Smoke & Mirrors

What a weird day, yesterday. In the late afternoon the wind died and the water became smooth as glass and beautifully transparent. I made the trip to Loggerhead a little more slowly than usual just so I could look into the water at all of the amazing marine life. Looking out across the water, the surface was like a mirror. If there had been any clouds in the sky, they would have been duplicated perfectly. Instead, what got reflected was an eerie grey haze that drifted in and obscured the view of the lighthouse. At times it was as if the entire island had vanished. We are not exactly in the Bermuda Triangle here, but I would not have been at all surprised to see the Lost Squadron fly out of that shifting bank. It was kinda creepy. The smell of ash reassured me that this was no mystery fog; it was smoke. We have heard conflicting reports about the source. Some say it is from the fires currently spreading through the Everglades; others say that it is the byproduct of burning sugar cane fields in Cuba. Whatever its origin, the smoke hung heavily about our islands and dashed any hopes for evening stargazing. The interesting effect, however, was that the water and sky seemed to blend at the horizon and the sunset was one fiery, red, all-encompassing blaze. We just got our evening light show sooner rather than later. Just another day in paradise.

Nightlights

The Southern Cross. Crux Australis. I am told that these are the only two weeks of the year when you can actually see it and Polaris at the same time. I am also told that Key West and the Dry Tortugas are the only two places you're gonna get the chance. For some inexplicable reason, I have wanted for many years to catch a glimpse of that southern constellation. So, tonight I decided to forego my usual fall-asleep-in-front-of-the-television routine and climb up to the third tier to look. After having built it up in my mind all day, I was very excited as I gazed across the water toward the horizon. Sadly, I was to be disappointed this time. Nothing brings the glow of suburbia to your watery doorstep quite like a gleaming white Hatteras lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree. That combined with the moon served to more or less blot out the southerly view of the stars. Bummer. It was about this time that I became aware of an issue in the campground that needed handling as well. After going through the irksome task of getting back into uniform (which was still slightly damp) and rectifying that situation, I was in a fairly sour mood. I decided to take a lap around the moat wall to make sure the little problem stayed rectified after they thought I'd left. It was then that I discovered the night was not a complete loss at all. I may not have seen many stars in the sky, but there were plenty in the water. The moat on one side and the ocean on the other, I was surrounded by little greenish lights that slowly grew and faded. Bioluminescence. Fascinating. As I was feeling terribly curious about what was actually making the little lights (not hobbits), I shined my flashlight into the water and got to witness even more cool stuff. There was a lobster scuttling around, trying to avoid the beam of my flashlight, some ballyhoo feeding rather noisily, and a sea cucumber actually doing stuff. Well, at least, it qualified as doing stuff for a sea cucumber. Compared with their usual activities of laying around digesting things, it's pretty spectacular to see one bent upward like and arm bent at the elbow. Pretty cool. At that point I began to ask myself why I'd never done this before. I guess I never realized there was anything to see. I mean, I'd been told about it, but it just never seemed that interesting before. I guess sometimes you've just got to experience it firsthand. Now off to bed. Aha! Now I remember why I've never done that before! 3 a.m. visitors come all too soon.

Clean Streets

My entire life has more or less been one tremendous study of human nature. I never cease to be fascinated by the human animal, especially when I choose to view life as an episode of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. What do I mean? The next time you're out somewhere with lots of other people, take a moment to study them with a scientific eye. Observe their behaviors as you would observe a bowl of goldfish or a squirrel climbing a bird feeder. If it helps, you can do the whole commentary bit: "It is feeding time at the Chick-Fil-A. Notice how the young female fills her tray around the single serving of waffle fries with twenty packets of catsup and a three-inch stack of napkins. After the hard winter, her fears of scarcity and famine lead her to seek a comfortable abundance whenever possible." Okay, so I'm poking fun, but you get the idea. I was plunged rather unexpectedly into my Mutual of Omaha mindset today when several people came to report - yes - another dead pelican. It is common here for birds of every description to become tired, injured, and even dead without any help from man whatsoever. This is nature taking its course. Birds fight, fly into things, try to fly through long storms, eat each other's young, and so on. It is very hard for people to accept this. They will point out the dead bird and want me to do something. Naturally, as I still have not mastered walking on water, resurrections on demand are a little outside my area of expertise. I find myself constantly collecting and relocating dead birds so that people don't have to be bothered by seeing them. Many feel that the dead birds are just an eyesore and they want to see them cleaned up and disposed of immediately. Well, what about the critters that eat the birds? Huh? What's a hungry hermit crab to do when we keep picking up all of its food and tossing it into the burn pile? I have tried to explain the food chain to people, several times nearly breaking into a full-fledged Lion King Circle of Life rendition, but to no avail. This is what befuddles me a little, though: the same people who don't want to see dead birds lying around think nothing of stuffing an empty Coke can into a chink in the wall or leaving a pile of cigarette butts beside their towels on the beach. They will even "go potty" in the changing room floors. What is wrong with people? What is the difference in their minds? What makes the dead bird so much more offensive than littering or defacating on the tile? Is it a fear of mortality? Perhaps it is an unconscious fear of disease? I don't know. The floor is open, people (for ideas, not pottying).

Say the secret word and the ducks come down.

So I was walking on the rocky beach the other day and I saw this plastic duck laying there. Who knows where it actually washed in from, but I think it was probably a decoy. Fairly realistic from a distance, probably. Well, anyway, I picked it up. Do you have any idea how much fun you can have with a plastic duck, some newspaper, and an animal carrier? I got one of the plastic carriers we use for transporting injured birds and stuck the duck in the back. Then I stuffed in some crumpled newspaper and arranged it just so in order to obscure the head a little and hide the telltale plastic eye. I just left the cage sitting on the desk at headquarters and periodically went in to check up on things. I fooled two people pretty well, and one person for a brief moment. In any case, it was good, cheap fun. I'm keeping the duck. I think I'll put in on my porch to entertain the birders. :-)

Another Dead Pelican

There was a report in the newspaper this week about pelicans being found paralyzed or dead all over the Keys with botulism-like symptoms. Today I removed the band from another little guy washed up on the beach, just feet from where the last one made its final landing. Pelican #0938-53588 was banded in North Carolina last July. I can't help but wonder if these birds are falling victim to the same disease. Hard to say. I can say that the ones here are most definitely dead, though. Eeew- smelly...

Fashion...turn to the left...

I don't know why I sometimes think that my life is uninteresting. In what other kind of life would I find myself marginally lost at 10:00 at night in the agricultural communities of South Dade County, listening to the best of Paul McCartney with a backseat full of designer clothes? For a moment there, I almost felt like I had my own TV series. I say that I was marginally lost, because I knew that the road I was on paralleled the one I was supposed to be on and that I would get there eventually, but I had turned just a smidge too early and did not recognize anything around me. Now, about the clothes. It's a bit odd for me at times having developed this sudden interest in fashion. I go to Miami and purchase...ahem...invest in these little gems, and then drive right back to a place where I will never get to wear them. It becomes a game of figuring out where I can now go to see and be seen in my snazzy duds. It's stupid and shallow, I know, but I enjoy the heck out of it. That's got to count for something. I've spent entirely too much time trying to do something meaningful; a little shallowness feels good from time to time. Besides, you get what you pay for. It's like finally buying 450 thread count sheets a few months ago; I had no idea I'd been sleeping on burlap all these years. The other funny thing is that I now have other women around me admiring my fashion sense. This is not something that has ever happened at any other point in my personal existence - it's just plain weird. Apparently I have now gone from geek to fashionista. Other people are asking me for advice. I suppose these last few months of training the old eye have actually paid off, eh? Also not bad for someone who can't afford couture. Maybe I should have my own TV show...

Tortugas Snow Day

Brrr! It's cold in the subtropics! 62 degrees is not at all what I signed up for, but what can you do with the wind like this? It's been blowing pretty hard the last 36 hours or so. Yesterday we had what I like to call a "Tortugas Snow Day": wind so hard there are no ferries and no seaplanes. It was just us and the four intrepid campers clinging desperately to the moat wall to avoid being sucked out to sea. The quiet is a welcome break, but it did get a bit chilly out here. We did have both ferries and one plane today, but there were very few brave enough to ride those swells and come out. I keep forgetting that it's actually winter in other places. Just yesterday I walked by the TV in the rec. room and did a double-take. Seems some nor'easter has dumped a boatload of snow on the northeast, making me very thankful that I no longer live in Maryland. Seems they have gotten 12" of snow already in my old town, and it hasn't stopped yet. Eeergh. That I can do without.

Brought to you by the letter "P"...

Today was a P-word kind of day. I can think of no better way to start the morning than by poking a dead pelican. One of our campers came and reported it as having a band on its leg, so I went over, coffee in hand, to check it out. Mmm, bloated. Luckily for me, the legs were exposed nicely and I did not have to manipulate the poor fallen critter too much to get at the band. We logged in its ID number, but no history. Poor thing - it has died in anonymity. So long, pelican number 0938-17350! Godspeed, little buddy!

The next P-word floated in on the back of one of our commercial ferry boats. Super Seasick Man was ejecting breakfast rather forcefully off the stern, and I went aboard to check on him. Nice man, and he's feeling much better now. His party did the wise thing and flew back on the seaplane. The P-word, incase you haven't figured it out yet, is "puke".

Third P-word of the day is brought to us courtesy of the sooty tern population. They are here in force now, and that good-ole ammonia smell is wafting across the cut onto our little island. Is it pee or is it poo? Methinks it is a combination of both, and the combined forces of those two may knock us all out before the month is through. I can't imagine what it will smell like once the chicks hatch.

Well, that was my day. I will soon be taking down the flag and going home to cook some things for dinner, none of which start with the letter "P".

If I'm 31, shouldn't I look 13 in the mirror?

Ah, birthdays... Nothing like a yearly knock-knock from Father Time, just to let you know that your room is ready. A couple weeks ago I turned 31, and oddly enough I am having a much harder time with that than 30. Not sure exactly why, it's just vaguely depressing for no apparent reason. The fact that I am still getting carded by bouncers and called "sugar" by waitresses ten years my junior is somewhat encouraging, once I get over the fact that it's also really annoying. It's especially nice when they look at my I.D., do a double take, and say something like "Wow! You're old!" Oh well. Out of the mouths of babes, or whatever.

This year's birthday was rather uneventful. I was mostly dead for a couple of weeks with yet another bout of what I have dubbed "The Cuban Super Flu". I got on the boat, zonked out, got off the boat, zonked out. That was pretty much the extent of it. I did have the opportunity to celebrate early with my parents and sister in Atlanta, so that was nice. They gifted me with a Bluetooth earpiece for my cell phone so I can stop driving down U.S. 1 with one hand. This is quite appropriate, since I am usually talking to them at the time. I also had a nice dinner date with hubby the next week at Bahama Breeze, one of my favorites. He went a little overboard with the gifts, but I will not complain. I have added to both my gun and power tool collections. Sweet.

Today was mostly uneventful. I finally got out there this afternoon and scrubbed a boat, which was a nice change. If only I'd had a radio - some tunes would have been perfect. No doubt the sandpipers are out there pooping on it as I type, but at least I made the effort. Tomorrow morning we will see just how much my back appreciated that little stint of manual labor.

Thought for the day: "Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made, for deep within their oaken hearts the soul of a song is laid."

Scrapvillage "tag" answers

Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. Girl Scout camp counselor

2. Ampitheater usher

3. Clerk @ religious book & gift shop
4. Park ranger

Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban
2. Legend
3. Whole LOTR trilogy-sorry, can't choose

4. Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Four places you have lived:
1. Atlanta, GA

2. Townsend, TN

3. Frederick, MD

4. Key West, FL

Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. House

2. Law & Order (all of them)

3. Clean Sweep

4. Design on a Dime

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
2. Alberta, Canada
3. Rhine & Mosul Valleys (Germany, France)

4. Disney World!

Four websites I visit daily:
1. webmail

2. scrapvillage (almost daily again)

3. www.nps.gov

4. my own blog (well, not quite daily, but often)

Four of my favorite foods:
1. cheese!

2. sushi

3. key lime pie

4. Chick-Fil-A chicken salad sandwich

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. with my hubby (awww)

2. Disney World

3. home in Atlanta

4. hmm...I really like it here...

Four bloggers I am tagging:
I don't know 4 bloggers!

The Very Blustery Day

Big winds this morning - 25-35 knots, and seas to 13 feet. Needless to say, there are no visitors except those who were unfortunate enough to be camping last night. Very little shut-eye for all involved. As for me, I got plenty. I appreciated the rare opportunity to sleep in. Aside from that periodic leg pain I get (probably nerve damage from work, but oh well), today is a good day. Still sore from shoveling sand two days ago, but that I can deal with. Good for the shoulders to do a little work now and then. We had a visit from a Congressman yesterday, which hopefully will produce some kind of positive outcome. There are a lot of things we could use a little help with out here. Well, as usual, not too much to tell. Just another day in paradise, surrounded by the wind-whipped seas. Ahh...no people noises - just the sound of the waves. Don't you just love it?

Happy New Year

Happy new year to everyone who's still reading. I keep having to remind myself that it is, in fact, 2006. I sorta missed that part. Went to bed with a migraine around 7:30 last night and had nary a dream of fireworks, champagne, or big lighted objects slowly dropping or rising on steel cables. No Dick Clarke/Regis either. Today was just another day here in paradise. See our latest addition? The above fishing boat came from Cuba full of migrants. The exodus continues.

Slow Boat to China?

Okay, so I admit that the mailboat has been less than reliable lately. What do you expect? It is the subtropics. You're lucky there is a boat! So what has been going on during this slow boat to China phase of my blog? So many things! The house on the mainland is still not repaired. This is a major gripe for me and for hubby. Add to that the fact that the workmen have damaged and stolen things, and we are so not happy. Happily, however, things on the island are just swell. Aside from a Christmas unapologetically stolen by Cuban migrants, things have been going rather well. I am getting out and about on the boats more lately, due to the unusually calm weather and a sudden reduction in panic on my part about damaging something. I'm getting a bit more confident with it now. Just need a little more work on the slip docking maneuvers. After today's oh so dramatic dinghy rescue, I returned to the dock and just couldn't get it quite straight in the slip. Thankfully, the boss came out and helped. He assures me I am doing well for someone who is still learning. As always, I am harder on myself than I perhaps need to be.

I have been asked this evening if we are getting together. I was puzzled for a moment, and then I realized that this is New Year's Eve. Forgot about that. Holidays, weekends - they have little meaning down here. You just gotta take the day as it comes. I found out from the Christmas fiasco that planning on any special day is just likely to end in disappointment. I have been told that there are a couple of bottles of champagne hanging about waiting for someone to drink them, so we are thinking of an early celebration. We can't stay up until midnight, as we are likely to have 3 a.m. visitors from the south again. Got to get to bed. Anyhow, I'm sure it will be be, like so many things on these islands, special in its own way.

Happy New Year to all, and I hope that 2006 will bring you lots of great things.

I'm baaack!

Okay, so Wilma did not blow us off the planet, but she sure as heck tried. Things have been a bit crazy since then and limited internet access, so sorry for the delay. Our house on the mainland sustained some damage, so hubby is out here on the island with me until it's livable again. We don't know when that will be. The other houses in our community have utilities again and those folks are back in, but we got the worst damage and are still without power, water, or sewer - or a ceiling. Today we get back off island again, so we will be spending Thanksgiving going up to check on our place and see if the recent rains have done anything bad. That's about it for now!

Zzzzz...

Okay - any day now, Wilma dear. So we're done...and now we wait. Boards up. Boats outta the water and tied down - taped up all to heck with packing tape to save the electronics. Buoys retrieved. Benches and tables flipped. Signs secured. Loose bricks kicked (into the moat). Plants inside. Patio furniture shoved into alcoves. Drip-catching buckets and coolers in place. Radios, flashlights, and go-bags at the ready. Foul weather gear by the door.

Hurricane stalled.

So it was gonna be today, then Saturday, now maybe Monday. Wilma just can't make up her mind when she's going to come visit us, and just how angry she's going to be when she finally gets here. At this point we might get just a little squall. Now we pretty much just pass the time - work out, read, watch umpteen movies, sleep while we can get it - eat :(.

Just waiting...

Wiiiiiiiilmaaaaaa!

Why can't I get the image of Fred Flintstone out of my head? Hmm...

Well, last night we had the nearest thing to a hurricane party we're going to manage out here. Lots to do. It was a nice potluck supper and we had a good time and watched the Weather Channel for a bit. On the way back to my quarters I nearly tripped over a tulip conch that was meandering across the walkway. Almost every shell on this island is mobile, seems like. There are hermit crabs everywhere! One of the things I did today as part of the preparations was to go out and flip over all of the picnic tables that aren't chained down. That decreases their ability to run away during a storm. I think I got a little insight into the mind of Godzilla with that task. It was great! Talk about getting out some aggression. Small villages beware! Spent some more time putting up plywood and dragging benches and stuff inside. We're pretty well-prepared for a big blow here, as most of the stuff was still in place from the previous storms. I am happy to know that we are ahead of schedule. There will be plenty of work to do afterward, so we can all save some energy. Soo...now we just wait and see what Wilma will do.

Another Fine Day

Calm today, and nice. It got a little warm in the afternoon, but the breeze finally kicked in and provided some relief. This is nothing compared to how summer will be. We are, after all, in the subtropics. Today's points of interest: two giant starfish back in the moat, a big barracuda with a little mini me barracuda alongside it, a surfacing sea turtle this morning, and some big rays out jumping in the harbor. Salty Dog came over on the ferry and we had fun with her chasing sticks around for a bit. I distract her, for some reason. She gets all excited when I come around. Her owner, Captain Rick, says she thinks I'm another woman who used to work here that played with her all the time. Who knows. Dogs just seem to like me anyway. The goliath grouper didn't make a big appearance at the dock today. Just the tiny one, weighing in at about 100 lbs. It's the six-footer that's the real star of the show. The grocery order comes in tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to fresh sandwich stuff and some Cokes. Everybody needs a little treat now and then, right?

A Quiet Sunday

Quiet day today. I did get out on the boat for a bit and took a spin across to the next lighthouse over. I nearly lost my hat, but thankfully it blew downward into the boat. The wind kept it plastered to the floor until I was able to climb astern and grab it. The seas have been a little rough and windy the past couple of days, but this morning there was a lovely calm that let the water get clear enough for decent snorkeling. Though the folks who came across on the ferry said they did not see many fish, I think they still had a better time of it than the previous two trips did.

Another lighthouse day...

Seems like that lighthouse is going to figure strongly in my time here, and I can't complain about that. Today I took a young couple up for a special occasion: a marriage proposal. The light is normally closed to the public, but how could I say no to that? They went out on the railing while their friends and I waited below. Not wanting to intrude on their private moment, I carefully surveyed the ocean for a few moments until I heard their friends start to clap and cheer. The young lady was quite surprised and quite happy. It was so neat to watch another couple embark on the same journey that I just recently undertook myself - that mysterious transformation from boyfriend/girlfriend, to being engaged, to being married. It was definitely a bright spot in my day, but I did miss my husband on the mainland. Only a few more days to go and I will be back on that boat heading for my sweetie. Though I love it here, it will be nice to be back together for a few days before I return to the island for another stint. Ah, love...

Wild Occupation

Today I cleaned the harbor light - yep, a lighthouse. Sometimes I wonder if it's all real. Hard to believe I am actually on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean cleaning the windows on a lighthouse. I kept thinking the whole time of a line from The Wino and I Know by Jimmy Buffett, "It's just a strange situation, a wild occupation, livin' my life like a song." It's like being a character in some song or novel, except this is me, and this is actually my real life. Crazy. I love it out here in the ocean. It's so peaceful and remote. I just keep wondering what other adventures each day will bring.