I am completely steeped in topical beauty. It is amazing here. We are anchored between a large island and a small one, with an even smaller island between the small island and the big one. Confusing? I suppose so. The islands are covered with greenery and tall trees. As long as one does not analyze the foliage. it would appear that we are in Wisconsin (except for the rugged hills) or the Ozarks (except for the lack of bluffs). The beaches with their golden sand disappear at high tide, and then at low tide, there are tide pools all over the place. I have been taking pictures but since there is no internet here I can't post them. (I am posting this via my SSB radio.) Until this morning, we had the place to ourselves, us, the birds and the fish. While we were riding around in the dinghy yesterday, we saw an agouti running along the rocky shoreline. We watch flocks of pelicans and other sea birds feeding, while the frigate birds circle overhead, waiting for someone else to catch something so they can steal it. Frigate birds usually don't do their own hunting, they just steal from other birds. But if no other birds are around, they will fish, and I have seen them do it, I like to watch animals and other creatures eat. I like to see dogs carrying things in their mouths. When pelicans get a fish, they gulp it down by throwing their heads back, and then they shake their tail feathers in a satisfied manner. I have watched closely and they all do this.
The weather has been perfect since we left Panama City - some rain, but not too much, and mostly at night. No lightning close enough to cause us trouble. We are enjoying it here so much that we have decided to stay a week or so. This is an archipelago, so there are plenty of islands to explore. I want to do some fishing today. We caught two fish on the way here - one was too big and got away after Mike fought it for about 10-15 minutes, we never even got to see it. He said it felt big, and he has a good feel for this sort of thing. Later on we caught another, but it was too small so we let it go. I have noticed that Mike has lost his taste for sport fishing. The more we learn abut the fish, and the more we observe them, the less we want to hurt them. Now we fish only to get something to eat. If it is too big, it goes back.
Otherwise, there is not a lot to tell. I do need to take the big genoa (jib) down and mend the sail cover. Yesterday we made water and did laundry. We have decided that water making day (every four days or so, not that we use it up that fast, but the machine requires it be used that often, or else "pickled" with a solution that keeps bacteria from building up in the filters.) And if we do laundry every four days, there are only a few things needing to be washed at one time. If I try to wash too many things at once with my bucket and plunger, they don't get rinsed as well as I would like. So all of the water that would normally wasted during the process of desalinization now gets trapped and used for laundry. It is the proverbial win-win situation for all concerned. Besides, at anchor like this, all I am ever washing are wash rags, towels, bathing suits, boxers, and a few T-shirts. (Those take the longest to dry.) Any time we are anchored near any sort of town, city or even a settlement, I can always find someone to do my laundry for me. I like doing it myself, even with the bucket and plunger method. Laundry is the only household chore I really like to do, whether it is this primitive method I have now, or my own washer and dryer, or a Laundromat(I never know how to spell that word). I like folding the clean clothes.
The really really really good news is that the roach problem is no longer a serious problem. We still see them here and there, but nothing like it was before. We are still on high alert and in massacre mode, which will never stop. As soon as we notice them in a certain area, we spray the hell out of that area. We see lots of dead ones, and the live ones don't look very healthy. I will never take a roachless life for granted again. I have never hated a creature the way I hate these roaches. I the them so much I feel sort of bad about it, to be honest. But there it is, and I have to be honest and live with myself, even the bad parts. So I am a hater of roaches, too bad.
These days I feel really fortunate. We are not having any boat problems, the area here is beautiful, we are not on a schedule, and I have come to grips with a few issues that I have needed to address for some time now. That is a good feeling. I thought that by the time I reached this age, I would either have figured it all out, or maybe not care anymore whether I do or not. But it does not work that way - someone read some stuff I wrote here a while back and told me I sounded like a 12 year old (long story here). So be it.
"We are being made into a fearful people, and fearful people will stand for very little deviation." Lillian Hellman
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