A pretty perfect day and the Rally to Restore Sanity - and TS Tomas too

Yesterday started with wild color and went on to be a pretty close to perfect day. I opened the cart and had two fantastic customers come by, the first this season. They were funny, told me great stories and bought stuff! The perfect storm of customers! She (Judy) is 65 and paddles with a team of woman on dragon boats, the Schuylkill Dragons!  I'd never heard of these boats and it was very cool to learn a little bit about them. It took me a minute to actually spell Schuylkill right and I will not dare to try to pronounce it because even though I heard it a few times, there is no way my mouth can say it correctly. Sort of like my Spanish...hmmm.

Photo stolen from the Schuylkill Dragons page (thanks!)

This Judy reminded me so much of Judy Anderson I felt like I was experiencing a wonderful, unexpected channeling. Spunky, funny, to the point, full to overflowing of life. Her husband, with his quieter, wry demeanor, is her biggest supporter and it shows. He cheers on the team, taking photos and videos, where ever in the world the Dragons take them. Very cool couple! Thanks so much for stopping by, it was my great pleasure!

And the customers continued...a woman who's been fishing with Chris Goldmark all week,  a woman who used to be a cruiser, others from here and there. I had to sort of shake myself - we've got visitors!! Let the season continue!

On the way into town, I had gone by the veggie guy's stand and put off getting any of these glorious offerings as I didn't want them to sit in the sun all day at the cart. But for some reason he left early - before I got back there anyway, so no veg or fruit for me. Lesson learned, do it while ya got it in front of you. And a fine selection it was indeed...damn, I missed the artichokes. That hurt.

To end the day, we got to spend some time with Francie, who just got back from two and a half months in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. And maybe other spots, but she was telling us so many names in between the big ones I lost track. Fantastic stories; probably my favorite was one where she got invited to someone's home for a meal, then taken to the grandmother's house nearby. Except for the three week bout of *dysentery (which of course, barely stopped her - barely...it did stop her a few times), she had an exotic time of travel, meeting other like minded travelers young and old - like the 77 year old woman from Belgium who has been traveling on her own for years. Strange brews, eating a lot of fresh and wonderful foods (no ants though), and staying in backpacker hotels, finally coming home to tell us wanderlust inspiring stories...glad you went, glad you're home, Francie (and thanks, Lori, for the welcome home champagne you brought me, it was shared and enjoyed for a double welcome home - missed you being with us!).

We also talked to Linda, who is, as I type, getting ready to go to the Rally to Restore Sanity in Washington D.C. I hadn't heard about it, but in this political arena of insanity, it's the best news ever. There will be other rallies all over the country and the world (yes, really). If you can get to one, go! If you can't, you can cheer from the sidelines like we will here. Linda will be wearing a Culebra pin, so if you see her, let me know!

Thanks, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert!

I'll be in Vieques for the next day or so, so no blog over the weekend. I'm missing the great Halloween events here (Coralations Spooky Snorkel at the muellecito,  Mamacita's costume party, the general all around town party that will range from Dinghy Dock over the bridge to Gretchen's at the ferry dock and all spots in between), but company is arriving and I am doing the fetching from Vieques - gotta go! Have a great and safe Halloween...I want pictures! 

We're keeping a close eye on TS Tomas - here is part of what Jeff Masters wrote early this morning:

After Tomas reaches the central Caribbean 4 - 6 days from now, there are two possible track scenarios depicted by the models--a continued westerly motion towards Nicaragua, or a sharp turn to the north, with a track over Hispaniola or Puerto Rico. Steering currents will be weak, and we'll just have to wait and see how the steering currents evolve.

For more of his blog, go here. This is a very large, very unusually timed storm and has taken forecasters by surprise...so don't let your guard (or your supplies and readiness preps) down. Just in case you are not inclined to take this seriously, here is a report from one of  stormcarib.com's Barbados contributors:

Woke up to numerous reports of roofs missing, tree branches snapped and a few 
light poles on fire...Apparently, the devastation is widespread...Winds gusting 
to 70 MPH and power off in most locations.

In the South East where I am, the winds are howling and the rain looks 
white..We have been informed to expect these conditions for another 12 hours.

Stay advised!!!

*note on dysentery - Francie was scrupulous about drinking bottled water and making sure anything she ate was made with water that had been boiled. What she figured out was that she forgot that the water she brushed her teeth with was not boiled or bottled and that was how the little germies got her. This travel tip is brought to you by Squat-Master.