Cedar Key

Cedar Key

By Bob Robinson

Hot. Hot and humid.

That’s the only way I know to describe Florida. We were there a week, had a cold spell one day… it got below 100. The almost daily thunderstorms kept the humidity at about 100 percent.

Florida is a land of beauty, hot and humid of course, but beautiful none-the-less. And it teems with wildlife, some enjoyable, some not so enjoyable.

However, we were there to visit my 85-year-old Mom… and found it hard to keep up with her. Among the many activities she had planned for us was a little work around the house that she couldn’t do on her own, a trip to McDill AFB, a stop at the Christmas Store and a trip to Cedar Key.

The Christmas Store, unfortunately, was closed, a victim of a slow economy.

Susan had never seen a sunset over the ocean. Cedar Key sat on the Gulf, not the ocean, but it was close enough. At least the “gulls” thought so.

At one point, I was reminded of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds.”

By the way, no sign of oil anywhere.

Our first impression of Cedar Key was that of a “floundering” community. There were some For Sale signs, a For Rent sign and a number of Closed signs. And few people. We were assured, however, that while some businesses couldn’t make it due to the economy, the place “jumped” on weekends and in the late fall and early spring.

As sunset approached, people started showing up. Among them were two Hispanic families that were more interested in feeding the sea gulls than they were the final rays of the sun.

It was fun trying to catch that one instant when a gull grabbed a French fry out of a man’s hand.

At 8:30 the sun disappeared. As we went back to our car, we noted that the place was filling up; parking spots were gone, people were filling the local bars and restaurants.

And we were reminded of the traditional warning to those who drink and drive that we’d seen on the way in… 

Bob Robinson is the retired editor of The Daily Advocate, Greenville, Ohio. If you wish to receive a daily notification of items posted, send your email address to: opinionsbybob@gmail.com. Feel free to express your views.