h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Big Pine Key, Florida - April 21, 2007

This morning a key deer wandered past the RV. They are an endangered species, about the size of a large dog. This one was a six-point buck. http://www.keysdirectory.com/keydeer/index.html

The RV park has the old time Keys ambiance I was hoping for… old trailers with strings of lobster trap floats and plastic palms as yard decorations

We went into Key West last night. You can count on seeing some odd things and people in Key West. We saw a lady pushing a white poodle in a baby carriage. Another in an electric car filled with stuffed flamingos. A drunken man with a missing front tooth invited us to go upstairs to see nude women. The sunset celebration on the pier had the traditional fire and glass eaters. Last night they were set up by the pier for a giant celebration of the Billfish Tournament.

Key West is known for its tolerance and its love and hate of feral chickens. They roam unhindered though the restaurants. We had some surprisingly bad margaritas and very good coconut shrimp. There were two roosters, several hens and half-dozen fluffy chicks eating scraps off the floor. http://keywestchickens.com/welcome.php

The reefs here are not what they were in the 1960s when I began diving here. The reefs are suffering from a bleaching effect. I think it is caused by pollutants and rising water temperature. Add to that several decades of diving pressure from dive boat anchors and millions of divers trampling the delicate coral and the results are sad. Of course, if you were seeing these reefs for the first time, you might think that they were very lovely. I have a three tank dive on Looe Key lined up for the morning, perhaps a shipwreck…
http://www.floridakeys.com/lowerkeys/looekey.htm

Here are some chicken pictures.
http://community.webshots.com/slideshow/558752693MixZzn

Blast and D***

I have just looked through your feral chickens twicem written you a long letter and then forgot to post it!1.

I shall confine myself to saying how marvellous the couple who were the most southernmost married couple looked. It was of a gentleman in glasses with a child bride!! who is quite devastating.

Well done. It was worth it I am sure.

Hope our day at Kew turns to be a feclicitous as yesterday and today have been. It rally is like summer.

Kind regards to you both,

Christiane Ar1 <schooloffish?

Feral chickens! What next?