Sights, Sounds, Shindigs…

…..and smells if that would be possible in a blog. Once again there is so much to share. Let’s begin with the shindig, synonymous for celebrations. I needed an “S” word for the title.

This week Jay and I celebrated our twenty-seventh wedding anniversary. We vowed for richer or poorer, in sickness and health from that day forward. Yes! We can say – we are so rich with those we’ve known from the beginning of our relationship to the ones we’ve met just this week. We are richer for all the experiences we’ve been brave enough to try – most of them successful with a few bumps (drumpels, in Dutch) along the way. I wish there were a bigger sentence I could think of, however all I can continue saying is we are abundantly blessed. One of my favorite verses, “Out of His fullness (abundance), we all receive grace upon grace (blessing after blessing)” The Message says it this way, “We all live off His generous bounty, gift after gift after gift”. By the way, I didn’t say I would obey when we repeated our vows. Shocking, I know. However, when Jay does speak up on something, I do listen.

What a difference from last year. The title of our place was “The Hairless Harris Household”. There wasn’t any shedding to vacuum, which was pretty amazing.

Although being a Hairless Harris was pretty free and easy, we are thankful to be out of that stage. There’s a few inches of hair to figure out what to do with when we get home, and we get to enjoy one of our favorite places on the island – Fort Nassau.

It was a great day. It began with a dive for Jay and snorkeling for me as well as collecting sea glass. Our day ended with a wonderful gift….the Williams arriving to spend the week with us.

This is karnival time on the island – the setting up and the different parades throughout the week. Instead of getting into those crowds, after church on Sunday, we took a drive to the north side of the island. This is where I say the strong winds and shark live. Even my hair is standing up!

Mark and Vicki are here to dive which is so wonderful for Jay to have some buddies in the water. Toni, the pony, is on holiday this week. Vicki has now taken over as lionfish spotter and photographer. Jay has rigged up a tank banger for her in order to get their attention.

I am standing guard over the stuff left above water with an occasional snorkel time. I caught a pelican watching over the crazy divers too.

One sound of Curacao that has been difficult for me to time is the clock in Punda. Finally!

The Carillon at Gomezplien is a 23 bell clock with dolls that move along the bottom. It chimes every 30 minutes, however at noon and at 6:00 pm it plays a typical Curacao song or a children’s song.

Other sounds are fun on Thursday at Punda Vibes.

Here are a few great sightings in and out of the water this week.

A couple unusual discoveries this week.

And the smells of Curacao. Awwh, sweet aromas. We wish you could enjoy it too.

Sights, sounds, shindigs, and smells – the many ways we enjoy our days. One sound you’ll have to Google is a song we have been singing each day. It’s called, “It’s a beautiful day” by the kiffness x rushawn. The main verse is, “Lord, I thank you for sunshine, I thank you for rain, I thank you for joy, I thank you for pain, It’s a beautiful day ay ay ay, it’s a beautiful day. Sometimes life is good, but then trouble comes my way. Whatever happens Lord, I thank you for this day, I lift my hands and pray, your will be done, it’s a beautiful day”.

We are so thankful for all the people we get to meet along our journey. The old saying, “Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver, the other gold”. I believe that. Having the Williams here has been golden.

New ones like Alex are gifts. Alex is studying and doing research at Carmabi. He likes to make fish soup for everyone. He uses the lionfish heads for flavoring his broth.

And our precious church family. So many to share.

As we end this trip, there could be something in the works for the near future that might include a backpack and words such as “Bon Camino”. We are abundantly gifted with the day to day and the new whatever comes our way. It’s a beautiful day.

Until our next travels, Blessings (Bendishon), Jay and Kelly