Free Range Saturday...Culebra Time

Sometimes I think they might make up words on the weather reports, just to keep us checking, making sure we read it six times. The upshot of this morning's is that there isn't supposed to be a lot of clouds or rain for awhile, or as they put it 'local area in a rainfall minima through next Friday'; if you are around these parts, consider yourselves minima'd.

Outside my window I see a few patchy clouds and earlier, the wind was there, with some gusts hard enough to slam a few light things around. Sort of refreshing in a way. It's early yet and the breeze is already dropping, at least around here. 

Yesterday was clouds and sun and sun and clouds. Around here, it looked like this:

With occasional bursts of this:

Sometimes it got a little peckish, like this:

Or it was very, very still, like this:

There was a high wave of hunger, so I made this:

Ham (sorry this isn't organic but it's what I had and what I ate, more searching in time) or chicken, or neither, if you like, 1/2 lb. dry black beans, hot peppers sliced, 1 cup of rice. Three cups of water.Throw everything in the crockpot except the rice. Add sliced garlic, minced onion, salt and pepper. Cook until the beans are soft (unless you used canned and then there isn't much use for the slow cooker except you can walk away from it for long periods). Add the rice and a 1/2 teaspoon of tumeric, this is way too peasanty for saffron.. Add two more cups of water. Stir and let cook until the rice is soft. Check the seasonings.This recipe will feed four or five people easily.

Mince up some more onion for topping, with a slap of cider vinegar. Taste. Eat. Enjoy.

Buen provecho!!

On a larger scale, the world looks like this (if you've seen it, watch it again, unless this is your daily life, in which case, you are off this hook, due to the much larger hook you are on):

Have a safe earth Saturday. Do something slowlyswiftly.

p.s. Reading Suzanne's report gives a bit different perspective: be safe out there, I see too many little kids in the water with the red flag out!

STRENGTHENING TRADE WINDS WILL RESULT IN BUILDING SEAS INTO EARLY
NEXT WEEK. VERY ROUGH AND HAZARDOUS SEAS ARE LIKELY TO PERSIST
THROUGH MUCH OF NEXT WEEK AND BEYOND THE EXPIRATION TIME INDICATED
HERE.

ATLC WATERS OF PUERTO RICO AND USVI FROM 10NM TO 19.5N-
COASTAL WATERS OF NORTHERN USVI AND CULEBRA OUT 10 NM-
COASTAL WATERS OF SOUTHERN USVI VIEQUES AND EASTERN PUERTO RICO
OUT 10 NM-ALSO INCLUDES COASTAL WATERS OF NW PR OUT 10 NM

452 AM AST SAT JAN 5 2013

...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO
9 AM AST WEDNESDAY...

* ENE WINDS...INCREASING TO 17 TO 22 KNOTS.

* WAVES/SEAS...BUILDING TO 5 TO 8 FEET.