Our journey, Chapter 8: Life happens
Before I continue to share more about the journey Natalie and I are on to hopefully discover our happy place in the Caribbean, I want to spend a moment on the journey we all share.
Today is my “baby” brother’s birthday. Happy birthday, Brian. He turned seventy today. For those of us who have reached that milestone, it makes us all wonder how in the world we got here. The obvious answer is, one day at a time. Life happens that way for all of us. We may not be in charge of everything in our lives, and certainly not as much as most of us try to pretend we are. But, we absolutely are in charge of how we choose to react to what life brings us each day.
My prayer for all of us is we choose wisely and enjoy the wonders given to us.
Have an amazing day, “B”. We’ll celebrate your day when we see you next month.
If you have been following Natalie’s and my journey, you’ll remember we met Martin and Blair last Friday when we returned to St. Thomas. Maybe our decision to walk over to the yacht club wasn’t such a good idea after all. Natalie’s leg began to again weep, the strain of walking up and down dozens of steps having been a bit too much.
As usual, Natalie dismissed the elephant in the room, declared her leg would be fine and insisted we would go to the beach. My response was I would be happy to walk with her to the beach if she first went to the clinic in Red Hook, which as expected, she refused. So, we compromised and spent a couple of days in the condo playing games to give her leg more time to heal. Her revenge for keeping her off of her feet? She beat me incessantly. I really don’t like losing…
Natalie urged me to go snorkeling or to exercise. I told her I don’t want to snorkel without her and that we would surely be able to by next week. However, remembering what Kelly (who with her husband owns High Tide on St. John) said about the risk to my waistline as a result of a sedentary life-style, I did think getting some exercise was a good idea. Turns out, though, despite the VBRO posting to the contrary, there is no gym here. The team that manages this condo and others sent me a link to a nearby gym that looks pretty interesting. Natalie encouraged me to go. But, since we still haven’t rented a car, between taxi fares and the cost of a temporary membership at the gym, the math didn’t make that option overly attractive. Of course, I won’t be either when I get home.
After our self-imposed respite, Natalie played her “get out of jail free” card and we returned to the beach to find a somewhat shady spot with the requisite breeze. As we approached our destination, we noticed a pen with a shelter for an animal of some kind. What ever happened to “no pets allowed” on Cowpet?
Unable to ignore our growing curiosity, we stepped closer. We discovered it was an enclosure for tortoises – not to be confused with your run-of-the-mill turtle. Nope. These tortoises can live for more than a century, so some of them may be nearly as old as I am.
Whatever their age, it must be mating season and apparently someone must have hung mistletoe in the trees. Fascinated by the frenetic activity of the group, I took a picture which I intended to include with this post, but Natalie strenuously advised against it, reminding me this is a family friendly blog.
You should have been here.
I made another grocery run, this time to Moe’s. Its much closer than Cost-U-Less, which means lower taxi fares. They have most things we needed, but the prices are higher. Natalie had suggested I pick up a couple of pizzas for a casual dinner. Frozen pizzas were twenty bucks apiece! Not a chance. I went to look at the meat counter and found amazing filet mignon. Two beautiful steaks for the price of two frozen pizzas. No-brainer!
I did bring home some Chardonnay to my beloved, normally very active wife who, despite some beach time, is more than a little stir crazy. When I handed her a glass of wine, I recognized the frustration on her face and said, “Don’t worry, the weekend is coming and we can just kick back.” She initially looked at me like I am crazy, then she laughed understanding the joke. Natalie is always pretty, but never prettier than when she smiles and laughs.
We’re in a good place – even when we can’t do everything we planned. But, when can any of us?
Martin returns next week and we’re supposed to look at properties. Fingers crossed.