Katie in the Keys

So, now Katie has gone from Miami down to the Florida Keys. She is working in Key West and helping do evaluations of people's homes (as far as damage is concerned--how much sea water and mold is in the house, is is structurally sound? etc.) by going door to door in some of the hard-hit neighborhoods. Apparently, many homes were flooded with several feet of sea water during the Hurrican Wilma storm surge and are now growing a particularly nasty kind of black mold. Many houses are condemned, but people are still living in them because they have nowhere to go yet. I didn't know much about the Keys; if you don't either, here is a link to a interactive map: Florida Keys Map! Katie is staying in the Marathon section of the keys, on an island called Duck's Key, which is near mile 65 on US 1.

She is staying about an hour away in a resort hotel called Hawk's Cay (visit www.hawkscay.com if you want to see more about it) that has opened a certain number of rooms to Red Cross volunteers. It sounds very nice, having 5 pools, hot tubs, a dolphin habitat and access to beaches and a lagoon. Katie's dad, Mike, says that she has been pretty clever in getting the Red Cross to underwrite her trip to the tropics; but she is just trying to help those affected by the hurricane and is happy to stay anywhere. This is one "anywhere" that she is not complaining about, however! She was certainly not expecting these kinds of accomadations when she bought her sleeping bag for this trip.

I guess Katie is seeing the best and worst of the Keys and having quite an experience. She is meeting new people and working hard to help those whose lives were seriously affected by the hurricane. Hopefully, she'll get access to a computer so that people can read about her experiences in her own words.

Until then, you'll just have to rely on my second-hand accounts. As for myself, I made banana bread last night, and a pork and mushroom stew in the slow-cooker the day before so I have not yet resorted to squirting Cheez-whiz directly into my mouth quite yet! I am teaching lots and working on my incomplete term papers from last semester. I am also playing in the Graduate Center Contemporary Ensemble, which is premiering some works by fellow grad students here tonight. Next week, I will be going to see Turandot at the NY City Opera since I got 2 free tickets through my connections here at CUNY. The question now is, who will go with me now that Katie is in Florida...?