WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE

In five minutes we will reach the reef where we will drift with the tide while we gaze down into the crystal clear water at the brightly colored fish and the dazzling coral.  We have enjoyed kayaking while here at Lawson rock.  The beauty of the ocean here is almost beyond description and it gives us a chance to get away from the sand flies because they don't seem to go out over the water.  We have spent quite a bit of time around the beach and the water.  We would spend far more if it weren't for the flies.  Their bites iritate so badly that we can't sleep for the itching.  However, if we spray ourselves with OFF and wear clothes we don't get too badly bitten.

 

 

We eat a lot that comes from the sea.  The coconut shrimp is wonderful here upon the island.  The dish above was served at Banana-rama.  The owner there, Louis St. Louis allows the missionaries to eat there for free on Mondays.  We have only gone there twice, but the elders go there every single Monday.  We purchased the lobsters from a fisherman in Punta Gorda who was just coming in for the night in his little wooden rowboat.  LaRae cut them up and cleaned them and cooked them for our dinner.  They were wonderful and cost us only $4.00 each.  We know that we could have gotten them cheaper, but we paid the "gringo" price this time.  These people have to make money somehow.

There are so many beautiful sights to see here, but they seem to all revolve around the sea.  The water is so calming, the beaches so inviting and the air so clean.  There is no polution here.  There isn't much noise.  There is no roar of ocean waves as they break over the reef and only then slowly meander to the beach.  The tide is never more than a few inches.  People live in homes built on stilts only two or three feet above the water.  They have never been flooded.

The sun sets in a bed of fire each night.  Sadly it sets quickly.  The skies are completely dark each night by 6:00 p.m. year around.  We love the twenty minutes of dusk here on the island.  It deepens the colors and softens the harshness of the poverty that drapes the land. 

We have come to love the ocean and the people who live by its waters.  It's odd to us that they take it for granted.  We rarely see any local people swimming.  They can't afford to go to the resorts and their groomed beaches, but they don't go to the local beaches either.  I believe that we all tend to take those beauties that constantly surround us for granted.  We hope that you will all take just a moment today to smell a flower or gaze at the snow capped peaks, or the flowing fields of corn.  They each have their own beauty.

 
This is Lawson Rock.  Our condominium is just past these homes.  You can see our beach at the very left of the picture.  This photo was taken from the Lawson Rock dock.  Our time here is now very limited.  We won't be here forever, but we believe that the ocean and these people of the island will stay in our hearts long after we are asked to leave.