Roatan Blog – Mermaid on a Raft

Don’t ask me where I’ve been, I don’t know.

11/10/2019 It’s been awhile, actually longer than awhile. So long that some people have contacted me to see if I’m OK. I am, just doing the daily living taking care of the dogs stuff. In fact, that’s pretty much all I do anymore. Since Max was attacked by his brothers and our female dog in February, I have had a hard time leaving the dogs alone. Granted, we separate Max, he stays upstairs, Highway is downstairs, Barrio and Gringo are each in a crate on the back porch and Lola is loose on the back porch. She hates the pool so we don’t have to worry about her getting in there and she can’t get out front and even if she could, our yard is Fort Knox. They can NOT get out. The reason they are fenced in is because at the end of our driveway, a fast romp for the dogs, is an insanely busy road filled with people who have no right to be behind the wheel of a car. Many of the taxi drivers try to hit the strays and if someone hits a dog, 95% of the time they won’t even stop. That is why my dogs live the secluded life they do. I freaking hate it, I hate that I can’t walk them because the road is so busy and there are so many stray dogs everywhere. My dogs are sheltered, may not be a good thing, but they are not around other dogs. They are not socialized. I recently went to get my hair cut and was taking Max with me to get groomed. I had him in a harness as we crossed the busy road to the hairdressers. There was another dog sitting outside the bakery with it’s owner and I assumed that’s where it would stay. Once we got across the road the dog came running towards Max. Max freaked, got out of his harness and ran across the busy road. I totally freaked out. Once I got over to my car Max came to me. I was a wreck. I tightened his harness and yelled to the guy to please restrain his dog. I got Max into Nadia’s and she locked the door so nobody could open it and have him run out. He was panicked, I think he thought that dog was going to attack him. It was an awful experience. Him being attacked has changed me, I’m not sure I’ll ever get over that.

As many of you know my Father died Sept. 6, 2019. He was 98. I foolishly thought he would live forever. I never envisioned a world that he was not in. It’s here now. It’s my reality and I’m not ready. He lived the last few years of his life tormented by Dementia. I swear it is the most awful thing ever to watch your parent turn into a child again. My sister and her husband were so amazing to Dad, I can never thank them enough for what they gave to him, and gave to my Mother before she passed in 2018. It takes very special people to care for loved ones suffering from dementia, it’s a hateful disease. I miss my Father daily, he was my rock. I have not had him mentally for about 4 years but at least I could hear his voice. I am my Father’s daughter, there is no doubt about that.

As I said before, I mostly stay home with my dogs. I’m not a party person, hate themed parties like Halloween, etc. I just feel that I’ve been there and done that and it’s not my thing any longer. I go to the beach when we get company but my preferred snorkeling is at Daniel Johnson’s Monkey and Sloth Hangout in French Cay. I think the snorkeling is much better there, the coral isn’t dead from all the tourists walking on it and I always see a ray of some sort. Plus I get to hang with Steph and Daniel or Dustin, always a good time. I took Chance snorkeling while he was here. I was having camera trouble (my stupidity, thought the camera was broken when it was actually bad batteries). Chance and Steph and Daniel ventured off to the west but I stayed in the area I was because I was finding all kinds of cool stuff, until my camera battery died.

This is a spaghetti worm, it’s actually alive and feeding.

As I was checking out the puffer that was hiding, all of a sudden this Lionfish was right in front of me. I moved away very quickly as their spikes are venemous and can pack a punch. They are the only fish here that you can legally spear and there is no limit. (You must have your Lionfish license and be certified by the Marine Park). Lionfish eat all the small fish on the reef, thereby decimating our reefs. They are not native to the Caribbean and many places are doing their best to eradicate them from the sea.

It’s impossible to not have a dog by you at our house. Chance is loving on Max and Highway the idiot.

Our back porch. The dogs hang here a lot. There are steps down to the pool and steps up to the roof. There is usually a lot of activity on the porch. Gringo on the left and Barrio in the crate, AND, Highways butt.

I took the Live Again Ministry group snorkeling at Daniel’s also. They all had shirts made with Minions on them and they say Nidia’s Minions. We posed for this picture just for Nidia, the Boss Minion.

A group of local artists got together and painted 2 concrete walls in Brisas de Valle, a small community near Coxen Hole. Julie and I went there to see it and to visit with Nidia. It’s gorgeous and I hope it has the intended effect that they hoped for.

The artists hope was that by beautifying the area maybe people would stop throwing trash around. Many of the paintings are about getting rid of plastics.

Trash in the ocean is a huge problem. Turtles mistake the plastic bags for jellyfish.

Sadly, you can’t go far on the island without seeing trash. Above and under water.

Sad that so many turtles die from humans polluting the sea.

We had the 5th annual East End luncheon for the people on the east end of Roatan. Nidia and Pastor Ronny from Live Again Ministry started this in 2014 and it was so successful that we just can’t stop doing it. The islanders look forward to this event because they get to see friends and family that they rarely see. This was the second year it was held at Fantasy Island Resort.

This is the group from St. Helene. They traveled the furthest to get to the luncheon. Since there are no roads connecting Helene with Roatan, they must come by boat.

We had over 350 people attend the event this year. We had nurses checking blood pressure and also doing diabetes testing.

The oldest from each community got a huge basket of food. The rest of the baskets were raffled off.

These were gift bags filled with toiletries.

Nidia, the head of Because We Care holding the microphone for one of the men from the ministry group.

This is the pool at the resort. Fantasy Island was one of the first resorts on Roatan. It was beautiful in those early days I’m sure, but now many of the rental units have fallen into a state of disrepair. It would take a lot of $$ to bring it back to it’s glory days.

This is Auntie Clara, she is 103. She always sings at the luncheons. I was lucky enough to get to go to her 100th birthday party.

I have been asking Bill to build a pergola on the roof for 4 years. The views up there are tremendous but you can’t be up there during the day for more than a few minutes because you will fry. Finally, we have a pergola.

The dogs love it on the roof, they can survey their domain.

Bill also made a giant swing and I had cushions and pillows made for it. It’s a fabulous spot to relax with the dogs and watch the sun set.

You can see in the next photo that we repainted the walls all gray to match the newly re-fiberglassed floor.

The view, the water was crazy flat. My friend told me that sailors use the stripes on the water to tell them info about the wind. Not sure if that is true or not.

These 3, the brothers, are in the pool ALL the time. Especially Max, the dark one in the middle. It’s not unusual for him to go in a dozen times in one day.

Lola and Emmy. They stare at each other for a long time, have no clue why.

I was closing windows one night to go to bed and the dog toys were laying on their ottoman like this. Are they messing with me?

We have had a lot of lizards around the house lately. The big ones drive the dogs crazy. This guy walked across the hill below the pool and all five dogs were going into cardiac arrest. By the time I got my good camera he was about 50′ away. Grateful for a good zoom.

This is a male green iguana. I can tell it’s a male because of the large jaw muscles, the females don’t have the jaw muscles that the males do.

This is a male anole. We see so many of these daily that I no longer notice them, except when I see a good size dead one laying on a dog bed. Gross.

Another baby iguana, looks like it’s eating a bug.

I decided to get off the island for a bit, I was getting stir crazy. I booked 2 separate trips. One from Roatan to San Pedro Sula (mainland Honduras) then to Houston and on to Phoenix. I spent the night in a hotel in Phoenix and caught an early flight out of Phoenix to Chicago and then on to Wilkes Barre, PA. 6 airports in 2 days. It’s no wonder I arrived sick. My destination was Williamsport PA, where Bill and I were both born. Some of my high school friends who live in the area have a get together once a month. My friend Stan from New Hampshire came down and we crashed the party. It was great fun except I was sick.

Stan and I have been best friends for over 55 years. In that time frame we have always stayed in touch.

The class party was Sunday and Monday I was at the doc’s. I had bronchitis. Great. After a few days on meds I felt good enough to go meet some friends. My brother (where I was staying) and his daughter Devon and I went out for dinner on Saturday evening. On Wednesday I met some friends for lunch. I saw Mary when I was in town for my last class reunion but I have not seen Sue Stroble in 35+ years. When I was a wild and crazy, no longer in college person, who was too much for my parents to handle I moved out. Both Mary and Sue’s parents welcomed me with open arms. I spent my time between their 2 homes.

Mary, Sue in the back and me. Long time friends.

Before I met Mary and Sue for lunch, I had tea with Bill’s sister Kathy at an old home from the great lumber baron days in Williamsport. There are many of these grand mansions that have been restored and are used as homes or restaurants. This one used to be a dentist’s office. It was donated to the Historical Museum who sold it to the people who own the Backhouse Coffee and Cafe’. It has been lovingly restored and is absolutely gorgeous.

Even the woodwork detail on the door was gorgeous. I could have spent a few hours in there looking at all of the cool restored parts of the home.

I had breakfast with another friend on Friday morning. I had not seen Francie since before we left PA in 1995. On my way to get her I saw the Stoned Dog. This dog was painted back in the late 60’s and someone is still keeping it nicely painted. This brings back MANY memories.

My brother’s back yard. He lives in a valley with a mountain in front and behind of his house, I couldn’t make calls on my cell phone and had a hard time opening photos or attachments unless I stood by the bird feeder.

I forgot how beautiful Pennsylvania was.

The trees were all changing, something I’m not used to at all.

Devon and my brother PJ. Oh, and Lily too. She adores Devon and doesn’t let many people get close to her.

I went out to eat with Bill’s sister Kathy, her husband Mike and daughter Missy. We went to a place called Boom City. Food was excellent and they had a beer selection Bill would have loved.

My last night there I met some friends at the 505. It’s a restaurant/bar that I worked at before Bill and I were married. It was great to see Cicily and Mary, Ruth and Tim and Darri, Dave and Chuckie. It’s been a long time.

I was up early the next morning and drove back to Wilkes Barre for my flight to Phoenix by way of Dulles. Going a round a bout way to get there. I arrived in Phoenix on time and my friend Kelly was right outside the door where I got my luggage. We went to a fabulous wine bar, I grabbed a salad and then we split a humongous dessert. After that we went back to Kelly’s home. She lives in Chandler, AZ. Let me say, her home looks like it’s from Architectural Digest. I could move in and change nothing. Stunning house. And she has 2 dogs and was watching a third for her friend so I got plenty of dog loving.

These are Kelly’s two, Daisy is the little one and Payson is the big black boy. The other one was named Sadie, she was a sweetheart too.

No, this is not a photo from a magazine, it’s Kelly’s backyard. No words.

Her pool is gorgeous but it was coooold.

She had a table made in the pool. Genius.

We went to a place called Oregano’s for lunch. It was great food. The waiters shirts said Legalize Marinara.

My good friend from high school who rescued me when I got stranded in LA has a daughter I have not met. She lives in Chandler, about 20 minutes from Kelly’s house. I ran over one morning to meet Katie and Jon and of course this adorable little nugget, Dane. He is the only brown eyed grandchild out of 5 for Tim and Cathilee.

I’ve been home for a little over a week. When I arrived in Roatan I was getting my luggage and my friend who works there said Bill was there with a dog. When I walked out and said Max he almost jumped in my arms. I could NOT wait to get home to the other ones and give them their toys and lots of loving. Barrio, my shadow really missed me.

Barrio was sound asleep, I had about 4″ of bed.

We have not had rain for months and months. People’s wells were drying up, plants and trees were dying, it was getting bad. Well, lo and behold, I brought rain. I took this photo outside my back door and it looks like snow. It was really pouring.

This was the next day. We have had thunder storms at night and hard rains during the days. The island needed it badly.

Usually after a long dry spell we have termites, wood lice, whatever they are called. They are black bugs with 4 wings. They are attracted to light and swarm. They mate and drop their wings (or vice versa, never watched) and then they leave. Behind is the massive mess of wings. They are like Christmas tree needles, you find them months later.

These things were brown instead of black, probably a mutated bug. There were so many the birds were at the back door eating the bugs.

This is my outdoor concrete sink, full of wings. They are disgusting.

So, I’m back, haven’t done much, other than getting some work done on my car and staying home with the dogs. I can’t guarantee that I will be any better about blogging but I do promise to try.

Back to blogging

Dec 2, 2018 Long time, no type. I’ve been so bored with my lack of a life that I had no words to put on a blog. To say I’ve been home all the time is not an exaggeration. I have been out to eat a few times but that’s it. I’ve been to the grocery store once in 2 months. That itself speaks volumes.

As I sit here on a Saturday afternoon, staring out at the water, some words slipped in to my head so here I am.

Quick update: my foot is still swollen, I was in a cast for 3 weeks, supposed to take it easy for a week and then be good to go. Nope, was no better. I went to an orthopedic Doc from the US (he lives here), he said Celebrex for 2 weeks, no improvement. I plan to go see a specialist on the mainland as soon as I can get in. Enough of this crap, it pisses me off big time. It will be 3 months Dec. 6th.

I have been spending a lot of time by the pool or in bed, resting the foot, so I’ve been reading. I read a book based on a true story called The Radium Girls. It’s unbelievable because it’s true. I just finished Flowers for Algernon and am starting one called Magnolia about Chip and Joanna Gaines. I’ve also been binge watching House Hunters International, Fixer Upper and Caribbean Life, along with my favorite TV show, Modern Family. Although my TV watching is always in the evening, unless it’s raining. Of course, when it rains our internet has not been working so I couldn’t watch anything. The internet company has been here 4 times in one month because we have been without internet for 24 hours each time. So ridiculous. I know, first world problems but dammit, WIFI is not too much to ask for is it? The internet provider blames it on the electric company but I can’t complain about the electric company, they’re not that bad. We’re on an island, I’m amazed we even have electricity.

We finally got the house painted. The old paint is the dull green on the left. It’s now fresh and bright green and I love it. The guys who painted it did a really nice job.

You can see the rain falling out of the sky.

A few weeks ago the power went out at 8:30 PM or so, I went to the window and looked out to see if the colonia below us was out. It was dark down there but there was a huge ball of red further east. It was a BIG fire. I posted on Roatan 911 that there were big flames coming from Politilly, several others had posted also. Bill walked into the bedroom when the power went out and we just stood there and watched the flames grow until there was a red trail floating skyward. It was awful watching it. We were told the fire may have been intentionally set by a woman mad at her daughter. Regardless of the reason, 3 houses were destroyed 2 more severely damaged. Many people are homeless. They will rebuild the homes ASAP.

The dogs are a lot of company as they follow me everywhere I go and beg for any speck of food I put in my mouth. Highway has been spending most of the time downstairs if Bill is out of the house. I get too exhausted telling him to be quiet all day long. He’s a whiner and a yapper and he is an instigator. With him downstairs it’s really quiet up here. When he gets all wound up he sounds like the 3 Stooges making their weird noises all at the same time. He does this over emergencies (a watusa or an armadillo in the yard) that do not warrant that reaction. In a nano second I have 5 hysterical dogs. Downstairs for the win.

This duo of Armadillos was moved to an area far away from us.

They allow me a small space to sleep. I’ll never own nice bedding again. They so own me.

Barrio is my Zen dog. He gets out of the pool and STOPS. He just stands still for 10-15 seconds, sometimes his eyes go closed. He totally experiences the feeling of the water running off of his body, he digs it. Lola, in the background, HATES the pool with a PASSION. To her it’s a large water bowl.

Cone head again. He seems to have grown what looks like a second butt hole. No clue what it is, not exactly like Gringo’s tail hole. Island dogs…He’s been on meds, it looks much better. Let me say, I don’t look, that’s Bill’s job. We took his cone off today, keeping an eye on Barrio. He seems to have a Highway butt fetish. Dogs are really gross.

They were looking for turkeys. I especially like their reflections in the pool.

Bill was slamming doors the morning I took this. There were dogs running and jumping on the bed. I was all, WTH is going on, it’s not time for me to get up, but I did, mainly to find out what was going on. Bill wanted to take a shower and the RATS/ mice? had once again chewed the hot water heater wires. Bastards. They have invaded my car again too and there is no food in my car at all. They are eating the rug floor mats in my car.

Click HERE for a video about the Founder of TOMS shoes, he was on Jimmy Fallon. It’s quite a powerful video considering gun violence is on the rise. Please watch the video.

I signed on to FB the other morning and there was a post from my friend Julie in Alabama. Julie and her husband and kids have been to the island, stayed here a few times and I know the kids too. Julie’s Mom had her two daughters at the mall shopping holiday sales. They were walking in the mall when a fight broke out between 2 boys. One had a gun and started shooting, a bullet struck my friends daughter Molly in the back. Thankfully, she is physically OK, no major damage, just that she will have a bullet in her back forever. I hope that she and her sister (and grandmother) can recover from this horrific accident emotionally. The fact that you can’t be in the mall, doing yoga, at a dance or a concert and be safe says a lot about the state of the US. Something needs to be done about these crazy shootings. Sign the TOMS petition, easy and free and doing something is better than doing nothing.

My friend the Duchess has owned a home on the island for a long time, she spends 3 months here, then back to the states, then here again, several times a year. She’s seen a lot of stuff happen, to her and to others that are illegal in most normal places. In the past year there have been several home robberies. They have the kid on video, everyone knows who it is but nobody does anything about it. The main criminal has kids under 18 do the dirty work because there is no prosecution whatsoever if you are under 18. These kids are getting brazen and out of control. The communities got together to discuss what could be done to stop the thieves. The Duchess was sitting at the meeting with another friend, a male, who has also been here a long time. Said male is very happily married and has been for years. As they sat awaiting things to get going a young girl who is related to one of the thieves was being very boisterous. She told our male friend that she was available. He tried his best to respond with a serious face. She then noticed his wedding ring and she said, “Oh, you married?” He shook his head and said “Yes I am.” Always a gentleman. She responded by saying, “I don’t care, I’m still available.” I would have been on the floor in hysterics. As the meeting began and people were discussing the issues at hand this girl continued to yell and talk loudly, totally disrupting the whole meeting. People had enough of her and threw her out and locked the doors of the school they were in. She continued to bang on the windows, cursing and screaming so loudly that the meeting became worthless. She then managed to find a way in and came at the group leader with a pen in her hand, held like a dagger. The woman speaking saw her coming and grabbed a desk and smashed it into her. At that point people got up and started to leave, not much was sorted out at all. You can’t make this shit up. As the island turns.

We had a nice Thanksgiving with friends at the Pineapple Grill. Yvonne, who I met Christmas eve, 2013, got a group of 20 people together. Big mistake for me was they had a huge salad bar and I adore salad bars, so when the heaping plateful of food came I could eat about 1/3 of it. It was delicious and fun getting out and seeing people. Not fun having to walk to get in there though, in all reality, Bill should have carried me.

Someone in the colonia below us is setting off firecrackers. I have no clue why as Nov. 24th signifies nothing as a holiday for the islanders. Maybe they are practicing for Christmas. Nothing goes better with baby Jesus than firecrackers?? {I see no correlation whatsoever.} Barrio has decided he does not like the sound of firecrackers so he follows me around like he’s attached to my ankles. He’s laying on my feet under my desk as I type. Bigger firecrackers going off now. And I guess I missed the fireworks at the beach below us. I also missed the wedding (which I was invited to) that was held there and that was the reason for the fireworks, totally forgot about it.

My eye was bothering me the other morning and it looked a little red so I went to the doggie meds drawer and found an unopened bottle of Tobramycin eye drops. Nothing like diagnosing yourself. Hope the drops make whatever it is go away. THEN, I was out by the pool reading and got stung by a horsefly type creature. They are triangle shaped and they really hurt if they get you. The dogs chase them and try to eat them so I chase the dogs and don’t let them eat them. I killed several that landed on me and didn’t get stung but this one got me good. He’s dead now. I called Bill and asked him to stop and get me wine because my eye was infected and a bee stung me. Seemed like a logical reason to need wine. Two bottles. One for my eye and one for my knee.

I am the admin on a few FB pages for Roatan and it’s become a joke with my band of friends on the island (guys) to say, Just Ask Debbie. Not only did they make a Google page for me, nice isn’t it??

They also did this. Never a dull moment here, sometimes I feel like a referee.

Remember Alexi, the young boy we have helped? He was in the Bomberos (fire department) for 2 years but they were not paying him so he is working for Bulldog Security. Happy he has a good job, not many young men do. I’m sure Bill’s influence on him has a lot to do with his success. Alexi has a sister Juliana and she has a son, Osman, a sister Jessica and a brother Ephrain. Ephrain has become Bill’s sidekick. Ephrain is not allowed to go to the school 2 minutes from his home because the teachers hate his mother and claim he is white. He’s not. Therefore, he has to take a taxi to school that is 15 min away. Most of the time his family is to meet him to ride home but they never do, they depend on Bill to pick him up. Actually, Ephrain is flunking because he misses so much school, they are too lazy to get him up to go. The other day Jessica sent Bill a photo of Osman and said he was sick. The one side of his face is all swollen. Bill told her he needed to go to a Doctor and she said Juliana won’t take him, she doesn’t care. Bill went and got him and picked up half the damn family for the joy ride to the clinic. They saw him then we took him back again to see the pediatrician. They said it is not a dental issue, it’s in his cheek. We went to their home yesterday to check on him and it’s not any better. I contacted my friend Miss Peggy who runs Clinic Esperanza. They have a very good pediatrician there so Bill took him this morning. Peggy had notified the clinic that we were coming and Osman got immediate attention when they got there. We are still waiting to find out what is going on with him. I just don’t get it. I take better care of my dogs than some people do of their children. Juliana is afraid she may have to spend $$ on Osman and she will not do that, probably because she knows that we will take care of him.

UPDATE on Osman. Bill went to get him this morning and his Mother wanted to go because she wanted to do something fun, she didn’t care about Osman. Bill told her NO. She said he was mean. It’s a good thing I wasn’t there, I would have defined mean for her, a mother who cares nothing for her children is mean. Anyhow, Osman had blood work done and something is going on. The doctor said it is a mass in his cheek so tomorrow back to Vessels of Mercy to get an ultrasound. Poor kid.

Jefferson, he and his family just moved in with Ephrain’s family.

A new construction on the way down to Miguel’s.

This is the property that Bill is overseeing the development of, our friend Miguel is the watchie and head of the construction crew.

These guys are making charcoal. They build a metal shed and set the wood on fire, any kind works. Then they cover it with wet leaves and let it smolder until it’s charcoal. Back breaking work for sure.

I have a cleaning girl here. She started in the bathroom at 8:15, she was still in there at 10:30 and she brought me a handful of expired medicines. OMG. I want her to move in and never leave. I’ll be afraid to even walk in there it’s so clean. She’s going to be a regular here, I might even see if she’ll move in. She came back the second day and worked another 8 hours in the living room and downstairs. This girl has a permanent job!

It’s Sunday, I have a trip to Tegus early tomorrow to see a doc about my foot. Second time to the land of plenty murders and to land on one of the 10 most dangerous runways in the world. I do have more things to share but I will save them because it’s taken me about 2 weeks to get this together. I promise, it won’t be another month until I blog again. Stay tuned.

Prosciutto

08/31/2015 It’s been a quiet week, which is a nice change. Brenda and I tried to do a vet clinic on Thursday but the guy who was going to help us was so sick we ended up taking him to the doctor. He had impacted sinuses and was a mess. After a visit with the doc he was on 2 nose sprays and 3 different meds. On the way back to the boat we stopped and treated a puppy, a bigger dog and a severely malnourished cat. The cat was 3 months old and weighed about 2#’s. It is heartbreaking and there is nothing we can do but try and educate the people about feeding the animals. Oh, the 3 month old kittens’ momma was preggo again too. Just what the island needs, more animals.

On Friday I had the pleasure of attending a spelling bee at the Pedro Nufio school in Politilly. I got there around 9 AM, it was (and has been) miserably hot. The school is situated up a very steep road and I had to do a 17 point turn to get my car faced downhill and then hope like hell that my emergency brake was in excellent working condition. I trudged down the dirt road then up the dirt hill to the school, which is situated next to a small cemetery. I walked to the back of the tents, searching for a seat in the shade. There were none. A young boy brought me a blue wooden school desk chair to sit on and I squeezed as close as I could into a shaded area, waiting for Nidia to arrive. In sun like this you will melt in 10 minutes flat. Maybe less if you are not Italian.

The ladies in front of me were the Pandy Town teachers, they recognized me as “the Camera Lady.” I sat there in the sweltering heat for several hours listening to the kids spell. I felt that some of the words were not appropriate words for these young kids who are just learning English, like ALLITERATION. I mean, even the judges had to look up the meanings of the word and the man saying the words didn’t always pronounce them correctly either. I wish I knew for sure the ages but I think it was 4th, 5th and 6th grade. There were a couple really good spellers in the group. You could tell the kids were extremely nervous plus the crowd was loud, lots of kids carrying on, parents talking and arguing. My idea of a spelling bee is the audience is supposed to be “Pin Drop” quiet so the kids can concentrate. Not in Honduras, it’s just not how its done. There was one little boy who knocked my socks off. He walked up, blue shirt sleeves rolled to his elbows, hands in his black pants pockets, this boy was ready to spell. I’ve never seen such confidence is such a young boy . He said the word, spelled it INSTANTLY, no hesitation, repeated it and he was always right. When they gave him the word Prosciutto, I was all WTH?? Most English speaking adults can’t even begin to spell that word but it fell off his lips instaneaously. Many people don’t even know what the hell it is, yet he spelled it. Amazeballs.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — The crowd of parents and loud unattended children

I only had to back up and pull forward 6 or 7 times to get out of the parking spot at the school. Someone had totally parked me in. I was a hot sweaty mess (and not in a good way) by the time I maneuvered my car out and started down the hill towards home.

August was a typical hotter than hell month with humidity so high you were in a perpetual state of sweat. So be it, I’m not complaining about the weather in the Caribbean, really, I’m not. I remember when I lived in the states, way back when, 2 years ago, I loved the end of July and all of August. They were typically the only weeks I could really use my ghetto pool. We had always considered putting in a nice pool but given the fact that summer is only 6 weeks long, it wasn’t worth it. That is unless we wanted to HEAT the water. Pools here have the opposite problem. They are too damn hot. I recall going to Parrot Tree with Walter one Sunday and the only way we could be in the water was if we stood under the bridge, where the water was shaded. There was no, “aaah, this feels so awesome” when you entered the water. It was SHIT, “this is hot”.

So this is September now and August forgot to take the heat with it. The other day Bill hooked up a random mister section of hose he brought with us. It was a semi breezy day on our porch so directing the mist was not something we could do.

The pups were afraid, then curious, then fascinated, then they were sure it was their own personal drinking fountain. They were biting at the jets of mist that were spraying into the air from the tiny holes.

For the sheer entertainment of it all, I have been sewing dogs faces together, cutting off noses or paws and re-stitching. NOT A DAMN TOY IS SACRED.

Anything with stuffing meets a swift and sudden death here. There are still 2 crate pillows and 2 specially made dog beds that I am trying to figure out how to make them tooth proof. Aside from a suit of armor, I’m lost, no thoughts, so they sit in a corner of my house.

New dog treat: scrub a huge sweet potato, cut off the ends, slice it 1/4″ thick and bake for 2.5 hours in a 200 degree oven. Then let it cool. The dogs LOVE to chew on it, much better than the nasty chew toys you get in the stores.

I’m going to wrap this up because I want my bed…we took the Beach Boys down to Parrot Tree for a dip. They had their normal fabulous time. They came home, got showered, had lunch and a nice long nap.

Just hanging out for the next few days with the boys, may set the sprinkler up and see if they will play in it. Once again, it’s hot hot hot!!

Sunday will be another swim day for the puppies. This time we are driving to Paya Bay with the Beach Boys, one of their brothers and his parents. Should be a fun day. I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures. Luckily my dogs are used to my camera, Dooce was terrified of it. We always felt she thought the camera stole her soul..Who knows, maybe it did.

catch you later my friends..

The best laid plans go astray on Roatan

08/26/2015 I worked at the airport on Saturday doing my airport lady gig, which I love doing. You get to meet so many fascinating people who all have stories to tell. I just wish I had the time to hear them all. It was another day that United’s computers were not working and it was taking light years to check someone in. I really feel bad for the people who are waiting in line. I hear them bad mouthing United and that makes me feel bad because I am very partial to United Airlines. It is the airline Bill flew for years when he was working and we are lucky enough to be Premier Gold Elite for life with them. When I got home I decided to sign into my United account and send them a little note telling them of the situation from an outsiders view point. I received a very nice email back and she said she was glad I wrote, she appreciated it, that it was refreshing to get a letter from someone because they cared about the fact that the situation made United look bad. And she gave me 5500 bonus miles. SWEEEEEET!!! They are aware of the issue and are working very hard to find a remedy. She even sent me her personal email so that I may contact her if other issues arrive. YAY for United, we have never received poor service from them.

A few Sundays ago Bill and I went to Turquoise bay for a swim and a float. We each had a monkey lala (drink not the lizard) and I floated and swam for awhile in the pool. It’s nice to go there and not be charged to enter and to be treated like a guest. Kudos to the people running the place.

This past Sunday we took the pups to Big Bight again for a swim. They went crazy when we got there and couldn’t wait to get in the water.

After that it was home and showers for the 3 of them. I scrub every inch of their bodies to get the sand off of them. They don’t love it but they are getting used to it..I fed them, they crashed and I showered and napped too.

We spent another fabulous Monday with our friends Trish and Dave and friends in Sandy Bay. We ate, floated in the pool and watched a boat motor on by that we all assumed was on fire. Apparently, that’s how it always smokes when it runs. Pollution much? I drank too much wine (I know, hard to believe) came home, fed the pups, ate and went to bed.. It’s Dave’s fault, he kept filling my glass.

This morning Bill and I picked up my friends Brenda and Tony from Royal Playa. We were meeting them at BJ’s and taking a dog who belongs to someone who lives on one of the cays (small island) to get a throat X-Ray. The dog, Grizzly, has had a breathing issue since he was born. It sounds like he is gasping for air. We got him in the kennel in the back of the truck at Oak Ridge and stopped at our house for a minute to drop off Alexi and let the roof rail guys in and then went straight to Dr. Calderone’s. Doc looked at the dog and listened to his lungs and said he felt the dog had emphysema. Grizzly was so stressed out by the time we got there that his tongue was swollen and blue from lack of oxygen. He was almost hyperventilating. We knew he would need to be knocked out before the medical center could get him in position to X-Ray him but Doc didn’t think it would be a good idea to sedate him because he may not wake up, his oxygen level was so low at that point. We came to a joint decision, Tony, Brenda, Bill, myself and Doc and Bethany, that it would be in the dog’s best interest not to sedate him but to try to treat him for emphysema and to reduce the fluid in his lungs. We left Tony and Grizzly in the shade at the vets and we continued on to Coxen Hole. The plan was to take a new dog crate to Coxen Hole for Brenda to exchange for a larger one and return a desk to Nidia that had an unfinished phrase on the back of it (we picked that up in Pandy Town before we met Brenda and the dog). The guy who was to have the crate was not there, big surprise!!! and he wouldn’t be back for awhile so Brenda made other arrangements with him. We went to drop the desk to Nidia and Bill wanted to see if he could make a sturdier desk for the same cost for her so she said to keep it. So we still had 2 dog crates and a desk in the back of the truck.

We put the one crate in the back seat with me (Brenda gets carsick and was sitting upfront) and Tony was in the back with the dog. We barely got down Doc’s road when Tony started yelling, Grizzly had jumped out. We got him secured in the back again and went to the pharmacy to get the meds for him. Grizzly wasn’t looking too good. This is a dog who has never been in a crate, a truck or in traffic, he lives on a small little island and is free to do as he pleases. At that point we decided he would be riding in the back seat with me. Now Grizzly weighs 100#’s easily and he was doing more than drooling. It was coming out in buckets because the poor guy was so stressed. He would get up every so often and take huge gasping breaths of air, his tongue was really thick and turning blue again. I was so afraid he was going to have a heart attack on my lap. We made it back to BJ’s and Grizzly is safe (and probably happy as hell) at home. Hopefully the meds Doc gave him will help reduce the fluid so he can breathe better.

Grizzly back home with his buddy. Photo courtesy of Brenda Lee Beckmann

We had plans in order to do everything to be the most resourceful we could and not waste time and Island Time and mañana once again foiled us..

A few other things from the last couple of weeks,

We let the pups in at night to play, sometimes with Frito, sometimes just them. Lola does not like it at all and she just bolts through the window and comes in. One night I forgot to close the window and she was wandering in the bedroom. Three times in 24 hours she ruined the screen. Bill gets so pissed because he has to fix the screen. She could be trained to do it herself but the fact that she lacks an opposable thumb makes it difficult.

Tomorrow is another vet clinic, meeting Brenda and Tony at 9, hopefully not a full day. We are out of vaccines so it is more of a check up on last weeks issues and worms and flea and tick treatment. Friday there is a spelling bee that I am going to go to in Politilly, looking forward to that and Saturday finds me back at the airport.

And that, my friends is how you spend your 26th (yes it’s today) wedding anniversary!!

Rooms full of desks

07/21/2015 On Friday, Roatan Because We Care (BWC) delivered 20 more desks to the school in Pandy Town. For some reason it is one of my favorite schools. It was the first school I fitted TOMS shoes at, so it’s kind of special. It’s also where I got my first hug from this guy.

I was to pick my friend Carmen up and then meet Nidia at the school. On the way to the school I saw the truck with all the desks alongside the road. It had overheated. I took Henry to get a 5 gallon jug of water, Nidia was already calling for back-up so I went to get Carmen and would meet Nidia at the school. The municipal truck must have come right after I left because by the time I met Carmen at the dock, they were just coming across on their boat as I pulled in, we arrived only a few minutes before Nidia, the truck with the desks and the boxes of sandals. Pandemonium ensued. The kinder from Calabash Bight was also there for sandals.

It really is so much fun to go to the schools, especially when the students are anxious for your arrival. Most everyone in Pandy Town school speaks English so it was much easier to communicate with them. I walked around with my photos, showing them to different students and asking if the person in the photo was there. When I found them and gave them the photo I took of them a few months ago they had a variety of reactions. Some were very shy and others got silly and laughed and laughed. I had several students then ask me to take their photo in the hopes I would bring back a picture of them too. These children don’t have photos taken of them so giving them a printed picture is quite fascinating. Their lives are so different than the lives of the majority of the children in the US. Back in the states, most kids wouldn’t care about new desks or a new pair of flip-flops or a printed photo of themselves, here these small things mean a lot to them. It was evident in their smiles.

Thank you to all of you who have donated to Because We Care, we strive to make life better for the kids and families on this island.

Helping Paws Across Borders field team

08/19/2015 Brenda Lee and I have worked together at the last 2 clinics that Helping Paws Across Borders has held on the island. This time when the vets left, they had Brenda keep their meds in the hopes she could have a few vaccine, flea and tick treatment clinics. She and her boyfriend Tony and their friend Tyron had one the previous week and it was very successful so she decided to do it again and asked me to help.

I met them at the water taxi stand in Oak Ridge Bight and we went to the entrance of the bight (bay) on the way to Pandy Town. We borrowed 2 tables and 4 chairs from the church next door and started setting up.

Brenda Lee, Tony’s butt and Tyron getting stuff set up.

Tyron went and got this poor old boy. The ass$ole owner didn’t want the dog so he didn’t bother to feed him. He had hematoma’s in both ears, his ear canals were swollen shut. We think he also had erlichia because his feet were so swollen.

Neither Brenda nor I could take the dog home, I am already overdosed with pets and Brenda and Tony are in the process of moving back to Germany in 3 weeks with their 2 dogs. I called a “local shelter” and after a 10 minute lecture, they decided they would come and get him. Which they did. He was taken to the vet for his ears and will need to remain under a watchful eye until he is able to be adopted. His name is Dash. I heard that after 3 days, a bath and regular meals, he has some perkiness to him.

That’s all Brenda and I wanted was him taken care of. We have been accused of doing this to get attention which is ridiculous. We are volunteering our time to help as many animals as we can and we are posting it on Facebook to draw attention to the PLIGHT OF THE ANIMALS on this island.

On Wednesday we saw so many children with pets in serious need of medical attention. I keep trying to be positive about it by telling myself at least the kids brought their pet in to get help. Most animals arrived with a rope around their neck, or a wire, a chain or whatever. Anything to get them to the clinic. EVERY dog left with a new collar (we ran out of leashes but at least no more ropes, etc around the animals neck). Tony was getting the meds ready, Brenda and Tyron were putting muzzles on, “cross dogs” as Tyron says, determining and dispensing, administering treatment, pulling off ticks and I was registering, cleaning thick black mites out of dog ears, pulling ticks out and squishing them with tweezers or my nail, rubbing young pups w/ flea and tick stuff, cutting way long toenails. We all did crowd control, which was our main issue. Everything is a circus around here, whether it be an accident, a dead cow on the road, a dog getting shots, they MUST SEE EVERYTHING. It is the culture and we need to work the best we can with it.

11875206_10207485942254991_1698714473676475927_o — I finally had to give him up, too busy.

11890037_10207485944215040_8630559164867141804_o — This was towards the end of the day, we were stinky, sweaty and more than likely flea ridden.

After working 9-5 in a dirt alley with a dusty street, I came home and immediately showered. I was so exhausted that evening I think I just sat here and stared at the computer and then crashed very early.

We made a small difference in the lives of 70 animals. Maybe some of what we told the kids and the adults will sink in. Maybe they will understand that all animals have feelings too and that they deserve to be treated well. It’s difficult in a society that have so many children in a family that it’s nearly impossible to provide for them, let alone the animals.

We’ll keep doing what we can. We hope Helping Paws Across Borders will return in November!

***Everything I post on this site, whether it is about Because We Care, Helping Paws Across Borders or Cattleya, it is not about me at all, it’s about the things I am PASSIONATE about on Roatan. I am trying to raise awareness to situations that many people choose to turn a blind eye to. If more people did just a small part, it would make a huge difference.***