Life's Ups and Downs

So much has happened in the two weeks since I last posted. It feels as if the world  has grown smaller. More people have realized we are all in this together and are staying home for the good of all. It is not easy. Lonely people are struggling. Outgoing types, like my J, are totally out of their element. But we are finding ways around it.

We have limited phone service on the boat, but we thought it would work to go Live on Facebook, and we set up equipment on a Sunday afternoon and gave it a shot. No dice. So we packed everything up, drove over to the condo, (still practicing social distancing) and tried again on the WiFi there. It was a great time for me and people kept trying to find it, but no one got in. For whatever reason, Facebook taped it and put it out afterwards. J was so frustrated not to have the level of interaction he wanted, so he deleted it all. He misses people and live performing more than anyone I know.

But you cannot keep J down long. We sailed out to deep water to clear our tanks (No pumps out here), and J suggested we sail to Frederiksted,  the second city on St. Croix. The weather was good and we had never seen it from the water. We were delighted to find a lovely anchorage with seven other boats and a beautiful shoreline. After being moored right next to the Christiansted boardwalk, it was a nice contrast.

We set the anchor and relaxed for the unobstructed view of the sunset on this west shoreline. With less light from the island, the stars were very visible - and I discovered the Southern Cross can be seen at midnight instead of 5 a.m. as it is in December and January. 

This location was so nice that we stayed two more nights. I donned my spring suit or short wet suit and did some snorkeling. The water by the boat is 15 feet deep and the current strong enough that I did not want to get too far away. At first, I saw nothing in the scattered vegetation on the sandy bottom. But I waited, and soon saw the movement of the fish feeding below. Just as I was taking a break, I caught a glimpse of a White-Spotted Eagle Ray nearby (photo from Wikipedia)! It was beautiful and graceful but moving too fast for me to follow.

After my break, I jumped back in to find a Southern Stingray on the sand immediately behind the boat accompanied by a dark fish who stayed with him as well as a small group of Yellowtail Snappers.  They stayed close and it seemed the ray kept turning to check me out as I tried to stay behind him so I would not scare him away.

J spent all this time singing and playing guitar. If you know J, you know he is a perfectionist. He has not been singing regularly on our trip and has been having some vocal issues. You would also know that he loves cappuccino and drinks it every morning.  So I took it very seriously when he decided to skip his morning coffee and see if it helped his voice. He even skipped his Sailor Jerry rum last night, so you know he is determined! To test the theory,  he has been singing st all hours of the day. Good news is the abstinence seems to be working and he sounds great. One day he spent some time sitting at the helm recording Son of a Sailor which he has since posted on his Facebook page. He is planning to go Live again this week at the home of friends who have faster internet. I have my fingers crossed it will work this time!

Meanwhile, I had a very emotional time. My daughter delivered a healthy 10 pound son after more than twenty-four hours in labor. We were delighted to welcome young Anthony Curtis! The next day we discovered that her best friend's husband of four months lost his battle with cancer the same day, a tragedy to all who knew him.

Erik, a friend from home went through a very scary time with COVID-19.  He is recovering and the story he wrote is being shared all over Facebook. I hope it helps others understand.

Myself - I burst into tears at the thought of  all of these events. So much emotion, not my usual reaction, but these are not usual times.

Life goes on. Let's Stay Home but stay in touch. Be kind to each other. Reach out to someone who might not be one to reach out when they need it. Together we can survive this. Peace.