CHECKS TO:
GAIL PURTAN FUND KARMANOS CANCER INSTITUTE 4100 JOHN R DETROIT, MI  48201
1-800-527-6266
"IN MEMORY OF MARY LOGSDON" - IN NOTE SECTION OF CHECK

JULY 1, 2006 - WHEN IN THE COURSE OF HUMAN EVENTS…

Coming in from Key Largo this morning I noticed that the clouds were very tall and menacing looking. When I stopped at the Visitor Center for Key West, 15 miles out from Key West, the lady behind the counter was commenting on the fact that very intense thunder boomers with winds up to 35 mph were headed for the area. I told her that I had been dealing with that for about a month now. There are people who are having parties back home because there is no rain back home. It has all followed by trip so far.

Key West has its beautiful people, all right. Its just that not ALL the beautiful people are equal, or so it seems. Duvall St. is THE street to be seen on at any hour of the day or night, I am told. We'll see. I had lunch at the Deli. This place has been run by the same family and as such has the distinction of being the oldest family run restaurant in Key West.

I have walked around a bit, and noticed this. Imagine the homes in southern Warren or Eastpointe. In Warren or Eastpointe, the homes would be asbestos sided, fairly small, yet, for the most part, clean. Key West has the same sort of home on a smaller lot than you would find in either of the Detroit suburbs heretofore mentioned (I just can't get that NASA driver out of my mind). Therefore, Henceforth, I will refrain from adding words thereto and thereon any aforementioned sentence.

The homes here would probably not be too welcomed in those same neighborhoods due to the general lack of upkeep being done. At the same time, however, I promise you that these homes would sell for far more than any of the homes in Warren or Eastpointe. I have seen evidence of larger footprint homes being planted on what was, at one time, two or three different lots. In other words, the homes that previously occupied these areas were torn down to make room for the brand new homes. That takes some cashola, to be sure.

By the way, on the way here, after talking with the Visitor Center lady and getting the last room available, it seems, I ended up under a portico of a different motel on Rte. 1, due to the sheer intensity of the storm that was passing through. It was fairly amazing. Two other cycles joined me there. One guy and his "squeeze" were so plastered, I don't know how they were even able to walk, let alone drive. I had seen their bike at two different bars on my way in to Key West. The lady was hardly able to walk OR talk, come to think of it. The other couple had problems with English. I think they were Cuban spies.

Right now I am doing laundry at a buck a load for washing, and the same for drying. I even broke out the ol' liquid Tide out of the now famous ZIPLOC bag I had procured for just this purpose.

I have just returned to my cell, oops room, from a run downtown to Mallory Square. All kinds of street performers doing their thing and trying to "out do" the one just next to him. Tight rope walkers, jugglers, cat trainers, psychics, card readers, sword swallowers, magicians, jewelry sellers, sea shell sellers on the sea shore, she said, selling same. There was also ONE piper. He bills himself as the southernmost piper in the United States. He was, in fact, the southernmost. I am not sure he would be called a piper, though. He knew both songs, Scotland the Brave, and the other one.

This marks the first time in over 32 years that I will not be involved with the fife and drum corps on the July 4th holiday series of performances. It is an odd feeling. How odd it is that I am in Key West Florida, a place I have never visited. How odd that my friends; virtually everyone I care about, are over a thousand miles distant. It is a lonely feeling, to be honest. I put myself in this situation, and the thing is that intellectually I know it is a very temporary thing, in the grand scheme of things. Yet, I feel that this is something that I need to do - and do my best to complete.

A fellow that I met while checking in suggested I go to Kelly's Caribbean Bar, Grill and Brewery. The place is owned by Kelly McGillis of Top Gun fame. I played number 9 on the Wurlitzer, but she didn't show up. I had ordered the same meal I would be having at Greenfield Village if I were there.

Note to Self: ORDER THE MILD HOT WINGS………. Oh my………..

I have had LOTS of water. While sitting at the bar at Kelly's I remembered something else that I noted about this place. Chickens run the streets here like squirrels run the streets back home. I watched a mother hen and her 11 chicks (forgive me for this) start their journey across a road - yep, you guessed it - TO GET TO THE OTHER SIDE. The cool thing is that they all made it. All the various types of vehicles stop for these damn chickens. I don't even want to talk about the roosters, all prancing around and being, well, ROOSTERS. While I was at Kelly's two couples came in and sat at the other bar across from the one I was at. They asked if I would take a photo of them, which I did.

They asked me what I was doing, and I told them the story. One lady, Jean, took out her check book and wrote a check to the Gail Purtan fund immediately. After kibitzing a bit, the other couple wanted me to contact them when I get to the Clearwater area, because they have a spare room for me for a night. This was Very cool.

I have photos that will be submitted in a different blog so that you can get a bit of the flavor of what this place is all about. For now, I have to find a signal to pirate so that I can get this out on the web.