APALACHICOLA -- The night started badly for Frederic Kahler . His restless feet, tapping like Fred Astaire in that big showpiece number with Ginger Rogers in Top Hat, kept him awake.
He took his nervous energy over to his studio on Avenue D. He paints abstracts, portraits, landscapes, whatever. Lately he has been painting a lot of whatevers. They reflect what has been going on in the northern Gulf of Mexico since April 20, namely the gushing of millions of gallons of oil that already has taken a toll on wildlife, beaches and people who live on the coast.
The oil hasn't come ashore in Apalachicola yet, but it's on everybody's mind. Apalachicola, population 2,000, is the most important commercial fishing port left in Florida. Its small-town charm is catnip to tourists.
Kahler recently began calling himself The Oil Boy.