St. John Tues. 3/20/12

Today was our day off as we are flying home tomorrow. We said goodbye to Charlie as well as Willie and Deb (they will be back on Friday, but we will be gone - they are going over to Jost Van Dyke for a few days). We had an early breakfast and Dave and I along with Barb and Jim went for a hike. We started on the Lameshur Bay trail and then took the Reef Bay trail at the intersection down to the beach. The first couple of pictures are of an overlook looking down onto Reef Bay beach, the trail itself, and the beach at the end of the trail. Just before we got to the beach, we passed the old sugar mill (see photo). On the way back, I took a picture of Barb in front of her favorite tree, which I dubbed the octopus tree as it has so many branches. The hike was about 5 miles long and we got back about 11 which wasn't too bad as I stopped a few times on the uphill parts and we chatted with several people on our way back who were just starting out. We had lunch and then Dave and I did laundry and packed most of our stuff into our suitcases. Dad had to pack his fins in the bottom of his suitcase because they are so long so he opted to read while Barb and I went for a last snorkel. We did Little Lameshur today and again had a good swim. I saw two trumpet fish, another Indigo Hamlet, a spotted moray (Charlie would have been so proud of us!), another Queen Angelfish along with all of the usual suspects. One that we see everyday, I finally looked up this afternoon. It is a juvenile Cocoa Damselfish. It is very pretty - purple and yellow. I came back to shower and we will have dinner soon. John is making Piccadillo (Cuban chili) - another new taste! This may be the last blog as we don't know if there will be internet service at the airport tomorrow - I doubt it. It seems hard to believe that we have been here a month - time has passed very quickly. We have enjoyed the work, the people and the location - everything has been wonderful! So loyal readers, happy trails until next time which will be at the end of June when we take Alex, Dan, and Theo for their wild west camping adventure.

St. John Mon. 3/19/12

Another rainy night and cloudy day, but we here on St. John don't let the weather stop us! The Iowa State crew left this morning so Dave and I cleaned the rooms and did lots of sheets and towels for our work this morning. Today is Charlie's last day - he is flying home tomorrow. We had a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the beach path today to celebrate all of the work that Charlie, Dave, and Glenn put into the new trail (but especially Charlie). Roy and Jim sang a duet about working on the chain gang accompanied by the beer bottle band. Charlie cut the ribbon to open the path and we all sang "Happy Trails to You". A good time was had by all (see photos). After lunch, Dave opted for a nap. He has something going on with his eyelid. We suspect that he was bitten by some little "no-see-um" on the lid. He has been taking an antihistamine which helps somewhat, but he thought he would rest it this afternoon. Charlie, Barb, and I went for a snorkel at Greater Lameshur. There is always something new to see, especially when Charlie goes with us. He is very knowledgeable about all the unusual fish. We saw three eels today - well, truthfully, Charlie saw the baby moray, but it was under a ledge by the time Barb and I got there. We did see a large green moray and a large reticulate moray - very exciting! We also saw an Indigo Hamlet - a beautiful two-toned blue fish and a first for me. I saw a three foot barracuda just hanging out about eight feet away and all of a sudden he took off like a bat out of hell- from 0 t0 60 in seconds - he must have seen lunch. Barb and I had to turn around before the end as we got chilled - lack of sun, but it was a great snorkel even so. We warmed up on the beach for a few minutes and then headed back to camp for a hot shower. Tomorrow will be our day off as we leave here on Wednesday. We are thinking of hiking the Lameshur Bay Trail. We haven't done much hiking in our time here - have spent most of our time in the water.

St. John Sun. 3/18/12

Boy, did it pour last night! It rained hard for about an hour and then off and on a couple more times in the night. We woke up to a steamy day, but the humidity has lessened this afternoon although it is a bit cloudy right now. Randy Fish's parents came in last night so we all got to meet them at breakfast. They are from the San Francisco area and came here from a boat trip off of the Dominican Republic where they were whale watching for a week. It may take them a day or two to become accustomed to walking on land again. Interestingly, they are related to the Mystic Fish family - many generations ago! Dave did some vine clipping in the laundry and shower area while I helped the Iowa State students pull snake plant from around the fire pit. The students packed a lunch as they were going to hike at Cinnamon Bay and they were delighted to have snickerdoodles to pack! Dave and I raked leaves for the rest of the morning and used them as mulch in the bed behind the museum. Hopefully, they will rot down and help make some topsoil which is sadly missing here - the soil is quite clay-like so any help we can give it . . . After lunch, I gave a tour of the museum to a couple who had met one of the original Tektite aquanauts 10 years ago. They are moored out in the bay and walked over to see the museum. They are from Montana and spend every winter sailing down this way to get out of the cold. We went for a snorkel in Greater Lameshur and had a great time. We saw the three-legged hawksbill turtle, which is usually over in Little Lameshur. We assume a shark got one of his hind legs. I tried to find the octopus that Charlie and I had found to show to Dave, but didn't have any luck. On our way back, I decided to look again for the octopus when I saw him - out of his hole and swimming right towards me! It was totally awesome! I yelled to Dave, but he had hidden himself by the time Dave got out to where I was. We had a great snorkel, but I couldn't go as far as usual as I got chilly - the sun was behind clouds almost the whole time we were in the water. The Iowa kids are going out to eat tonight so it should be a small group for dinner. I can't believe that we have been here almost a month - I don't know where the time has gone.

St. John Sat. 3/17/12

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! I put a photo of the lion fish on the blog today. It is really quite a beautiful fish - it is too bad that it is so dangerous. Dave helped Charlie haul and spread more gravel and sand for the beach trail while I readied some rooms for guests that are coming in tomorrow. I made the snickerdoodles this morning and then I made a couple of Nana banana breads as we had some bananas that were getting past prime for eating. I also finished the laundry from yesterday. After lunch, Dave and I drove over to the east end and visited with Jon Owen's friend. He is doing a rehab on a house right on the beach just after Haulover Bay. It will be beautiful when it is done (see view from deck). We stopped at Ship Wreck to pick up a few goodies to bring home to the grandchildren and then headed back to camp in time to shower. We gave a tour of the camp and museum to two couples from Minnesota who are staying on a sail boat in the bay. Barb and Jim are making pork for dinner and Laura made chocolate cupcakes with green frosting to help us celebrate the day. The flower pictures are from some bushes near Love City where Dave stopped for a soda to take back to camp. The goat is one of five that was running along the road just as we were nearing Salt Pond area.

St. John Fri. 3/16/12

We had a birthday party for Jim last night. Barb made some lemon cupcakes with lemon frosting (of course, Dave was in seventh heaven) and I contributed the homemade vanilla ice cream. Everyone sang happy birthday to him and we had a great time eating the goodies. He is officially an "old goat" as he turned 65! Manhattan left early this morning on Hamilton's "bus" and Dave and I cleaned a lot of rooms. We started on the laundry and since it was such a beautiful day, hung the sheets out to dry. We then set up for two sets of people who are coming in tomorrow. Dave went to help Charlie haul sand for the trail to the beach and I mixed up a batch of snickerdoodles which I will bake tomorrow. The Iowa group expressed interest in having them again - they said that they were their favorites. After lunch, Dave and I drove into Coral Bay to put some mail out and then came back to Salt Pond where we met up with Barb and Jim who had walked there from camp (we carried their snorkel gear in the Jeep). Dave opted to sit at a table near the beach as he is feeling a lot better, but still coughs once in a while and that is not fun when you are snorkeling. Barb and I walked over to Drunk Bay which is on the other side of Salt Pond. The surf is quite rough on that side and people collect all sorts of debris which washes up and get quite creative with it. One of the above pictures is of Drunk Bay and the surf, the others are sculptures that are on the beach and rocks. I have named them Man and Dog, Two Men in a Boat, Eat Well (notice how pudgy the figure is), and Island Girl. We then walked back to the beach and snorkeled. What a great day! I saw a spotted trunk fish, a barracuda, three sting rays (two with remoras), a squid, AND four green turtles, including a baby one! One of the turtles came up for air three times right in front of me before diving back down to the bottom to continue feeding. I was thrilled! I will have to invest in a new underwater camera for next time we come. The one I brought with me had two batteries die in the first week and they would not recharge. Jim hiked up Ram's Head and then met us on the beach for a short swim as we were coming in from our snorkel. Dave had a good time on the beach talking with some folks from Anchorage, Alaska who are staying at nearby Concordia. They are here for two weeks with their 10-year old son. When we got back to camp, we showered and then I hung out another load of sheets and folded up the dry ones. We should have one more load to do tomorrow morning so caught up pretty quickly. Willie and Deb are in the kitchen making dinner while listening to island music - quite a pleasant afternoon. Randy and Charlie just came back from a dive and captured two lion fish. They are an invasive species from the Pacific and their sting can be deadly so I am glad that they found these two. I took a picture which I will put on the blog tomorrow as I just downloaded my camera.

St. John Thurs. 3/15/12

Beware the ides of March! Well, so far there hasn't been anything to beware as it is another beautiful day on St. John. Last night, Dave and I walked down to the dock. The sky was magnificent. We could clearly see the Milky Way, Pleides, Cassiopeia, Orion, Big Dipper, Venus, Jupiter and Mars. I wish we had brought our star chart with us as I have forgotten so many of the constellations. I was thinking that we should bring one out West this summer as the skies are so big out there and I think the boys would enjoy learning some of the most famous star clusters. Barb and Jim drove Jerry into town early this morning to catch the first ferry over to St. Thomas. He will be on vacation for two weeks and plans to go to St. Martin, Guadalupe, and Dominique. Dave and I finished cleaning in the classroom - organized the videos, games, craft supplies, etc. We then washed the chalkboard and the tables, and swept the floor. It did look a lot better when we were done. We moved on to the the museum. We had gotten several boxes of new merchandise in yesterday and we shelved as much as we could. We also gave a tour to two couples who stopped in to visit. Dave swept the kitchen and dining room while I made and baked oatmeal craisin cookies for tomorrow's lunches. We finished up just as lunch was ready. I made Dave take another nap - he is feeling much better so I hope he can get into the water tomorrow. I went for a snorkel with Charlie in Greater Lameshur. We took a piece of ham and attached it to a stick with a rubber band to tease the octopus out of his hole. Not only was the octopus interested, the fish were too! I hope Charlie got some good pictures. On the last piece of ham, the octopus came out, grabbed both the ham and the rubber band and retreated back into his hole. I wonder if he is still chewing on the rubber band?! Hopefully, we will find it outside his little den the next time we snorkel by. We then swam out to the far point and saw two scrawled cowfish, a 3 foot trumpetfish, and a 3 foot mutton snapper. It was a lovely swim and I was happy to see some different fish. Tonight we will celebrate Jim's birthday. The ice cream wasn't ready last night so we will have it for the celebration. Dave just finished carving a wooden spoon for the kitchen. It came out great! Manhattan College leaves tomorrow morning so we will have housekeeping chores and laundry to do. If Dave is feeling up to it, we might go to Drunk Bay and Salt Pond so I will have some pictures for you all tomorrow.

St. John Wed. 3/14/12

Happy Pi Day everyone! Dave is feeling much better today, but our goal was for him to have an easy day to let the medicine kick in - better living through chemistry! We started by cleaning out the books in the library - getting rid of doubles, kicking out the ones that were falling apart, and alphabetizing the remainder by author last name. It does look so much better. I went to the kitchen to bake the cookies and finish the ice cream while Dave straightened out in the workshop and organized the plumbing supplies. After lunch, Dave went in for a nap while Barb and I went turtle hunting. We jumped into Greater Lameshur from the dock and swam across the bay to the other side. I saw a giant hermit crab. He was close to the size of a hubcap! He was moving right along on the bottom for a ways and then settled into the sand. We tried to find the octopus that we had seen yesterday, but couldn't find the right spot. As we were swimming back to the dock, Barb spotted a very large turtle. She yelled to me, but I just saw his tail end as he swam away. We chased him for a bit, but he was in a real hurry and we couldn't catch up to him (must have had a hot date!). We saw Charlie, Pete and Laura as they came in from their dive. They saw a baby hawk's bill turtle and four lion fish - a very successful dive! Barb and I walked over to Little Lameshur to warm up as it was quite breezy dock-side. We were going to go for another snorkel, but I got quite lazy in the hot sun and decided to go back to camp for a shower and to give the ice cream another stir. If Dave is up to it, I would love to go down to the beach tonight to look at the stars and the planets. We should be able to see Venus, Jupiter and Mars in alignment. Because we are at the end of the road, so to speak, there should be very little light pollution.

St. John Tues. 3/13/12

Dave was up several times last night coughing so after breakfast this morning, we drove into Cruz Bay to the Clinic. As we both suspected, he has bronchitis. We found the drug store and filled his prescriptions, stopped at the grocery store for bananas and the fixings for ice cream, picked up the VIERS mail, and then headed back to camp. We arrived just in time for lunch. I sent Dave to the cottage for a nap while I made up a batch of peanut butter cookies and started the ice cream. It has to sit for 24 hours to absorb the vanilla bean flavor. I really wanted to make it again for the staff before we have to leave and we only have a week left - boo hoo! When I finished in the kitchen, I went down to Greater Lameshur to join Barb, Jim, and Charlie for a snorkel. I caught up with them as they we coming back around the point and we snorkeled together for a while. Barb and I saw a juvenile Queen Angelfish - very cute - a little mini-me! The best thing, though, was when Charlie spotted an octopus. I don't know how he saw it - there was just a tentacle sticking out from under a rock. Charlie kept going down and teasing it and it did come out a bit to see what was disturbing it. Finally, Charlie nudged it with his foot and it felt his big toe with its tentacle - I laughed in my snorkel! I guess it didn't think Charlie's toe was too good to eat as it went right back into its hole! Dave just got up and says he is feeling a little bit better, but we will see - usually, it takes at least 24 hours before the medicine starts to kick in. I'm just glad we caught it early. It will only be staff for dinner tonight as both groups are eating in town. Manhattan is doing a night snorkel tonight when they get back to camp. Again, we have a beautiful, sunny day. The breeze is warm and welcome and the water is clear and a lovely turquoise blue.

St. John Mon. 3/12/12

I found my mystery fish in a guide last night - it was a juvenile three-spotted damsel fish - a very pretty yellow! Dave and I finished the rock garden behind the museum. It will need some dirt and sand to fill in, but we took out 4 large bags of snake plant roots and it is looking pretty good. We spent the rest of the morning baking the chocolate chip cookies. I love baking cookies - there is something very satisfying about making them! After all, who doesn't love cookies! I will have to decide what kind to make next. We also finished the laundry from the Radford group. After lunch, Dave went back to the cabin to take a nap - he is either coming down with a cold or is suffering from allergies so was feeling a bit tired this afternoon. It did him good as he is feeling a bit better now. Barb and I went to Greater Lameshur for a lovely snorkel. We saw lots of porcupine fish today. I also saw a large Queen Trigger Fish and a number of hound fish along with the regulars who hang out there. My favorite was a yellow-tailed damselfish - dark blue with iridescent blue spots and a bright yellow tail - just beautiful! We could see it raining on the water off in the distance, but it was sunny and gorgeous at the beach. Today is Meatless Monday so Willie and Deb are making eggplant parmesan. Both groups have just returned to camp. Manhattan hiked up Ram's Head and then snorkeled in Salt Pond. Iowa visited a local school and interacted with the kids in the horticulture program. They all seemed to have a good day.

St. John Sun. 3/11/12

We decided to make up the batter for the molasses cookies last night and let it sit in the fridge until today. They are easier to roll when the dough is stiff. Today was a busy day with housekeeping chores. We had lots of laundry and sweeping to do from the Radford crew. When things seemed under control, we baked the cookies. After lunch, we went to Greater Lameshur for a snorkel. I saw a new fish today so will have to go to the library later to look it up. It is a lovely day again - bright sunshine and the water temperature is just right. After showering, we noticed the kitchen was empty so Dave and I made up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. We have a smaller crowd now, so am not sure when they will be needed, but they will be ready to bake whenever. John is making some type of pork for dinner tonight. It sure does smell wonderful! The Manhattan kids went out on a boat today for an all day snorkel trip around the island. They were very excited because they saw rays, turtles, and sharks. Radford left this morning and we all sang "Happy Trails to You" as they drove away. One of the boys wrote a lovely thank you letter to the staff - we have it posted on the fridge. That was really sweet of him. Iowa comes in tonight, but they are eating dinner in Cruz Bay so we don't expect them until late. The pictures on the blog today are of Jerry climbing the coconut tree and using a machete to get some ripe ones down for the kids, another anole in a century plant, and a picture I took of a butterfly, but now I can't find it in the picture! Does anyone want to play, "Where's Waldo?" Life is good here in St. John!

St. John Sat. 3/10/12

We had a busy night last night! Ital came in to educate and entertain the Radford students and shortly thereafter, the Manhattan College kids arrived via Hamilton's bus/truck. The new arrivals had a tour of the camp, ate dinner, and went to bed - they were tired! Ital talked about a variety of herbs and folk medicines. He passed around samples of each, talked about medicinal uses or folk tales associated with each one and then quizzed the students on the names and how they are used. The winners were each awarded a fresh coconut! He then showed some of the crafts that he had made of local bean pods - painted noise makers, branches - mated with bottle caps to make a percussion instrument, calabash (looks like a round gourd) - carved to make masks or put on sticks as musical instruments. Lastly, he and Zoe drummed and he engaged the kids in singing and dancing. There was not a student left sitting! They all got up and danced and really had a great time. Many of them were still singing and dancing on their way back to their cottages. Dave and I clean the office after breakfast this morning - dusted the shelves, washed ledges and screens and surfaces, then swept and mopped the floor. Just as we were finishing we had a huge downpour - I felt sorry for the kids - the Manhattan group were out snorkeling and the Radford kids were out finishing their projects. They all got thoroughly soaked! We then helped with cleaning the bathrooms before moving to the museum where we refolded and straightened out the tee shirt cabinet. After lunch, Dave and I made snickerdoodles. We will be the cookie people for a while - you have to bake them practically every day when there are this many people in camp. Dave, of course, is thrilled that we made his favorite cookie today! I think we might make molasses tomorrow. The sun was out all afternoon and it again is a lovely day. The snorkelers came back and said they saw a rainbow at the end of Yawzi Point while they were in the water. Dave is sitting at the picnic table and working on carving a spoon for the kitchen and Emma is "helping". Deb and Willie are making chicken pot pie for dinner and the scent is wafting out here where we are! We just relaxed around camp today on our off time - it was quite pleasant. Tomorrow will be a big cleaning and laundry day as Radford is leaving and Iowa State is coming in.

St. John Fri. 3/9/12

No rain last night for a change. It was a lovely day today (as usual) - the wind has died down and the sun is bright! Dave and I started a new rock garden today. The Sierra Club from last week spent an afternoon helping around camp and pulled most of the snake plant from this garden so we dug for roots and rebuilt the stone wall. We are not quite done, but should finish in another session. Dave got stung by a wasp (they call them Jack Spaniels here) so I mixed up some baking soda and vinegar to put on it. They must have a nest nearby as we saw quite a few of them. We collected a few new "critters" for the students to look at - a grub as thick as Dave's thumb, a fairly large scorpion, another slave gecko, and a blind snake. At first we thought the snake was a legless lizard, but the scale pattern was wrong. I saw a hermit crab climbing a tree today. He went very slowly, but inched his way up - very persistent! We had fish tacos for lunch. I had never had one before - it was quite good. After lunch, Dave took a nap and I went for a snorkel and swim. The water was great, as usual, and I enjoyed being in the water after digging in the dirt all morning. Ital (the drummer) is coming tonight to put on a program for the kids. Charlie, Pete, and Zoe went scuba diving this afternoon out from Cabrit Point. Charlie said they had a very good dive. He has a wonderful underwater camera and is putting some of his pictures on the computer in the camp office. I will have to see if I can figure out how to download some of them - you will be amazed! The kids from Radford are still working on their projects. They are really a very nice group of kids - very polite and appreciative of everything we do. We will miss them when they leave on Sunday. No pictures today - I was too busy to grab the camera - will try to do better tomorrow.

St. John Thurs. 3/8/12

Last night a lecturer, Barry Devine, came in to talk to the kids and invited the staff to sit in. He talked about biodiversity and the patterns of flora and fauna from the ridge to the reef in the Virgin Islands. It was very interesting and the kids asked very good questions. He reminded them that our generation was the one to identify problems in climate and the environment and that their generation must be the one to begin fixing these problems. The loss of live coral was the most dramatic change that he showed and we have seen that for ourselves. In just a short time, the percent of live coral has gone from 80 to 15! We had more rain and wind last night, but it didn't last as long as the night before. We had just gotten into our cottage and it began pouring. We heard the stomping of feet on the boardwalk and screams from the girls so obviously some of them didn't make it to shelter in time! Dave and I did housekeeping this morning. We are expecting a group of students and staff from Manhattan College tomorrow so we tidied the rooms, made beds, etc. I then did laundry from Glenn and Harry as they are leaving today. Our next job was spreading mulch. The town trucks were around yesterday cutting brush and small trees next to the driveway and road heading to camp and today they came back to chip. Randy went out with the truck and kept bringing back truckloads of chips which we spread in the newly formed gardens. What perfect timing! The gardens looks great with all of the mulch (see photo). We had a quick lunch and then took Glenn into Cruz Bay to catch the 1 PM ferry over to St. Thomas. We also took Jerry who was going in to town for the afternoon. After seeing Glenn off, we checked for mail at the post office, picked up Charlie who had gone in with John and Harry earlier in the day. He had been bitten by a spider in his armpit and wanted to get it checked out at the clinic. He seems to be okay, but will watch the area for a couple of days to make sure that it is healing. We took the north road back so we could return the projector to the National Park and stopped along the way to take a few scenic shots. In the Maho Bay shot, you can see the tents on the hillside. The other shot is of Trunk Bay. We stopped at the grocery store for more bananas for people and got home in time for a quick swim. The kids have been busy all day with their projects and seem to be doing a great job and having fun at the same time. One of the girls who is doing the mongoose project just stopped in for water. She said they have caught 26 mongeese today! They have traps set up at camp, on Yawzi Point, and the Lameshur Bay trail. We have connected with a friend of Jon Owen and will try to see him next week sometime. He lives out on the East End, not too far from the Round House. Happy Birthday, Dean!

St. John Wed. 3/7/12

First a correction to yesterday's blog: Dave looked up our skink which turned out to be a slave gecko, so named because they came over to the islands with the slaves who were brought here to work the sugar cane fields. The students caught several mongeese yesterday afternoon (see photo). The group that was doing a study on them measured their length, the length of the tail, brushed them for exo-parasites (mostly fleas and ticks), took pictures of their teeth (for counting purposes to determine age), checked if male or female, weighed them, shaved a patch off the leg and marked them before releasing them. Some of them were quite feisty and others were resigned to putting up with all the fuss. Most people have heard of Rudyard Kipling's story of Ricki-tiki-tavi, but these are quite a bit smaller than the Indian ones who tangle with cobras. In fact, we found that they are close cousins to meerkats! We had a huge rain/wind storm last night. It was quite exciting as the cottages only have screens so the wind came whipping through as the rain beat on the tin roof. It was great to listen to and we both slept soundly. We took the day off today and drove Barb, Jim and Glenn into Cruz Bay. We had to wait at one point as a herd of five cows were meandering down the middle of the road (see photo). We went to visit an artists house/studio that Barb and Jim were familiar with. I bought some of her postcards and enjoyed looking at her watercolors. He dog posed quite nicely for me so I snapped her picture (see above). As we were getting back to the jeep, we spotted a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig in the surf (see photo). His owner was luring him in with Cheerios. His name was Ziggy and he was rather cute. Jim renamed the spot where we saw him, the Bay of Pigs! We stopped at the post office and mailed some boxes and letters from the staff. We also picked up mail going out to camp. We drove down to Mongoose Junction and did a little shopping (not that there was much there, but I did pick up a few things). We ate lunch at a Texas BBQ place and decided we had had enough of the "big city" and decided to head back. Unfortunately, the parking brake was stuck and we could not unstick it no matter what we tried. Jim and Dave stayed with the car while the rest of us walked up to the car rental place to see if someone could help us out. One of the guys drove us back to the Jeep and he basically pounded on it until it became unstuck - we probably would have broken it if we had tried doing the same - so no more parking brake for us! We stopped at the National Park Service area to borrow a projector for the camp and then headed out the north road for home. We made one more quick stop at Lily's in Coral Bay for bananas for some of the volunteers and then made it back to camp by 3. The back seat of the Jeep is not really made for 3, but we managed. The students just got back from their hike. They went up to Ram's Head, Drunk Bay, and snorkled in Salt Pond and then back to camp - about 6 miles round trip. They are now working in groups on a variety of research projects - mongeese distribution, sea urchins, anoles, etc. They are all busy doing their projects, but look like they are having a good time, too. By the way, the lemon squares were a big success!

St. John Tues. 3/6/12

Another gorgeous day! After helping to clean up the kitchen this morning, I baked lemon bars for tonight's dessert. We are out of confectioner's sugar, but I found a recipe that uses granulated sugar so I am hoping they come out okay. About 9:30, I got back in the rock garden. They guys built a lovely stone wall around it and I worked over that last third that didn't get done yesterday. Dave turned over a stone and found a nice tarantula which Glenn caught on a stick for me to photograph (see above). Glenn caught a skink which is pictured above on the thumb of his glove. We stopped for lunch and then Glenn offered to take Dave and I kayaking. Dave was very uncomfortable as the kayak was narrow and was pressing on his hip bones so he hopped out and walked back to camp. Glenn and I paddled around Cabrit Point (see photo) until we could see Ram's Head. As you can see it was glorious on the water. It was a big rough in the deeper water, but it was still fun. We rode some of the rollers for a while and then paddled some more. We saw a great blue heron and two oyster catchers on the shore. We also saw someone fishing with a hand line near the point. On our way back to the dock, we saw John and Harry on the boat and stopped to say "Hi" and then saw Laura and Pete who were just getting ready to jump off the dock for a snorkel. The college kids went to Hurricane Hole to snorkel this morning. After lunch, they baited have-a-heart traps trying to catch some mongeese and then worked around camp on rock walls, pulling snake plant, and generally cleaning up. They will be hungry for dinner tonight! The final picture for the day is of two Cuban tree frogs who live in the toilet tank in back of cabin 2. There were 3 of them, but one of them used to hide in the bowl and one of the guys got tired of him being there and flushed him! Poor froggy! Oops! I see that I got 2 pix of Cabrit Point and skipped the toilet toads so will try to add it. I got interrupted because the kids caught a mongoose in one of the traps and I stopped the photo upload to take a picture of the mongoose.

St. John Mon. 3/5/12

Today was another day in the rock garden. Zoe came out with a rake to help and it is starting to look pretty good (see photo). It really helps to have another person working with you. I figure we are about 2/3 done. When it is done, the guys will build a stone wall around it (you can see where they started - you also can see some of the rocks that I have pulled out of there). Dave and Glenn mopped the floors in the cafeteria and kitchen today as well as swept the patio. Today is Randy Fish's 29th birthday. He is the manager here and Nancy baked him a cake, Barb frosted it, Roy outlined the fish, and I decorated it - a real community effort (see photo). We have made up a song to the tune of Yellow Submarine which the staff will sing for him tonight. Barb wasn't feeling well around noon so she went back to her room to rest and I help Nancy and Roy serve lunch to the kids (enchiladas). Laura and Pete are making dinner tonight - veggie lasagna as today is meatless Monday. After cleaning up the kitchen, Dave and I went to Greater Lameshur to snorkel. We had a great snorkel. The students came over and snorkeled with us. There were a lot of fish near the rocks on the east side of the bay. I saw another ray - they are so graceful in the water. One of the students saw a lion fish and she will bring her camera to dinner so I can see it. On our way back to camp, we saw an iguana just sitting in the road. I ran to our cottage to grab my camera and he was still sitting there when I got back (see photo). He wasn't too happy to see me so I had to use my zoom lens! I am sitting in the cafeteria writing this blog and Emma, the cat, is sitting on a picnic table on the other side of the screen. I think she is picketing for dinner, but it is only 5:00 so she will have to wait a bit yet. Life is good here in St. John.

St. John Sun. 3/4/12

I am going to call today's post "Camp Critters". Emma, the cat, lives at camp and gets fed twice a day by the kitchen crew. She is very friendly and lives the life of Riley! We have tons of soldier crabs here in camp. They adopt different shells as they grow. There is suppose to be one living in a baby food jar and someone said they saw a tiny one last year in a toothpaste cap! There are several deer who wander through camp at all times of the day. There is one family with two babies - very cute. The birds in the photo are banana quits. They love anything sweet and these are attacking Willie and Deb's feeder just after Willie added some sugar to the feeder. We have had donkeys, but didn't have my camera ready. We constantly see mongeese, but they are very elusive and camera shy. Today I was back on the rock garden. I did the rest of the camp laundry during breaks. We had a group of students from Radford University in Virginia come in late last night. They went for a hike this morning and a snorkel this afternoon. They are studying tropical ecology. After lunch we loaded Glenn, Nancy, and Roy in the Jeep and took a drive over to Francis Bay to snorkel. I saw two large tarpon even before we got in the water - they were very close to shore. We had just gotten in and a 5-6 foot manta ray slowly swam by - beautiful! I think the snorkeling near here was better, but we did see a very large parrot fish and a porcupine fish. After our swim, we took a walk down the boardwalk that we had worked on earlier in the week. The boardwalk itself is done, but the railings are not. The pink flamingo is still there - Nancy and Roy had never seen one in the wild and were quite thrilled. Jim and Barb are cooking tonight - marinated chicken - it smells wonderful.

St. John Sat. 3/3/12

A busy day today! It was all hands on deck for housekeeping as the Sierra Club left this morning after breakfast and a group of college students from Virginia are coming in tonight. We sang "Happy Trails" as the Sierra Club left in Hamilton's taxi truck and then everyone got to work stripping beds, cleaning, sweeping, remaking beds and doing laundry. Today was our own moving day too. We moved over to the back of cottage 5 which is great because now we have our own toilet and outdoor shower. No more walking through the cafeteria at 3 in the morning to use the bathroom! The next closest alternative is a small bathroom behind cabin 2, but there is a family of Cuban tree frogs living in there and sometimes they sit in the bowl! We were going to snorkel after lunch with a group, but got a phone call from the car rental place and they said they were coming out to switch the truck for a jeep. It was Sunday when we last heard from them and they assured us they would be out at 9 AM Monday morning and here it is Saturday! Oh well, we couldn't have taken the gang over to the Round House if we hadn't had the truck. Hopefully, they will come out soon as we didn't get a chance to get in the water yesterday and I am ready for a good snorkel and swim! I finally gave up on the car guys at 2 and Dave offered to stay and wait for them while I went for a swim. I saw another spotted eagle ray and a regular ray with a remora stuck on his back getting a free ride. The remoras like to save energy by hitching a ride and when the ray eats, they pick off the pieces for an easy meal. I got back to camp and showered and threw in another load of sheets. By the time I got back to Dave, the car had been switched. We now have a Jeep Wrangler so will only be able to transport 3 very friendly people in the back seat. It is now 4:30 so we are sitting around at the picnic table enjoying the sunshine and breeze. We will eat first tonight as the students will come over on the 6 PM ferry and get here a little after 7.

St. John Fri. 3/2/12

We had a very busy day today. I started out by baking cookies for the first graders who were coming in for the day to study insects and their habitats. I then helped Barb make an apple crisp for tonight's dessert and then worked getting more rocks out of the garden area. Dave helped the naturalist find a tarantula and a scorpion for the kids to look at. We let the kids eat lunch first and while we were eating, we could hear the kids screaming - we assume at the tarantula! After lunch, Dave and I took a group of five ladies from the Sierra Club into Coral Bay to visit an organic farm. Josephine grows vegetables and fruit on one side of her garden and ornamentals and trees on the other side. She even grows orchids. I guess she does quite a landscaping business for the well-to-do who have homes on the island. We drove the ladies back to camp and picked up some of the volunteers who wanted to go out to see Melissa and Rich. Barb, Jim, Nancy, Roy, John, Harry, Glenn, Dave and I all piled into the truck and drove out to East end. Melissa and Rich have rented the Round House which overlooks Haulover Bay (see photo). They had cocktails and snacks for us and we had a wonderful time exploring the house and looking at the incredible views. There is one bedroom in the main house and two other screen house bedrooms going down the cliff. The food was incredible - veggie pizza, fruit pizza, shrimp cocktail, fresh fruit - yum! At sunset, a number of goats made their way to a large rock below the deck (see photo). Rich says they show up every day at that time. We came back to camp a little after 6 and I had a salad for dinner as I was full from the snacks in the afternoon. After dinner, a local named Ital (see photo) came and put on a performance of African drumming and singing for the Sierra Club, guests, and volunteers. Zoe, the camp intern, accompanied him. We had a wonderful time! We were bushed when we finally got to bed, but we certainly had a full and lovely day. For some reason, I am having trouble getting the photos on today's blog, so will try one more time and if it fails again, I will try again tomorrow.

St. John Thurs. 3/1/12

Another beautiful day! Melissa and Rich left this morning after breakfast. I cleaned the front portion of their room and we opened the door between as a family is coming in this afternoon to stay. I then baked some cookies for lunch and made up another batch of dough (chocolate chip with raisins this time for variety). I will bake them tomorrow. There was still an while before lunch so went back to the garden project. We had lots of help today as the Sierra Club worked in camp for the morning. We got a lot done with so many people helping. Unfortunately, one of the young ladies got stung by a wasp or yellow jacket four times - once on the arm and 3 times on the leg. I gave her my after bite and made up a paste of baking soda and vinegar. She said it did help. We are still digging rocks out of the garden area. Generally there is a tarantula or a whip scorpion hiding under the larger ones. They don't really bother me as they scamper away when their homes have been disturbed, but now I will have to watch out for stinging insects. After lunch, we had a delivery of groceries so everyone helped to put them away. Dave, Glenn (Michigan), Jerry (Ohio), Roy (Martha's Vineyard), Charlie (New York) and I hiked down Yawzi Point and went snorkeling. I have been on the lookout for a turtle - it has been eluding me, but Jerry saw one! I did, however, see a 3-foot spotted eagle ray - quite beautiful and graceful! I also saw a very large blue parrot fish - spectacular! There were, of course, many other smaller fish and lots of colorful soft corals. We had a great time and have just come out of the shower. I like to do my email and blogging in the late afternoons before dinner. We will have a late one tonight as the Sierra Club went out on a boat to go snorkeling and won't be back to camp until 6. Saturday, after the Sierra Club leaves, Dave and I will move to the back of cottage 5. This will be great because we will have our own bathroom - yeah! I didn't take any new photos today, but maybe tomorrow I will have some to upload. I would like to catch one of a mongoose, but they are really fast and usually show up when I don't have my camera in hand. Happy March 1 everyone.