Corrosion and Decay

The upside of practically tropical climate: Florida is basically vegetation gone wild. The downside: The constant humidity is taking a toll on my equipment. Now my break disk is rusting even more, and my leather jacket got some mold on one sleeve. I gave it a good soapy rub, but the next day the white and green fur was back. Also, after this short interlude in the subtropics, I think it's time to get the show on the road again. I should go somewhere where it is at least a little bit dryer than here...
- Texas, here I come!

In the evening I gave my jacket the full-power treatment. I want to stop that fungus before it spreads out. I gave the sleeve another soapy rub to get rid of the obvious mold, then stuffed it into a big cup, filled that with 91% alcohol, and let it soak for an hour. It might destroy the leather, but if I don't get rid of the mold, the jacket is destroyed anyway...that would hurt. I really like it! After the treatment it turned out that the very thin outermost layer was destroyed, like skin peeling after a sunburn. I thoroughly flushed the sleeve, now I let it dry over the night. This was really painful to me. My beautiful jacket. I hope the leather is not totally destroyed tomorrow. At least the mold should be gone now.




The Tamiami Trail.

Alligator sights are quite common.

During that day I took a road that runs parallel to a highway that is called "Alligator Alley." But while the latter is fenced, my road wasn't. The landscape was fascinating. And I was constantly on the look for gators, drove slower, hoping that maybe I would see one, and pissed off a few other drivers in the process. A few times I wasn't sure if maybe I saw something, some tiny movement of the water. I turned around. But no gators. For all I know, it could have been anything. Maybe even just mosquitoes landing on the water. But then at about nightfall, I am pretty sure I saw one, saw its head on the water surface. The picture on the right was made while it was going under water, just before it disappeared. I think that thing on the picture might be its eyes. Then later I am pretty sure I saw one while driving by, a shape on the water about one meter long, that submerged while I was passing. I remember yelling “Gator! Gator! Gator!” in my helmet (me discovering wildlife...so enthusiastic!), braking full power, turning around, but whatever-it-was was gone. I waited at that spot for a while, but to no avail. I recently read that those animals are actually afraid of humans, and noise and vibrations chase them away. Noise and vibrations...hmm. Well, I ride a Harley! When turning around again, I saw a little snake about a meter in front of me, curling together as my bike approached. Same story for snakes, noise and vibration. By now it was totally dark, I wouldn't see much, so I rode the rest of my day's itinerary in what amounts to insect rain. Oh boy!

The world's smallest post office.

And some interesting food.