Day 21 (Wed., Sept. 21)

Today I failed. I got in trouble at work. All because of a girl!

A girl named Rita.

Being so close to Key West, the place where hurricane Rita went through as a category one storm, I had to go and try to make some photos. After all, I am a photojournalist and I thrive on the pursuit of news coverage and reporting.

However, I got a little carried away today. I was allowed by my supervisors to go down to Key Largo, which is not too far from Ft. Lauderdale, but about 100 miles away from Key West. When I arrived at Key Largo, I did not see anything of significance. I had not started my work shift, so I figured I used my free time to go down to Key West. When I left on my drive early this morning, the sun had not come up yet. I figured I had enough time to go down to Key West, shoot a little bit and head back before my shift started at 10 a.m. At 10, however, I was still in Key West. Woops. I shot around and then headed back because I had a 4:30 assignment in Ft. Lauderdale. I figured I had enough time to do all my hurricane coverage and still make it in time for the volleyball game I was scheduled to shoot. I still made it back in time and was 15 minutes early to my appointment, so I made sure to cover my butt. But I was in trouble at work nonetheless. Anyhow, I got in trouble, but I guess I have some stuff to show for it.

My drive down was cool as a rainbow came over the sky as I headed toward the Florida Keys on the Florida Turnpike, which finally re-opened. It was closed going south because of the storm.

Just outside of Marathon, I saw a lot of people working on the clean-up process.

The Boondocks' Grille and Draft House had a few things knocked over, but nothing major. Just a bunch of sand that was blown into it.

Outside Boondocks' palms laid on the ground, giving landscapers a busy morning.

One of the cooks in the restaurant found the red, white and blue patriotic colors on a silver cross. Is that symbolic of anything? Perhaps.

Down in Key West, a maintenance worker w/ the Key West Department of Recreation swept off water that went into an office at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center.

A woman, who is on vacation from North Carolina, made a phone call as waves hit hard on the sea wall at the southern-most point of the United States. It's 90 miles to Cuba from this point. Wow!

Trees and flooding were seen on streets all over town. Landscapers had a rough morning picking up after downed trees.

Mary Star of The Sea Catholic Church did not suffer much damage. Just some down palms.

A boarded window put things into perspective.

Being in Key West was fun. I was excited as I drove into Marathon. Being that I have ran six marathons, this was a place I had been wanting to visit. Now, I got two more Marathons to visit: Marathon, Texas and Marathon, Greece.

I must say that I learned a valuable lesson. If your boss allows you to do a job, you better do it. And when you do it, you better follow the rules. I really didn't think I would spend so much time down in Key West and that I would be back in the north part of the Keys by the time my shift started. I feel bad for it. But I learned a good lesson today. In spite all of that, I felt good about myself. That's because I finally saw what some people say they see in me: the drive and determination. Todd Bigelow calls it "hunger". Whatever the case might be, I just wanted to do my part in documenting this event. It's no different than the way I started this journal 21 days ago when I drove to New Orleans just days after Katrina ripped through the city.

So, I made it to Key West. That was fun! I stood on the spot that is the furthest south in the continuous United States. Now all I gotta do is head down to Hawaii, to hit the south part of that state. Being in Key West was cool. I wish the circumstances were different. I wish the place did not look the way it did. I wished the beaches were open to the public. I wished to relax and enjoy the place after the four-hour drive. Oh well, at least I got to see it and I can have a good plan for the next time I get to go there. Hemingway's home is somewhere in Key West. I did not get a chance to see it. So, I must go back. Being in Key West put a lot of things into perspective. I have now seen all the states on the south part of the United States. All the way from San Diego, actually Chula Vista, where the southwest corner of the country is to Key West on the southeast corner. Now I need Main and Washington to see the four corners of the country. It'll happen someday -- I hope.

As I mentioned, I got back to Ft. Lauderdale in time to cover my evening assignment. Here are the photos that I shot there. I was a little distracted w/ all the stuff that happened earlier, but I was able to put most of it aside and do a decent job.

Rita got me in trouble. Well, maybe I should state that I got myself in trouble because of Rita. All because of a girl's name. Ha!

Seeing some of the flooding and down power lines made me think about what's next w/ Rita. It has build quite a momentum as it cruises through the Gulf of Mexico. Man, that thing is half the size of the gulf. Reports say it's headed toward Texas. Last week I talked about the massive hurricane that hit Galveston in 1900. This could be something that big. They had mandatory evacuation in Galveston. It's scary to think about what could happen. Sure, the island now has a high seawall protecting it. They learned from that storm 105 years ago. But how will all of that fair off w/ Rita? Only time will tell.

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