Maria in the book. I had no recollection of Carol King or her recording.

I was emailing with friend Anne from Ithaca, New York. She told me of her experience with yesterday’s earthquake. We got into a back and forth regarding Hemingway’s book and the song. Anne provided the precise knowledge shared with you here.

Enough of earthquakes.

I decided to lunch at the Cuban Queen. The shack off the parking lot in the area of Schooner
Wharf. You will recall there are no tables. One orders from a hole in the shack wall and eats sitting on an outside bench.

The place was crowded. Only one seat left. Not shaded. The sun blazing hot. Not for me!

Instead I walked over to Harpoon Harry’s. Glad I did. Met a new and wonderful lady.

Her name is Jenny. She is 25. That is all I seem to meet lately. Twenty five year olds! From New York City. Worked in her father’s bar. She has been her only three weeks. Came on a whim. Already has a job. Waitressing and bartending at Jack Flats.

Tall, slim and beautiful. A distinctively different tone to her voice.

I asked if she were related to Tiffany. Who is Tiffany, she asked. I said, Tiffany of Antonia’s fame. Tiffany has bartended and waited on tables at Antonia’s off and on for twenty yearfs. No, she said.

Then I proceeded to tell her why I asked. Jenny is a perfect clone of Tiffany! For real! In every respect, including the voice. She is Tiffany 20 years ago. As well as Tiffany of today.

I hope you are reading me this morning, Tiffany. If not, I hope some one tells you what I have written. You two must meet!

Jenny has already discovered Key West. She knows of Don’s Place. Stops there after work at 2 in the morning. Is friends with Kurt. Knew he was on a golfing trip to Fort Myers. Knew Don. Has served he and Stephanie at Jack Flats.

Jean texted me that she and David were taking Wheel Chair Sheila to the Chart Room. It was Sheila’s time to visit the outside world again. Could I meet them at 5:30? I never madc it. Fell asleep. Woke around 5:30. Did not want to hurry to shower and dress and drive into town. So I telephoned Jean at the Chart Room with my regrets and told her to tell Sheila how much I loved her, even though I was not showing up.

Today is Wednesday. Golf day. No golf for me. I would be playing alone. My golf buddies took a golf trip to Fort Myers. They left Monday and return tomorrow. I had planned to go and then backed out.

Instead of golf, I will be in the dentist’s chair at 9. We are getting close to being done! I have been at this mouth/jaw thing since January 7th.

Enjoy your day!

The big band is playing in the sky! Thunder and lightning galore!

It started last night around 10. Continued all night. Big time noise! Lightning shooting through the windows.

Still rumbling and flashing this morning. The sky is clearing, however. The black clouds and noise are moving south over the ocean. A blue sky is moving in from the north.

Irene is less of a concern, though it is now a 2 and projected to be a 3 when it hits the U.S. The cone indicates Irene’s projected path will turn northeast and come ashore, if at all, around Miami or further north. Key West will suffer some increased rain and winds.

The last couple of years, the hurricanes have been making that northeast turn. It has to do with everything. Wind from the north, how the hurricane bounces off the mountains of Cuba, etc. May the hurricanes continue making the turn.

That is not to say we are absolutely out of harm’s way. As I wrote yesterday, hurricanes are fickle. Two hundred mile path deviations are not uncommon. You never know when one will turn from the projected path. Right now Irene is projected hit around or north of Miami. Miami is only 145 miles from Key West.

A weather man I have become! Not a very good one. But one, nevertheless. I like the word nevertheless. It is all one word. I used it often in my legal paper work.

Ally and Robert loved their first day back to school. Especially, Ally. She telephoned me at 3:30 when she returned home. All excited!

This school year has added a new dimension to Lisa’s mothering. Previously, she was employed off home, so to speak. So was Corey. Robert and Ally stayed at Montessori for some sort of play class till 5. Now Lisa is working from home with her businesses. Montessori is only two blocks away. Lisa walks Robert and Ally to school in the morning and walks them home in the afternoon at 3:30.

She loves it!

I had a quiet dinner alone last night. The bar at Hogfish. Very few people. Enjoyed a hogfish sandwich naturally!

I beat the thunder and lightning home. The storm waited till I was settled down in bed before it began.

Oh…..I walked! In the house again. Better than nothing.

Enjoy your day!

Ally starts first grade today.

Big! Especially from her perspective!

This means a change in schools for her. Ally did pre school and kindergarten at Montessori. She is entering first grade at Montessori also. But in a different building several blocks away.

She has that big girl feeling!

Ally spent two hours last night laying out her clothes for today. Should I wear this? Or, maybe this? So it went. Typical female. And only 6 years old!

She telephoned me this morning. Very early again. A few minutes before 7. Poppa, I start first grade today! Like I did not know.

I can’t wait to speak with her when she returns home this afteroon. She has insructions to telephone me immediately. I want to know all about her day.

There is another woman in  my life. In all our lives here in the Florida keys. Irene.

I told you hurricanes were fickle. As I write, Irene is bombarding Puerto Rico as a 2. She was only to be a tropical storm at this point. Irene is now projected as a 2 when it hits Florida. It was supposed to be a 1.

Will it pass over us here in Key West? The projected track continues to indicate so. But…..the track is slanting upwards to the right a bit. If it continues in that fashuion, we will only experience a lot of rain and big wind.

Who knows? The local talk is increasing. No one yet is taking Irene seriouisly. Though I will admit I am starting to get that squeamish feeling in my stomach. Landfall for us is only three days away.

I finally walked yesterday!

Not as I had intended. But I did move about.

I walked inside my home. It was late in the morning and I was getting no where in moving my butt out of the house. So I walked the first floor for a half hour. Briskly. The floor is tiled through out. It was easy. Had the TV going in the lving room. Talked on the cell phone. The air conditioning was on.

It was not bad at all. I was a bit winded at the end. Raised a so so sweat, also.

Lisa and family came over to swim in the afternoon. Robert and Ally went crazy in the pool. Ally talkative about school today.

I had dinner last night with Key West’s Golden Girl. Jean Thornton. She emailed me earlier in the day and asked me to join her at La Trattoria at 7. It was me, Jean and Kathy. Kathy is the Sunday bartender and good friend to the both of us. We ate at the bar, of course.

I am enamoured with Jean. She is the best of the best! We had a terrific time! Our conversation covered all kinds of stimulating topics. We ate slowly. Drank a bit. Talked much.

When we left La Trattoria, Jean hopped on her bicycle for the trip home. The bicycle is her mode of transportation in Key West.

Lisa just telephoned. She returned home after taking the grandkids to their first day of school. Her report interesting.

No girls in Ally’s class when they walked in.  Only boys. Ally was taken back a bit. There are other girls. But they had not arrived yet. The teacher immediately sensed Ally’s discomfort and asked Ally to help her greet the other students as they arrived.

Robert told his mother no kissing when she dropped him off at school. Destroyed Lisa! Robert is 7 years old and does not want his buddies to see him being kissed by his mother!

As soon as I publish this blog, I am going to walk. In the house again. Better than nothing!

Enjoy your day!

Key West weather continues to be perfect. It has been so since December. A long run!

We are presently into the rainy season. A few times a day it will rain. The rain comes and goes swiftly. A storm lasts about 5 minutes. Then the sun returns as fast as it left. Sometimes it pours and the sun shines through it. An unusual sight!

The weather has been so good that I worry. I am concerned that we are going to have to pay. In the form of a hurricane. This is hurricane season and will remain so till the end of November.

I am a bit of a wet blanket at heart.

There is a new hurricane out there as I write this morning. Irene. It is heading our way. At present, it is a tropical storm. If it does hit the Florida keys, it is projected as a #1 in intensity. Nothing.

People are already talking about Irene. Even Lisa. Will it hit us? Will it be a problem?

You will recall Wilma was a disaster for Lisa and her family. And for most of Key West. The tidal wave covered most of Key West with 6 1/2 feet of water. In homes and cars. Mucho damage. Lisa and family had to move out. They lived in my home for a year while their home was being repaired.

Irene’s projected track will bring her right over us.

But, it is too early to tell anything with certainty. Hurricanes are fickle. Change speeds, change direction. At whim. So we will not really know till 24-48 hours before the storm arrives, if it will hit the Florida keys.

No one in Key West is worried.Though Irene has become a topic of conversation.

Lunch yesterday was at Harpoon Harry’s. Just me and the grandkids. A treat for Robert and Ally. A treat for me.

We drove over in the convertible with the top down. They loved it! They rode in  the back entrenched in car seats.

Ally wore big movie star type sun glasses. She loves to play the role!

Most of our lunch conversation concerned school. Both of them start tomorrow at Montessori. Robert in second grade and Ally in first. Ally was zeroing in on homework. Something which will be new to her.

They also got into divorce. That was a bit tricky. It was like having to explain sex to a child for the first time.

After lunch, we walked over to the water front. To visit the Turtle Museum. The Turtle Museum is operated by Mel Fisher Museum where Corey works. The grandkids have been there before. They knew Rick who is the museum host. They were familiar with a child’s game involving fish. They hurried over to it to play. I even joined them. They recognized their Dad’s several pictures on the walls and pointed them out to me.

The Turtle Museum is located in the old Key West turtle factory. Until the early 1970s, turtle soup and turtle steaks were produced there.

I visited with Lisa when I retuned Robert and Ally home. Then home for me.

I spent the first hour watching golf on TV. Then a nap.

I felt good yesterday. First time in a week.

Stayed in last night. Picked at some things from the refrigerator. Spent the balance of the evening writing.

Ally wakened me this morning with a telephone call. At 6:30. Would I have dinner with them tonight? I told her I did not know yet. She wanted to talk about school. So we talked. Rather, she talked and I listened.

Today is Sunday. Meet the Press and Chris Matthews. Then, I do not know. I promised myself I would start walking today. Lets hope I keep the promise.

My primary motivation obviously is good health. My grandfather walked every day 2-4 miles. He lived to 94. My father walked every day also till an aortic valve problem stopped it a couple of years ago. He is presntly 97.

Louis, walk!!!

Have a good Sunday!

Welcome to the center of the universe. Key West.

I think of Key West as such. It has and is everything…..to me. And some others.

Remember Charles Kuralt? He was the world famous CBS broadcaster. His life work was primarily dedicated to two successful TV shows.

First, On the Road. Kuralt traveled to out of the way places. Secluded places searching for odd ball stories. On the Road was aired as part of The Walter Cronkite Show for years.

Then there was Sunday Morning which Kuralt alone did for many more years.

Along the way, Kuralt discovered Key West. He visited here frequently. For more than his show. Key West became one of his places to hide, rekindle and refresh himself. When I first started visiting Key West regularly, I would frequently see Kuralt at the newspaper shop at the quiet end of Duval. The store now long gone. He would drop in to buy the morning papers as every one else. He would politely nod to every one. I always wanted to talk with him. But I dared not. It would have been an intrusion of his privacy.

Which brings me back around to Key West being the center of the universe.

I think it is. Kuralt refined it even more. He frequently was quoted as saying that Key West’s Schooner’s Wharf was the center of the universe. Schooner’s Wharf was a favorite Key West haunt of his.

I did The Key West Lou Legal hour world wide over the internet yesterday. The show received a surprisingly large number of post show comments. Three  topics attracted the most attention. The President and his vacation, Qantas and its orgastic video for late night flyers, and the woman who was shaving her privates while driving which resulted in an accident.

Every one agreed with my observation that the President should not be knocked for being on vacation. It is a working one. It could be no other for any President.

The Qantas thing was commneted on from a humorous perspective.

The woman shaving her privates was old hat. Caused some controversey. Several thought it was disgusting/tasteless to even talk about. All were women.

After the show, I hurried over to my doctor’s office. Flu shot time.

The flu shot is being given early this year. The reason is that there are two new strains and they will hit over a broader time span. So my friends, get your flu shots and get them early!

I skipped my usual friday men’s luncheon. I have felt sluggish all week. It was not in me to sit and banter yesterday. I felt a need for quiet. I went to Hogfish and had lunch alone. Just me and my newspaper. I sat on the water side. It was cool and beautiful. Enjoyed a lobster roll. The setting and meal were heavenly!

Last night was big! Dinner with Lisa and the family at TGIF. I ate what Robert and Ally had. A cheeseburger and fries. I arrived late. Robert and Ally spotted me coming in. They ran over and jumped on me showering me with hugs and kisses. What could be better!

Ally visited her new teacher yesterday. She starts first grade Monday. She was all excited and talkative about the visit. The biggest thing was she now has a locker. Her own one!

I periodically take the grandkids to breakfast or lunch alone. No parents. Today is one of those days. We are lunching. I asked them where and they said almost in unison, Harpoon Harry’s. So it shall be.

I slept extremely well last night. First time in a week. I feel like I could conquer the world this morning. I hope the tired sluggish feeling is behind me.

Enjoy your day!