Boxing Day 2018

Christmas on Culebra has its own rhythm and a fine rhythm it is! From family parties (both born into and chosen!) to placing mental bets on how late the parade will be, to excellent food and drink and laughter and just being together, that's how we roll.

Can squalls stop a party? Nah.

Two happy chicas

After enough food and frivolity, ongoing for the last few days, it was time to head back to my critter sitter spot, tend to the pup and nap awhile before the parade. At least part of that got done, along with a stop at Happy Landing as well. I haven't done a jello shot in a really long time. I might have never done a jello shot, actually.  But 'tis the season...

After hanging around down town awhile, laughing about how late the parade would be, I thought I'd go see what was happening at the staging area at the school. As it turned out, that was pretty much my parade this year, a lot of smiles later.

Waiting around is just another reason for fun

I have no idea what's going on here

This always makes me happy, all those fairy lights, the music!

A truck so nice, I'm posting it twice

Santa rides in style

You know where this vehicle comes from!

Santa and Big Mama

So cute!

Thomas' cousin

Some lively paso fina's

Mayra and Santa

Last sight of my night. They aren't reindeer but it's not cold either!

Away they all went, heading for town, dancing to the music, lights flashing, sirens blaring. Merry Christmas to all and for me, good night.

Have a wonder full Boxing Day. Do something welaxing. 

Culebra Walkabout Views

Though today has been a combination of rain and sunshine, for the most part we've been getting that weather that both locals and visitors wait for, sunshine, the bluest of skies, cool breezes and for bonus points, a gorgeous moon ushering in our version of winter. Oh the light!

Over the last few days, when something catches my eye, again, I'm saving it, for me and for you. We've all been asked, at one time or another, do you ever get tired of this? In a word? Nope.

The school decorations get better every year.

I'm still enjoying the downtown decorations. Behind this Santa, a little girl was looking out to the ocean. 

And there she is!

The old dock is shiny bright

The stockings were hung off the mangroves with care

I don't have to understand a decoration for it to make me laugh

Random joy.

A whole new decor style

Just because. Count the blues.

I like that this path leads to just where you should walk in at Melones.
Avoid the corals (and the urchins), take the sandy route.

Get tired of this? I think not. 

Dancing flora

On this first day of winter, with a full moon tonight (Cold Moon, Moon Before Yule, Wolf Moon) and visions of sugar plums - just plain old plums would be fine - and more dancing in our heads, enjoy what is around you, wherever you are. 

Have a serene Saturday. Do something subtly spectacular. 

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Culebra Christmas!

There are a few things I can always count on here. One is that Christmas, no matter what, is going to make a Culebra appearance. Last year, one of the happiest sights in a difficult year was the lights being turned on in town for Christmas. Something so normal in very abnormal times. 

This year, so much of what happens is in contrast to last year. I find myself almost sluggishly patient in my comparisons of things that need doing and the time it takes to get them done, simply because I know that eventually things WILL be done, regardless of how long it takes. 

Always a fun surprise to see what will be happening in this spot.
Rudolph has it going on!

Just for fun, this is the same spot from 2013

Town is looking great! I think this is one of the best years for decorations. We all have our favorites, of course, and this one will rank right up there for me.

Someone has a sense of humor

Tradition is the base of Culebra

It's not all lovely, luminous lighting and pumped up creatures of imagination and lore. This has nothing to do with Christmas at all, it's just some Culebra ephemera. 

If you know what this is, award yourself 30 points.
If you don't know what it is, you'll just have to come here and find out.
Or, I'll tall you, if you ask real nice. 

Have a satisfaction saturated Saturday. Do something softly.

Afternoon the Light

Yesterday was one of those winter days here that are almost heartbreakingly beautiful in that clear enough to see roads on Vieques, twenty shades of blue, diamonds on the water way. I didn't have my real camera with me and while the phone camera can do a good job, it would have been almost impossible to capture that gorgeousness with my good camera, let alone the phone, so I didn't even try. I just sat, mesmerized, absorbing it, while the 'I'm so lucky to live here' mantra swirled in my brain. 

By late afternoon, though, I was ready to give it a try, phone camera or not.

Pre-decorated party spot

Alive with red fruit (for chickens, not me)

Speaking of chickens...

They strolled down the path on a Friday night date

To roost or not to roost, that is a question

Despite the beauty, the no-see-ums were out in force. In my eyes and then in my hair force. Damn you for opening that box, Pandora!! It was time to go.

So far, it looks like today is going to be a fairly close repeat. I can do that.

Have a saturated Saturday. Do something softly splendid.

P.S. Don't forget Zaco's new Bizarre Saturday. They open at 3, with random musicians and artisans showing up, along with a special tapas menu. Enjoy!

Full Moon Tonight!

Every time the moon is full when I'm away from Culebra, I have to re-orient myself in the world. Where will I be able to see it coming over the horizon the best, or will I be able to see it rising at all? Will I miss that glowing buttery-gold hugeness and see it only when it is white and bright and  casting moon shadows on a not home view? 

This is not the moon, but I saw it on the road when heading to D's Garden
and it was too glorious to pass up. I've never seen it there before, but it's huge!

But then I'm home again. Maybe on the houseboat, maybe housesitting, but like the North Star, there it is, just where it should be. I know the hills it will rise over, the water where it will light up a moon path, the trees that will be so briefly outlined in its ascent it hardly seems to happen at all. 

Tonight is the November full moon. In the Northern Hemisphere it's called the Hunter’s Moon or the Frosty Moon or the Beaver Moon. In the Southern Hemisphere it's the Corn Moon or the Milk Moon, the Flower Moon or the Hare Moon. Pick your place and choose your lunar calling name, it is one of the best shows on Earth and it's free. Of course, if you are in the Southern Hemisphere, the moon has already put on the moonrise show and you might be getting ready for tomorrow. Oops.

This is what happens when the good camera is NOT in my hands.
And after the Thanksgiving dinner celebration.
Connection? Perhaps. 

Have a fantastical Friday. Do something freely fabulous!

Kansas in the Rear View Mirror

Today is hotel day, since my flight back home leaves at 5:55 in the morning and the airport is over an hour away from my daughter's home. But before we left...

When its wings are closed, the underside is a dirty brown and it totally resembles a leaf

The clouds have been an atmospheric ballet

After making as sure as sure can be that I left nothing behind (like I did in the Beast, oops! Luckily the guy who bought it let me know and will mail my stuff to me, kind man) it was time to hit the road. The temperature was a cool 61 degrees, the sky brilliantly blue and the trees putting on their Autumn finery a thing of beauty.

We stopped for some Indian food at Swagat. It's a beautiful restaurant and the food is fantastic. Our server acted as if we'd come in a dozen times before, so much so that I wondered if I'd ever been there before. Maybe some other life, I don't know.

Lamb vindaloo for me,
with maybe the most perfect rice I've ever eaten

Michelle made the most of the buffet. Twice.

Now it's almost time to pretend there will be sleep, in anticipation of my 3 a.m. wake up call. And that's why god invented Netflix. And sleepwithmepodcast.com.

With no flights home available (a first in my 17 years of living on and traveling to and from Culebra) and the who-knows-when 7p.m. ferry, hopefully Culebra will be coming into sight very soon. Homeward bound!

Have a move with the moment Monday. Do something motivating.