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Fort Taylor Pyrate Invasion, Dec 2013 - Key West, FL

Chapter 11th: Monday, December 9th. A bit about tear-down, although not very much because it's just not that interesting; Dropping the surgical stuff off at the UPS store; Dinner at Café Solé featuring a discussion with a fellow bachelor; Musing on smart phones and maps; An evening at Deadeye's place; Of Darwin; An assembled profile of Calamity Grace; A look 'round Deadeye's place and Walking back to the condo.

Photo: Mission
Becky and Bucky, Still in Blissful Captivity Even with 12 hours of the dreamless behind me, I was still not feeling all that great. But I climbed on my bike and made my way over to the fort. There they were busily tearing down the encampment, so I pitched in. I can't point to any particular thing of interest - it was the usual routine of rolling ropes and folding canvas and putting things into vehicles and so forth. (The photos below bear this out. Tear down is a mundane, relatively solemn task.) Even Becky and Bucky had to be removed from their perch. They still held hands, romantical until the end. (Mostly because I'd wired their hands together.)

I did have a chance to chat briefly with Deadeye and his crew which is when I learned that he was taking some folks on a tour tomorrow (those folks were Doriana and Kevin - see the previous chapter.) He told me that he was going to show them how some of the fish laughed at his moustache. He also planned to catch a shark, which he explained was fun. (I'm not sure why that would be fun, but I decided to take him at his word.)

Photo: Mission Skylar and Poppa Folding a Tent

Photo: Mission DB & Anna Maria Fold Up Shop

Photo: Mission Harry, Pearl & Poppa Resting

Photo: Cobbled together
The Skeleton At the Key West UPS Store William and I delivered madPete to the airport just in time for him to have his flight delayed so that he wound up on standby for the following flight hours later, completely missing his connection. I felt bad for him.

We also mailed my box o' surgical crap at the UPS store. Now, I want it specifically noted here that my not-Captain and Quartermaster parked as far away from the door as possible and stayed in the car while I lugged the 70 pound box to the UPS store. (Even after I asked him to get the door.)

In his defense, he had to call his wife, there was no closer spot and I had made him go back to the condo because I'd forgotten the shipping label by accident.)

The girl in the UPS store couldn't have had 30 pounds on that box, so I offered to lift it onto the scale for her. I later learned that she was a martial arts expert who can throw a man three times her weight as if he were made of whipped cream. (Alright, that's not really true. "…as if he were made of mashed potatoes" would be more accurate.)

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Photo: Mission - The Wildly Christmas Lit House on the Way to Café Solé The Pirates of the Dark Rose had invited Keith, Leigh, William and me to dinner at Duffy's. The plan began sounding more and more convoluted as various people said they had to finish this and do that before dinner and it was estimated that we would be heading off to eat around 8pm which is awful late for me. (The insulin pump is specifically set up for meals at certain times. You can stretch things a bit, but pushing dinner several hours past the normal time leads to a miserable night of fighting with my blood sugar.) On top of that, while Duffy's is a nice steak and seafood place, it's not my Café Solé. So I grabbed a book, told William I was striking out on my own and strolled off to my favorite restaurant. This also gave me a chance to get a photo of the most outrageously Christmas lit house on the island.

Photo: Mission The Wildly Christmas Light House as Seen From the Corner.

Photo: Mission The Front (The Santa Rows That Boat He's In)

At Café Solé, I happened to be seated next to another gentleman who, like me, was dining alone. We naturally got to chatting. He was an electrical engineer like me who had gotten into computers, also like me. He hadn't taken the final step of going into mechanical engineering like I had, however. "That's a long way from home, isn't it?" he asked. I explained that I liked mechanical engineering because you could see what you were working on; electrical engineering is rather esoteric. "You mean you can't see the electricity flowing around a circuit?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye.

Photo: Borrowed - The Skeleton Returns! (Yep, means I have no photos for this.) He lived somewhere north in Florida – it may have been a city near Orlando – and he was retired. "Key West is a nice place, you can walk to several good restaurants and see interesting people everywhere you go. What more do you need?" I asked him why he didn't move down here and he explained that he had lived where he was at for a long time. "Besides, I spend four months of the year traveling and I come here at least 3 or 4 times a year. That's enough for me." He was headed for St. Martin's next.

During one of our conversations, the waitress had given him a dessert menu to consider. She returned to see that he hadn't even glanced at it. So she scolded me for keeping him from his menu. She was joking. (I think.) He didn't mention any family and it occurred to me that when I got to his age, I wouldn't be at all upset if I wound up in his situation.

Having finished my meal, I settled up and headed out. Scarlett Jai had mentioned that some of them were getting together at Deadeye's place, "very low key, just walk in the door." Scarlett told me the address, which I actually remembered, so I plugged it into my phone and followed the directions.

Photo: Mission
Sideways - NOT Allowed! (I'll bet a lot of you hear an
irritating buzzer in your head right now.) Not to wander too far off topic here, but I had only had my smart phone for about a month at this point. It has a nice, Google-based directional app that allows you to select what mode of transport you're taking, including walking. The only trouble is that it wants to keep the map pointed north on your screen. This makes perfect sense when you're driving, but it's a huge pain in the neck when you're walking. Every time I'd try to turn to the phone so that the map showed the roads in the same direction I was walking, the map would either turn to point north, or power down the display because it assumed I must no longer looking at it when it's upside down. Is it reasonable to assume you'd want a walking map oriented so that you can see the streets are in front of you or is it just me?

I finally arrived at Deadeye's place where the door was indeed standing open, per house policy. (Deadeye told me that even when he was inside, he liked to feel he was outside.)  The couch was gone from the front yard, which was a huge disappointment to me personally. I strode up the sidewalk and went inside.

Photo: Deadeye with Mission's Camera
Unretouched Photo of Scarf Tying by Deadeye Deadeye was on a couch (not the couch) and a girl who goes by the name Darwin was sitting in a chair kitty-corner to him. He got up and shook my hand and I sat down next to him on the couch. He then moved across the way to a wooden stool. "I don't mean to make you move." I said. "It's OK. I can't see you when I'm that close to you." This is why they call him Deadeye - he's legally blind.

During the weekend I had asked him to take a photo of one of his crew (Anastasia) tying a scarf on me. He tried his best to do so, although he advised me to check the photos because he had no idea if we were actually in them or not. At one point I had also taken a photo of him, which I then tried to show him on the tiny screen on the back of the camera. I can hardly see the screen in the daylight; I'm sure he can't see it. "But I look anyway," he pointed out. "It's just a natural thing to do."

Photo: Mission
Darwin at Deadeye's (Note the Ever-Open Door) Chatting with Darwin, I learned that she was from Massachusetts. She had come down because she was friends with Mad Maeve and Calamity Grace. She explained that she had known Maeve for 18 years (she was 25, so that was significant.) She also revealed that she had just this morning been laid off from her job via text message. The message suggested it had something to do with a fellow worker having seniority, regrets on the part of the management, and how they would follow her future career with interest. She decided then and there to stay on the island because she had so many friends here.

This is such a odd way to exist that I almost felt like I was conversing with an alien at this point. Many of the young people I encountered who live here had a similar attitude, just living life from day-to-day, having a job, losing a job, not worrying about their next job until it was necessary.

Photo: Poppa Ratsey Darwin as a Pirate at Fort Taylor

Photo: Poppa Ratsey Darwin at Fort Taylor (Gypsy?)

Photo: Poppa Ratsey Darwin at Fort Taylor 2

Speaking of Calamity Grace, those of you with long memories may recall reading in one of the previous Surgeon's Journals how
Photo: Poppa Ratsey
Calamity Grace, The Happy Pirate she gave Deadeye a laser to be used when pointing out the stars. I recall thinking at the time that she might be an interesting person to profile in the Journal. I mentioned this and both Darwin and Deadeye agreed that this really wasn't her style; she was very shy. Darwin told me both she and Maeve were shy, although my experience of Mad Maeve last year didn't bear this out. Introverted, yes. Shy, no.

I decided to quiz the assembled and put together a profile of Calamity Grace despite her not being there and (possibly) being shy about being profiled. Scarlett Jai (who had showed up during this discussion) agreed that Grace was rather shy and someone even noted that she had "chronic stage fright."

Calamity Grace had originally lived with Maeve and Darwin in Massachusetts. Mad Maeve was the first one of their group to come down to Key West and stay, which seems like quite a brave thing for an introvert to do. She convinced Calamity Grace to join her, which (as I understand it) took a bit of doing. Grace finally decided to come down and see what Maeve was going on about.
Photo: Poppa Ratsey
Calamity Grace in Camp She got a 3 month temporary job in Key West and met a guy during her stay. She eventually married this guy, whose name, if I ever heard it, I have forgotten. (And I'm not saying I heard it.)

Everyone concurred that the pirate name Calamity Grace fit her impeccably. As Darwin explained it, "She can trip over anything, no matter how small. Sometimes she trips over nothing at all." With that bit of Dr. Seuss out of their system, someone explained that Grace was a perfectionist, "but not in that negative, picky way that perfectionists often have." Scarlett agreed, explaining that Calamity Grace was always cheerful and happy. Either Deadeye or Scarlett Jai said they were trying to teach Calamity Grace to sword fight, "and it's terrifying!"

Deadeye added that Grace had learned to make mead recently and had brought four different flavors to the Festival to share with her crew. They then began to review the various flavors, none of which I can remember. So there you have your first ever Surgeon's Journal profile of someone I have never communicated with at all. Amazing, isn't it?

Photo: Poppa Ratsey Calamity Grace, Always Smiling

Photo: Poppa Ratsey Calamity Grace Churning Butter in a Leisurely Fashion

Photo: Poppa Ratsey Calamity Grace Slicing Potatoes

I wanted to photograph Deadeye's workshop while I was there. The last time I had been here, my camera battery died and I had failed to get photos of the cool stuff in his back yard. (Deadeye told me he spent most of his time at home in his back yard because it was his workshop.) It seems to me he had had lights out there last time (although I may be wrong). He did not have them today, so I took a few flash photos for posterity's sake and we called it good.

One of them was of his white snake named Jake and one was of his work area. He also showed me his outdoor shower - which was very near where Becky had been spending her time. (This may explain the mildew on her dress. Hopefully Bucky's clothes will become suitably mildewed as well.)

Photo: Mission Jake, The Albino Mae Snake

Photo: Mission Deadeye's Tarped, Outdoor Work Area

Photo: Mission Showering in Paradise

Deadeye offered me a bottle of very nice rum that someone had given him for his birthday, which I accepted. It turns out Deadeye doesn't really drink and this was from several birthdays ago. The group of us talked about the event, particularly how impressed the park people were with our event who had come down from Tallahassee to see how we did things.

The conversation kind of meandered around after that. I asked Deadeye about various things in his living room (for it was chock-a-block full of interesting items.

Photo: Mission Deadeye's Rum

Photo: Mission A Very Large Sword!

Photo: Mission Scarlett With the Rum

Photo: Mission Pics (The Mercury Plans Are At the Bottom)

I noticed the Mercury plans or draughts that William Pace had made for our crew on Deadeye's wall. This caused him to produce a roll of D-sized prints which included the plans for a ship that he told me the name of (but which I naturally forgot.) Deadeye explained that he kept meaning to show them to William, but always forgot to bring them to camp. So he showed him to me. You can see them below right. If you click on that image, you will see the original sized photo which can be magnified to show a great deal of the detail.

Photo: Mission Deadeye Shows Scarlett Jai and Me the Ship Plans.

Photo: Mission The Ship Plans - (Click to Open a Large Version in a New Tab)

Scarlett Jai was super-tired and she eventually asked to use Deadeye's shower. About that time, my insulin pump ran out of insulin. It was clearly time to leave. Having a nice long walk home would probably help keep my blood sugar in check. After adding a new insulin cartridge and resetting the pump, I was pleased to find my sugar was just about where I wanted it. With nothing pressing to do, I arranged a tropical blanket as a large pillow on the condo's couch and started working on the Journal on my laptop. William found me in the state you see below when he arrived some time later. It was a pleasant evening.

Photo: William Pace - Mission Crashed in His Nest on the Condo Couch

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