Hi everyone. BRRRR!!! (By island standards) I am drinking hot tea - wonderful mango flavored black tea that is made in Jamaica. It is worth every penny I pay for it - it's a tourist thing so, of course, it is expensive. It was so cold yesterday I was in jeans, tennies, and a fleece top. Not typical island attire. Still very chilly today so I stayed in bed for a bit with the cat to warm me up while I read The Beckoners. These girls make my HS days look like a fairy tale, and it certainly wasn't. Branding newcomers into the group - my arm hurt reading about it.

I had the car for the day so I spent a good portion of yesterday on the road. Started listening to The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. It is turning out to be a wonderful listening experience. The narrator's voice is soft and musical and she certainly knows how to use the right tone to get you to laugh at the best parts. Not exactly your typical "Bible story" - I had to snort laugh over the comment about Jacob bringing one of the sisters an urn shaped like a woman that poured through the nipples. The traffic was snarly, as usual, but I didn't mind as I was enjoying listening to the book.

Yesterday's wanderings included a very pleasant visit to the Montessori School here on the East End where Steve and I live. It has been in existence since the 1960s and their administrator, Ms. McWeeney is a delight. I was there to offer guidance as to their library situation. Their current library is quite small, but they are growing and will be adding a new Upper Level building with a separate library wing. What a welcoming campus, including a gazebo in the middle with comfy chairs for the parents to relax and chat before or after picking up their children. You just wanted to grab a book from the library and curl up there and read.

A trip to KMart is always an experience. After the rains and flooding our roads are still in pretty bad shape. I haven't blown another tire yet, but I keep dreading when I will as I know it will happen. Heck, these pot holes are big enough to swallow a small Honda! Was listening to a St. Croix radio station and the announcer was complaining about their roads too and said a call to the territory road repair office resulted in a response of - "Why repair them, they will just come back anyway!" Hmmm - interesting approach to road maintenance. Kind of like the approach to abandoned cars by the VI Police Dept. We have one on our goat trail of a road that has weeds growing out of it! You just smile and get used to it - it is island time, or in other words - you're lucky is if it happens in your life time. :-)

All I really wanted from KMart was a covered casserole dish, but there was only one available and it wasn't big enough. Guess I am going to have to buy one while I am on the Mainland and put it in my suitcase along with a bunch of spices I plan on buying. This is the "spice capital" as far as spicy food goes, but either you can't find it in the grocery store or you pick yourself up off the floor after you faint from the cost of a small bottle of the spice you need a pinch of.

Oh the joys of island life - and yes, it is joyful. All I have to do is grab a book and go sit out on the balcony and watch the sailboats out on the ocean and the rest of it is just "little stuff".

On to working on the MS edition of Tantalizing Tidbits. :-)