Key West, a Snowstorm, and Connections.

I recently returned from Key West, where I had the good or bad fortune to be, depending on your point of view, when the big snowstorm hit the East Coast. I was there doing a small consulting job for two days. Cathy was going to fly down on Thursday, but then our horse-sitter cancelled because of the impending storm (rightfully so). We found someone else to watch them, but didn’t feel right having their first time horse/housesitting at our place to be during Snowzilla, so Cathy made the decision to stay behind. At that time, we knew there was going to be a storm, but the jury was still out on how big. We lined up a couple of neighborhood connections to help Cathy if she needed it.

I flew to Florida with the folks I was supporting on Tuesday, and we had two good days of planning and “team building”. Then on Friday and Saturday, as the storm was hitting the DC area, we had time to enjoy Key West a bit more. It’s a bit hard to totally enjoy Key West, while your wife is back home getting hammered by a snowstorm, but I did my best….. Hemingway’s House, the Truman “Little White House”, Mallory Square, and of course Duvall Street and it’s environs – Hogs Breath Saloon, The Green Parrot, Ricks, and many other places. I was particularly interested in trying Sloppy Joe’s, and Captain Tony’s because of their Hemingway connections. I really enjoy his books, and wanted to find a way to see some of his past.

 Sloppy Joe’s is one of the places that Hemingway hung out at a lot. Except that it moved a half block away a few years after he was in Key West. It still has a lot of Hemingway “stuff”, but the original location is now Captain Tony’s. Captain Tony’s is a true dive (in all the best sense of the word), and you could picture Hemingway there, drinking martinis, daiquiris, absinthe, gin and tonics, or whatever. I enjoyed a couple drinks in both places, and was happy to make a Hemingway connection.

On Monday, I flew back to DC, and on Tuesday, continued the snow clean up. A neighbor had plowed us out, but there was still quite a bit to do, both on our farm, and to help some other friends. By that afternoon, I was out clearing a gate in the back field. I was taking a break, when Bud, our 84 year old neighbor stopped by to see if I needed any help. We talked a bit, and he asked how I liked Key West (evidently most of the neighborhood knew I was down there – funny how word travels). I told him I enjoyed it, and hoped to get back there. Bud then surprised me and told me of his own connection to Key West. In the early 1950s , when he was in his 20s and in the Navy he was stationed there, and really enjoyed it. Once, before his wife got there, he worked his way up Duval Street hitting every bar, then crossed the street, and went back down Duval sampling all the bars on that side. He said he doesn’t know to this day how he got back to the base that night.

His wife Lois, and their baby arrived a few weeks later and they settled in not far from Duval Street. Lois would take the baby out in a stroller everyday. As she walked around, there was always an older gentleman outside one of the bars who would talk with her, and admire her baby. It happened everyday and they became acquaintances, chatting for a few moments before she continued her walk. Then one day, Bud and Lois went to the movies. This was when they still had shorts before the actual movie. As the short came on, it was about Hemingway, and Lois immediately realized that the man she had been talking with everyday outside the bar was none other than Papa himself. Bud and Lois both got to know him a bit after that, and he continued to admire their baby, as Lois took her daily walks.

I had to chuckle to myself. I was happy to connect with one of the places that Hemingway had frequented; it turned out that my neighbor Bud and his wife had the real connection 60 some years ago, when Bud was all of 22. If I hadn’t gone to Key West, I probably never would have heard the story of Bud, Lois, and Papa.

Connections are all around us, but so often we are unaware of their presence. I’m glad for all of the connections that revealed themselves this past weekend.