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!