Caribbean Note #47

Hey Everybody,

It’s very hot here in the southern Caribbean.  I hear you’re having quite the opposite weather in Oregon.  Sorry to know you’re dealing with cold temperatures, but happy to remind you that we’re only a plane ride away.  Come and see us!!

The plethora of birds is singing in the garden and the iguanas are gathering for their breakfast of salad scraps and old fruit left over from meals past.

Our big news these days is we’re having our houses painted.  We’ve done more than our share of this sort of thing in years past, so we’ve hired Stefan (PRO-Home) and his crew for the job.  All we really have to do is unlock the gates before we go diving and admire their work when we return.  This project includes building a new security door and some necessary roof repairs on the new house and should be complete in three or four weeks.

Our owners association is finally taking action to build a new pool in the neighborhood.  We have witnessed quite a lot of drama in emails and at the meeting to approve the design and accept the contractors bid.  Wow, I thought dive club politics were problematic.  We were shocked at the emotion invested in this decision making.  But, I think it’s all settled now and I expect to see bulldozers and backhoes any day now.

We’re still trying to exercise daily and have established a routine of early morning (weekday) “Insanity” warm-ups followed by a long walk along the waterfront; plus a (Saturday) uphill walk to Sera Largu and a long bike ride on Sunday.   I’m sure there are a lot of people doing more, but at least we’re trying to stay with it.  It seems we often try to find a reason to skip it today, but so far we’ve been pretty good.  We’ve been taking Titan on these walks and he seems to really love it!  He’s all jumping around and happy and when we’re out in the mundi, on the hiking trails, we let him off the leash and he exhausts himself running after the goats and bounding around in the sticker bushes and cactus like a little gazelle.

We’re in the middle of our annual residency renewal process and it’s going slowly, as usual, with the never-ending glitches in the operation of the island bureaucracy.  But poco poco as they say here, little by little we’ll get it all done.

The Sailboat Regatta and annual Extreme Mountain Bike Race are coming up soon, along with a Royal visit from the new King of The Netherlands. So life goes on here as always.

We’ve always had an interest in local politics and have been looking for a way to make a positive contribution, so we’ve agreed to help fund a new foundation established to provide kids with a hotline and access to resources when they find themselves with problems they can’t solve and nowhere to turn for help.

In addition we’re interested in a friends desire to create a community center where anyone can get a meal without the normally requisite hoops to jump through like paperwork or proselytizing that typically are part of programs for the poor.

Meanwhile the investigations continue into corruption in Island Government and the charges brought against current and former government officials along with myriad environmental scandals that affect Bonaire’s reef and wildlife.  So, there are still plenty of local issues to interest an activist child of the sixties.

We’ve been taking advantage of the calm September winds to dive the "wild side" of the island whenever possible.  I’ve been lucky to meet a few rebreather divers who are here on extended stays and have done some nice long dives with them.

Berit and I are looking forward to visits by Tina and later Bobby, and also my cave diving buddy Dave and a group of rebreather divers from Canada who will all come to Bonaire in October.

We’re still finding a bunch of Lionfish but see a definite reduction in their numbers in recreational depths.

Divers still come to the island in droves, but it’s nice to have a break from the cruise ship passengers; too bad hurricane season doesn’t last all year.

Our 20^th anniversary, along with Garrett’s Birthday are coming up next week and we’re kind of starved for news from home, so please drop us a line and let us know how everything is going in your lives.  We think about you every day and hope all is well.

Love, Dad