Deceleration

January 28, 2011

Susan Werner



Richard, Howard & Kathy

Deceleration

This week marked the first time in months that we didn’t really have a lot to do, not that there was not stuff going on, that has become a constant in Key West, but that we were really not committed to something and we could just take a few moments and lift off of the accelerator and enjoy a more simple pace. Coming on the heels of two busy, busy weeks of the Key West Literary Seminar, it was wonderful to kick back and pick and choose to simply watch some TV and lay about the house.





This is not to say that we didn’t get out a little; after all there is never a shortage of activities, but the pace of our social selections scaled way back this week and will on in to next week as well.

Lido Reunion



There were a couple of great events that I was already committed to and one art opening that I simply could not miss, but other than that it was a lot of time at home, cleaning and sorting (we are finally hosting a long overdue yard sale this Saturday), watching tv, eating at home, playing with the pets, watching over the two hens that live in the yard and their 23 newly hatched chicks and generally keeping a low profile.

Jenny & Ashley



The art opening was held at The Studios of Key West during Walk on White and it celebrated my friend Jenny Zeller’s 15 year career as an artist in Key West. Jenny is one of the most gifted and artistic photographers in Key West. We both took most of the photography classes offered back in the day at FKCC and she was easily one of the best 2 or 3 students that I ever shared a class with, her work has gotten nothing but better since then and her packed show was a testament to her skill. Her talent is obviously inherent as we both took the exact same classes, yet my photos still have the look of a Photo 101 student, while Jenny has become one of the best artists in town.

Lisa, Elena & Ashley





I was back at the Studios of Key West the next night, to photograph the latest in their Old Town/ New Folk music series, the wonderful and talented Susan Werner. I was not familiar with her, though she did appear at Folks Fest one year while we were there, somehow we missed it. It is too bad because if her performance there was anything like the stunning show that she put on for the crowd at the Armory, we missed a great show.





Werner plays a mix of folk, gospel, jazz, torch songs and country-tinged rock, all with a wonderful sense of humor and warmth that really won over the crowd. It was one of the best of a long line of amazing shows that Jay Scott and the folks at the Studios have hosted over the last three years.

Diana Sutton & Richard

Njada, Kris, Howard & Richard

The RPM Crew

The other event that we attended this week was the un-sung hero luncheon at the Casa Marina sponsored by the Community Foundation of the Florida Keys. This luncheon honors a single volunteer of the year from each of the many non-profit organizations in the Florida Keys. We attend each year as RPM Nautical always selects a volunteer to honor. This year our honoree was Richard McColley who watches over our Key West based vessel the R/V Robo over the summer. I was also fortunate enough to be selected by the Key West Literary Seminar as their representative volunteer, which was really nice of them.

500

January 19, 2011

Jane Hirshfield

Crab Feast



500

Welcome to my 500th blog post spectacular! It has taken me just a few months shy of five years to reach the 500 post mark, a milestone that was certainly never intended when we started this blog to document our summer-long cross country trip back in 2006.

Elizabeth Berg

Gael Greene, Bich Minh Nguyen & Madhur Jaffrey

It was begun humbly enough at the suggestion of our niece and nephew who wanted to keep track of our whereabouts as we journeyed across the country. Somehow it caught on, first among friends and family and now with a much larger audience that somehow manages to stumble onto the site from around the globe.

Kate, Bich, Adam, Molly & Elizabeth

Preparing for the panel in the writer's room

Without any promotion or advertising, this blog averages around 60 unique visitors a day throughout the year, with my annual coverage of the Key West Wiener walk easily my most popular post of the year, snaring thousands of hits from the masses of wiener-dog lovers who follow the happenings of their favorite canines with the devotion of a zealot.

Jane

Roy Blount Jr. & Elizabeth Berg



I had every intention of ceasing the blog at the conclusion of our trip, but for some crazy reason, people seem to enjoy it and I had numerous requests to continue, so here we are almost 5 years later, still going on about our crazy life here on this small island that we call home. Kathy has been hinting around that perhaps it is time to give it up; she is sometimes taken aback when people seem to know all about what we have been up to. She also argues that I only post about the fun things that we do and that people have a misconception that our lives are more fun and glamorous than the blog lets on. Most people, I say, have little interest in the mundane details of who cleaned the cat box or what we had for dinner (unless we ate out).

Mas

Roy Blount Jr., Gael Greene, Billy Collins & Bich Minh Nguyen

For now, it is not too much of a hassle, so I will continue posting. I try to only focus on the more positive aspects of what is happening around us, staying away from topics that are too subjective or personal, like politics, religion and the like- there are plenty of options out there to delve into such things. I also try to post mostly flattering photos of people, places and events. The photography is to me, much more interesting than any of the written part anyway. In 500 posts, I have only had two requests to remove a photo that someone did not like (which I did immediately).



Kevin Young

Roy Blount Jr.

This post will wrap up the 29th Key West Literary Seminar, which was a fantastic success. The second session was almost equally as enjoyable as the first, which is not often the case. The writers were a real joy to get to see and hear and even more fun to hang out with at the various social events that they almost all attended (another rarity).

Billy Collins



The seminar wrapped up on Sunday afternoon, with a final free and open to the public session, that was well attended and enjoyable and then it was suddenly over. A few of us marked the occasion with a champagne toast on the San Carlos stage and then headed out to the official wrap party at the amazing home of seminar patrons John Padgett and Jacob Dekker. The party was another perfect evening as a weary, but happy staff, crew, board and panelists all joined in the wonderful party celebrating another great seminar.



Revati & Shakti

Sweetpea

The unofficial wrap party, was held the next night at the seminar’s Love Lane compound, where the core volunteers and staff enjoyed a crab feast , pizza, beer and good company as we were all finally able to simply relax and enjoy another job well done.