Pat Taub
Key West Vacation
My winter escape to Key West continues, for which I remain grateful. While the Northeast is hunkering down for the biggest snowfall of the season, Key Westers are grumbling about Sunday’s weather forecast, which predicts a high of only 58! Miami could see temps in the 30’s. It’s all relative.
On a walk yesterday I came upon Key West’s African Cemetery, commemorating African slaves, whose slave ship, headed for Cuba, was rescued by the US Navy in 1860, enforcing America’s new anti-slave laws. The legend is that the 1,432 slaves were quarantined, and cared for by locals, who supplied food, clothing and medical care. Some of slaves were returned to Africa. Of those who stayed in Key West, 294 died from typhoid and dysentery. The memorial is dedicated to these survivors.
African marker, Higgs Beach, Key West, Fl
Octavia Butler
Speaking of slaves, this week I read “Kindred” by the brilliant Sci Fi writer, Octavia Butler. It’s the story of Dana, a Black American woman, who time travels from the 1970’s to the antebellum South, where she becomes a slave. Butler’s horrific accounts of the brutality slaves endured, from having their babies sold, to being raped, to beaten to an inch of their death, had me imaging the roots of contemporary racist behavior. By coincidence, my 17-year-old granddaughter just read the same book for her English class. Thankfully she attends a school not beset by book banning’s.
Macbeth
Vacation allows lots of time for both reading and movie-watching. A few days ago, I watched the new spell-binding film, The Tragedy of Macbeth,” starring Denzel Washington and Francis McDormand and directed by Joel Coen. This highly imaginative depiction, shot in black and white with bare, haunting interiors, keeps the drama at a high pitch. It demonsrates how run-away evil deeds can drive one mad, as in the case of Macbeth and his wife.
Denzel Washington and Francis McDormand as Lord and Lady Macbeh
Winter Dogs
My oldest son sent me a photo of their new rescue dog, Raven, decked out for the Chicago cold in his down coat, hat, and boots. Raven, a sweet Pit Bull breed, has very little hair, hence the need for heavy dog outerwear.
