HULA HOOP / CONCH SHELL BLOWING

A great Sunday out there! Sun shinning, nary a cloud. Wind unusually strong. Has been for a few days. Blowing down from the north. Makes the 80 degree temperature not feel warm. Comfortable.

Hula hoops hit the U.S. big time in 1963. Appeared in the market place for the first time this date in 1963.

A round plastic hoop. Hip swiveling and gyrating.

Within 4 months, 25 million had been sold.

My older children got into it. Tried to teach Dad. No way. I could not do it.

About five years ago, there was a hula hoop revival. Ally was six years old. She was an expert. could even do it around her neck.

She tried to teach Poppa. Again, I was a failure.

Sue Cassell worked at Don’s Place at the time of the revival. A young lady. Twentyish. A pro with the hula hoop. Amazing. Blinking lights wrapped around the hoop.

I took Ally to watch Sue.

The hula hoop had a part in Key West’s Annual Conch Shell Blowing Contest yesterday. Christie King of Big Pine hula hooped while blowing a large conch shell.

My intent was to watch Syracuse/Georgia Tech yesterday afternoon at Jack Flats with Dee. Followed by dinner some where.

Dee begged off. Experiencing dizzy spells. I decided to stay home and watch. Then skip out to dinner somewhere.

A mistake.

The game was not televised in Florida.

In any event, Syracuse won. Big! 90-61. Should help Syracuse get an invitation to the big tournament.

After the game, Dee telephoned. Dizziness gone. Let’s go to dinner.

We dined at Hot Tin Roof. The place packed. As are the streets of Key West. It is season!

Aristotle said …..Friendship is the chiefest good.

Dee and I have been friends for a quarter century. We see each other frequently for a while. Then not see each other for several years.

The Key West City Commission continues its perverted ways. They are eliminating parking spaces in residential areas to create bicycle lanes.

We need parking! The parking situation is desperate!

Harry Truman loved Key West and Key West loves Harry Truman.

On this date in 1948, Truman left Key West to return to Washington. Exactly one year later in 1949, he returned to Key West for a vacation.

William Hackley had the dentist Dr. Walton back at his home this day in 1856. Dr. Walton pulled two teeth from Hatty and six from Charlotte.

Don’t know if Hatty and Charlotte children or help. Sounds rough. Six teeth at one time.

There was a time when dentistry was a trade and not a profession. A side line practiced by barbers and blacksmiths. I suspect a profession by Hackley’s time as the title Doctor used.

By 1946, World War II was over. It had become evident that the Soviet Union was no longer a friend. Of the United States and other Allies who fought together to defeat Germany.

Winston Churchill on this date in 1946 spoke at Missouri’s Westminster College. President Truman on the stage.

Churchill’s eloquent words were delivered. Words never to be forgotten. Even to today. “An iron curtain has descended across the continent.” He described it as a Cold War.

Stalin responded from Moscow that the speech was “war mongering.”

Sound familiar?

Putin suggests the same when actions are taken by other nations which he considers not in the best interests of Russia.

We are in a new Cold War.

Sadness takes many forms. As does pain and suffering.

A picture appears on page 9A of this morning’s Key West Citizen. A picture of a 9 month old Somalian baby. Ali Hassan. Malnourished. Starving. Body bones clearly defined. Arms strange. Eyes bright.

Starvation has been an ongoing problem in Somalia. Now, a drought also. The article set forth that 110 had died in a 48 hour period ending yesterday.

Enjoy your Sunday! I suspect a pause at this point before you do. The thought of Ali and Somalian starving touching. Leaves one with an empty feeling.