And the Rain Continues........

Well, rain mentioned in the last entry was only the beginning. Starting mid-day Sunday, the clouds grew dark, ominous and very pregnant with the possibility of a rough night. Then, a low rumble of lightening accompanied by an increase in winds warned us the storm was about to hit. We had checked weather information and apparently an unusual low pressure system was sitting over the West Indies that was going to be dumping rain on us as well as the Virgin Islands, just six miles away. And man, did it! For most of the day Sunday and into the night, it rained heavily with periods of pretty severe lightening and thunder. Monday started soggy but not quite as wet but it picked up again into the afternoon and by evening we were getting pounded by torrential rain, high winds and heavy lightening and thunder. After a particularly loud crash in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, we gave up trying to sleep and sat up reading from about 1 a.m. until 2:30. The claps of thunder were so loud and close that we could actually feel the cabin vibrate with them. Now, there have been times when we lived in Seattle, where thunder and lightening storms are a rarity, that I would say to Jim I actually missed them (we used to have them in Texas frequently, but nothing like this). Well, I have to say, that by the time dawn came Tuesday morning, I was pretty unnerved by it all and will have had my fill of thunderstorms for quite some time!

Once it was light enough Tuesday morning we went outside and discovered the source of the crash - a tree had blown over in front of the Manager’s Cabin. You can see from the picture that it wasn’t a huge tree but certainly big enough that we had to use the chainsaw to cut it up and get it out of the way. The only other major problem caused by the storm was the swimming pool which, besides practically overflowing, was really green from the mustard algae which apparently can easily spring up in a pool after a storm. This would necessitate a trip to the hardware store to pick up some more algae killer to treat the pool.

Meanwhile, the gals in Family Cabana were able to get their car towed out of where it was stuck and offered to take us into town with them and grab a bite to eat. Now, as you know, we have our own little sweet ride, but we simply couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a comfy trip in the back seat of an almost new Jeep with air conditioning - yippee!! So, off we headed. This was the first time in about four days that we had actually been able to get away from the property so it really was a treat. The roads around the island had a lot of debris on them and in some places, there were minor slides from runoff in the higher hills. Fortunately, we were able to get around without too much difficulty. We ended going to Duffy’s on the beach in Esperanza after finding out that the restaurant we wanted to go to, Mucho Gusto, was closed. According to several of the guests we’ve had who have eaten there, it is really good, authentic Puerto Rican food, so we’ll definitely have to try it some time.

Anyway, we sat down at Duffy’s, which is a covered, open air restaurant with a very casual atmosphere and pretty good pub type food. Jim enjoyed a famous Duffy’s Sunset cocktail while I had an ice cold Medallia (Puerto Rican beer). Ahhh!! Talk about recharging your batteries! From our vantage point, we watched the dark clouds form again over the Caribbean and in no time it let loose around us again. This time, though, it was much more tolerable sitting in a comfortable restaurant watching the storm as opposed to being pounded by it in our little Manager’s Cabin. Now there's appreciating the small things in life!

And the Rain Begins

The pool was turning green so the first order of the day was to clean again for the second time in 4 days. I think this was brought on by the very heavy thunderstorms that have been taking place every afternoon. Apparently, we had also forgotten that we needed to check the “hair basket” weekly, which is basically another type of skimmer inside the pump house that catches additional….well…..hair…..and stuff. So we got in there, figured out how to do that and yes, it was full of hair…..and stuff. Then I went on to clean the pool while Jim skimmed it which took over an hour due to the large amount of sediment on the bottom. We added 12 scoops of salt which, due to the high humidity in the pump house, had clumped together and it was more like throwing 12 salt bombs into the pool. Lastly, we added the recommended algaecide to kill the algae as well as some other stuff to help clear the water. So finally, it was as clean and chemically balanced as it could be so we headed back in to have a quick lunch before I was going to head into town to run multiple errands. And that’s when it started raining. Again. This was classic - it started with lightening and thunder, then high winds and it was HERE. So much for a trip into town - I wasn’t about to head out in this kind of weather. Even the biologist who was here from the University of Nebraska was doubtful whether his group could get out to do their field work with this kind of weather.

So we settled into the Manager’s Cabin for another wet and dreary afternoon and figured well, we’ll just get online and take care of some things. We booted up the computer only to find out that we had apparently used up all the megabytes or whatever is on the plan for the air card. A call to the friendly folks at AT&T confirmed that the movie we watched through streaming Netflix apparently used up a ton of bytes, or whatever. Hmmm…..we sure didn‘t recall hearing anything about a limit on the amount of time we could be online. So we called the owner and they are working on a solution to either increase the plan or look into wifi through some other provider, but for the meantime we only have limited internet access until 8/1 when the new month’s allotment of megabytes or whatever kicks in. Fun stuff.

We settled in to watch “Airplane” one of the preloaded movies we have on the Mac, and one of our favorites. About an hour into the movie, one of the gals staying in the Family Cabana knocks on the door to say they’ve gotten their Jeep tire stuck in a rut in the gravel driveway as they were trying to head out to get something to eat and did we have any ideas on how they could get out? Pause the movie…….we found an old piece of wood and headed over to their car, in the rain, to see what we could do. Yes, indeed, the left rear tire was certainly stuck in a rut, but then, haven‘t we all be in that position at some time or another? So, we dug down, wedged the piece of wood in place and even had the guys from the Casa Nueva trying to help us. Nothing. It just spun and spun and burned up the rubber. As the four of us were in front pushing, I could just picture the truck rolling forward and pinning us all into the barbed wire fence that was behind us. Ah, good times for sure!! Clearly, this vehicle wasn’t going anywhere this afternoon. So, we headed back to the Manager’s Cabin and took our second shower of the day before returning to the movie. Phew!! What a day!!

Mothra Invades

“How strange”, I thought to myself, “A bird is trying to get inside”. We were laying in bed and it was early, approximately 6 a.m. when we heard a flutter of wings against the screen upstairs. Seemed strange, but at this stage of the game, my tolerance for the strange or bizarre had been stretched considerably. After awhile the sound diminished so I didn’t think anymore about it and dozed back off. Shortly thereafter, Jim got up and went downstairs to make coffee. “David, you won’t believe this” I heard after a few minutes……that’s never a good way to start the day, by the way. So I slid out from under the net tent, got dressed and headed downstairs.

“What the…..????” I exclaimed (yes, I actually did exclaim) - the fluttering was louder and coming from downstairs. Apparently, the creature was inside trying to get out, not outside trying to get in. And it wasn’t a bird at all but a moth the size of a bird. I would guess a Chickadee. Help me Jesus. It was huge (see pictures above for the stunning details. I mean, this thing would have covered the palm of my hand - not that I would ever have gotten close enough to it to find out). The Chickamoth was fluttering madly about the kitchen and I was sure that at any moment it would knock a coffee cup or plate onto the floor in it’s frenzied state. What were we to do? Maybe leave a trail of crackers, or old sweaters, or whatever it is that Chickamoths like, leading out the door? Hmmm……..this would take some expert handling. Oh Jim…..? True to his valiant nature, he calmly put a cup over the flying terror (or, more likely, terrified flyer), slid a piece of paper underneath and very carefully went outside with it. Off it flew, into the jungle, to wake us up another day. Phew………coffee anyone???

Creepy Crawlies

(pictures this page: a ubiquitous house lizard, a green bug I named Gertrude who watched me make pancakes one morning and the last, a millipede found crawling across the Manager's Cabin floor just as this went to press.....ugh......)

It’s a subject I can’t hold off writing about any longer - BUGS. They’re here. everywhere. Well, that might be a little dramatic, but they certainly are plentiful. Now I knew what I was getting into coming down here since we were here last November and I became well acquainted with the local flora and fauna at that time. Let me just tick off for you ( no pun intended) a quick list of what I’ve either seen or run into since we’ve been here: June bugs (lots of them) wasps, millipedes, roaches, scorpions (1), earwigs, little cute green bugs, not sure of the name, other green bugs that look like leaves (leafhoppers maybe?, and Mothra (but more on her later). They don’t seem to be so ever present during the day, except for the millipedes which you do see around from time to time, but it’s at night when they decide to visit their human neighbors. Now, to Jim’s credit, he has done an AMAZING job of sealing up this Manager’s Cabin, which includes actually putting a ceiling over the formerly open to the trees shower and a window where there was just a hole in the wall, as well as going through 12 tubes of caulking to date. This act of heroism has greatly increased my comfort level of staying here at night - and, of course, the mosquito net over our bed, tightly tucked under the mattress actually allows me to sleep at night in relatively anxiety free state.

Because of this proximity to nature, I have quickly developed a couple of habits. One, I find myself periodically - like every 10 minutes or so - scanning the room like a radar dish looking for any unusual movements in the vicinity that might indicate an enemy presence and two, always looking in my drink first before taking a sip (you can guess how I learned that one). This preemptive behavior usually keeps me from being caught off guard and if I do spot something that needs - oh, how should I say it? - removing - I kindly ask Jim to take care of it which he so sweetly does.

Now, every now and then, something does manage to infiltrate our space, either by air or land, and it’s at these times that I basically become one big BABY. Because…..I HATE BUGS. REALLY. Now you’re asking yourself, didn’t you know what you were getting yourself into when you headed down to the tropics? Well, yes and no. When we were here in November, there were certainly a fair number of June bugs flying around outside and crawling on the screens and that didn’t bother me so much. Maybe it was the time of year or weather, but there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of other critters around every corner. Now that it’s summer, I’m guessing things are in full swing. The worst for me has been the occasional roach that has made it’s way inside (before Jim completed his Ph.D. in caulking that is). These ain’t little fellas, either - we’re talking 2 inch long bandits that could probably carry away the refrigerator if given half a chance. Oh Jim……

Then there’s the millipedes that are common as well. I guess, if I had to choose, I’d take millipedes over centipedes any day. Apparently, the extra thousand legs really slows them down because I usually find them slowly making their way across one of the walkways where I’m able to carefully edge my way around them. Lucky me, though - the other day, I was sweeping a walkway and as I stepped backwards I head (and felt) “crunch” under my flip flop as I realized I had just stepped on a millipede. I think he was as shocked as I was - his two functioning ends were waving around wondering how the middle of him got so flat……I quickly swept him into the garden.

My saving grace has been the mosquito net that we have over the bed. In lieu of emptying out my supply of anti anxiety medication, it’s been a godsend. The routine starts in the late afternoon, when I first dissect the bed, checking under the sheets for new inhabitants (to date, I’ve never seen anything), then I gather the netting and tuck each corner in tightly under the mattress to create a tent any Boy Scout leader would be proud of! But the real trick comes when we have to get inside the tent, which has turned into an act that would be worthy of a Cirque du Soleil audition. we only untuck from the middle - never a corner - and we crouch down and wriggle our way between the barrier and the bed and then quickly re-tuck. Ah, in bed at last. There I am, comfortably settled on my pillow, when I look over longingly at my book on the nightstand which is now outside the green zone and wonder if I’ll ever get past the first 100 pages……..

My Friend the Very Slow Moving Lizard

I stepped out onto the balcony at Casa Nueva and saw this beautiful lizard sitting there looking up at me. Now, as I may have mentioned before, there are lizards everywhere here of all different shades and they are usually darting here and there. But this little fella just sat there looking at me with no trepidation whatsoever. So, I snuck a little closer to get a really good picture of him and he still didn’t budge. Leaving him in peace, I happily went on with my day and caught up with Jim later to tell him about the cool lizard I had found. “Oh”, he said “You mean the dead one? I threw him over the railing a little while ago”. Sigh…….

La Finca Outdoor Cinema Under the Stars

(the other pictures on this page include shots of the kitchen and deck of the main guesthouse at night)

Finally, an evening to relax in style! We had the whole place to ourselves so we repaired to the main guesthouse and made a tasty meal of pasta with pesto sauce and ate al fresco on the deck. What a lovely evening! The trade winds were blowing so it wasn’t too muggy as the tree frogs serenaded us during dinner. Then it was movie time! We recently found out that we could stream movies on Netflix from here which we weren't sure we would be able to do when we first got here. We brought out our Mac computer - which has a much bigger screen than the Netbook - and got a long extension cord and were all set. As you can see from the picture, some refreshing white wine certainly added to the enjoyment. Talk about a dramatic backdrop to the movie - a thunderstorm started rolling in over the Caribbean and lightening flashes began to go off over St. Croix, which is just six miles away from us. Plus we had some cool fireflies darting in and out of the palms. It was hard to decide which show was more fun to watch!!

Our Sweet Ride!

(other pictures this page: a mural in downtown Isabel that translates: The poor man is not the man who doesn't have a penny, but the man who doesn't have a dream. The other picture is of the wild horses who are all over the island - I took this picture from the truck on my way into town - the were on the side of the road!)

It was my first day to take the truck into town, drop off some paperwork to the accountant’s office, go by the grocery store and go to the post office - once again - with high hopes that our box we mailed from Dallas would finally get here. You see, Jim tends to be the one to get into a project and I’m the gopher, which I really don’t mind. You see, I really do think I have the attention span of a flea and would much rather be going off on an errand than remain in the middle of a project. So that, being said, I headed off in our sweet ride (see picture above).

The thing to know about the roads on Vieques is that by any standard of any city they are one lane roads yet two cars are supposed to be able to pass on them. In theory that sounds great but in reality it requires a great deal of ingenuity to maneuver on the shoulder just enough to let the other guy pass you. The other issue that appears to be a regular obstacle on these roads is the vegetation that grows abundantly everywhere. From what I understand, the island has workers that travel the roads and keep the vines and branches in check but personally I think the vegetation is winning. So the morning I’m referring to, I headed out Route 995 which intersects with Route 201 which takes you right into the town of Isabel. Driving down this road, there are vines hanging from the trees that slap the windshield as you go by as well as branches that can really give your arm a whack if you’ve got it hanging out the window too far. On this particular road, there’s a sharp curve at just the point where there is also a fairly sizeable pothole. So the choice comes down to do I want to hit the pothole to avoid the overhanging tree and risk damaging the suspension or go for the green. Since the pothole was more on the oncoming traffic side of things, I opted for the branch and with a solid whack it hit the side of the truck as I went by. Now, as you can see from the truck, there is a hand built wooden frame that sits inside the bed of the pickup whose purpose neither Jim or I can fathom. At any rate, it’s there and it’s too difficult to move so apparently it’s been left there for quite some time. As I passed the overhanging branch, a sizeable section of it got caught in the frame and was torn from the rest of the tree. Since there really wasn’t anywhere to pull over, I just continued on my way with my piece of tree sticking into the wooden frame of unknown purpose.

Fortunately, I remembered how to get to the post office which is right in the “downtown’ section of Isabel as it were. It’s actually conveniently located with the accountant’s office just one block behind it. The only problem is there is just a small section of pull in parking right in front of the post office with the rest being either parallel parking or some version of off street parking if you can find it. Remember, this is a very small, congested town with a fair amount of hills and very narrow streets so not a great place to practice parallel parking for the uninitiated. Therefore, I was determined to get one of the direct parking spots right in front of the post office. Only one problem - as I drove slowly past, there weren’t any spaces available. Apparently, everyone else has the same idea as me. Shouldn’t there be a law that the easy parking has to be reserved for the newbies to the island and the rest for the locals who clearly have the hang of things get to park elsewhere? Hmmm……well, realizing that there wasn’t a convenient space in front, I figured I would just drive back around and try again. After all, surely by the time I looped down the main road, back to the highway and back to the turnoff into town, a space would open up by then. Whether this was good logic or not remains to be seen, but I was determined not to have to parallel park - that was just too much to ask on my first day driving by myself. So I made the loop, headed back into town and as I crawled by, again no spaces….yikes! Now what? Well, I’ll just do it again which is what I did. Now I realized why the former caretakers informed us they never let the gas gauge get below half - it wasn’t because of the periodic gas shortages that hit the island but for times like these when you drive through the city for at least a half hour trying to park. On my third pass by the post office, I was sure that some of the locals who hang out at the outdoor café on the same corner were noticing me. I could only imagine what they were thinking: “why does the gringo with a piece of tree sticking out of his truck keep driving by here looking like a madman???”

Well, after three round trips I began to realize this may not be a very productive way to go about this so I finally succeeded in finding some decent off street parking so, sticky and frustrated, I hopped out of the truck and headed to the post office. Apparently, the routine as we were told is that you leave the windows rolled down and take any valuables with you as this deters thieves from trying to break into cars. So that is what I did and off I went to the post office. After eagerly opening the P.O. box I found a yellow card - yay! Our box arrived! So I stood in line and finally got the box - yippee!! Of course the condition it was in was a bit of a different story……..