What a busy week!

Whew!
Last Saturday, Keith (our former next-boat neighbor in S. Pasadena) joined us for a day sail. (See the picture of Keith at the tiller.) It was a beautiful day, with a light south breeze. The boat handled well, with none of the weather-helm problems we had last time we were out.
When we got back into the harbor, we went to visit Sande and Donnie on "Gypsy Cat." Sande's been boat bound for a couple of weeks with a torn ligament in her knee. Sande makes jewelry from Pete's feathers.
After that, we went to the Tiki hut for the Saturday night jam session.
On Tuesday, we borrowed a car from Carol (a woman that Bev works with) so I could go to the "Battery Shack" and get a new battery for the boat. One of our big house batteries had failed. When we drove down to Big Pine to return the car, we were met in the driveway by a very friendly 5 point buck about the size of a Labrador retriever. "Key Deer" are related to the usual White Tail deer you see all over the country, but they are much smaller.
Wednesday morning Bev and I were listening to "Hoebee in the morning" on the radio when Hoebee announced that if we called the station we might win tickets to Howard Livingston's show on Thursday night. I called and won! So...we borrowed the car again and drove down last night to see Howard and the Mile Marker 24 Band. Laurie and Paul from "Verkennen" rode down to Key West with us to catch the sunset at Mallory Square. After the show, they joined us at Kelly's for nightcap.
The concert was held at the San Carlos Theater on Duval Street in old Key West. We had walked by the building many times without realizing that it was such a beautiful old theater. It was originally the auditorium of the first school in the Keys, and was built in 1871. Jose Marti' planned the Cuban Independence movement from the San Carlos.
The show was great. Howard was joined by a horn section, bringing the band to 8 pieces. It really added a "big band" element to Howard's usual "trop rock" sound. Jason on lead guitar and Dave on steel drum were in top form.
During the intermission, I got a chance to talk with Cindy, Howard's fiancee, and she told me that they read our blog! We bought Howard's new CD and after the show both Howard and Cindy signed it. Thanks, and congratulations on your engagement! (By the way, Howard, I'm going to steal a couple of songs off the new CD. I hope you don't mind.)
If you haven't yet heard Howard's music, you're missing out. Especially in these hard economic times, his brand of upbeat, happy tropical rock is a lot of fun. Just google "Howard Livingston" and you'll find his website. You can see the band's schedule and order CDs, etc.
Tonight we're going to the Marathon Community Theater to see a one man show about Flagler, the guy who built the "railroad that went to sea" and opened up the Keys for landlubbers.
Who knew retirement would keep a person so busy?

Dawn in Boot Key Harbor

Here are a couple of pictures of the beautiful, calm, quiet dawn we had here today. It's rare that the wind dies to this extent. There's almost always a breeze here, so this morning was a real treat.
This morning we also said goodbye to our friends Bette and Billy on "Inspiration." They left at dawn this morning bound for Ft. Meyers.

We're OK!

Some of you may have read in the news that a "freak storm" ripped through the Keys the other night. We made it through unscathed, but it was a little frightening. It wasn't as "freaky" as the papers may have led you to believe. We had 2 or 3 similar storms last winter in Key West.
The scary part was a report of a waterspout inside the harbor! I'm not sure it really was a waterspout but the sound that accompanied the onset of the storm was something out of a sci-fi movie. It sounded like tearing metal, or a banshee screaming. The boat spun around on its mooring and the dinghy got all twisted up in the mooring line, but other than that, no damage. It's nice to be attached to something that's screwed into the bedrock! The weather service confirmed 60 knot winds but nobody broke loose.
On a lighter note, Bev took a trip last month to see her granddaughter, Kahlenn, on her first birthday. Here are a few pics of Kahlenn and the family.