Human Interaction

Mary Gauthier

May 11, 2021

Human Interaction

Now that Kathy and I are both fully vaccinated, we have begun to feel more comfortable reentering normal society with less anxiety about catching or spreading the coronavirus. We do have a bit of reentry anxiety and are taking slow steps with know friends and maintaining the precautions that we have been, even though the Florida Governor has removed all statewide Covid 19 restrictions. The pandemic is still going strong, as the total number of fully vaccinated individuals slowly creeps up, the numbers of sick and dying are still increasing, though not at the pace they once were.

To date the United States has had 33,481,455 confirmed cases with 598,520 deaths. In Monroe County there have been 6,960 cases with 3,252 of those in Key West and a total of 49 deaths. Though I saw a report recently that suggested that the official tallies may be seriously under counted, let’s just say it is at least this bad.

Still ,it feels so good to be able to just get back out and rejoin the world and to see and enjoy hanging out with friends at someplace that is not our yard. We started by accepting an invitation from our friends Nadene and Trevor and their daughter Meredith to spend an evening at the newest island hotspot, the Lost Beach Island Farm. The Farm at lost beach is actually on Stock Island and has just recently opened their expansive waterfront location.

Located at the terminus of a dirt road on Stock Island, at the moment the place transforms you into what was the Key West of Old. Designed a true working farm that raises bees, chickens and eventually pigs and goats, The Island Farm is currently hosting limited availability beachfront bonfires with live music on weekend nights with further big plans such as more activities and even a summer camp for kids. It is a pretty cool set-up as it is and we shared a nice evening hanging out at the fire with our friends. It did get a little buggy, but that is to be expected since it is sort of located in the middle of a swampy mangrove shoreline.

We were with more friends for a night out eating at an actual downtown restaurant, albeit outdoors as we joined our friends and former Key West residents Dennis and Allly and two of their kids, Elizabeth and Greg who were here for a wedding from their home in Lantana, Texas. Ally used to teach with Kathy back in the day at the Key West Preschool Co-op and it is always so fun to see them. We had a great dinner and played tourists by watching the sunset and buskers at Mallory Square. 

We were out at dinner again later in the week having a wonderful meal with our friends Tom , Greta, Jean and Caitlin and her girlfriend Kat at Kaya restaurant downtown to celebrate the graduation from the University of South Florida by our friend Caitlin. The food was absolutely fantastic and it was a great time recognizing Caitlin’s achievement.

Greta and Tom also joined us at our first live music show at the Barrel House at the Perry Hotel for an awesome outdoor show by one of our favorite singer/songwriters, Mary Gauthier. Our friends Bonnie and Bonnie and Gae also joined us as I purchased two pods, each of which could hold up to four people for the show.

Jaimee Harris a singer/songwriter that we were unfamiliar with opened the show and she was terrific and beautiful voice and some amazing heartfelt songs, she remained on stage throughout Mary’s performance as well and it made for an amazing evening of live music and it felt so great to be back seeing a live show in person.

Finally, I also made a return to art openings when I attended the opening show at the Studios of Key West that featured two artist friends of ours, Letty Nowak and Kristyn LaMoia. It was a timed entrance and limited people allowed in at a time, but I am so glad that I made the effort as it is a brilliant show. It will be up all month and I would encourage anyone in Key West to head over and check it out.

https://www.islandfarmhoney.com/