Post-Labor Day Key West

Local kids have been back in school for three weeks, I haven't noticed too many tourists in my travels, and it generally rains several times a day. Welcome to September on the island. It is the quietest month, so slow that many restaurants and businesses close their doors for the entire month to do repairs and regroup before Fantasy Fest (easily the busiest week of the year) at the end of October. These rains come on strong! I will notice a dark cloud, see those first few large drops on the windshield, then BOOM! It will rain 'cats and dogs' but only for 20 minutes, if that. The sun comes back out until the next cloud passes. This time of year it may be pouring rain across the street or across town, but not where you are right now. The other morning I left my house to take the girls to school in sunshine, but by the time we passed the VFW on Roosevelt Boulevard it looked like we were driving into another world....gray, almost foggy, and lots of water. The rain comes down so fast that the streets will flood a little, and the parking lot at Publix is ankle-deep. The water doesn't hang around for long....it is quickly evaporated by our strong sunshine. You definitely get used to it and dress accordingly. I have those OluKai water-proof flip flops in every shade of the rainbow. (Unfortunately, after they get wet, they 'squeak' loudly when you walk, but it too is short lived. The other day I was walking around the halls at the girls' school and I seriously considered taking my shoes off so I didn't disturb the classes!) The rain clouds make for some truly amazing sunrises and sunsets. It's always beautiful here in the Florida Keys, and the rainy season just brings a different kind of beauty. The ocean can look almost black under the dark clouds, with bright spots of sunshine giving any vegetation an almost neon glow. It's a photographer's dream! I like this time of year here in Key West. It's the island dweller's version of early autumn.

Taken yesterday near Sugarloaf Key, between rain storms.