Caribbean Note #39

Hey Y’all,

It seems like it’s been 58 days since we’ve seen you all – no wait . . . it has been 58 days since we’ve seen you; with another 34 days to go ‘till we’re back the first weekend in June.  We’ve just passed by Danica’s Birthday and will pass by Carrie and Amber’s Birthdays next month so --Happy Birthday-- to everyone, and we’ll celebrate mo’ better when we get back.

We’ve managed to acclimate to island life pretty well this trip and have slowed down into an easy going pace where each day includes birds, birds, birds mixed together most days with fish, fish, fish.

Berit has been birding with Jerry and her new friend Eileen and we’re still killing lionfish on the reef and giving away more than we eat.  (We’re at 612 and counting.)  The garden is alive with critters and our favorite iguana Splitty McForkson still visits every day for his papaya handout, along with Darcelle and the new iguana kids trying to horn in on Splitty’s action.

There’s a new ground dove baby that’s been flapping around in our back cactus fence.  A couple days ago his brother fell prey to some local predator.  Chick number one is learning to fly with Mom and Dad; chick number two is mostly eaten with the ants finishing off what’s left of his skeletal remains.  The iguana world was dealt a blow when the neighbor cut down their home tree, but at least there are still plenty of nice places around to move into.

Berit and I have been diving new sites and will be heading out before sun-up in the morning for a transition dive.  We’ll get in the water in darkness and during the dive the night critters will be replaced by the waking daytime critters.  We’ve done this kind of dive before and find it’s like ringing a wake-up bell on the reef.  It all happens at once; one minute you’re seeing eels and lobsters and the next parrot fish and turtles.

We’re still hanging out with friends and neighbors (Robert asks about Geoff and Jacob) and we’re taking Eileen to Dia di Rincon tomorrow evening for the annual festival in this five hundred year old town.  The event recognizes the importance of the village to the local people; kind of like a combination founders day and freedom rally.  Rincon is inextricably tied to historic Bonaire in all its glory and especially its horrific embrace of slavery and the hardships and celebrations of plantation life.

And speaking of celebrations we just had our own “Taste of Bonaire”.  Not quite the same event as other places like “Taste of Chicago” or even “The Bite” in Portland but food and fun and music and a chance to see people.

Berit and I have been drafted by our friend Michael G. to help survey local businesses as to their “handicap accessibility” in order to help raise awareness and remove barriers.  It’s kind of strange ‘cause the roads and sidewalks are so bad that cars have trouble getting around let alone wheelchairs.

Every year since I bought my rebreather I’ve replaced the electronics and they have failed yet again.  This time (luckily) it’s only my deco side unit that’s gone wanky and I do have an off-board backup I can use for deco.  But Damn!!  I always replace the failed gear with the newest and bestest and most foolproof new thing around that always cost more (but is oh so much better) only to have it fail one year later like clockwork.  So remember, when you all buy your rebreathers, factor in an ongoing expense to keep them in good repair!!

Berit is still learning about nutrition and putting what she has learned into practice (on me) and I’m still losing weight and we’re still working out every day and getting stronger, which helps with some of the nasty sites we’ve been diving, humping our gear up and down goat and donkey trials to get onto coral rubble beaches where I’m sure we’re the only ones to go diving.

So, as you can tell, life here goes on as it should for two retired people in paradise.  I’m glad I have the where-with-all to live here, but even more thankful that I have Berit to share it with.

Bobby and Tina will be coming down soon for a couple of weeks, and I confess I’m looking forward to playing cards and hanging out with some folks from back home.  That'll give us a chance to catch up on the local news.

Remember that you’re all invited to visit us here any time you can.  After the summer weddings we’ll return in September and this time we’ve purchased one-way tickets.  Anyone want to spend Christmas on Bonaire?

Hope all is well with you and the people you love.

Dad

Caribbean Note #38

Hey Everybody,

Wow!  I can’t believe we’ve been here on Bonaire for a month all ready!?!

It seems only last week we were opening the house and sweeping up the omnipresent red dust, and soon it will be time to get together in Hood River for Sidney and Jesse’s wedding.

It was nice to hear that Garrett was accepted at Oregon State and that Sidney will be going to law school.  Some of you may have heard that Mom’s house in Independence was sold after being on the market for more than two years.  Keep us posted on these things!  We love to get news from home!!

Island life is going along as always.  When we get in a hurry the island forces us to slow back down.  We’ve made several trips to the government office to pay our property tax (not yet done) and file our taxes (not yet done).  Anyway the forms we filled out are being replaced by other forms we will receive later on.  I hurt my foot and went to the hospital for an x-ray but the island medical insurance would not cover the cost because while we had spent weeks getting our residency status and island ID cards, we had not gone to the government medical office to “activate” our coverage.  This meant more trips to get and fill-out and file the proper forms (in Dutch – thank you Google translate) to be reimbursed for our hospital bill.  The bill here for emergency room nurse, doctor, compression bandage, pain pills and x-ray:  $243.56.  In the states, can you even walk into the Hospital’s Emergency Room for that?

Berit’s birthday was last week and we went to the bike shop to buy a nice bike for her, and Frank (the owner) said he had just the right bike (a touring bike the proper size for her) and it would be here in five weeks.  Nothing on this island happens right away; you just have to relax and go slow.

We’ve been working in the garden, and birding with our friend Jerry, and watching Modern Family (Season 2) and Survivor on TV.  (SPOILER ALERT! We think Colton’s karma caught up with him and his appendicitis attack was payback for being such a mean little bitch!!)

The weather has been cooler and the cruise ships abundant, but the diving has been spectacular, as usual, and in addition to our own fish frys, we’ve given away buckets full of lionfish; our kill count in now 542.

We had our friends Bob and Noelle come to dive for two weeks and enjoyed their visit very much.  Bob is able to repair all things electric/electronic and Noelle made breakfast every morning, so it was easy to enjoy their company.

Berit and I have been doing a video workout every morning called Insanity (like P90X) and between that and our Sunday 20 mile bike rides we’ve stayed with it for the past eleven days.  I’m not sure how much we’re improving but I do know how many buckets of sweat we’ve lost.  We’re trying to last for 60 consecutive days.  Hope we do . . .

The other big news is we’re taking a break from drinking and like all the other over-doers out there I can tell you it’s been 54 days and counting.

Rexx is fine and sleeps in the sun every day.  It’s nice to see him warm and happy.

We saw Tiger win a couple of weeks ago and we’re looking forward to the Master’s starting tomorrow, and would love to see the “old” Tiger in action again.  We hope he wins!!

That’s all for now from the Caribbean; we hope all is well with you and the people you love!

Love,

Dad