“It's the working, the working, just the working life.” – Bruce Springsteen

 

 

September 7, 2020

  “It's the working, the working, just the working life.” – Bruce Springsteen

Labor Day. Traditionally it marks the end of summer and the beginning of the fall season, back to school and here locally it is the weekend that hosts one of my favorite annual events, Key West Brewfest. This being the crazy untraditional year thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic, everything is off kilter and out of whack. It certainly doesn’t seem like the end of summer as time has seemed weird throughout this health crisis. Brewfest, like most of the social events that we would normally be participating in, has been canceled. This marks the second year in a row as last year it was an approaching hurricane that caused the event to be canceled.

 

 

 

 

This year all cancelations are due to Covid-19 and this is just the latest in what has been the ongoing complete rearranging of life due to the current and on-going situation. And it is on-going, even though many people seem to believe that the danger has past and some restrictions have begun to be pulled back and eased up. Locally the new case count has dropped to its lowest point since June. But the numbers are still alarming and the disappointment over some events being canceled is nothing compared to the suffering of so many.

 

 

There have now been 6,276,421 confirmed cases in the United States with a stunning number who have died due to the virus 188,941. Conspiracy theorists try to argue that the actual number of deaths is actually somewhere around 6,000 because the vast majority of people who have perished have had some sort of preexisting condition, which they contend is the real cause of death. That of course is ridiculous on the face of it as all those people would still be alive if not for this virus. Locally the numbers are 1,764 cases in Monroe County with 798 of those in Key West and holding at 16 people locally who have died from Covid.

 

 

 

The start of the school year has been one that is controversial and being handled differently all across the country in response to the virus threat. Locally schools started last month with only virtual classes and no in person learning. That ends as of tomorrow as students begin returning to attend classes in person on something of a staggered schedule. Other places have returned to in person learning from the start of the school year to mixed results. Many colleges are reporting outbreaks and clusters of infections among students who have had a hard time following the social distancing guidelines.

 

 

My sister Michele, is a teaching assistant in Indianapolis and they have been back in class with her students while our friend Dakota who is a teacher in New Mexico has been only doing virtual classes. Struggling to know what is the right way to handle the situation has been tough on all parents, students, teachers and administrators and I have no clue what is best but wish all involved that they stay safe and healthy.

We have been enjoying the quiet of early September in Key West. It is usually one of the quietest and nicest times here in Key West and it seems even more so with the Covid situation. We have been busy enjoying socially responsible outings and small gatherings with a few trusted friends, all while taking the precautions seriously. We ventured down to the waterfront to watch sunset with Jack one night this week. It was beautiful serene and quiet with only a few people around what might otherwise have been a crowded sunset.

 

We also selected an open-air restaurant to venture out to dinner for the first time in ages with our friend Gae. We chose the Southernmost Beach Café, which is open air and right on the beach and coincidently is the spot where Kathy and I got married back in 2003 with Gae as our officiant. It was a wonderful dinner with only a few tables, nicely spaced being utilized in the restaurant and the food was really excellent.

 

 

 

The highlight of the week was a wonderful invitation from our friend Eric and his daughter Rosie to go boating on what was a beautiful, flat-calm, high visibility late summer day. We met them at the Stock Island Yacht Club and boarded their boat for a trip out to Western Dry Rocks which is near the western edge of the local reef tract and typically never busy as it is too far for the charter boats to visit.

 

 

 

 

I new it was going to be a special day right away as we saw a Manatee mother and baby while heading out of the marina for the ride out to the reef. When we got there the conditions were beautiful and there was great visibility, tons of beautiful sea life including turtles and a spotted eagle ray and we enjoyed an awesome day hanging out with our friends and enjoying the beautiful waters.

 

Eric did a little spear fishing and shot a nice sized Mutton Snapper which he kindly fileted and shared half with us when we got back to the dock. It was a pretty amazing day and helped take the sting out of missing so many beloved activities due to the virus, we are just doing different yet still wonderful and enjoyable, safe activities.