10 Things I Learned in November

 

1. Another name for US 1 in the Florida Keys, from Miami to Key West, is the “Overseas Highway.” It crosses the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Strait. Route 1 runs 2,369 miles from Fort Kent, Maine to Key West, Florida, and it’s the longest north-south road in the United States.

 

 

2. Roosters (and their ladies) run rampant in Key West. Pioneers and Cuban refugees brought their poultry with them, but when it became easier to go to the market than raise them, many families turned them loose. Some roosters were freed when cockfighting was outlawed. The now feral fowl pretty much own the highways and byways in spite of occasional “Chicken Wars.”

3. I often see non-vested dogs in Publix. After loving on one in the check-out line, I asked an employee if they really were are allowed. She explained there were so many tourists, and I surmised it was too hot to make them sit in cars while their people shopped. But apparently it is against state law, and employees are simply looking the other way–when they aren’t loving on the animals themselves. Who wants to get into a discussion over who might need their dog for an invisible issue. We also often see pups lapping from restaurant-served bowls of water in outdoor dining areas.

4. Always take drawbridges into account when you travel. Some go up on a schedule. Some as needed.

 

5. Always take traffic lights into account when you travel. They aren’t necessarily timed, and a red light stays red for a. long. time.

6. Hills in Florida usually mean one thing. Camouflaged crud, i.e., garbage.

 

7. The mortgage approval process these days is a nightmare. ‘Nuff said.

8. Our new house (well, hopefully it will be our house within a couple of weeks) is only 20 minutes from the entrance to the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge in the northern portion of the Everglades. Yay! And less than half an hour from the beach. Yay again!

 

9. There are a whole passel of poets I never heard of who have been persecuted for refusing to be stilled. Read about them here at Tweetspeak Poetry.

10. For the first year since I can remember, we were not able to go north for Thanksgiving. We spent it here in Florida with our son’s family while our daughter headed for my sister’s. But my niece is more creative than I’ve given her credit for. Though things may have gotten a little out of control, she may have instituted a new tradition–family on a stick.