After a rainstorm, I looked at the puddles and wondered if the island was sinking. If it was, it didn't seem to have an impact on the price of real estate. Many of the houses listed for sale were in the millions. 'Don't worry,' said Stephen, 'we're not buying in Key West.'
I spoke to the chickens about it. 'Has anyone in Key West heard about global warming?'
We went to the southernmost point of the United States to take a picture but found a very long line, which didn't seem worth the wait. Neither Stephen nor I have 'thousands of followers' on Instagram.
We walked up Duval Street, which is the main tourist strip, sort of like the 'Times Square of Key West.' As usual, I questioned why the sidewalks were so narrow on such a pedestrian-oriented street, but I suppose it's important to allocate tons of public space to oversized private trucks with clever 'fuck it' hieroglyphs (is that the right word?) on the back window. I told myself to relax: we were on our way to the butterfly conservancy.
I was used to going to butterfly-friendly sections of outdoor gardens, where I usually see a few butterflies flitting about, but here we stepped through the doors and were surrounded by hundreds of butterflies (and birds, and plants). It was like walking into a Disney animation. The pictured butterfly is a blue morpho.
This is the same blue morpho with its wings folded. I wondered if they were happy living in an enclosed space or if they pined for their natural habitat. They seemed very healthy.
I thought about what choice I would make.
When I was younger, I would have definitely opted for freedom, but now that I'm more pragmatic about the realities of life and the discomforts of aging, I feel better about having never really left the confines of captivity. It's enough to know that I've flirted with escape, at least enough to understand its allure (and its perils). I would happily live out my days in a beautiful greenhouse with plenty of food and a staff to help with care; obviously, this option is available for anyone who can afford $20,000-$40,000+ per month.
The birds gossiped about politics and enjoyed a snack.
One of a pair of flamingos displayed admirable flexibility while performing a 'Jefferson curl.'
My understanding is that Florida used to be home to millions of birds in every size and shade, but that their population was decimated by demand for feathered hats in the early 1900s. And then by sprawl. And then by ____.
I remembered visiting my parents in Florida before they sold their condominium, and how aware I always felt of nature in Florida, how strong and vibrant it seems, which somehow makes our incursions into it feel even more tragic than they might in other parts of the world. Or maybe it's bad everywhere. Manhattan used to be a natural wonder, too -- bursting with trees and fish and wildlife -- in ways that seem otherworldly now, when it's dangerous to even go swimming in the Hudson.
Was this magical inside world once the outside world?
The butterflies enjoyed some watermelon for lunch.
Most butterflies only live a few weeks, which is how then afford such an exorbitant retirement.
I wanted to ask if they felt like a few weeks was enough time to get everything done.
By contrast, Turt Reynolds (his actual name!) can live for more than a century. Is he worried about retirement? Is he also being bombarded with emails from TIAA-CREF?
The butterflies spend the first half of their lives as caterpillars in another room before emerging from their cocoons, where they hang for a few hours while their wings dry, after which they are carried into the greenhouse and released.
Looking at the butterflies up close, I could see how fragile their wings are, how they're not really designed to last for a long time (in contrast to Turt Reynolds's hard shell).
There's so much danger in the world; if I could climb into a shell for 100 years, I might do it.
But there's always the desire to spread one's wings, even if we know that the flight can only last a moment.
Matthew, loved your Key West travelogue and your commentary on the state of the world.
Posted by: Robert | 01/21/2024 at 07:24 PM