Caribbean Note #45

Damn!

It seems strange to be writing this installment of the Caribbean Note from cold rainy Oregon.  So much has happened in the past four weeks.

Rexx began to have issues with his heart and lungs at the beginning of March.  We took him to see Dr. Jan every few days and it seemed, at times, as though the medication prescribed would stabilize his condition, but in the end we could see that it was unkind of us to continue and by the end of March we had to let him go.  We take solace in the knowledge that he had a long happy life and will now stay forever on our sunny warm island.  He was always Berit’s snuggle buddy and it will take a long time to heal this wound but the memories live on.  Rexx was a good friend. 



Caribbean Rexx - 2009

R.I.P. li'l Rexxy

 

As you know, our original plan was to return home together but Berit has remained on Bonaire to complete the business of (finally) purchasing the house next door.  It has been essentially empty for the five(ish) years since we purchased our house here and has been on the market for the last two years.  The offer we made then was rejected but the market has fallen here too, so the owner finally relented and we agreed on a contract sale.  We took possession of the house two weeks ago and have been making repairs and cleaning since then.

The garden was in a much neglected state and we’ve done an extensive pruning in order to get the plants back to a manageable size.  All is going along as it should and we expect to close the sale and sign in the next few weeks.

 

Because we made no provision to be gone at tax time I’ve returned alone to get the paperwork together and resupply Berit with her favorite brand of coconut milk and restock her dwindling cache of Lara Bars and a certain kind of chocolate bar sold at New Seasons.  Just because you live on an Island is no reason to give up the essentials.

Of course I’m looking forward to seeing you at the Old Spaghetti Factory on Sunday and I too am taking advantage of an opportunity to embrace one of my guilty pleasures; a nice plate of spaghetti with brown butter and Mizithra cheese.  I wonder if Semper Kontentu Goatcheese Bonaire makes Mizithra?

Along with all that was happening during the past month we had a nice visit from our friends Bob and Noelle.  In addition to doing a bunch of great scuba dives at our favorite places we enjoyed sharing the chaos and were able to sail our ship in the rough seas with the support of a great crew.



Congrats, Bob!!!
March 21, 2013

Bob brought me enameled tools (mine have rusted in this tropical climate) and new electronic toys.  With his electrical expertise he sorted out our fuse box issues and together with Berit made sense of our circuits.  Bob and I built an iguana proof guard around Berit’s new Flame Tree to stop them munching the tender new leaves and was my right hand man when we were forced to change a flat tire on a remote coral rubble beach.  Where, incidentally we met Tom and Mike who stopped to help and turned out to be the renters of our good friend’s condo.  We had recently said goodbye to Doug and Dianne on their return to Canada after a month on the island and here were these guys from the New Jersey area who’d stumbled across us at Tailor Made who just happened to be staying at Villa Makoshi and were nice enough to stop and offer to help!  Now that’s a small world.

Meanwhile, as Bob and I worked to jack up the truck in this incredibly difficult terrain, Berit and Noelle spotted the elusive Manta Ray (that we have been hearing about for months and had never seen) and grabbed their fins and jumped back into the water to swim with it.

Anyway, we had a great time with Bob and Noelle.  We hiked the Pink Rock Trail in the valley of the bees and Kayaked in the Mangrove Swamps.  It was Bob who took the Facebook picture of Berit and me with the Mega-Bertha Lionfish container, and Noelle who cooked breakfast for two weeks.



Now that we’ve established a larger presence on Bonaire with the newly expanded Pement Family Compound, we expect to have more visits from family and friends who might choose to stay longer in their own “house next door”.

As always, life goes on.  Our new return date is set for June first and so if any of you are thinking along the lines of a late spring vacation, then, as Bob Barker used to say, “come on down”.

Love,

Dad