John Bartus: Blog

I first met him at a Seafood Festival during my term as Mayor of the City of Marathon. He was there jamming with Jen and Capt. Diego Cordova; I think I played that year, too. When we were introduced, and Clarence found out that I was the Mayor as well as a musician, I remember him saying, “You’re a musician and the mayor??? This is a cool town.”

   I was a space brat.

   There was no better place to be a kid in the 1960s than Cape Canaveral (then Cape Kennedy). Rockets went off in my backyard. Not just Titans and Deltas, but honest-to-God Saturns. There was nothing quite as amazing as watching (and hearing and feeling) a Saturn V leave the launch pad and climb into the sky on a pillar of fire...

While we’re on the subject of diving, there are a few critical updates some of our visitors may not yet have heard. Perhaps the most critical update involves the dangerous, scary, venomous, and certainly non-native lionfish. (Cue horror music and bloodcurdling scream.)

Life in the Fabulous Florida Keys – it can certainly foster an island mentality among its residents. Sometimes that’s a bad thing, like when idiot regimes and dictators in faraway places like Iran and North Korea threaten the rest of the world with their abject (but heavily armed) stupidity while we sip cocktails carefree by the shore (wait – maybe that’s not a bad thing). There is, however, a lot that happens off the islands that, while seemingly full of sound and fury, signifies nothing. And that’s where we’re going today!

Life in the Fabulous Florida Keys – there are certain things we take for granted here that just aren’t available anywhere else on the planet. So as we continue to enjoy the sun and fun of summertime surrounded by our pristine and unaffected-by-the-oil-spill-waters (Hear that, BP, NOAA, and the American Media?!?), let’s all pause a minute or two and reflect on why we came here, either as a visitor or a resident (or somewhere in between)...