a drunken sailor at key west bight - VIDEO

Click on the arrow to play - Run Time 3:13

dog bight

One of the ingredients necessary for living a laid back life in Key West is acceptance of it's quirky diversity.
 
Spend a few hours at Schooner Wharf Bar and you'd never know if the person on the stool beside you is a millionaire or a working stiff. Whether the guy at the juke box is a circuit judge or a sea captain or if that good looking girl, winking at you from across the bar, is really a female or a drag queen.

Just outside, the bight is an eclectic collection of historic sailing ships, luxury yachts, forty year old fishing boats and carolina skiffs. The yachts are guided to their overpriced slips by the Harbor Pilot but for the smaller boats, "Sparkie", the family dog will do.

reflection

There's none of my genius PhotoShop magic here;

Just a straight-up reflection of a boat at the bight in the night.

pet night at the bight

I dreamed I was a fly on the wall at homeland security. . .

"Hey!! Who's that guy hangin' out and drawing a crowd down at the bight?
He's wearin' a red suit, could be some kind of Communist!
And look at the long hair and his beard!
I bet he's some hippie throw-back protesting the wars!!

. . .And what's in that pipe he's smoking??"

"And look at this, he's got a helper!
Looks like she's recruiting some radical reindeer militia member!!
. . .and right under the navy's nose!!"

"We'd better raise the threat level from green to red and break out the water cannon!!!"

Oh No, No, No and Ho, Ho, Ho my paranoid patriots, it's "Just 4 Kids" Pet Pictures with Santa Night at the Bight. Just one of the many events that have been part of the "Bight Before Christmas" Celebration.
(I was a fly on the wall there too. . . a fotograpic fly)

There were doggie-dogs and kitty-cats and pets of all persuasions.
(Someone even brought their hamster.)

All those doggies!
The only thing more popular than Santa, was this tree.

the "bight" before christmas

A couple of weeks ago I volunteered to get a little involved with Key West's 5 week "Bight Before Christmas" festivities.

Now, I know what you're thinking and you're right; being "a little involved" is as contradictory as being "a little pregnant". But to the extent that I could help out designing the logo, putting some flyers together and getting the celebration some coverage in the Blue Paper, it's nowhere near as involved as Barb Wright and Tom Stroh, the event organizers, are in doing the all the leg-work and heavy lifting to bring so many events together.


Anyway, it's been a cool Christmas thing to do.

They've got everything going on from a tree lighting and shopping sprees to Christmas movies for your kids, Santa pictures with your pets and a live concert. Best of all, most of it's free so, when you're out and about, check it out.
Here's a link to the website and a full schedule of events. . .
The "Bight" Before Christmas

keys konktradiction

trumbo point

While was out and about yesterday I made a left where I might have gone right and found my way to the back end of Bahama Village that borders the navy base.

The vaguely Aztec looking emplacement appears to be a long abandoned hollow hill.

I'd seen this kind of military structure years ago, when I was living in New Jersey, at the old Nike missile base on Sandy Hook.

The installation made for some great pictures and when I got home I tried to find more information about the why, when and how of the place. Sadly, I came up empty. So, if anyone would care to share any information about this or offer a lead as to where I might gain a little insight, I would appreciate it.

small bights - part 1

small bights - part 2

drunken sailor at key west bight - VIDEO

click arrow to play video. run time 3:12

dog bight

One of the ingredients necessary for living a laid back life in Key West is acceptance of it's quirky diversity.
Spend a few hours at Schooner Wharf Bar and you'd never know if the person on the stool beside you is a millionaire or a working stiff. Whether the guy at the juke box is a circuit judge or a sea captain or if that good looking girl, winking at you from across the bar, is really female or a drag queen.
Just outside, the bight is an eclectic collection of historic sailing ships, luxury yachts, forty year old fishing boats and carolina skiffs. The yachts are guided to their overpriced slips by the Harbor Pilot but for the smaller boats, "Sparkie", the family dog will do.

masthead

It's a quiet, early Sunday morning. A handful of still sleepy sailors carry their coffee in paper cups from the early morning market back to the comfort of their boats. The masts of the tall ships, in this particular harbor, tower above the deck-hands below who are preparing for another day of two hour cruises. Set against a blue sky with wisps of high clouds, a fair wind whistles through
the rigging.
It's a good day for sailing.
Before time and tides changed, these were working vessels; laying trans-Atlantic cable, carrying blocks of ice packed in sawdust from Maine to the Keys, shipping cattle and produce from Cuba and South America. That long gone life at sea is like a distant memory in my mind's eye and in this world of Go-Fast boats and vapor trails I can only imagine that I remember how it used to be.


click the cartoon to enlarge