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.