Key West Lou / CRAZY WEATHER

Weather the past few days has been unpredictable.

When I went out last night, it was sprinkling a bit. Not bad at all. What really struck me, it was cold. Understand cold down here to those of us who live here is the low 70’s. I am not sure what it was, but it was cold. I could have used a sweat shirt instead of a short sleeved sport shirt.

Brady’s was my destination. Friday night meant pierogis. Also and more importantly, Corolla. I have not seen her since January, though she kept abreast of my progress via email and phone.

Brady’s was packed. Half the people dressed for cold weather. Heavy tops, long pants. Men and women. The talk was the weather.

It began raining. Pouring. Heavy. I waited. Wanted to get home. Finally said screw it and went for my car in the downpour. Got soaked, obviously. Hopped into a warm shower when I got home.

I want to stay with the weather for a moment.

Last night was Goombay. The first of two evenings. A Bahamian street fair. Had to have been rained out. Half the people in Brady’s were there because they had been rained out at Goombay.

I woke at 3 this morning. Could not get back to sleep right away. Did some research for this blog.

Checked Key West weather first. Major warning. A gale approaching. I have not heard the word gale ever here. Hurricanes and tornados yes, gale no. Even worse, the exact time it would arrive uncertain. Could be anytime till 7 sunday evening.

A map with where the gale would strike was not encouraging. Right over Key West!

I finally got back to sleep.

This morning overcast, threatening rain. Not the problem. Cold! Like 75 degrees. Non Keys persons never understand. That is cold for us. To me, 74 is the cutoff line.

I went grocery shopping about 9. Colder than I thought. I was wearing a sport shirt. Should have been a sweat shirt. Froze the whole time I was out.

Checked the weather report when I returned re the gale. What gale? Absolutely no mention.

Key West, my friends!

Too many people last night at Brady’s. Drank a couple of Diet Pepsis and enjoyed a plate of pierogis. Enjoyed the most seeing Corolla again. She came from behind the bar to hug and kiss me.

Robert Robertson was to have been executed in Texas last night for the alleged killing of a 2 year old child. He has been on death row 22 years. He received a last minute reprieve with 90 minutes to go.

His case a strange one. Texas a tough out of the ordinary state in many respects. He was charged with killing the child when he threw her up in the air and caught her several times. Like all of us have done with our children. If you didn’t, I did with mine.

Texas charged and convicted him of “shaken baby syndrome.” There is a theory, well established today, that tossing a baby up in the air and catching the infant can cause brain damage leading to death. The Texas charge not a criminal act in many states.

I ran into shaken baby syndrome when I was a young attorney in the mid 1960’s. The issue had to do with child custody. Parents divorced. The wife now wanted sole custody. A trial on the issue of who was best qualified to care for the child.

I represented the former husband/father.

The wife hit us with shaken baby syndrome. I was lost. Had never even heard the term. I doubt the judge had either.

The wife was loaded for bear. Even had a professor from the Syracuse Medical School to testify the act could cause brain damage.

The wife of course won custody.

The fact pattern is what Robertson faced in Texas and for which he was sentenced to be executed for having killed the child.

In the 1800’s, there were not a lot of nice public parks in the United States. So where did families go to picnic and play? The local cemetery. Packed a lunch, ate on top of the dead, kids played among the tombstones.

No one thought it was weird.

No politics today. We all need a break.

Seventeen days to go. There will be a deluge of information ahead.

Enjoy your day!

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