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86 Flying in over Key West Maybe฀the฀clear฀water฀leads฀me฀to฀believe coral฀is฀God’s฀last฀hiding฀place. But฀it’s฀likely฀just฀the฀end฀of฀the฀highway, the฀way฀US฀1฀stitches฀the฀islands and฀tethers฀them฀to฀the฀bony฀finger of฀the฀mainland.฀Something makes฀me฀feel฀some฀of฀it฀will฀last— a฀tin฀roof,฀the฀wood฀of฀a฀lobster฀trap, bougainvillea฀winding฀through฀a฀wire฀fence. The฀plane฀comes฀down฀across฀the฀haphazard฀flyway of฀pelicans.฀An฀egret฀waits,฀motionless beside฀a฀fishing฀boat฀rocking฀against฀a฀canal฀wall. If฀you฀were฀here,฀we฀would฀go฀out฀tonight and฀look฀for฀Key฀deer฀in฀the฀mangroves.฀We would฀watch฀them฀trusting฀us,฀then฀go฀home. Instead,฀once฀I฀hang฀up฀my฀shirts,฀I’ll go฀to฀Arnie’s฀Seawater฀Shop฀and฀buy you฀one฀of฀those฀pieces฀of฀pink฀coral, the฀kind฀with฀a฀phony฀blue฀dolphin rising฀up฀behind฀a฀seashell, a฀bit฀of฀yellow฀glue฀showing฀along฀the฀edge. ...

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