BigPineKey.com – Letters to the editor with pictures since 2002. Published on Big Pine Key’s garbage days, Tuesdays and Fridays.

The un-social media since 2002 with 60,000 followers.
Published on Big Pine Key’s garbage pick-up days,
Tuesdays and Fridays.

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[Fresh Water Lens] To really understand why Big Pine Key has fresh water it is helpful to understand the geological profile of the island.

The Florida Keys sit on an underwater platform that is the southern edge of the continental shelf. The bedrock of the Keys is completely composed of limestone. The limestone is calcium carbonate which was formed under salt water. There are two types of rock in the Keys. The largest and most widespread type of limestone is called Key Largo Limestone, which is the bedrock of the Florida Keys from Key Largo to the Dry Tortugas. It is coral rock that was formed as a gigantic coral reef about 200,000 – 250,000 years ago when sea level was much higher than it is now. At one point, sea level was 26 feet higher than present. About 125,000 years before present day, sea level was lower, and the higher parts of this reef were exposed.

During this period, the reef of the Lower Keys was still under water and other calcium carbonate organisms formed a bank that eventually filled over the reef of the Lower Keys. These organisms are referred to as ooids. As sea level continued to become lower due to glaciation (ice ages), the surface rock of the Lower Keys was formed. The surface rock of the Lower Keys is called Oolitic Limestone. It is sometimes called Miami Limestone because the rock of the coastal ridge in Dade County is the same kind of rock, formed at the same time but to the east and north of the Keys. The rock formed as sea level continued to fall and hyuhjuuuweathered into the caprock of today.

The Ooloitic Limestone of the Lower Keys is more porous with generally more internal holes and allows passage of water more easily than the Key Largo Limestone. Big Pine Key is where the Oolitic Limestone starts to occur and runs to past Key West. It is a thin layer on the southern edge of the islands and gets thicker as you travel north. It reaches a thickness of more than twenty feet deep on the northern part of Big Pine Key. The layer of Oolitic Limestone sits on a platform of Key Largo limestone that is well over 150 feet thick.

Salt water is present in all the underlying rock. But because of the oolite, fresh water sits as a shallow lens on top of the saline water when the conditions are favorable.

[Handicapped] The majority of underemployed and unemployed Americans are those with disabilities. Companies ignore disabled persons at their own peril given the fierce competition for competent labor today. Link

[Great Photos] Trash-eating elephants, a lava landscaper, and 8 more of this year’s best NatGeo photos. Link

Get a free library card for the Big Pine Library. Link

[Host A Musician] South Florida Symphony in the Schools program “Preserving Our Coral Reefs,” provided free to participating Monroe County Public Schools. The concert coincides with our season-opening concert in Key West on January 28, 2023. For us to bring this important program to the children of the Florida Keys, we need to line up musician housing from January 26-29. Several patrons have indicated an interest in hosting, so we are following up on your availability to host our artists in your home while they are in the Keys for the children’s program.
To be successful, we need 43 beds to accommodate 43 musicians to provide service to 2,000 first, second and third graders at the January 26 children’s concert at Coral Shores and the January 27 children’s concert at Key West High School. Musician Key West Arrival: January 26, 2023
Musician Key West Departure: January 29, 2023. Link

N.C. electric substations attacks. Why are they not calling the attack terrorism? No one is using that term for this act of terrorism. What else could it be? Link

[Dating App] I’ve got an idea for a new dating app. You match with other people who are on the same meds as you. We’ll call it Relationscripts.com

[Ukraine Christmas] It’s time to hang the missile-toad.

[Crooks] There is a computer program that will search the web for the source of any incoming email and pinpoint the source location. The cops and Fed use it, but you will have to search for a public copy. It works great and then you can go to the spamer’s location and rearrange a few leg bones. Capisce?

[Following Dogs] What’s the deal with dogs and their owners? I see them daily, being walked around BP. What I am observing in most cases is an owner who is trained by the dog. I have owned many dogs throughout my 70 years and am certainly not an animal hater, however, it was generally in a rural environment where they could run free. I am unable to see the enjoyment of having to follow a dog around, constantly having to jerk on his leash, continually hollering at him to quit barking at whatever it is at the moment, and being on point to scoop poop. Some aren’t satisfied with one; they need two or three to drag them around. Many have the ankle biters in their fenced yard who bark nearly constantly all day long when anything passes. What kind of life is this? Maybe I’m missing the leashed-dog gene.

The entrance to Key West (The Triangle) in 1977.

[Energy Worries] Switzerland may have to ban the use of electric vehicles (EVs) if its current energy crisis worsens, as part of a new four-step plan to avoid power outages. If Switzerland runs out of energy this winter, electric cars won’t be allowed to be used for “non-essential” trips. Switzerland fears an energy crisis this winter. Link

[Naval History] The cat o’nine tails was a whip used to administer corporal punishment to Royal Navy sailors. It was kept in a canvass bag and sailors never wanted to deal with “letting the cat out of the bag”. You also needed clear room on deck to use it or “enough room to swing a cat”.

[Captain Doom and Gloom] “Wasting money” Are you crazy? This is all about setting up for the new world order peasant villages the smucks want to build to make lots of money! How else are they going to bankrupture us peons and drive us put so they can grab these sand dunes and make a real paradise for the rich and famous.

[Scooters] Damned kids these days, zipping around on their damned scooter things. They’d never scoot around like that in the old days. Oops!

[Pearl Harbor Day] Tomorrow is December 7 is a day of imfamy, but not as much as it used to be. December 7 used to be a big deal, not its’ barely mentioned.

Indonesia just passed a group of draconian laws, most notably it criminalizes extramarital sex and applies to citizens and visiting foreigners alike, and includes the crime of living together out of wedlock. This is what can happen when religion rules society. Link

[SloMo Art] Making art out of slow-motion camera. Beautiful. Video

Iran said they are going to disband the fashion police, but I doubt it.

The current Coconut Telegraph was published on 12/6/22 at 8:58 am
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