
09/29/2015 It’s been another quiet week here. We are happy to be able to enjoy the roof with the dogs. They seem to think it’s free for all time up there and go a little crazy. Until we get the pergola built, we have to wait until the sun goes down some or else we’ll melt up there. Speaking of melting, it’s been stinking hot and humid here.

The Beach Boys and their roadies

Barrio

Highway brandishing his teeth. It’s all show and they know it and lick his gums when he does that. Sometimes I wonder if they are like Highway’s dental floss servants or something. Like the Remora fish on turtles..whatever.

Andee, it’s baaaacccck! Very useful carrying things to the roof, my favorite gift ever..Thank you.

MMMM, very very cold Dos Equis with some limes and salt. It goes down way too well.
We decided since we had such a boringly normal week we would hit BJ’s on Friday. If you’re an ex-pat and not been to BJ’s, you’re missing out. BJ’s is a wooden building on the waterway in Oak Ridge. The building is nothing, the view is fabulous, boats coming and going, cruising by, people headed home when going by boat is the only way to get there. Like many of my friends, boat access only. With only water access, it’s a different way of life. We arrived at BJ’s around 1.
I happened to have a petition that was being circulated on the island to try to get a good cop returned; he was rotated to the mainland. I wanted to get some more sigs on it so I took it there. I was successful in many ways that afternoon.

The Banditos, the guy on the far left was a tourist who got up to sing.

BJ herself, enjoying the music.

Larry in the hat and Kelly, a wanabee Larry in the matching shirt behind him.

My friend Carmen singing with the band, she’s good!

Peggy and Alex, didn’t get to hear Peggy sing!

#3 wine down.

Betty and BJ. All of the photos at BJ’s are courtesy of Marilyn Northagen Poirier.
So this is my story:
#1. They had white wine, even if it was served in a jelly glass. Thank you Marilyn, you rock and thank you for taking proper wine glasses to the bar for them to use. I had a jelly glass full of wine.
#2. I got a full page of signatures on the petition. I had another glass of wine in a wine glass.
#3. I think I may have had another glass of wine after Marilyn and I got some exceedingly good news that caused us to act out on the pier.
#4. I danced several times in my bare feet, it was fabulous. I had another glass of wine and was drinking Kelly’s drink also.
#5. I believe I may have also guzzled the last sip out of Marilyn’s glass at some point before we Bill decided it was a good idea to leave.
#6. May have made plans for a party at our house, which is fine, but I didn’t remember when it was for.
We got home before 4 PM and I drank a bottle of water and went to bed and slept until 9 PM. When I woke up I filled a bowl with lettuce, put grated cheese and dressing on it and ate it. For dinner. I then drank more water and could not go to sleep. It sucked because I had the airport gig the next day and obviously I drank too much wine on an empty stomach. I had already slept 5 hours. Ridiculousness.
I now have self imposed limits.
On Saturday I volunteered to fill in for one of the greeters at the airport. I always enjoy my time spent there, getting to meet new people and talk to them about the island; it’s a fun afternoon. My friend Kathy had just arrived back on the rock and decided to wait until I was done and then I would give her a ride to her boat. (She lives boat access only) We had a great day in immigration, it went smoothly despite the fact that 2 planes landed 10 minutes apart. I met lots of fun people and hopefully made them feel welcomed to the island.
Kathy and I stopped at the grocery store on the way home and as soon as I walked in I saw people I had spoken with at the airport. They all said hello and a few aisles later I helped them pick out some booze for the week. I mean, obviously I would know this. I gave Kathy a ride to BJ’s and then came home w/ groceries for the party that we may be having. Only issue is that while at the store, my phone was dead. I always keep my grocery list on a program called KEEP on my phone. I could NOT access my list. I forgot shit.
That’s OK though because Bill had to go to ACE in the morning for something plus he was picking up primer for our other friends who were coming to dinner and live boat access only too. He stopped at the store and got what I forgot, which by the way was very minimal. AS IN, I remembered.
Sunday we busted our butts cleaning up around here, we were indeed having friends over. The house does get bad, there are things laying all over the kitchen island and the porch and house is a mess with dog stuff. BUT, when you have 6 dogs and a cat, you get special passes for hairy floors and hairy whiskers. It’s the hairy whiskers that get me all the time. Sunday was the eve of the blood moon and the lunar eclipse.

Bill and I on the roof

Brett, Alex and Bill

Brett, the other half of Brett and Carmen

Carmen, they are from South Dakota and now live here.

They have an awesome water access home on the beach. Pretty sweet deal. I posted photos before of being at their place.

Sunset over the North shore

Sky over the south shore. All of these photos were also taken by Marilyn ..
We saw zip, zero, nada of the blood moon due to clouds. However, just when we thought all hope was gone, the clouds cleared away and we were treated to the eclipse. Of course, my camera was downstairs and I was ultimately too lazy to go get it. Just for the record, I only had 2 glasses of wine and then switched to water. A much better idea for me.
It was a fun evening up on the roof with great friends. It will be much nicer once we get it finished up there and have a few creature comforts..
On Tuesday I joined Nidia and her friend Lidia on a trek to go visit Doña Maria, who lives alone in the jungle. Nidia and Lidia had been to visit her not too long ago. She had a request for a few more items so we were going to deliver them. These photos of Doña Maria were taken when Nidia and Lidia went to see her.

Peeling sugar cane with her machete

Showing Nidia her church dress, she needs a new one.

She also needs some new shoes.

She LOVES Coke so they took her some and also some groceries.
We started our trek at the Roatan Culture Village, a place I never knew existed. It is an old resort that must have been pretty darn amazing in it’s day. We parked my car and walked through a gate and I was dumbfounded. There in the midst of the jungle is this eerily cool old resort. It is very run down, has had no visitors for some time.

Roatan Culture Village, I’m not sure the name is really evocative of what went on here but it sounds educational.

Huge old pool, there was also a kiddy pool off to the right.

Lidia and Nidia

Benches from a bygone era

There was a pool (Billiards) hall, a dance hall and another small pool.

Brightly painted benches

A fabulous old building on the grounds

The other pool with a submarine in it

A good shot of the DEEPEST SUB TOUR @ 1/2 MOON BAY. I have been told this was made by Karl Stanley.
Karl Stanley (click on his name) lives on Roatan and he has done more for chronicling and capturing things below the sea than many who came before him. Marine Biologists from all over the world come here to go down in Idabel with Karl to 2000′ feet below the surface. Check out his adventures here: https://fathomlessinnerspace.wordpress.com/2013/09/28/magical-mantas-and-pink-pyrozomes/

The path to Doña Maria’s house

Bridge # 2, wasn’t too bad.

Welcome to the jungle

This is the spring where Doña Maria comes to get water
We trudged all the way up to her house and she wasn’t home. Now, it’s not like she has a lot of places to go. She is 82 and lives in the middle of the jungle, alone. She has no electricity, no running water,no bathroom, no kitchen. She has a few neighbors further up the valley.

Her mud oven, she is 82.

Clothesline. Nidia said her son comes and stays with her every now and then, looks like she did his washing.

Mud walls surround the mud oven

This is her home. Her chickens live on the bottom floor and she lives above them.

This is where she stores her dishes. She asked for a few plastic drinking glasses which we bought for her.

She keeps the fire going all the time but gets it really burning when she is cooking.
We walked on up to her neighbors house but nobody was home there either.

On the way to the neighbors

This bridge was a little shaky

The handrails were loose too

Nidia was doing acrobatics on it

Her neighbor’s home

Blue tarp

The back wall was all mud and sticks
Disappointed that Doña Maria was not there, we headed back down to my car. On the way we dropped the coke off at her house, kind of hid it as a surprise for her.

We put it in the black bucket, I’m sure she will be thrilled when she sees it.
Our plans are to go another day, very soon. I bought her shampoo, cream rinse, soap, dish soap, laundry powder, toilet paper, some plastic glasses and a pair of used Keen shoes in great condition. Nidia has a few dresses and some slippers for her. Hopefully we’ll go soon! We didn’t leave the other things we got for her because we were afraid someone would happen by and take them so we will be going back and I will be taking a walking stick and wearing more bug spray for sure.
These last few photos are random shots so bear with me.

My friend Kathy’s watchie took this photo of a snake in her yard. We all (ASS)umed it was a boa but turns out it is a rat snake. A big assed rat snake,

Hello, I see you………………………..

Yep, big assed snake

Not to be outdone by Kathy and her big assed snake, Bill killed another Coral (poisonous) on our porch the other eve.

Cactus growing out on my cactus

weird

Barrio and Highway, airing their stuff

Facial deconstruction/reconstruction with eye removal

More dried sweet potatoes

Brotherly love
Calling it a night. I organized 2 bags of dog collars after I got home from an early morning with Because We Care and CALM Ministries from Baton Rouge, LA. We passed out school supplies to 400 kids in Oak Ridge.
More on that later, didn’t feel it was appropriate with my confessions of too much wine..

I wanted to nap, the Beach Boys wanted to party!