I have often told you how much Joy and I enjoy watching couples dance when we go on cruises.  Recently, we decided that we were interested in exploring whether we wanted to participate instead of spectate.  We went with our friends, Carol and Evan, and took an introductory dance class at Arthur Murray-Raleigh last Friday evening.

The class was on the waltz and the rumba.  We learned the basic box step, which was a bit of challenge.  I really started to sweat when we hit the part where I had to lift my left hand as I stepped backward into the back half of the box.  Why this seemed like such a challenge, I’m not sure.  But think about it.  I had to count to three, move my feet, and raise my arm.  Who do they think I am, an Olympic gymnast?  Being me, it never occurred to me how hard this was for Joy.  While I manned up to the challenge of raising my left hand, she walked around in a circle and ended up Read more…

It was wonderful to see my family over the Easter holiday. There was quite a nice turn out, but my sister, son, and niece were absent and missed. Tony Campolo has spoken about the importance of ritual in holding social groups together. The ritual of holiday gatherings certainly works that way for me. It is so great to spend time together and come away with a sense that our bonds have been celebrated and strengthened.

Joy and I had a great time. Thanks, Susie, for a great meal. Robbie, thanks for the coffee. Mary, the cake was yummy (gained 4 pounds). Can’t wait for our next get together.

Click on the picture on the left to see a slideshow of our gathering. Click on the caption to see the photo album.
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Spring takes on a different meaning when one lives in a cooler climate. New life is breaking out all around us in North Carolina. I hope you enjoy this little video of the flowers and birds I observed this weekend. Some were taken in our yard in Wake Forest, others at our camp on Lake Royale, and the birds were photographed from our boat on Lake Royale. As always, Joy has done a beautiful job of gardening. The colors in our yard are wonderful.

It was great to see my friends in California last week.  Matt and Marilyn took me to the Coachella Valley Preserve.  We hiked from one oasis to another on the McCallum trail.  It runs along the San Andreas fault.  Of course we all know that said fault is supposed to be where the next “big one” will occur.  What I learned was that the San Andreas fault is a leak in the tectonic plates.  Up from the ground comes a bubbling, well not bubbling, but flowing stream of water.  Surrounding this water in the desert are clumps of desert vegetation, the rare fringe toed lizard and desert pupfish.

Perhaps you recall that we had decided to pare down our packing list for this cruise. The eight day cruise was our longest yet, plus we arrived in San Juan a day early. We took half our regular luggage. This allowed us to carry on everything outbound.  (Coming back we did check our bags.)

I tried to follow Rick Steves’ guideline but was over the 20 pound limit by 3 pounds.  You already saw my packing list in a previous post.  So, I’m focusing here on what my mistakes were.
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Magic carpet ride, indeed.  Fall asleep in one awesome port and wake up in another.  All your food appears on your table, beautifully presented, and flavorful.  Done eating?  Your dirty dishes fly away.  Bored?  Who cued the band that just started playing?  Too much fun?  Drop in the spa and let their treatments whisk away your aches and pains just like the dirty dishes disappeared from the linen table cloth.

We so enjoy Royal Caribbean.  They take awful good care of their passengers.  In an earlier post, I complained that they didn’t educate their passengers enough about the attractions of each port.  I accused them of only talking about those shops that were affiliated with them and therefore from whom they could profit.  On my last night, we’re packing and I find big books on the coffee table full of pictures and information about each of our ports as well as other ports-of-call we might visit on future cruises.  I was wrong. Read more…

This was our only cruise line arranged excursion. El Yunque is the only tropical rain forest in the U.S. National Forest System. Until 2006 it was the only habitat of the Puerto Rican Amazon, Puerto Rico’s green parrot. It is estimated that there are only about 40 of this endangered species living in the wild. We did not see any. What we did see was great beauty and countless streams, with little pools, and waterfalls. As a teenager, this is the kind of place Tom Butler and I would have explored relentlessly. We hope you enjoy our pictures of this national treasure.

I had some video of the little sand crab you will see if you click through to our album. Unfortunately, it was completely out of focus. He was very cute as he dug his hole throwing sand out behind him. At least I did get a nice snapshot of the little critter. Joy didn’t have her camera with her, so the photo album lacks as many quality shots as we normally bring back.



Sadly this will have been the last Caribbean beach we see for a while.

We went to Runaway Beach on Antigua because I had read that one could ride horses there. The horses arrived about the time we were ready to leave and it really did not seem like a great of a spot for horseback riding, so we passed. We did see this beautiful rocky point, adorned with driftwood. We enjoyed plenty of space to ourselves. The cottages at the far end of the beach were fenced in. A rocky breakwater on that end was topped with rebar to prevent passage to their beach. This created a backdrop of distrust and unfriendliness. Coupled with the loud yelling of one person to another in town it all gave Antigua a less than warmly hospitable feel despite its natural beauty. I wonder if Mom and Dad had the same feelings on their cruise. I’m sure there is more to this place, as it is a favored destination by Hollywood.

As a side note, the post about Jallim Eudovic’s carving has a link to the St. Lucia photo album.

When all was said and done, St. Martin was one of those places where we thought we could spend an entire vacation. Its European flavor, spiced with Caribbean seasoning, with a side of one of the prettiest beaches we have ever seen, makes for a pretty dishy vacation spot.

Video of the beach after the break. Joy even caught me catching a couple of waves.

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