Hello 2009!

It was a great island party last night (except for the fireworks in the middle of the street). Familiar faces in regular places, a few wonderful surprises (welcome home you two/three!). There was dancing and hugging and laughing and talking, strolling and flaunting and flirting and walking. Libations flowed. I had the best coquito I've ever tasted from Digna's family table. And Southern Comfort from Dave. Plus what I was originally drinking. But paced, mind you, and thankfully kept to the idea of wanting to feel good now and in the morning too. And it worked better than I deserved...I felt wonderful, albeit tired this morning when it came time to head into town.

Some of the revelers reveling...

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The air was as still as town. Mamacita's was stirring but I think, for the morning at least, we were the only two businesses open at all. People were wandering around and I had a feeling someone could have made a tidy profit with a hot pot of good coffee for sale. One man looked at me beseechingly asking if I had any sugar. Poor thing.


The best moment of the morning came while I was talking to a guy mainly about Culebra and life here. A truck drove by with our butcher in the passenger seat. In the back of the truck was a shopping cart. In the shopping cart was a pig. It took a second for what I was seeing to register in my mind "Those ARE pig legs over the side of that shopping cart in the bed of that truck." but I recovered from laughing in time to get a few pictures. The guy I was talking to also got some shots in. After the truck was gone he said to me, "You still have the zip about Culebra, don't you?" I could only look at him, throwing my hands in the air. "How can I NOT keep on loving Culebra when I get entertainment like this?" Culebra brings me to laughter and tears and every emotion in between. To start out another year here is like pulling a security blanket with a few hidden burrs stuck in it around my shoulders.

First day done. Let's see what happens next.