Island Living

Obviously, for now any details about island life and/or living will be my second hand accounts of Leslie's experiences. It's a bit of a tradeoff - you'll lose a little of the excitement you'd get if she was relaying the stories directly, but hopefully a few typos will be lost as well (now I'll have to be extra vigilant or else I'll be in trouble)!

At the present Leslie is living in a "cottage", which may be island parlance for "small house". We have a six month lease there, while the owners are off-island at their other home. Some of the outside area is a construction project on hold, but from her description and the pictures she's sent me it looks cozy, clean, and comfortable.

She had a little bit of an adventure finding the place when she first got there - the combination of a long travel day and less than stellar directions resulted in her taking a friend up on her offer to stay in Cruz Bay for that first night. The following morning, rested and armed with a more reasonable set of directions she found the it! This property doesn't feature stunning water views , but those are only a short drive away. But it's peaceful and - this is important - bananaquits frequent the area!



One of the owners told us that in addition to those sugar hungry birds, we can expect to see iguanas, chickens (of course!) and even deer in the yard. As Leslie got settled in, she (and subsequently me) learned more and more about the house and the surrounding area. It seems as though we have a washing machine, fully equipped kitchen, a crawl space/loft for storage, and a semi-finished back porch. As you can see, Leslie has put the clothesline that is out on that porch to good use!

For the time being she's driving a car that we're renting on a monthly basis from an agency on St. Thomas. It's a little compact, and Leslie says it's an "island car" which I take to mean what I've always called "a beater". It's a far cry from the Jeeps we've always rented during our vacation visits - no four wheel drive available, no high clearance that you get with SUV type vehicles, and a pretty small engine, but she seems to be managing getting where she needs to be in it just fine. She even backed it onto the car barge by herself on her "maiden voyage" to our new home! Our long term plan is to buy a good used car here in Florida and ship it down to the islands based on the advice we've received from several on-island friends.



It didn't take Leslie long to begin immersing herself into the flow of island life. What to do when you wake up on St. John with nothing planned? Well, go to the beach of course! But first, she took a little walk to explore the neighborhood. Between the hills, her asthma, and a rain shower, it was quite an introduction! She stopped by the soccer field which unleashed a torrent of memories (ever since she met me she's been a coach's wife, team mom, cheerleader for her boys, etc.). Back home, she enjoyed the breezes, sounds, sights, and smells of St. John.

 One of the first things she did was go to the Animal Care Center that afternoon and volunteer as a dog walker. She and Kara (from the ACC) took Mama and Violet out for a stroll around Cruz Bay. The fact that Violet is a Labrador undoubtedly had her thinking about Champ back in Florida.

Later, while waiting to meet friends Becky and Mike (visiting from Illinois) for dinner, she decided to have a $1 Woody's Happy Hour drink. The guy at the next table ribbed her about leaving a 100% tip for the drink, which started a conversation between the two of them. It turns out that he is the new owner of the place who just happened to be on island. He asked her about her haircut which led to a discussion about the St. Baldrick's fundraiser she participated in back in March. Turns out that he was not only familiar with that, but he and some of his management team are also past participants. So...guess who will likely be spearheading St. John's inaugural St. Baldrick's Day event next year? That, in and of itself is/was no surprise to me - I figured it was just going to be a matter of time, but the circumstances surrounding that chance encounter just seem to be one more piece of evidence that this move was supposed to happen!

Sunday morning is when the ACC workers and volunteers take the dogs on a trail hike.

Leslie: "Today I had Ferngully. She doesn't like the sounds of town, so I had to carry her by the church on the way down to the beginning of the trail. But I guess we became buddies because on the way back she walked past that church like she was a champ- no pun intended."

Sunday afternoon was spent at Maho with Becky and Mike. Leslie was excited to help Becky get more comfortable in the water and to help her snorkel beyond where she had ever gone before. They went out to the point between Big and Little Maho and Leslie delighted in spotting and identifying the the sea creatures for Becky! They also saw a big iguana taking a dip in the ocean.

It sounds like Leslie had a wonderful first weekend as a St. John resident, and has set the stage for many more to come. This time that we are so far apart is tough, but it's a little easier (for me anyway) knowing that she is seeing old friends, making new ones, and is becoming a contributor to the community.