this moment

Inspired by Soule Mama... "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Seasons on St. Maarten

last Sunday at Mullet Beach

I have been seeing a lot of posts about springtime arriving elsewhere in the world. So as I pondered the arrival of spring here on St. Maarten (has anything changed?) I thought I'd post about the seasons on St. Maarten. We've lived here since last August and had 2 of the best summer months of our lives. With white sandy beaches to explore and warm waters to wade in, constant blue skies and an appropriate warm climate, we were in heaven. When summer turned into fall there were no leaves to be seen changing colors on trees, even the palm fronds always stay green. My favorite blog authors were making posts about the preparations for fall and reminding me of how much I love that season. I missed taking Ezra to the pumpkin patch we always went to since he was a baby, to watch him partake in this beloved seasonal ritual as a walking, jumping, running, and talking 2 1/2 year old. As a stay at home mommy and former educator of young children, I wasn't sure whether to even talk about fall leaves and bountiful harvests with Ezra as there were none to be seen in his real life surroundings. And most surprisingly to myself, I missed putting away my summer wardrobe to pull out my tights, scarves, sweaters, and knitted things. There was no need to change our diet to more warming soups and hearty loaves of fresh baked bread (although I did anyway). But most bothersome of all to me, was the lack of need to knit warm woolen things for my family (and I did that anyway too - it did get colder in the apartment with the A.C. on!). The weather here is always somewhere in the 80 degree Fahrenheit range. I have come to love this constant warmth, embrace my good fortune to live on this island, and remember our time here is only temporary. I will have many traditional seasonal changes again in my lifetime. I don't want to forget my time here and the subtle changes we do experience as the seasons change here closer to the equator.

So when summer turned to fall, we didn't delight in the arrival of pumpkin spiced lattes at Starbucks or the first fire in the fire place, we braced ourselves for our first hurricane season. Being from California, hurricanes were unknown firsthand to us, we'd only seen the pictures of the devastating aftermath that can come from one. We had also heard the scary stories of some of the AUC students being trapped in water up to their necks in their homes during the previous year's Hurricane Omar. There were threats of a hurricane named Ana coming from the coast of Africa to the Leeward Islands. We were told by hotel staff to stock up on water and canned food. A friend living at our hotel told us how to plug our refrigerator into a certain plug in our unit that was connected to the backup generator in case we lost power. The morning we went down to our hotel's lobby to find carpenters boarding up the open breezeway, we began to realize the possible destruction coming our way in the form of a hurricane. We prepared ourselves by getting lots of water and some canned beans and other foods we could eat if we had no stove for a few days. But, Hurricane Ana changed into tropical storm Ana, and when she blew by one night, I only woke up and stayed laying in bed to hear the howling winds, while Ezra and Michael slept peacefully beside me. That was the biggest threat of a hurricane we were to experience. We would hear about possible tropical storms, watch on www.stormpulse.com and be relieved to see them change direction or dissipate before reaching St. Maarten. Hurricane season brought the rains and the mosquitos. The mosquito population quadrupled and the threat of dengue fever was a constant worry, propelling me to buy a mosquito net for Ezra's stroller and cover us with mosquito repellent every time we went outside. The weather was hot and humid and I was starting to realize that living on an island is great when you know your time is limited.

Even though I say I was glad to know I wouldn't live on an island forever, I have been enjoying my island life to the fullest - so much so, that I fear I will take back those words I ever said about not wanting to live on an island permanently. Every time you think it's just too hot and you can't take it anymore, you hop in the car and drive to the beach. It doesn't take long to realize why people flock here to have a relaxing vacation. The sand is soft, clean, and white, and the water is amazingly blue and warm and filled with beautiful sea life. One of the most notable changes fall brought was our ability to see the island of Saba from our living room window. It was like it had never been there before. All of a sudden an island appeared across the sea.

the view of Saba from our living room

When fall came to an end, winter blew in with the cooler breezes that attract the majority of tourists making winter on the island synonymous with "high season." The mega yachts arrived in both Marigot and Simpson Bays, making our bridge opening and closing times increase from 3 to 6 openings a day! This along with more cars on the road can make any errand take at least 30 if not 60 more minutes. L.A. traffic has nothing on St. Maarten traffic! (Okay, maybe a slight exaggeration.) But, it is not uncommon to see a person get out of their car and walk to another car to talk to its driver while waiting in bridge traffic. More businesses come back to life, and new ones start popping up. Beaches we went to in the summer where we had lots of space to sprawl out on, were now covered with tourists who put the beach boys back in business renting their lounge chairs and umbrellas. The water had changed too, with waves crashing along our shores that were once as calm as a lake, and for us locals the water was noticeably cooler. Our hotel's small beach disappeared where the tide swept all the way to the last step of the stairs.

our hotel's beach in the fall

our hotel's beach in the winter

Michael and I found ourselves often commenting how we much prefer low season on the island and that that would be the time we'd prefer to come back to visit. However, I did enjoy the cooler (if you can really use that adjective - it is never really cool here) weather winter brought and spent longer days at the beach than in the summer sun's hotter rays.

We have one more month of high season before it comes to an end with a Carnival celebration that culminates with the burning of the straw figure King Momo, who according to local legend takes the village sins with him and leaves the island pure. Hotel rates drop, the masses of tourists leave, and I'm hoping our warm waters return along with our hotel's private beach. So far with the arrival of spring, I have felt the weather get warmer and the humidity increase. Saba is out of sight once again. It is only just the beginning, but it will be interesting to watch and see how quickly the boats start to dwindle again in the bays and with that the traffic that congests our one main road that goes around the island. With the end of high season also comes the end of another AUC semester. We will share two blessed weeks with Michael enjoying the island like tourists again, which I think is fun no matter what season you are here!

Gratitude Sunday

This week I am grateful for:

Ezra and his love, kisses, and developing abilities to express himself.

Michael and his dedication to his studies that enable us to live on this island while I stay home and take care of our family.

The kind women I've met and become friends with while living thousands of miles from the love of family and friends we left behind.

Ezra's interest in books and reading.

A new kite and an hour to fly it on the beach down the street with Michael and Ezra.

The wind that blew this week and kept me cool on a 4 mile walk with a good friend.

My friends back home who have stayed in touch.

My life, where I've been, where I am and where I'll go.

this moment

a moment from the week to keep in my memory forever

this moment

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

inspired by Amanda Soule of www.soulemama.com

Heineken Regatta

Last weekend we got to see the Heineken Regatta from our balcony. It is an annual sailing race on the island that brings visitors and contestants from all over the world. Over 700 boats participate in the event. I had hoped to get us to the beach for one of the days to watch the boats turn around and see their large spinnakers tip and bow through the blustery wind. But, Ezra came down with a stomach virus the morning of the first day of racing. We stayed home for all three days of racing which was a great way to take in the race. We saw the approach of boats, starting with a few spectator boats positioned in front of our hotel, to the fleet of sailboats coming in the distance. Over the course of an hour, we saw many different kinds of sailboats pass by. Some small and plain white - your average looking sailboats - to large pirate style spinnakers that were bold and colorful. It was pretty spectacular even in its miniature scale from a distance.

We see boats go by everyday, but usually only one or two at a time. This was something special to see hundreds of boats go by over the course of an hour. Ezra slept through the first day of races, taking a long morning nap to fight off the bug in his tummy. The second and third days, we enjoyed the races from the balcony along with some paper and crayons to draw sailing pictures.

I look forward to this again next year and hope that maybe Ezra is big enough to ride on a spectator boat and watch from the sea! He loved looking out at the boats through his binoculars from Sarah and Rocky. Since the races he looks for his 'noculars' to go look out at the sailboats.

January and February Knitting

When we were preparing to move to St. Maarten, I knew I wouldn't be knitting warm woolen mittens, skull caps, or sweaters for my family. So, I went through my stash and gave all of my wool away and only brought one project - Suss Cousin's Fantasy Throw. But, since I've started that blanket last August when we moved here, I had a burning desire to make warm knitted things and had to think of some babies to knit for! When my mom came to visit, I had a shipment of yarn sent to her for her to bring to me. My mother and sister in law went to the yarn store for sock yarn for me. And, my friend Clare chose three of the happiest colors of Spud and Chloe's cotton for me to make her baby Stella something with. So, aside from a few little gnomes, bunnies, a gnome house, and some dish rags I've knit up, here are some things I've knit up over the last two months.

Blue Sky's kitty hat for an expectant mother here on the island that is moving back to the States next month.

An adorable pixie hat for another expectant mom on the island moving back to the states in a month. This pattern was free and I found out about it by reading the blog Sew Liberated.

These stay-on baby booties are for the aforementioned babies moving back to cooler weather.

I loved working with these colors to knit up a baby surprise jacket for baby Stella. And I hope the modern rib hat from Spud and Chloe's free patterns online will look cute on her one day!

Here are two of the panels I started working on last August when we moved here and am about to pick up again. Other things on my list to knit while I'm here are another summer kerchief, a juvenile sea nettle, that my friend Adie sent me the pattern and yarn for, and I'm thinking of some little Easter decorations and presents for E, like the knitted Easter eggs from Purlbee and the rabbit from Spud and Chloe's free patterns. I'm so grateful for my knitting which can go anywhere with me - unlike my piano which I couldn't lug across the sea.