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

hurricane earl was here

hurricane earl has come and gone. my last post was the eve before when we knew it was going to be a category 2 hurricane. it just seemed like a whistly windy storm in the morning when we woke up but when the eye of the storm crossed over us around 1:00 we knew we must be in a hurricane. michael even said this has to be a category 3, which indeed it was, whirling up wind speeds of up to 120 mph. during the height of the storm the rain began to fly straight into our windows and through the cracks onto our living room floors. the howl of the wind grew louder and the pressure of the wind on our sliding glass doors had us eating the salad i made for lunch on the floor of our bedroom.

i didn't get many pictures during the height of the storm because all you could see out the windows was a blur of gray. we lost our internet access first thing in the morning and our power was intermittent throughout. when the power came on i worked as fast as i could before it would go out again to use all of the kitchen appliances i needed to make a raw birthday cake for myself and bake some cupcakes for ezra. yes it was my birthday. and yes hurricane earl rained on my parade. after the second power outage i raced to blend up a soup for dinner, boil some hot water on the stove, run a load of dishes, and keep the laundry going. meanwhile my husband and brother were opening windows and doors that we were warned to keep shut and i would find them and start to panic a little, tell them to hurry up and shut them and then catch a breath of the fresh air myself and begin to relax. everyone felt cooped up...except ezra the little homebody.

we played guitar, sang, beat on drums, played flutes, kazoos and harmonicas. steve napped throughout the day between reading his book. michael tried to study. ezra played trains on the bed. i tried to feed everyone and maintain some order in the household and not get too irritated that this was how i was spending my birthday with my brother here who had flown all the way for a visit just in time for a hurricane. i had so many other better plans in mind. finally after i was too sweaty to be comfortable in my own skin i took a shower after which i did a very necessary realigning of my chakras. during the course of my chakra work one of the affirmations i was repeating was "i am able to gracefully weather life's unexpected storms." this along with a few others helped me to release some of the stress that was induced by the hurricane and go with the flow a little better.

michael and steve took two outings out of the apartment and down to the lobby where they found people smoking in the stairwell but there was no one in the lobby. they insisted they were bored and wanted to drive around the island much to my horror. we did see a couple of people driving around and pull up to the bluffs next to our hotel. thankfully, the boys stayed inside the rest of the day. however we did go out onto the balcony after the storm died down and it was heavenly feeling the negative ions blow on us. steve said it was like experiencing the thrill of riding a motorcycle without the danger. ezra laughed and played with the swirling water spray that was splashing out of the jacuzzi onto his face. it was a relief the storm was coming to an end and that night we all slept deeply.

these pictures were taken off our balcony toward the end of the storm

the next day michael's school resumed and he had to be there for registration. on our way out we noticed the immediate impact on our hotel's landscape. the palm trees and other plants were ravaged and there was debris lying everywhere.

we drove to our nearest beach, mullet bay, where we saw surfers enjoying the day after hurricane waves, and an unbelievable amount of seagrass washed upon the shore. these are two things you never see at mullet - surfers or mounds of seagrass. within 10 minutes of driving we saw several trees ripped out of the ground, a couple of lamp posts blown over, signs fallen onto the street, and a few walls ripped apart. even though that may sound bad, the island's infrastructure seemed to hold up pretty well considering we still see the unsightly devastation left behind from hurricane luis that hit in 1995.

mounds of seagrass or seaweed at mullet beach

today we went to plum bay and saw lots of coral and sea sponges washed upon the shore.

the coral was still soft when i touched it.

the sky hasn't completely turned back to normal since the hurricane. we've also had tropical storm fiona come through, but she brought just a bucket of rain. that dark slant in the center of the picture is some kind of damage to my lens on my designated beach camera.

i have no idea what this little clear pearl was, but there were many of them as well.

each time i go out of the hotel now i see more signs that we had a hurricane - mostly by the sight of the withered down vegetation. i haven't yet driven around the island, but will hopefully find the time to do so before tropical storm gaston comes, if he does. meanwhile i will be realigning my chakras again so i can weather any more storms a little more gracefully.

so we went out against my better judgement to check out our surroundings this afternoon before hurricane earl arrives. but it seemed alright to be outside once we were out with all the other people who were. we ended up over at the sunset bar and beach grill where you can watch the planes taking off and coming in for landing. it was so windy out that michael's espresso blew over before he could drink it.

over the course of an hour or so we saw several planes take off and land much to our amazement. my pilot brother was enjoying watching the planes and even got to see an MD80 (the plane he flies) come in for landing. ezra was still unhappy about all this wind and faced the opposite direction the majority of the time, much to the annoyance of the pouty french lady in the background.

after we came home and i finished preparing dinner, i saw this eerie looking sky out the window. now as i write this the wind is humming along and we're about to go to bed. with the power still on here and internet running, i'm hoping we will still be connected tomorrow and earl will stay far north of st. maarten making this not such a big deal after all. we are very fortunate to be living in a hotel with a backup generator, water tank, and thick concrete walls. the outdoor furniture has been brought inside and the doors and windows are shut. all should be well.

hurricane earl is on its way

tropical storm earl is now hurricane earl. we are expecting 70 mph winds to blow over the island tonight hitting us at its peak by 2:00 a.m. my internet connection is expected to go out soon here and i wanted to put up a quick post before i experience my first hurricane of my life. the forecasters think it will be either a category 1 or 2 hurricane, and all of the hotel employees where we live assure me it's a little one with sweet smiles and gestures of teeny tiny with their thumb and index finger. as they did last year for tropical storm anna (i think that was her name), the maintenance workers have boarded up our open air lobby. that always brings some excitement to the hotel! we left this morning as they started their work to go get some delicious pastries at sarafina's bakery.

then ez rode his bike around the jetty where there were only a few boats left in their slips. he was sad that there was so much wind.

he said it was really hard to ride and i ended up carrying him back to the car and uncle dees (ezra's name for steve) carried his trike back. when we returned the lobby was all boarded up and we took a last peek.

now my adventurous husband and brother want to go out one last time before the hurricane hits. i am ready to be safe and stay inside but i also don't want to be a total sissy. so... maybe i'll post some cool windy pictures of our last outing before the hurricane passes over us. it's supposed to sound like a freight train. it should be an interesting night.

the calm before the storm

i took these this morning. it does look different than it has this last week. we are expecting tropical storm earl to turn into a hurricane by monday when it reaches st. maarten. just in time for my brother who arrived today for a visit. he assures me he is here to see us and not the beaches. but, we're going to try and get there today and tomorrow just in case...

our first hurricane! we're a little excited...

shadows

looking back through my monthly albums i can find pictures from each month of our shadows that i've taken. i think i may be slightly obsessed with shadows.

i love our shadows. i always loved seeing my own shadow when i was a kid and now i love to see our shadows together. shadows are playful and fun to look at. we often find ourselves having fun with our shadows outside. ezra also likes to use flashlights in our bedroom when it's dark so that he can make shadows with his hands.

this particular series of shots was taken 4 months ago during michael's last break between semesters. ezra saw his shadow at orient beach where we had rented beach chairs at one of the beach bars that have music playing through their speakers. he started dancing with his shadow. i wish i could still do that without having people look at me like i'm a lunatic.

this is a rare shot of all three of our shadows. we're at ezra's castle on st. martin.

when i see myself as a silhouette, i am happy at what i see. i think it is easier to look at a representation of myself than a picture of myself straight on where i automatically start noticing lines, squints, spots, and imperfections. i also notice how i will overanalyze the seeming expression on my face and think, that's not what i was feeling... these shadows of mine are my favorite pictures of myself because they show me in a place in time which is usually all i am trying to convey in a picture of myself. it has become more and more uncomfortable for me to smile for the camera unless i am truly happy in that moment. i do not like the contrived look of a smile just put on for show. or maybe i'm just not very good at it anymore. i should've worn my retainer after braces.

this moment

a single treasured moment from the week i want to pause savor and remember

inspired by soulemama