Dear Terry,

My new book, The Story of Stuff, goes on sale today in bookstores all around the country.

In fact, I’m in New York as I write this preparing for my appearance tonight on The Colbert Report! I hope you tune in.

Before I make a pitch to buy The Story of Stuff, I want to tell you a bit about what inspired it.

I was raised by a single mom who-partly out of worldview and partly out of necessity-followed the World War II saying: Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.

In college, I developed a fascination about the garbage on the streets of New York. Where did it all come from? Where did it all go?

After graduation I went to work for Greenpeace, investigating the international waste trade. My work took me around the world, and I learned firsthand about the way we distribute, consume, and dispose of our Stuff-what I call the take-make-waste model.

What I learned is that everything is part of a larger system and nothing can be understood without looking at all the other parts of the system. Everything is connected. When you try to trace the source and the true cost of your Stuff, whether it’s your T-shirt or your cellphone, you find that it takes a whole system to make anything.

The thing is, very few people want to talk about that system. I mean, most of our political leaders are still focused on economic growth for growth’s sake, when our real goal should be ensuring that our fellow human beings live fuller, healthier lives. Right?

I don’t have to tell you that the shift we need to make to ensure our children and their children live in a healthier, more just world is big. Really big.

It will require our government, banks, media, corporations and other institutions getting on board. It will require that we as individuals move beyond the easy fixes to push for fundamental change in the way we make, use and dispose of our Stuff-changes and costs that our leaders seem afraid to discuss.

Well, I’m not.

I didn’t pull any punches with The Story of Stuff. I tell it like it is. And that makes some people kind of uncomfortable. (And not just Glenn Beck!)

So here’s the pitch.

I’m going to be on the road for the next several months bringing the message of The Story of Stuff to anyone who will listen. I may even be coming to your town.

I’d like to let those who are open to the message-and even the critics-know that I’m not alone, that there is a growing community in this country and around the world who care and are ready to act.

So if you liked The Story of Stuff film and want to learn more or help elevate this message, please consider buying the book.

Then share it with a friend, or put up a link to our website from your Facebook page, or Tweet about it. Maybe even buy a copy for your librarian or science teacher or suggest it to your book club.

And tune in tonight to The Colbert Report or one of my other media appearances to cheer me on!

Thanks so much for your support!

Sincerely,

Annie Leonard

Is it just me, or are others sick of companies calling themselves “green” without really making the commitment?

First, here on island, there was the Buck Island tour company that had a new “green” boat built. It already had two sailboats (sailing is the greenest, non-manual mode of transportation on the planet), but this new “green” machine has electric engines in addition to its diesel ones. Interesting, but not “green”, in my book.

Then, there are the new “alternative energy” companies. Whatever. A bunch of people have jumped on the bandwagon that one guy started here on St. Croix YEARS ago. But few, if any, have the experience to put the systems together properly and in a timely manner. They get front page articles in the paper, though. I’d also like to see how many of the people selling “green energy”  products actually use them. That would show me some true commitment.

The Alpine Energy Group is a whole other can of worms, which I may discuss in a future post.

Now, for the past few months, a local grocery store has been calling themselves “completely green”. I spoke to the owner a while back, after I heard the radio ad about this. I was excited and asked if she’d be putting solar panels on the roof to run the refrigeration, etc. Well, no, but they’re not using styrofoam containers anymore for their take-out items, and the plastic bags are degradable, too. Well, that’s a start. But no wind generators and no solar panels, so no “completely green”.

Okay?

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

An Idea for Tourism on St. Croix

St. Croix has needed an economic boost for too many years. We just can’t seem to catch a break around here. A few years ago, I had a great year business-wise, but it was one out of twelve that I’ve been in business here.

During this year’s Super Bowl, Home Away, a company which promotes renting homes out as vacation “villas” ran a big ad about the benefits of staying at a private home rather than a large, expensive, impersonal resort.

Could this be the future of tourism?

Let’s think about it. Does St. Croix really want more resort/casino/golf course monstrosities? Do we want to be like Aruba, St. Maarten, San Juan?

I think most of us don’t. Many local people say they want big resort developments because of the promise of jobs. But the resorts we already have are frequently looking for help and have difficulty filling positions.

I’ve worked in some of our resorts, but want more job satisfaction than I received working for someone else. I am still involved working with tourists, but I am self-employed and I love what I do now.

Many of our visitors love St. Croix specifically because it’s not overdeveloped with wall-to-wall high-rise hotels.

So here’s an idea: St. Croix has a wonderful rich history. We are still fortunate enough to have much of our beautiful natural environment intact.

What about a joint-venture between some of our historic neighborhoods and tourism which assists homeowners in remodeling their homes to be rented out to visitors?

CHANT, the Department of Tourism, the St. Croix Foundation and the St. Croix Chamber of Commerce, etc. could work together to secure funding for loans toward this end.

A three bedroom house could be converted into accommodations for 3 couples or 2 couples and 2 kids, or any combination thereof. People could offer a B&B option and rent out part of their homes to visitors. This would provide another low-cost and unique option for visitors.

Each neighborhood could have a small museum with information about the people who lived and worked on the estate over the years. There could be walking paths to showcase beautiful trees and gardens….

This would accomplish quite a few goals:

1.) More people would be gainfully employed.
2.) They’d have the satisfaction which comes with being self-employed rather than toiling for someone else’s benefit for their entire lives.
3.) Their properties would be enhanced and the history of the area preserved
4.) Pride in neighborhoods would be instilled
5.) Crucian Heritage and Nature Tourism would flourish
6.) It would make St. Croix unique and at the forefront of a new type of tourism rather than just another Caribbean island.

And that’s only the beginning.

Please take the time to think about this and discuss it with family, friends and colleagues.

Let’s start working together as a community to create a sustainable future for our children, our island and our planet.

What a great experience we had with our first guests at SunDog House!  

But now they’re gone. Back to the ccccold nnnorth.  

They are such awesome people that they adopted a little dog from the shelter and took her home with them!  

OK the cat misses them.  

We are trying to figure out a way to get our first and too awesome guests at Sundog House to stay forever, but in the meantime, Our Wreggie has succinctly described the cost effectiveness of visiting St Croix.

We love ya, Buddy!

“It came to me that every time I lose a dog they take a piece of my heart with them. And every new dog who comes into my life gifts me with a piece of their heart. If I live long enough, all the components of my heart will be dog, and I will become as generous and loving as they are.”
~Cheryl Zuccaro~

Sunday, February 7, 2010 from 3-6pm.

All those interested in solar power, rescuing stray dogs, and the future of tourism on St. Croix are welcome.

See our website sundoghouse.com for more info!

As usual, we were busy finishing up Sun Dog House.

Fellow blogger, Jamila, however, covered the festivities with great proficiency.

Thanks, Jamila (and Wreg). Great work!

Many people will wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment (and perhaps even add that I’m EXTREMELY disturbed – but that’s a different can of nuts).

A local political situation has me disturbed.

We have been very supportive of Senator Adlah “Foncie” Donastorg in the past, but in my humble opinion, his extreme criticism of Governor deJongh has gone too far. Foncie’s been acting like a total ass and blowing a relatively small issue way out of proportion.

He’s beginning to remind me of the wacko former senator who pulls microphone plugs out on people expressing differing opinions. (You know, the one who killed his own son by shooting him in the back and then got elected as delegate to the constitutional convention.)

I hope Foncie is not so desperate that he continues pulling his political weight in this way. There are some things that deJongh has done that we completely disagree with, but he’s responded to many many of our territory’s issues much more eloquently than any governor we have seen before.

I hope Foncie takes a long deep breath and decides to take the high road instead of stooping to the extent that he seems to be.

He will have his time, if it is meant to be. And we will all feel better about it.

It’s probably not politically correct to call it a “Chinese fire drill” anymore. Would an “Asian fire drill” be better?

Anyway, because Innovative Telephone Company is so third world that it doesn’t have to adhere to FCC requirements about porting land-line numbers to cell phones, we have been forced to get a new phone number for Sun Dog House.

That’s okay, over the next year, we’re going to slowly switch all of our advertising to reflect the cell numbers and get rid of our expensive business land line.

Anyway, we have ordered installation of our business number at the house across the street and a new residential number (773-DOGS) for SunDog House .

So this morning before beginning another busy work day, we had to run across the street and call a special number to get our business line transferred to there. Then we had to come back to SunDog House and repeat the process. We also ordered call forwarding, so that if we are staying at SunDog House, the business number will ring here.

The successful transfer of the business number took only a couple of minutes. (Surprise!) but when we came back to SunDog House to repeat the process, there was no dial tone. (Surprise!)

Ha! So we had to run back across the street to let them know, since we couldn’t call from SunDog House!

Actually, Michael called from his cell phone. But we only have one phone which is not cordless, so I did have to keep running back and forth in the rain and mud to plug it into this jack and that jack, just to be sure. A comical situation indeed.

Eventually, the phone company was able to get us a dial tone and the new number, but they can’t do the call forwarding thing until tomorrow. So the nice, cordless answering machine phone is across the street in the crappy house where the business number is and I’m at nice comfy SunDog House with a crappy corded phone with a ridiculous shrill ring.

Tomorrow, Ida at Innovative has promised me that she will activate call forwarding first thing in the morning.

I hope so.

Wish I were a weather forecaster here. It’s gorgeous most of the time. But when it’s not and you screw up, you still get paid even though people have depended on you. I guess it’s like being a government employee.

One Daily News article said “Sunday could be better….with the rain dissipating, leaving partly cloudy skies.”   Weather underground said, ” 70% chance of rain on Saturday and 30% on Sunday”. Mary Ann is back for a short time, so we FINALLY decided to take a day (Sunday) off to kayak to Buck Island with Mary Ann and Karen.

It was partly cloudy when we left Solitude Bay, but it looked like there might be a shower coming. Seas were choppy and it was windy. Then once we got through the reef, the swells were pretty good size, too (3-5 feet, I’d say). But our Hobie Mirage pedal kayaks were up to the task of getting us safely across the salty divide.

I was holding Goliath and we’d get splashed occasionally. He was not a happy camper. When we got out to the beach at Buck, we spread our towels on a picnic table and chowed on veggies and two different dips, organic chips and salsa, brie and crackers, peanut butter sandwiches, chocolate chunk cookies from Schooner Bay and white wine (Michael had rum and coke). The sky started sputtering, but we were happily eating and watching some pearly-eyed thrashers teach their young to beg food from picnickers. And we were on the lee side of the island, so it was warm and pleasant.

While we went for a walk, the birds tried to get at the triscuits. Some adventurers living on their sailboat, visiting the islands from Wisconsin, shooed them away while we were gone.  It became windy as we walked around to the south side, where Goliath met a little poodly-type friend and shared a squirt or two.

When we got back to our table it was raining. So we went into the water and chatted with other crazy folks out at Buck on a crappy day. Goliath huddled under the picnic table staying out of the rain and away from the Wisconsin children, whose parents told us that one of the little ones was complaining about having to go to another beach! They seemed to be having a real blast, though.

I brought my big warm sweatshirt, but didn’t want it to get soaked, so Michael and I shared a damp towel trying to keep warm. It wasn’t overwhelmingly cold because we were back on the west side, but when we walked the other way toward the north side, it looked and felt  like the North Sea (it was sooo much colder in the wind), so we headed back to the relative shelter of the  ‘yaks.

An older gentleman came over to check out the kayaks and when Michael went to show him the pedal mechanism, he noticed that Karen’s was broken, so only one of her flippers was flapping. We weren’t quite sure when it had broken, and we decided that we might have to tow them back if it was going to be a problem.

Norma Jean came over from her boat to gab for a while, the rain got heavier and we resisted the idea of getting back out in the wind and choppy sea. A few times, the showers were so heavy that we couldn’t see St. Croix, and we were not quite sure exactly where the beach we were returning to was.

We eventually got into the boats and headed back during a break in the rain action. Goliath and I huddled with our only (now pretty wet towel) to ward off the chill from the wind and the splashing water. He was even less happy this time. Even though his life jacket isn’t very comfortable for him, it keeps him somewhat warm, but not necessarily happy.

Just as we were getting back to the iffy part of the journey where the reef is, a rain squall came through and our visibility went way down again. We made it safely through though, and Karen’s husband, Ken was waiting for us on shore when we got back.

She had been joking that he’d probably been checking her life insurance policy while he was supposed to be watching football.

Anyway, Ken helped us get the kayaks back on the vehicles and we were happy to get into a somewhat dry Land Rover. The rovers are not Goliath’s favorite mode of transportation, but he was so happy to be out of the kayak and off the water, that he’d probably have settled for a Conestoga wagon.

It will be sooo nice when we have a calm and normal life, living on a sailing catamaran and can take off to any other island when the weather is good…..

Sure, whatever.  

The front porch mural is pretty much done. (Stay tuned for pictures, and/or an open house/ birthday party).  

There are a few finishing touches, and our logo, and some “caution, don’t wear stupid shoes here or you’ll fall on your ass” – type disclaimer signs to hopefully lessen the $$$ of liability insurance – things that we want her to paint.

It has been a pleasure to have her working here. Barbara has a wonderful, down-to-earth sense of  humor; a genuine understanding of dogs, cats and humans; and the artistic talent to convey the fun and whimsical message that we try to live by (on this property anyway).

Oh, and she’s responsible (gets here when she says she will and works on the project).

But alas, she will need to back to her own continuing adventure, raising her little boy and taking care of  critters in her neck of the woods.

We will see her around, but the dogs are really going to miss having an extra pair of hands to rub their ears and bellies.

We saw this bumper sticker the other day and loved it.

I’m pretty tired of blogging now. There are too many other things to do. People say, “Awww, I miss your blog.” But sheeit,
it takes time and energy to write and I have little of either lately.

Still moving into the house across the street and doing final stuff to SunDog House. There’s also still damage control for my messed up ad, and I think we’re getting some fake inquiries from people who have been offended by something I’ve said in a blog post.

Menopausal hormone shifts are causing major insomnia, so I’m even grouchier than last year. Hard to believe, I know.

In my younger days, I was aware of what people were wearing. I got a job as soon as I could at age 16 so I could buy all my own clothes. I was always at the mall if I wasn’t at school or at work. I was buying the latest fashions from those stores full of dressed up dummies. I even wore stupid shoes with high platform heels.

In college, I was more practical. Hell, I had to be. I was married and had a child. My income had shrunk. No, not really, my expenses had increased, and there were fewer disposable dollars.

That was okay. After graduating from college, I worked a little but concentrated on mommy-hood. But I missed academia and the opening of the minds which takes place in that world.

I think that was when I started to care less about what people wore and concerned myself with the substance rather than the outer layers. Divorce happened and then there was extremely little income for other than just the absolute necessities.

Moving down to the islands gave a whole new meaning to everything. People here where whatever they have. Most just wear comfortable cool cotton shirts and shorts. Some are pompous and dress like “celebrities” in ridiculously expensive suits and dresses, though.  I don’t hang around those types.

These days I don’t usually notice what people are wearing unless it’s something stupid. I will not generally make a comment about your clothing even if you look stunning. No offense. I’m just more interested in what you have to say about things that I find important or fascinating. I’ve learned a lot from my dogs, I guess. They don’t care about attire, or skin color, or if my teeth are straight.

Well, maybe if I had a little too much to drink and you wore a goofy polyester dress with pleats and stupid shoes I might say something like, “Are you heading for the circus or something?”

But I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing anything like that. I don’t even think I’d have worn anything that in the days when I cared about “fashion”. Well, maybe, but I’m not like that anymore. ☻

Yipee! Barbara is here!

After waiting MONTHS for another mural artist to return my call, I called a much more responsible and professional one.

We’ve been wanting a mural painted on the front porch – a beach scene with dogs frolicking -for two reasons.

First, the dogs live on this porch and rub against the wall constantly, so a sandy scene on yellow paint would not show their “dirt” so much. Second, this is SunDog House and the whimsical theme inspired pictures in our heads of dogs surfing, climbing a coconut palm tree and doing other “fun in the sun”- type things.

I had forgotten that Barbara said she’d start today, and she magically appeared at 8:20 (yikes!) to start working. This would not have been a problem if I’d expected her at that time.  As it happened, we’d been gone all day yesterday, the house is a mess with boxes full of stuff to move across the street, and our cherished shop-vac cleaner bit the dust on Tuesday.

Needless to say, I was too embarrassed for words. The dog poop hadn’t been picked up in a couple of days, and I was still trying to recover from yet another night of menopausal insomnia. Fortunately, Yoda was in the right place for me to scoop her into the  master bedroom where she’d feel comfortable and not bark all day or bother Barbara.

I also had a 9am massage appointment on the beach, which I was running late for. Ah yes, the mellow life of a massaaage therapist………

Anyway, Barbara is very comfortable with our helpful pack of kids, and I was able to leave for my appointment knowing that she and they would get along just fine.

I enjoyed a great session with a first-time visitor who is enamored with our island of St. Croix and wanted to know about the best hiking and snorkeling spots. I was happy to show him our favorite spots on a map after we are finished getting him “de-crunched” as he called it. I also told him about SunDog House, the new National Park, and the soon-come bike path, which he was VERY interested in. We hope to  have him and his significant other as our very own villa guests in the future!

After I got paid for that, I went immediately to buy myself a  piece of jewelry new awesome shop-vac. It’s the best deal on island at GBH.

When I got home, I was amazed by what Barbara had done in a mere two hours. The yellow porch had been transformed into a beach! I was nearly speechless! It is so beyond my comprehension to be able to do that. I would need stencils and at least six months.The palm tree is outlined and the bottom has a cartoonish textured look. It’s exactly what we were looking for!

Can’t wait to see our happy little kids as they start coming out to play on the porch beach! It’s magic!

For us, anyway. It was a productive and pleasant work day, though. Yay!

We met a lovely couple who won one of our donated gift certificates in the last SEA auction. The only downside to donating  these GCs, is that we’re never sure where on island we’ll have to drive to and not get paid for our services. But it’s always interesting to meet the like-minded folks we haven’t met and, of course, to massage those who know and love our particular brand of TLC. We truly love our work.

These fabulous folks live out in Frederiksted in a modest home with 2 and 2 dogs. They love snorkeling and scuba diving and hope to see St. Croix become an eco-tourism destination, too. They enjoyed their massages, which they really needed, and will probably call us in the future.

The last time we were out west was during the application process for our business license for SunDog House. We did not love that work. We had to go to the police department, fill out their application, pay their fee for 2 record checks (the fact that we have business licenses from our massage business and had already gone through record checks doesn’t matter), go back after a few days to pick up the form and bring it to DPNR (Department of Planning and Natural Resources), pay the fee for them to okay the application (saying that what we want to do is okay in the zoning area we’re in), and then bring it to fire services, and pay their outrageous fee to have them come out and inspect the premises.

Anyway, we figured that since the last time we were in F’sted for fun was when Wreggie was here in September (how SAD is THAT?!), and since christmas day was sooooooovery crappy and new years day even worse, we’d enjoy lunch and a great snorkel in Freedom City.

Well, the universe thought it would play a joke on us again and create another cloudy, gray day. We sure didn’t feel like getting in the water with no sun and blue sky, but we did play along with the joke. We went to Polly’s at the Pier for the first time (awesome!) and walked along the waterfront (beautiful), we visited Marsha at Island Villas, bought some pencils from a tiny entrepreneur, and when the sun still hadn’t appeared, we went back to Polly’s for a scrumptious lunch.

I was hoping they’d have their menu on their website, but alas, you’ll have to bear with my description of our experiences. In the morning, Michael had a cup of coffee and I had one of their yummy Ghirardelli frappes. I thought it would hold me over while we went snorkeling. But since we never did go snorkeling, we thought we’d check out the museum center, but it was closed. Really. On a holiday, when people have time to go to a museum, it was closed. Tres Cruzan!

Back at Polly’s (we love that they named their cafe after their dog!) for lunch after our stroll, we started with a bowl of mushroom bisque – rich and creamy and flavorful topped with scallions. It went well with my sauvignon blanc, but not so well, in my opinion, with the yeasty pale ale Michael had. He didn’t seem to mind, though. The sandwich menu is limited, but everything sounded so yummy that we had to try two different ones. I had the grilled cheese, which comes with choice of three cheeses and veggies like spinach, tomato, onion, basil and avocado. I thought the cheeses would provide enough fat, so I opted to not have avocado. It was grilled on home-made whole wheat bread and was delish.

Michael ordered the Loveburger with avocado and tomato and sprouts on whole wheat. I had forgotten about Loveburger, but I used to sell it in my store in RI eons ago. It was good, too and we each ate half of the other’s.

Of course, after we were full, the sun started coming out, but now we were too full to snorkel, and we didn’t have time to lounge around. We had shopping to do! But we did go to Sandcastle beach for a quick dip, which was nice.

Off to kmart for cat food etc., then on to their appliance store to check on lawn mowers. We’re going to need one for the rental property which has an entire flat, grassy acre of land for the dogs to frolic. We’ll also need another washing machine, since we do at least one load a day of massage sheets.

We also stopped at the consignment store to see what was new and we bought a few small items and an outdoor table for SunDog House.

Quite a bit accomplished, for a holiday!

….my mother would say,”….don’t say anything at all.” So I’ve been stewing at the shit that the universe has thrown my way for the past month.

My mother didn’t practice what she preached either. And I believe more that “honesty is the best policy”.

After a fabulous but short vacation on Anegada, we came back to a ridiculously screwed up ad in “the publication formerly known as the pink paper”, loud music blaring into the night and a resulting altercation with one of “St. Croix’s finest”, a letter to the chief and commissioner of police reporting the offending (and offensive) “officer”, a small claims court battle with Juan F. Luis Hospital (still not settled), a negligent property manager for the property we’ll be renting for the next year, and the news of Michael’s job being terminated.

Needless to say, I’ve too depressed and pissed off and still busy with getting ready to move, to write.

We had spent all of our money fixing up SunDog House, and now the expected income for the season was not coming in due to the messed up ad (when there are 3 contact numbers and the first 2 are wrong, how many people will call the third?)

Anyway, our ad will be fixed next month, and we’ve gotten our first confirmed reservation for SunDog House, so things should be getting better.

Tell me they’re kidding.

Nope, they’re not kidding. We witnessed, against our better judgement, this latest commercial perversion of collegiate sports on the ubiquitous flat-screen-TV-behind-the-bar when we stopped into The Cultured Pelican for a glass of champagne at the end of our Old Years Day evening.

What’s next? The Spam® Bowl? What happened to the dignified bowl games of our youth – The Orange Bowl, The Sugar Bowl, The Tournament of Roses?

This is one of the reasons we don’t have television. I cringe at the thought of waking up this New Year’s morning and turning on the tube to see a parade of garish floats decorated entirely in canned meat product.

Happy Google® Year!

If I get to meet him.

I’ll just slobber like a little child. I’ve said it to a couple of people.
I just have so much respect and admiration for this man.

I don’t want to embarrass Michael, but I know I’ll cry.

And we will be in the same restaurant at the same time on New Year’s Eve, even though we’ve been missing him by inches in Christiansted since his arrival.

The secret service are on every corner when he’s somewhere near there.

I cry just thinking about the magnitude of his work and the criticisms heaped upon him by some.

(for a little while, anyway)

Immerse yourself completely in our island lifestyle!

Terry and Michael at Ambrosia Body Care bring first class massage therapists, and over 25 years experience to wherever you are on St. Croix.

On the beach, at one of our charming small hotels or guest houses, or any of our lovely larger resorts or villas, you can enjoy a calming, energy-balancing bodywork session by dedicated, long-term island residents.

Customized body care sessions include couples’ massages; aromatherapy; sports and specialized massages; and body-wraps and facials to refresh your body, mind and spirit.

Whether you are on holiday in St. Croix, or a Virgin Islands resident needing the expert touch iven by licensed professionals, we will leave you feeling divine.

Ask about our ultimate four-hand massage–two great therapists, one fantastic massage!

Relax, we’ll come to you!  773-6174, 643-0344 or 643-2444.

And Happy Boxing Day to all o’ yous of the British persuasion.

We’d pretty much exhausted our collection of Christmas music by this morning, so to get us in a painting mood I set the ipod to cycle through all our Reggae songs. Along the way we discovered this gem from Max Romeo, the perfect theme song for Boxing Day.

Business has been pathetic thanks in part to St. Croix This Week totally screwing up our ad (Michael will post about that one. I’m still way too pissed off). We’ve also spend every last dime we had fixing this house.  And since we’re  in the middle of moving, we’ve been mainly eating whatever’s been in the fridge/freezer and cupboards.

I’ve been coming up with pretty inventive meals, but I’m really tired of my own cooking. So, thanks to credit cards, we splurged and went to Galangal for dinner last night. I’ve really been craving their wonderful flavorful foods, so I was able to twist Michael’s arm (actually I didn’t even have to pull his pinky -  he’s pretty tired of my cooking too) and we went to town.

There was only one table of two seated when we arrived. More trickled in as the evening wore on, but it was slower than we’ve ever seen it. We were lucky though. They are pretty much the only restaurant on St. Croix that brings in fresh mussels, and the mussels had just arrived. They’d also just gotten in an 80 lb wahoo. That made our meal choices a no-brainer. I also love their green papaya salad, so we started with that and an soy-cured salmon with fresh greens salad. The temperanillo wine we ordered was out of stock, so we had a lovely pinot noir.

It was too awesome for words. Every single morsel. It practically brought me to tears. (Well, everything brings me to tears these days.) After weeks of pasta and cannned tuna and rice and beans and chili, it was absolutely heavenly. The papaya salad was a little spicier than the other times we’ve had it, but I was thrilled about that, and Michael seemed to thoroughly enjoy it too. The coconut curry sauce that the mussels come in is to die for. I wanted to lie down on one of the red couches and listen to Tobias describe the specials and menu items for the rest of the night. But alas, Michael insisted that we get home for a nice cozy Christmas Eve Eve.

The portions were just the right size, and we left feeling satisfied but not stuffed.

I   ♥  Galangal!

Even though hurricane (the rainy season) is officially over, we’re getting pretty good showers every day.

Not great painting weather. But……the hills are nice and green. And the painting will get done. This year even.

The Ginger Thomas are doing strange things, though. The hills are less yellow because there are fewer blossoms. Not sure if it’s because they are blooming later, or if they’re doing what some of the plants in our yard are doing. The ends of each stalk are becoming fuzzy with small wrinkled leaves rather than full of yellow flowers.

It rained so much the other night we still have puddles in our road. Unusual but not unheard of. We’ll have gleefully full cisterns!

A shower just went by in the middle of the first day this week-end that Michael is able to paint outside. Good thing he’s on the north side and the rain comes from the east.

I painted inside this morning and am spending the rest of the day cleaning the ceiling in the master bedroom. Oh what fun! Hopefully we’ll get that room painted (along with that bathroom, the small bathroom and the laundry room) next week-end.

I am officially refusing to pick up a paint brush on Christmas day.

Bah humbug, for now anyway, because I’m tired and stressed (more to come on THOSE topics)!

BUT Happy Chrismahannukwanzaadan to those who believe in those nebulous notions!

Nominated as the world’s best short joke of the year:

A 3-year-old boy examined his testicles while taking a bath.
‘Mum’, he asked, ‘Are these my brains’?
‘Not yet’, she replied.

Love and Holiday Greetings to All,

The Christmas Boat Parade is a beautiful event and does not need the destructive element of fireworks to be successful.

Boy, do I ever feel like Ebenezer Scrooge. But…..

Firstly – fireworks at the Christmas Boat Parade should be stopped partly because of the effect on our beloved canine companions.

Many of us who do not live in the area of the fireworks may not be directly affected by the loss of our dogs, but many have and will continue to be .

During major holiday celebrations which involve loud explosions, dogs and other animals become frightened and disoriented. They do not understand the difference between
a loud explosion/celebration and gunshots/bombs. Who among us will take the time to explain this to them in our busy-ness?

I have lost beloved dogs because of loud, unnecessary explosive “celebrations” in the past and I continue to worry about others who are traumatized by this unnecessary human behavior.

Secondly – Major dollars have been donated toward this fireworks display. These monies could have been spent on actually saving lives i.e. donated to any non-profit organization
such as the Coast Guard Auxiliary toward maintenance of aids to navigation around our island….this is a boat parade, after all. Or pick your favorite: The Women’s Coalition, the Animal Welfare Center, the Queen Louise Home, the Sunshine Foundation……

Please call Sal Sanpere at 690-0006 and ask that monies donated toward fireworks be returned or redirected into necessary and life-saving activities rather than into just another circus-type venture.

Thanks!

Not much in the way of photos yet, because we’re still cleaning up and painting.

But we’ve gotten a newish comfortable living room set and we’ve ordered 6 sets of organic cotton sheets, pillows, mattress pads, 12 bamboo beach towels, 12 sets of bamboo bath towels and are researching recycled outdoor furniture.

We’ve gotten cost estimates from a cleaning service, and we have some guys coming to do major grounds keeping and will contract with them to come back weekly.

Michael has been diligently working on our website, too.

Life is Goooood!

….will take place THIS Tuesday. And this is a really important one.

On Oct. 6, Rep. Donna M. Christensen, Virgin Islands, submitted a House Bill 3726 to the Natural Resources Committee to establish a National Park at Castle Nugent Farm on St. Croix.

So please e-mail your elected officials who are on the Committee on Natural Resources to support Donna Christiansen’s bill HR 3726. We here in the USVI can write Donna to thank her for her continued diligence in this matter, since she will probably vote in favor of it.

In the near future, there will also be a hearing to increase funding for the National Park System. We’ll keep you posted on that.

Meanwhile, let your friends in the states with committee members know that they need to send a quick e-mail out to them.

I could have sworn I’d written this post before, but I can’t find it.

Far too many people have died or have been physically and psychologically damaged for life because they have fought in wars and conflicts to preserve our freedoms.

We owe it to those brave souls to EVERY DAY, not just on Veterans Day, or our day off, or whenever we feel like it, to honor them by utilizing our freedom of speech/expression to speak out against injustices that we are aware of.

Write to or call your elected officials and protest that gay people continuously are denied the right to marry. This should not even be a matter for any state to vote on. It should be in the constitution. It is a basic human right!

Then, when you’re done with that, do Michael’s things so we get a National Park in our back yard and not a pet coke burning monstrosity.

VI Conservation Society (VICS) joins VI ratepayers in petitioning the VI Public Services Commission (PSC) to reconsider its approval of WAPA/ Alpine Energy Group Power Purchase Agreements.

The Virgin Islands government, WAPA, and the PSC have committed VI rate payers to 20 years or more of petroleum-based electrical energy and tried to green-wash it as “alternative energy”.

The PSC public meetings were a sham and did not conform to VI law for adequate public input.

WAPA rate payers are asked to join this petition to reverse the PSC decision. If you decide to join the petition, your name will be added to the motion as a “PETITIONER” by a subsequent filing on the public record with the PSC to amend the motion.

To be an additional petitioner, please:

1. Copy/Cut the statement below

2. Paste it into a new email.

3. Type your name in the space provided, then

4. Send it to Paul Chakroff at St. Croix Environmental Association. You can find a SEA email link on their contact page.

“I,(your name here), hereby request and authorize you to add my name as an additional PETITIONER to the motion for reconsideration of Order No.11/2010 and formal complaint that rates approved by such order are unreasonable within the meaning of 30 V.I.C. § 20 filed by the VI Ratepayers Association, VI Conservation Society and individual WAPA ratepayers November 5, 2009.”

You can get a pdf of the full text of the motion from SEA’s website.

St. Croix Envirnmental Associations comments to the PSC regarding the agreement.

VI Conservation Society’s comments