To a great time!
Our time in the Keys this year was great. The highlights include a 45 minute encounter with ~ 24 porpoises, flats fishing, catching a huge ray, several barracuda, jack crevelles, Spanish mackerel, cero mackerel, some huge king mackerels, several bonnethead sharks, and a nice sand shark, sailing in the deep blue, sailing in thin water, sailing in light air, sailing in heavier breezes, well – sailing period, drunken afternoons in Key West, drunken afternoons sailing, drunken afternoons fishing, drunken evenings with good friends, a great 50th birthday, getting tan, snorkeling in crystal clear water over coral reefs, getting the shit scared out of me by a 7’ blacktip shark while snorkeling at Looe Key, seeing 18, 6 to 8 foot nurse sharks cruise together in about 5’ of water out at Looe key, feeding the tarpon at the Hungry Tarpon with my sister, checking the orchids out at the nurseries, hearing of Janet’s “scooter exploits with her Best Friend in the Whole Wide World”, drinking Stella Artois in Finnigan’s Wake and Bogart’s, sipping a fine single malt scotch after a meal of the finest lobster, scallops, and shrimp grilled to perfection, sipping the finest single malt scotch after a meal of “X” (insert – gumbo, mushroom ravioli, fettucini alfredo, savoy cabbage rolls, freshly shucked oysters and on and on), feeling a warm rain on your face while walking with a friend to get the daily paper and a Smirnoff Ice, and watching the marine Kirby swim out the the Raging Queen from Little Sand Island while Mamma Janet conveyed Rudy Jedi Master to the boat in a more dignified fashon. (Long sentence eh? Time for a breather from typing)
As you might have guessed I had a good time and the list above barely scratches the surface of the fun that was had. We even had fun on the few inclement days we were there – the rainy cool day where we all stayed indoors was a fruit smoothy daiquiri-fest and a communal building of the finest gumbo ever devised. But now it’s history and committed to my geriatric memory. But wait – We have pictures! I will post a few so you can look at them and recall being there (if you went) or sigh in abject envy (if you didn’t). I know I would!
We came home to a few small piles of snow around the property, here in New Castle, but no serious snow. I had the vaunted Antisnow Generator (AG) on a timer set to kick back on the day before we arrived. It worked like a charm! I didn’t want to have to pay for the power usage necessary to contain a type V singularity while I was gone. HAL dropped the singularity into N Space storage and power usage was negligible. However, Nicole Palmer has duly chastised me for my stinginess and the copious amount of snow that was allowed to invade the New Castle confines. Hey I am poor and maintaining the AG let alone powering it is a costly endeavor.
I am now looking forward to trout season, the Carbon House Road Rally, and our” Send the Assholes North Party” here at the house. All I have to do now is kick this godamn cold that at least had the good sense not to attack me while I was in the keys.
