AI Image collaboration by Nancy Forrester and DALL-E

Living in Key West in the Early 70's was like being in a Fellini movie.  Odd, bizarre, creative, wacky happenings were the norm.  Key West's spice of life was constant surprises, entertainment and in your face issues to rock your boat!  The attitude among natives was "Live and Let Live"!  Island working people practiced the Spanish and South American custom of mid-day Siesta.  There were only a few businesses scattered on Duval Street in the 100 and 200 blocks.  They were artisan shops run by flower children, who offered their handmade sandals and candles with love, this wave of hippy business owners in the early 70's practiced Key West's long standing Siesta tradition.  They swept their downtown sidewalks in the cooler temperature of the early morning and then disappeared. They did not reappear to open their shops for business until late afternoon. 

.The island custom of mid-day nap time or "Siesta" was visible every day after lunch at Universal Dry Cleaners owned by the elusive Soldano Brothers.  Their plain one-story cement block building was painted white and had an large image of a black cat as its logo painted on the front of the building on either side of the glass front door.  The building stood in the 500 Block of Elizabeth Street; in a neighborhood mix of residences and businesses in the heart of old town.  I lived at 518 Elizabeth Street at the middle of the block.  Just three doors down the street from me on the same side of the street towards the Gulf of Mexico, was the cleaners at 512 Elizaeth Street.  Another way of visualizing it is, Universal Cleaners was a close 150 feet down the street from my house.  The Soldano brother owners were an unfriendly uni-face tribe of big burly men.  I was never able to figure out how many brothers there were and who was who.  Their vibe was clear, they wanted distance.  One of the Soldano brothers and a homeless nameless street dog took an outdoor Siesta on the hard worn uneven cracked sidewalk on the shady side of the street right in front of Universal Dry Cleaners.  The napping participants were a large manatee shaped human, I called "The Siesta Soldado brother" and an equally large manatee shaped homeless street dog I called "Nameless".  They were both overweight and lacked luster whether asleep or not asleep.  Everyday this twosome sacked out together in full view on the sidewalk for a shared Siesta.  They slept soundly never stirring or raising their heads to make eye contact or sounds as pedestrians passed them.  Their inert bodies blocked the sidewalk in such a way that it was hard to skirt them, and often I had to step into the street to pass.  Both bodies on the sidewalk were similarly drab in color and rotund in size.  They were conked-out non-responsive and oblivious to anything happening around them!   Their bodies blocked the only entrance to the dry cleaner's business making it difficult for customers to enter to drop off or pick up clothing.  Patrons had to carefully sidestep their bodies when using the door to the cleaners.  This rather strange daily happening lasted for years.  It did not raise neighborhood eyebrows, illicit discussions or questions about this weird behavior that I am aware of.  The Bros unfriendly tribe vibe and the Siesta Soldano Brothers undisputed space entitlement numbed my senses.  They went about their daily business without interaction with me, no meeting of eyes and no recognition that I existed, It was as if I was invisible. 
I did not need their services because I began my eco-friendly wardrobe when I moved to Key West, had I entered the place there was a tiny slim black-haired middle-aged woman who was employed at the counter.  If she was their Sweet Soldano Granny, she was their beam of light!

At the back of Universal Dry Cleaners and unseen from the street was a yard with a very aggressive growling barking constantly lunging large German Shepard guard dog.  Our neighborhood resounded with the constant sound of this menacing dog who was always chained and straining to free himself of a long metal chain.  He charged back and forth, moving the long metal chain that bound him on a surface that continuously made audible scraping and clanking sounds as he struggled to get loose.  Occasionally this ferocious dog would free himself becoming all pedestrians on Elizabeth Street worst nightmare.  Thia scary scene included men, women and children screaming and running for cover in their homes as this dog raced to attack them.  This scene included the police as they were always called.  I remember feeling afraid and running for safety.  I remember the sight and sound of this attack dog dragging a long noisy metal chain as he attacked.  I always ran for the safe interior of my house.  For years "The Siesta Soldano Brother" was the only one able to get the dog back in his yard and re-chained him for another episode of Backyard Guard Dog.  The last time the dog got loose "The Siesta Soldano Brother" could not be found.  The police got impatient and shot the dog dead.  Our neighborhood heaved a communal sign of relief.
 
From my back yard vantage point, I could see the back of the Universal Cleaners.  Every day I smelled, saw and heard the release of pollutants.  The sound of all day smoke stake rattling and steam cleaning was topped by a louder once a day sound of massive steam release after which buckets of laundry lint, drycleaning fluid and black sludge were manually dumped onto the ground by a different Soldano Bro.  Growing from this wet dark colored toxic goo of petroleum solvents were the tallest, thickest, greenest, fattest most luscious stand of edible plantains on Earth.  This gorgeous stand had been producing a free and gifted food staple to the neighborhood for decades.  The dream of these plump green plantains continuing to feed the neighbors was ended by three little letters EPA.  The law required that their heinous poison had to be put in lidded containers out on the sidewalk streetside for once a week pick up.  The waste was bulky, its size burgeoned. Siesta ceased. The plantain clump waned in size Occasionally THE BROS cheated with continued dumping in the back. 

​In 2001, this dry-cleaning business obtained international publicity because Egyptian Mohammad Atta the mastermind terrorist who flew a highjacked plane into the North tower of the Twin Towers in NYC was at this cleaner a few days before the 9/11. attack.  While learning to fly planes in South Florida, Mohammad Atta and his buddies shopped in our Key West stores, ate in our restaurants and played on our island.   He walked into Universal Cleaners with six silk shirts to be dry cleaned,  I shudder to think he was just 150 feet from me.  He departed town without picking them up.  When he died, they became the property of the Cleaners until the government intervened, The Sweet Soldano Granny who worked there, remembered him well.  He used his right name on the sales ticket.

AI Image collaboration by Nancy Forrester and DALL-E

 Siesta (Wikipedia definition)
(Spanish meaning "nap") is a short nap taken in the early afternoon, often after the midday meal. Such a period of sleep is a common tradition in some countries, particularly those in warm-weather zones. The "siesta" can refer to the nap itself, or more generally to a period of the day, generally between 2–5 p.m. This period is used for sleep, as well as leisure, mid-day meals, or other activities.
In many countries that practice the siesta, the summer heat can be unbearable in the early afternoon, making a midday break at home welcome.