An Anniversary

Exactly one year ago Michael, I, two cats, and what little we owned landed in Key West, escorted by Tropical Storm Isaac. Rather pathetically, we stood in the airport with no idea what was in store. No place to live. No friends. And feeling disconnected from a country that hadn't been our home for seven years. Michael's new boss came and retrieved us, found us a place to stay for a month, and we were on our own. Housing on Key West is not easy to find since many homes are only available for short-term vacationers. September was a pretty stressful month as we struggled to find a place that fit us. And find a way to fit in. At the last minute, the perfect apartment opened up for us, and we were on our way. Sort of.

While Michael threw himself into work and became friends with a co-worker, I was rather isolated, working on my computer at home. Within six months, I was experiencing full-blown reverse culture shock and became pretty depressed. Michael went through this too, but it hit him later. This is typical for many people who leave their home countries for long periods of time and then return. Our added difficulty was that we hadn't really wanted to come back. We didn't want to adapt. But resistance is futile.

Key West has been as good a place as any to re-assimilate, although it's not an easy place to live if you're on a tight budget. There are a number of free things for locals to do, lots of strange events, and plenty of people watching, but...it's not enough. We miss hiking. We miss hills. We miss trade-wind breezes. We miss empty beaches. We miss empty anything. We miss a lot of things, but I'm trying to keep the whining to a minimum.

We've spent the past year working our contacts back in St. Kitts, not only because that's where we want to live right now, but because that's where all our contacts are. Work is not easy to get anywhere, but we knew people back in the Caribbean and hoped that would be enough. Last week Michael had a great interview and was later told that an offer was pending. That offer was then rescinded. Sigh. Michael returns on Sunday.

I think we'll be putting our notice in with the landlord in a couple of days, no matter what happens. Key West, like California, is too expensive for us. The salaries don't match the cost of living. The people who live here either arrive rich, are willing to work several jobs and (not or) live with a few roommates to offset costs, or are homeless. We're none of those, although that last one might apply soon if things don't work out. Yes, once again, September is going to be a stressful month as we either celebrate an unexpected save in St. Kitts, or find somewhere else in the US that fits us better. It looks like a road trip is in our future. Of course, this is nothing new to us. We leaped from NYC to CA. From CA to VA. From VA to AZ. From AZ to the entire Eastern Caribbean. From Jacumba to St. Kitts. From St. Kitts to Key West. From Key West to ????   Stay tuned.

Tick Tock

For all you guys wondering how things went with Michael on Wednesday in St. Kitts, it went well but we continue on in waiting mode. This is truly the story of our lives. No matter how much we try to plan and think ahead, things never click for us until the very last minute. Really. About 99.9% of the time, we're running like headless chickens despite our best efforts. I keep telling myself that at least 99.9% of the time things go our way in the end, so if it's at the last minute, better late than never. But somehow that thought never stops me from being a bundle of nerves. The good news is that Michael will be back in a week and the social experiment will be over. I'm pretty ready.



You might remember that what seems like eons ago, I told you that there were avocado trees on either side of the house we're renting. I have been waiting patiently for the avocados to tell me they're ready (or drop), and that hasn't happened, so I finally took matters into my own hands. I swear the pears (as they call them in the Caribbean) looked the exact same size as they had the first time I noticed them; they have to be the slowest growing fruit I've ever seen. Look at how they were tempting me (and most are beyond reach).

So I finally grabbed a pair of scissors, leaned waaaaay out of the little window,

tried to move this alien-like little spider who's been out there for a loooong time (he didn't move), and snip, snip! I got 'em!

I guess we'll see if they ripen up and are edible. Hope so!

Now, you'll recall that not long after our arrival, the most hedonistic week-long event took place in Key West - Fantasy Fest. (See post.) We'll likely miss it this year, but tickets to the craziness are now available, so I thought you'd get a kick out of seeing what the events are. Sorry for the ads, but that's the price for free apps (hmm, considering only 80+ people have seen the calendar, it hardly makes it worth it, eh?). Just click on Oct or Next Month to get to October and look at the zaniness from the 18th through the 27th. Be sure to click on some of the events and read the posters. How does one come up with this stuff?

Seriously, Fantasy Fest is so insane that the Key West City Commission just mandated that a $50 cleanup fee be assessed on any rider who "soils" a Key West taxi." Maybe they should come with barf bags like airplanes. Or a bucket...

Should you be looking for reading material, I thought this was an interesting story about how island history and current events clash.

We may know something by Wednesday, so continue to send those good vibes. We appreciate them!

Last of the Freebies?

I think I've done it. I think I've exhausted the free things to do here. I also had a 2-minute conversation with someone today, so I think I'm up to 10 minutes of face-to-face human contact over a 6-week period. I'm still sane, and I'm wondering if I should be concerned about that. As a follow-up to the recent infestation, I only had 2 more tropical roaches (none hissing, none flying - and I thank the readers who suggested solutions). Not a bad week overall.

First up, I decided to go to the Key West Wildlife Center.

I run past this place all the time and always thought it was just a building with a few indoor/outdoor cages to help rehabilitate wildlife. When I checked into its hours, I was surprised to find that there was more to the center than met the eye and headed over. I'm not sure why there were so many chickens.



Then I was off down a nice, shady path. (Ok, that part wasn't shady, but most of it was.)

The path took me to some outside cages currently holding a few seagulls, a great white heron, an osprey, and some black birds I'm clueless about.



And pelicans. I love pelicans. If I stood to the side, I got the eye. If I moved in front of them, they ever so slowly bowed their heads and stared at me over their beaks. I had a rather good time with them. Unfortunately you can't quite get the effect thanks to the fencing, but I tried.

Then a nice path wound to a pond with lots of places to sit and ponder along the way.



Very nice. There were a lot of turtles. A lot.



I had a nice conversation with a rooster that walked right up to me (I didn't count that in my face-to-face interaction minutes).



There were iguanas everywhere, including overhead. I kept waiting to get pooped on (the stuff was everywhere) but luckily escaped that fate.

Then I walked across the street (sort of) to the third fort on the island (West Martello). Both of these places are near Higgs Beach.



We've already seen Fort Zachary and Fort East Martello, but I've always assumed this structure was just a small ruin, so never bothered to check it out. I was surprised to see how wrong I was. Wow. What a great place. West Martello took 21 years to build in the mid-1800s but didn't really get used until the Spanish-American War in 1898. It was almost demolished in the 1940s, but the Key West Garden Club saved it and made it all pretty.



Does anyone else feel stupid doing selfies? Once I got through the fort itself and came outside, a huge iguana scared the bejeezus out of me as it ran across a branch just above my head. I really thought I was going to end up catching the thing as the branch bounced wildly under its weight, but I am happy to say that didn't come to pass. The grounds cover a surprisingly large area and had lots of butterflies in some places.



The fort/garden covers 1 1/2 acres and just winds around, taking you into all kinds of great nooks and crannies. My camera battery died just as I got to some of the best parts - waterfall, fountain, low archways to go under. If you come down here, be sure to visit. As a matter of fact, both these places were worth bringing Michael to see, so we'll be back.

I also fit in a walk out onto the White Street Pier to enjoy the breeze (before the fort). I'm not getting that at my place, and it sure did feel good.

In two more weeks, we have a lot of decisions to make. We rolled the dice, and they're still tumbling. Wednesday is an important day for Michael, so let's send him some luck, shall we?