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Community leaders, institutions, and even entire communities can inspire us to do great work ourselves. They can serve as role models, spark new ideas in us, or provide us with a place to place our energy. There are a great deal of community members and places left unsung or only recognized by a narrow population and while we can never show all of the people that deeply affect and serve their communities, we hope to shine a light on and share the stories of some of those people and places and what they mean to their community.
September 5, 2017
Submitted by: James Riley
Driving onto an island is weird. Driving onto an island at midnight and pulling over to a side street and sleeping in the back of your car hoping that you won't be woken up by the police for vagrancy is even weirder. Being woken up at six in the morning by the roosters that inhabit the island that you could not see the night before is weirder still.
The brightside of being awake on the southernmost point of the United States before the sun is up is literal. The sunrise is itself exceptionally beautiful. But just as interesting is driving around to the not yet open restaurants and stops. If you should ever get the chance to drive or walk around a tourist economy before everyone else is up, you should. The people who work there are up before the sun too, and to watch them get to work is like watching a theater troupe warming up and setting the stage for a show they know intimately. The people who actually do the working, living, and dying on the island are such a small percentage of the neighborhood that early morning it looks like a college town in summer, or a beach town in the off season. Peacefully deserted.
Of course, there is not really an off season in Key West. Sure some times are slower than others, but tourists are always eager to relax in the sun. Perhaps it is nearer the truth to say that Key West has no off season, because it is never on. The whole island feels a slow relaxation that is neither inauthetic nor indulgent. Key West is like your nice pair of shorts. Certainly not formal or glamorous, but not entirely without dignity.
Unfortunately, not even Key West is resistant to the slow and sure growth of crass tourism that infects all middle class vacation destinations. Where exactly that line is is hard to tell, even for the locals, who of course are transplants themselves. Like the frog in the slowly boiling pot, it can be hard to tell exactly how many ice cream parlors or kitschy bric a brac stores it takes to tip the scales from a neat community to visit to a full on tourist outlet.
Gus, my tour guide at Hemingway's house, expressed some slight concerns. Look, he said, we have always been a tourist town. We always will be a tourist town. But even within the past ten, even five years, it has gotten more crowded. He talked about how thankfully the encroachment of big box stores and chains had stopped just short of the island proper. But he acknowledged that they were right next door. No Walmart, he said. Thankfully, he added. Yet, he added more sadly. I couldn't help but picture Visigoths in blue polos waiting on the bridge to storm the island.
I am not sure how Gus would feel about my Ukrainian waiter and whether he was part of the crowding or not. I don't think Gus would begrudge Valdis a place in the community; after all, Gus was originally from Massachusetts. More importantly Valdis seemed to understand the character of the island and enjoy it. He seemed to value its spirit. The spirit of a small and somewhat wild community, which Valdis eschewed Manhattan and the West Coast for. He loved the same spirit of chickens roaming the streets and roosting in the trees. It is the same attitude that not only allows a horde of nearly feral cats roaming a literary and historical landmark, but actually believes that the cats are the primary owners.
But more than that, Valdis said the place was paradise. A small community where he could practice his English without embarrassment and get to and from his two jobs quickly. Valdis talked about maybe having a better place for his children than what the Ukraine is now. Vladis just hoped that Trump would grant him a green card. For my part, I do too. Key West, at least, would be a better place for it.