Ramblin'

Common sights in different settings. That's almost all I know to say about this.

Can you get more common than a rabbit? But a rabbit on Culebra? Yes, it's an survivalist escapee and will be the last of its kind. Good on ya, rabbit!

Have a more than mandatory Monday. Do something mysteriously  mightier than the minimum.

Back on Track. Sort Of.

 (I wrote this a few days ago but couldn't post because I couldn't get online for a couple of days. The photos I was planned on adding more appropriately are not working into the format today for some reason, but I have places to go and thing to do, so I'll just let them fall where they may. Mea culpa for the messy post!)

My own mistress is content with more gentle pursuits

So here I am (or, more accurately for you reading this now, there I was), at late afternoon dog walkies time. And I'm thinking, after a week of 3 and 4 walks a day with the dogs up and down some not needing gear but decently challenging hills for someone who doesn't do this, I'm feeling pretty good about not gasping for breath, sweating like a pig dog walker that I am becoming! I'm going to take them farther down than ever before because I can do it and not die coming back up. Here we go!

Ok, they are loving it! I'm loving it. I'm talking to them, and laughing at the same time (that is a good sign, as it means I am still breathing). And then we turn around. To come back up, because laying down in the road for the night is not an option. For one thing, it's really rocky. For another thing, it's steep and really rocky. So we climb. 

You've seen those shows with chimps where they are sitting upright, acting and looking damned human and then they scamper off someplace, using their arms as legs? If I'd had some chimp gloves on, I'd have done the same about halfway along (I don't like to use the U word anymore than needed...hives, you know). I mean, what really separates us from them except our egos? 

But the hell with my ego! There was no one around, I'd have happily put my knuckles to the dirt while the dogs ran circles around me, patiently staying with me in my journey to the top...maybe 3000 feet beyond my own feet. Or 30. They weren't going to leave me, with continual nudges, liquid eyes saying all that I needed to hear...if we could figure out a way to help you move your ass up the road faster, we'd have dinner sooner. It was a beautiful thing. Sadly, the Travel Channel wasn't there. No one was there but the dogs to record my epic arrival to the drinks cabinet front door and civilization. 

Why, you ask, did I post of photo of toilet paper on a tree? I didn't, this is the cool cotton like plant that grows wild around here, brought in, no doubt, by birds on the wing.

Another cool aspect about this place I'm house/dog/cat sitting is the bathroom. It's an outside inside bathroom, and don't even think outhouse because it is nowhere close to anything like your probable cracked wood, moon door, snakes in the hole imaginings. Frankly, outhouses were and are probably a lot more sanitary than a lot of indoor bathrooms. But this isn't that.

The thing of this one is, at night, to go across the patio to reach that one thought in your mind goal, it is very dark (part of the bliss beauty here). So you are going straight ahead and looking through the bathroom area itself, through the shower area and straight on to water and lights on a hillside. Once you hit the bathroom door a motion light, a lovely low, barely there, just enough to light your way to the toilet comes on. Otherwise, you might be drawn to go right through, across the wonderful deck of the outdoor but covered shower area and simply step off into a dream infinity. You'd have to plow through a mini forest of palms at the edge of the shower deck first, so you wouldn't. However, when you are rather near sighted, as I am in the extreme, and without my glasses or contacts, it's a pretty fun journey of 20 feet or so to a necessary function station. 

Yes, living in my head is full of many detours. Going to the bathroom is just one of them.

Have a make the most of memories Monday. Do something matchless.

Just Because It's Monday...

...doesn't mean I still don't have Sunday on my mind. Not that there was much going on, in fact, there was pretty much nothing going on. At least for me. For a Sunday, that's not a bad thing. Then, I think about it and realize that wasn't quite so.

At some point in the timeless day, Walt and Justin came by to work on docks. My little dock had had a run in with a storm while I was away. The storm only partially won, but enough to make the dock unusable. I tried to fix it, without success. But it would have been a good video.

In the meantime, Walt's floating dock, which is accessed by my non-floating but now floating dock, had broken away from its moorings as well. It sounds much more confusing than the visual. When it is done I'll take a photo. Sort of like the porch. Patience, Prudence.

(In the Other Meantime, this is a reminder to all who need to be reminded - usually those of us who shouldn't need to be reminded: just because something is anchored with a deeply set sand screw, doesn't mean it is really secure. There. Consider yourselves reminded, not only about the physical laws determining wear and tear on lines, shifting sands and inexpertly tied knots, but the metaphysical implications of...never mind)

The best part of all of this is that I get to walk out on my dock again and see another view of the view. I get to join the teeny crabs who crawl between the planks; peer between the board cracks and see if the lobsters have returned. Fish a little farther out of reach of rocks and mangrove roots.

So yes, something did happen yesterday. Something big for something so little.

It might be getting near time to get my dinghy back in the water, now that she has someplace to live again.

While Walt and Justin slogged about the duffy bottom of the bay, CWIM tasked herself with holding up a porch support. She really does this well and I'm pretty sure in another life she was a lion gargoyle on some ancient building holding up the roof. More likely she was a real lion, coddled by some spoiled princess who gave her tidbits of now extinct animals I'd be ashamed to know about. Not that she ate them, but that they were fed to her, if you follow that reasoning. More things that don't worry cats. Obviously.

With the holiday weekend (Thanksgiving, remember?) that started last Tuesday around here, there were plenty of boats rafted up in the usual places. In fact, it seemed like more boats than in the last few years, which is a good sign. If you want to know about the real state of the US economy, all you need to do is notice what our popular anchorage sites look like over holidays. I would be willing to bet there is a very close correlation between sturdiness or lack of it in the economy and how many boats show up here. Ok, some PhD candidate with an eye for a weird economic thesis, I have just handed it to you.

Heading back to the big island after a weekend of debauchery good family fun

While the rain held off yesterday, we did have a rolling weather scenario of sun and overcast going on. I liked it, as the air did not reach the exploding steam bath stage. It is staying warm much later than normal (I'm sure someone will say, 'oh MJ, it's always like this at Thanksgiving time' and maybe they are right but it seems warmer to me). On the positive side, I am in the water in late November, something my water friends will agree is something I don't normally do (they do). On the negative side, my blanket looks really lonely on the shelf and I'm very ready for the day, or probably night, that I'll pull it down in all its light weight warmth, another seasonal marker. 

So I was wrong. Shocking, but your coffee either hasn't kicked in yet or is wearing off, depending on your time zone, so I'm doing you a favor. Yesterday was full of activity, both around my yard and beyond. Most good, some not so good, as I heard there have been some animal poisonings going on...make sure your critters are where they should be.

In a fantasy world, this would be my guest bedroom. (credit unknown)

In a fantasy world, there would be no one cruel enough to kill a animal or send men and women to war. But fantasies are for Sundays. It's Monday and I need to go.

Have a maverick Monday. Do something mischievously miscellaneous.

Oops!

On the way to Sunday Funday out at Dakity, it looked like it might rain, so I cleverly decided not to take my backpack, but rather a large waterproof (sort of) bag for food, drink, etc. Of course, that meant I cleverly forgot to transfer my camera. So you will have to imagine the slashing rain squalls, the sun returning bright on water a hundred shades of blue and purple, John's parents looking wonderful (that previous photo of his father, fie on me!), a group of happy, laughing people.

Next!

I am sure more than a few facebook friends of mine are sorely tired of my continuous anti-Monosanto postings. I've been thinking about this a lot, why (beyond the horrid repercussions) this bothers me so very much. And I finally realized that it is the subversiveness of their work. If you, as an educated person, choose to eat McDonald's and drink soft drinks and snack your way to obesity and un-health, I'm pretty much of the mindset, knock yourself out. The uneducated is entwined but a different matter. What angers me is that this isn't about choosing to eat something you know is bad. This is about people who buy something fresh and 'natural', who try to eat well, and feed their families thoughtfully, who are buying food that isn't good already, from the moment it is created, by seed, by feed, by its very nature, be it vegetable, fruit or animal. The guesstimate is that genetically modified foods are probably in 70% of our so called healthy diets. That's a lot of poison we're eating, and it's been going on, unknown to the public for the most part, since the late 80's, and growing (no pun intended) exponentially, long enough that the results are coming in. Cancers, food allergies, deaths, the piper is piping and demanding payment. Countries are getting Monsanto out, but the collateral damage will take decades to eradicate. So, I'll try to hold back on the ranting postings if you will educate yourself and your friends and act accordingly. Because how can you NOT? This isn't about something that doesn't affect you, it is the very thing that keeps you alive and will kill you too early. There are plenty of ways online to find out what is going on. Please. Do. That.

This video is from 2006! (that means a half dozen more years to poison us)

Ok, rant done. I walked to town this morning and this is some of what I saw along the way.

But first, I had to leave my yard, in this place where the harbinger of Spring is falling leaves

Our seasons may be confused, but we do have them!

Pelis are always in season (ok, not always but they are here now)

Until they leave

This was about the light

Carlos' wall. I love this wall.

The El Batey dock

Make your own caption 

Drive through

Purple seems to be the paint of choice lately around here. I like it!

More stairs to nowhere

The man and his goat (thanks, Benjamin!)

Have a Monsanto free Monday (if that's possible)! Do something methodically. 

Best wishes to Neil on a quick recovery!!! (and no, I don't know details, only that he is over on the big island after feeling very unwell but word this morning is that he is resting well and waiting for a doctor there; send your best positive vibes/prayers).

Thanks, David and Don't Forget Your Raingear!

Last night was David's yearly swan song with the lads at Mamacita's. No doubt Doug, Grady and Ted (Violin Guy) will be entertaining us in the future, but we'll be looking forward to David's return next year!

Since David's father was one of the original Liar's from the Liar's Table (sign above), it seems pretty appropriate to play at Mamacita's for his last gig night.

A number of people were commenting on how four guys could get together with their talent and love of music, from such various and sundry places (David from up north, Ted & Doug from their boats and Grady, re-arrived from California) and be in the same musical groove like they'd been playing together forever. From Tennessee Waltzing to stroking that Moon Ribbah, and up ahead to beach music, rock and sweet jazzy blues, it seemed at least, pretty much whatever takes your musical fancy was possible to hear. Having watched a lot of people play a lot of music over the years, I've seen that magic happen before; just not in a long time. Culebra is a place where there is excellent music, but not much I can swing along with from memories. It's been way big fun!

I laughed last night thinking about how we all pretend seem to expect we'll be getting on the right ferry at the right time, for this protest about the ferries not running on time or not running at all. But hopefully, many of us will be heading to the Peace Park this afternoon, to make some noise about the crazy third world on-going and worsening running of our ferry transportation system. It appears the FBI is getting involved (I should site a reference here, but I forget where I read that yesterday, maybe a translation from El Nuevo Dia) in an investigation as to what is really the truth about the MTA's deplorably remiss running of their department. Good on 'em, I say! I'm seeing this is the groundswell of the wave.

Just don't forget, if you are going over, there is some big rain in the forecast and there isn't much worse than being wet and cold (yes, people from the north, we do get cold!), so prepare accordingly.

Have a momentous Monday! Do something making a wave!

Culebra Sunday on Monday

In the grey overcast of yesterday, anything bright took on an almost surrealistic glow; flower, food, ships, it didn't matter. A sense of rain held off until it didn't anymore late in the afternoon. After a completely lazy morning reading (part of) a week old copy of the Sunday New York Times friends brought down for me (thanks, Lorriane! thanks, Jim!) I had headed into town to Dinghy Dock - for someone who doesn't care about football, I do like Football Sunday there. Some great fajitas from Neil, a couple rounds of libations, conversations and laughter along with a couple rounds playing catch with Kai, I about ready to leave when down came the rain, sweeping over the flank of hills to the east and spreading fast. Then as suddenly done as it had started, I was ready to go when Computer John showed us the radar on his phone, filled with yellow and red. No, I wasn't walking anywhere. Instead, a ride home was gratefully accepted and Sunday Funday drew to a slow, relaxed close. Sunday Sunday, I do like that day.

5 bucks and enough fajitas to make a too filling meal, chicken, pork or churrasco. Yum! Thanks for talking me into it, Taz, Ann and Steve! The churassco was fantastico!

A small work of art

A peek of sun in the late afternoon  - how can you not love a bar with a group of people all noticing 'Oh, look at the light!' One of my favorite things on Culebra is that, no matter how long people live here, they will still stop and notice the beauty.

 Today is still new, with clouds and bits of rain, the air cool enough to keep a light blanket on. The list of to-do's is there ahead of me, but for now, it's quiet, even the sound of the few cars going by somehow muffled. Nice.

Have a mellow-filled Monday. Do something mindful.

If you like dolphins, this is a fascinatingl NatGeo video

Culebra Monday

Dogs yipping across the bay, roosters crowing, the sound of a vehicle or two. Sky a'dawnin', morning is born.

I weave my way back through the long grasses, knowing the tea has steeped strong, the cat has been fed, real daylight is now bright enough to kick start my brain out of merely meandering. Culebra close enough, anyway. Let Monday begin!

Have a mole-hill only Monday. Do something mildly.

Some This That and the Other

This morning's dawn held a new element, and I think it was a brilliant addition. Kudos to the artist! One day I'll have a camera worthy of the view, but for now, the best thing is to go outside and see it for yourself!

This morning also brought in some breezy weather. Ok, it started last night. I only know this because while I was slightly asleep the dog and cats decided they needed company while listening to the whistling of the wind through the windows. Is that enough W words?

There is some potential rain out there, so get in your beach time while you can! My laundry is done, how about yours?

Oh, Kelli, you have a new bloom! Love, the House Sitter

I continue to be a big fan of the daily cartoons Mahoney Joe and Harold's Planet. They always make so much sense to me. Maybe that should be worrisome, but for me, it's confirmation that the inside of my head is not alone. And that is as comforting as a cup of milky tea...

From the state of the world...

to the state I hope someone will have the courtesy to put me in,

should the need arise.

(Just a reminder; I do have the artist's permission 

to use these here on my blog, as they are copyrighted!)

Slowly, slowly some winter people are drifting back to Culebra. In case you have been waiting for Chris Goldmark to take you fishing, he's back and his website will give you all the info you need to get hooked up, pun intended. It's good to see some of the old familiar faces, as well as some new ones as the ferry service becomes slightly more reliable. 'nuff said on that. For now.

Have a manageable Monday! Do something minorly important.