SAWFISH ENCOUNTER IN 7TH STREET CANAL! Yes, this fish was caught and released right across the street in the 7th Street Canal by Chris. Now I know you want to know how I got the picture. Chris and his family were eating dinner along side us at The Key Colony Inn tonight and flashing around the picture on Chris' cellphone. I asked him to email me the picture, and there, you have it! They had called around to several restaurants to find out if the fish was edible! All the restaurants said they had never heard of it, and didn't know until they called Fishtales, who told them it is an endangered species, if they brought it in they could be arrested. At least someone around here knows something about fishing laws.
Now, for a short science lesson about sawfish. They are actually a species of ray. Their saw or snout allows them to feel movements of distant animals and sense heartbeats of buried prey. They eat small fish like mullet, crabs, or shrimp. They can live in both fresh and salt water. They can use their saw as a defense mechanism, so I guess young Chris is lucky to have all of his appendages left for dining this evening.
By the way, they have a early bird special at Key Colony Inn, $11.95, your choice of several entrees, a glass of wine, salad, veg, bread,dessert, and coffee, we had the Dolphin Del Mar. Very good!

Congratulations to Carl and Dana Selin for identifying the emblem on Seapoint Condo. I guess it was a little difficult since most of us walk and ride around the west end of the island daily.

Now for sure you will recognize this condo. I took this photo last week, as you can see, progress seems very slow, but they are still working. I took the photo from across the street and a lady came up, I would assume the manager; I don't think she was too happy about me taking a picture. I cheerfully said, "Looks like they are making progress!" She mumbled something about how slow it is going due to workers who do the wrong thing first and have to do things over again, and windows that don't get delivered. Will those people ever get to move back into their condos? It sure is a mess over there. Happiness is living in a condo with minimal spalling damage that is being repaired, and windows instead of plywood.

These bananas were very visible on 7th Street. I wouldn't dare pick them, but someone else did. Maybe the house next door, they are still here. We have some bananas here at The Cay, but they are very well hidden, and that's a good thing! I'm not telling where they are, and when they get just a little bit riper...they are mine!

This is just how it looks down here now. The water has cleared up, the beach is empty, frigate birds are in the sky. Come on down! The water is toasty!

It's a Blogger Photo Contest!
The first person to correctly identify the location of this picture wins a cup of Cuban coffee and a donut (did you hear that, Carl, donut) on our deck...that's The Cay deck, yes, that means you must come down here sooner or later to claim your prize. This is something that you would see on your morning walk or ride around Key Colony Beach. Send in your answer by posting a comment or by email.

Cat Nap Interrupted!

I saw this cat on 12th Street during my morning bike ride, and said to myself, "Too bad I don't have my camera, that cat will never be here when I get back." Wrong, wrong, wrong; when I returned there he was, still asleep. What a life, nice soft top convertible on an expensive car, and a sunny morning. This cat knows how to pick a place for a snooze. I'll bet he'll get back to his nap as soon as I am gone.

Have you seen the new dock at Sunset Park? It went up quickly and is a beautiful spot to stand and look out on the ocean. It is called an observation dock, however, there is a small sign that says that fishing is allowed for now, as long as fishermen keep it clean and clear for others to use. Maybe we will have to get a bucket of shrimp and try it out one of these evenings. So far, we have seen only a couple of fishermen there, but it could get popular if a) any fish are caught, or b) weekenders from the mainland find out about it.

You will NOT see this sign on Key Colony Beach. Around here, people have been known to aim for iguanas with their cars. I have heard that some traps have been set on the island, but not at The Cay. I am not sure where they take the trapped iguanas, and really, I don't care, as long as it is far, far away. I have seen fewer iguanas here at The Cay. The only thing worse than a manatee swimming up to you in the ocean would be the sight of four green legs and a tail swimming past you in the pool. Now THAT would make me swim quickly to the edge and jump out.

Anybody want to swim in our hot tub? I took this photo at 5:30 this afternoon, and that's my lovely assistant, Warren, holding the evidence. The temp was perfect for Warren's pool walk, but too hot for my swim - I swam the ocean -well, not the whole thing, but you know what I mean. For all you ocean swimmers who keep track of temperatures: The ocean was 86 at 8AM, and 90 at 5 PM. The water has really cleared up, beautiful for swimming or noodling!

We have some beautiful flowers around Key Colony Beach right now. This is plumeria, also called frangipani. These flowers are the ones that are used to make Hawaiian leis. They have a very fragrant scent and come in white, pink, and red also. The park across the street has this beautiful yellow tree with a bird of paradise right below it. The royal poinciana is also blooming now, but I don't see many around Key Colony. We see these huge bright orange flowered trees on our way through Islamorada and Key Largo.

'Tis the season to prepare, prepare, prepare, and then hope for the best. This is our recycled seawall which we hope will keep our deck in one piece this year. It's made of square concrete blocks that were leftovers from a dock being put in on Coury Drive, pieces of concrete from the spalling work, and the large rocks that were at water's edge. The concrete that they are piping in should cement it all together.