One of the descendants of Hemingway's polydactly cats, plentiful today in Key West. (Courtesy photo) [Click to enlarge]

In 1928 Hemingway settled in Key West Florida, with a new wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, and a new career, as a writer of short stories and books.

Though he lived in Key West for only 12 years, it was here that fully half of his lifetime literary works were written.

Today, some 70 years after he left Key West, the Hemingway stories are still fresh and vivid, and the locals refer to "Our Ernest," as if he were a neighbor who is merely on vacation and will be soon back among them.

Their Key West home, a major tourist attraction, is referred to as Hemingway's house, even though ownership stayed firmly in Pauline's hands after their divorce. The couple bought the home soon after arriving in town, thanks to the generosity of Pauline's Uncle Gus, who financed the purchase -- and future improvements on the home.

Today Hemingway's home is preserved very much as it was in the days when the great man lived there -- more authentic than it need be -- such as being without air conditioning, in this most southern of American cities.

In early days the home had ceiling fans in each room, but Pauline had each fan replaced with an ornate, imported electric chandelier, thus compounding the heat problem.

One of the more interesting features of the Hemingway home is the presence of the Hemingway Polydactil cats -- lots of cats, said to be more than 40 (and at times has reached to more than 60).

These cats are free to wander the grounds -- only a couple have license to come indoors. Each is named after a celebrity -- Ernest's old cronies, movie stars, or political figures.

What makes these cats unique is that they are all descendants of Snowball, one of Hemingway's cats, who had six toes on each front paw, instead of the usual five.

Today about half the cats have multiple toes, from six to nine. They are well behaved, and well fed and looked after.

Yet the Heming-way home is at this time fighting a Federal Court order to eliminate all of the cats except for three. Recently Federal officers visited the home and threatened to close the facility unless they complied with the federal order.

Even for a non cat-lover, it is plain to see that the cats are well cared for, do not cause trouble, and serve as a magnet for many tourists who travel great distances to see these unusual cats.

Yet, it is said that the federal government has more officials working on the Hemingway cat case than are assigned to the eradication of Mad Cow disease.

Hemingway was always reluctant to spend money on the home, even though it was usually Pauline's money (or Uncle Gus'). Once, while Ernest was off hunting in Africa, Pauline thought she would surprise him by putting in a swimming pool in the back yard.

The ground was almost solid rock, and cost overruns for the project were horrendous. When Hemingway returned he was outraged.

There was a terrible argument, culminating with Hemingway throwing down a penny, saying she might as well take his last red cent. Pauline commemorated that moment by imbedding the penny in the concrete at the spot on the patio where he threw it down -- and where it remains to this day. Soon after this event Hemingway left Key West to embark on a new life with wife No. 3, Martha Gellhorn.

The original Sloppy Joe's was Hemingway's favorite hangout in Key West, as it was for old-time pirates, and dates back to the 1700s.

Today it is preserved much like it was 200 years ago, down to the chains in the wall, where some poor wench was chained and beaten to death. Rum drinks are still the featured beverage, but memorabilia, covering walls and ceiling, is also an important part of the ambience -- business cards from customers from around the world, signed under-garments from ladies who obviously had too much rum, and bar stools of favorite customers, including Heming-way and J.F. Kennedy.

Apparently, Heming-way had a bit of a drinking problem while living in Key West. Each night Ernest was at his favorite bar stool at Sloppy Joe's, soaking up stories from the natives even as he soaked up rum at the bar.

Legend has it that Joe kept a wheel borrow in readiness and if Ernest was too "sick" to walk home, one of the bartenders would load him into the wheel borrow and deposit him at his residence, some six blocks away. Despite his evenings of carousing, Hemingway was always up by six the next morning to write until noon. Then, after a good meal he was out on his boat with one or another of his cronies to fish the afternoon away in the clear gulf waters.

It is said that Heming-way was drawn to Key West originally for two reasons. First, it was located on the shore of some of the great fishing waters in this hemisphere, and Second, it was the home of many, perhaps a majority, of nonconformists. Even today the city is affectionately known as "Key Weird."

It was, and still is, a colorful mix of diverse personalities -- Cubans, Blacks, Gays, and latter-day Hippies, and Ladies of the Night commingle with millionaire yachtsmen, diplomats, and tourists in apparent harmony.

The climate is said to be ideal (if you don't mind an occasional hurricane). The Truman "Little White House" was a favorite getaway vacation spot for Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy.

Recently Hillary Clinton staged a major fund raiser for her campaign in Key West. Guests were charged thousands of dollars to attend a sit down dinner. When Hillary invited these guests to tour the Truman White House they were charged another $12 each for a tour of the house and museum. Seems that Bill Clinton, as a former President has free use of the facility, but not Hillary, as a potential President.

Key West is a chicken town -- literally. There are chickens roaming the streets all over town. Some time ago a woman, "chicken activist" was able to persuade the city council to pass a law giving chickens equal rights, so now they are free to roam, protected by the law.

Those chickens have even invaded the grounds at the Hemingway Home and attacked and killed at least one of the Hemingway cats.

A few years ago the Chamber of Commerce sought to use the chickens as a big tourist draw and planned a great "Chicken Days" on the island.

They planned to use the local chickens as the basis for a huge chicken dinner. That plan ran afoul of the law and Tyson's Chickens, shipped from the mainland, were used instead. Key Weird!

Real estate in Key West is probably as high as in any city in America. Cottages, no larger or better than houses in the older sections of McCook sell for more than $1 million. What is more, no home, no matter the condition, can be torn down, only improved, and in the style of Old Key West circa 1900.

Because of the close proximity of the homes and the danger of fire, all roofs are corrugated steel, which aids in catching water for reservoirs. Over the years, fresh water has been a scarce commodity.

Despite the high cost of real estate, jobs are scarce in Key West, most involving some phase of the tourist industry, and those are not high paying jobs. It is most common in Key West for a number of persons to share a home or apartment. Makes for uncomfortable, crowded conditions, and certainly not conducive to families.

There have been certainly been many changes in Key West in the last 70 years, as more and more people have "discovered" the area, yet many things remain the same.

I believe that Hemingway would still fit right in.