Happy Trails.

The realization of people leaving in different directions is setting in amongst our tight-knit island family.  So many families are now leaving with the official closing of Hovensa that took place last Friday, April 20.  Thankfully, I am hearing positive things as far as the spirit of the island.  One of the side effects is that St. Croix is loosing soooooo many awesome families.  It is so difficult to put into words what it is like to be able to {live} raise your family on that sweet little island.  The fear we have of taking them out of that environment and thrusting them into…giantness.

But, just as those who get to stay and continue to enjoy the sweet STX way of life and are keeping their chins UP, staying positive, those of us who have left…and are leaving, have to uphold the way of life and set an example for others.  An example of life is worth living.  Enjoy the moment, don’t get caught up, love what you do, do what you love, and slow the EFF down, because the only thing you are getting closer to is your own demise.

x to the o mo’ foe’s.  I’m going thrift shopping today.
bfm

WE LIVE ON AN ISLAND FOR F-SAKE!

And guess what?  It is hot.  And guess what else?  My kids ARE naked all the time.  And guess what?  Your’s would be too if YOU lived here, but you don’t.  And guess what else?  It really helps keep laundry at bay.

AND it’s not like I send them to school naked (just with out shoes).  They have a butt load of clothes (I come from a family of professional shoppers).  More clothes than I know what to do with.  But when I see my little girls face bright red and a bead of sweat dripping down her cheek, the first thing I want to do is rip her clothes off to cool her down. Its NOT like I can just stick her in the house with the AC on.

Have YOU ever tried telling a terrorizing 2 year old to “Just sit and chillax” for a while to cool down?  Ya, ain’t gonna happen in my house.  He goes 90 miles an hour full steam.  And the more comfortable I can keep him, the happier we all will be. And the less clothes he has on, the cooler he’ll be, the less chance for that pesky prickly heat.

It not like….never mind.  I don’t have to justify myself.  My kids are my kids.  Go do your own damn thing.

Water, Water Everywhere.

But not a drop to drink.  I don’t think I have accurately touched on the subject of water conservation when you live on an island.  I feel like it is always on my mind so everyone else must know about it.  But maybe not.

With more than 14 straight days of rain and rainboots now considered part of my everyday attire, I thought this would be a good time to touch on the subject.

When The (then not THE) Fisherman and I came for our initial visit to check this rock out……way too many years ago, we hopped in the shower together.  Not to save water, but it was just what us crazy kids did (Sorry, moms).  Our island host and cousin praised us for already being conscious of conserving water.  Wha?

Though the whole “save the environment / conservation / green washing”  movement is relatively new in the past 20-30 years on the main-land, it has always been a way of life when you live on an island.  Water is a precious resource.  Especially when you have none.

Most single family homes are equipped with CISTERNS:  a large cement, water-proof sealed box in the ground under your house where water is collected by gutters and  flows in to.  Kind of like this, but here, usually cisterns sit under the house (and your 2-year old figures out how to get the round top off and proceeds to see what toys fit through the hole):

Some house have one or two, varying from 10K gallons on up.  Depends on the size of your house and how bad-ass you think you are that you need to waste so much water in the first place.  Another variation of a cistern is a large, ugly plastic container on the side of your house. 

You probably call it a “rain barrel” and got it down the street at your local, what’s it called again?  Oh, HOME DEPOT. (soon come to STX? I’m trying to get a photo of the jobsite for proof…)

Either way, its a vessel to catch water to supply your house.  Toilets, showers, sinks, washing machine.  When you rely on Mother Nature’s schedule to give you water and not your local municipality, you think twice about that L O N G hot shower (thankfully, we don’t have hot water for very long any way).  That’s why you see locals doing the happy rain dance when it rains in paradise.  Because our cisterns are getting full. 

And here is what happens when OUR cisterns get full, they overflow and my kids want to play in it all day long:

This is how newbies are told to shower:

1. Step in shower, get body wet with water.
2. Turn shower off.  Soap up body, wash hair if you are not growing dreads.
3. Turn shower on, rinse body, rinse hair.
4. Turn shower off.  Apply conditioner if you are not growing dreads.
5. Read back of product bottles (I recommend Dr. Bronner’s for a bit of inspiration in the shower).  Water still off, while conditioner sets.
6. Turn shower on, final rinse.

On, off, on, off.  Here are a few other island-water conservation tips that I am sure those of you who live in Fat America could use and probably already do:  turn the water off while brushing your teeth, only do dishes once a day (not very many of those fancy-smancy electric-dish-washing boxes in island homes- they use too much water!) and my personal favorite:  If Its Yellow, Let It Mellow, If Its Brown, Flush It Down.  Get it?  Our kids know this one all too well.  SJ has been potty traing to pee OUTSIDE.  I’m hoping he’ll learn the difference before we travel to Texas this summer.

What happens if that cement box known as a cistern has no more water in it?  YOU ORDER WATER!  It totally sucks!  When there is no rain to fill our cisterns, you have to call a water delivery service to deliver this liquid gold in amounts anywhere from three-thousand gallons on up, to the tune of $300 and up.  This giant water truck with a name like “BIG BERTHA” drives through your yard, tears it up and pumps water into your cistern.  It’s a total bummer when it gets to this point.  THANKFULLY! 14 straight days of torrentual downpours has left both of our 10K gallon cisterns OVERFLOWING.

SILVER LINING:  Because of the profit-hungry appliance manufacturers who can develop a product to fit every need, today’s appliances, from washing machines, dishwasher, toilets, hot water heaters, you name it, are extremely energy and water efficient. That means it is now feasible to have more of modern luxuries included in your island home with out the common waste they were once known for.  But it does not change the fact that the cost of electricity to run those appliances will still make you want to shoot yourself in the head. (Thanks, WAPA)

I ask that you be aware of this as a resident or visitor to St. Croix.  Just because you might be staying at a hotel or resort, or live in a condo community where you ARE on WAPA water, you still need to be conscious of conservation. 

As a family, we do our party by taking FAMILY SHOWERS now.  Try it.  You’ll like it.  Your husband will like it.  And the kids will think its a blast!

No Power Hour

7:55 pm  – 9:02 pm.  Monday, February 28: No Power.

 

Trying to capture the candle-lit mood is a bit tough.

 The Fisherman said that he saw the tops of the trees in the bush glow and then heard a transformer blow down the street.  I was just finishing up in the shower with SJ and all went black.  And quiet.  You don’t relaize how much noise electricity actually makes until you have none.  This power thing was not on my list of things to deal with.  My list consisted of revieweing our crappy BUPA health insurance, painting my toe-nails, finishing some on-line shopping, watching Due Date, getting lunches ready for the morning and participating in a webinar that was to start at 11pm my time.  Now, this may not seem like  a big deal to you, but normally, we are asleep by 8:30 or 9.  I drank an ice coffee to keep myself up to complete the above tasks.  Now what?

The Fisherman met us with a flash light then lit candles in the bedroom where we camped for the next hour.  And here is what happened:

The Fisherman recited Good Night Moon for the chil’ren dem.  SJ was either a bit a) scared b) confused by the candles or c) all of the above.  He requested a cup of milk and the Fisherman wisked him off to bed. Not two minutes later, he was back in our bedroom where the party was asking if he could get back in our bed.  Of course!

SC went into this bizarre nervous story about something that may or may not have happened at her school.  But the influction of her voice was so predominant, it put SJ in a total trance.  Like a sing-song.  He just sat on the bed staring and listening to her.

SC requested we make up a new song to the tune of “I’m In Miami Trigg” where each uf us adds a new line or word.  It ended up something like this:  Take off that polka-dot-bikini Guuurrrrrrrlllllllllll.  Then I’m gonna do a big trwirrrrrrrrrlllllllll with a guy named Earrrrrrrrrrllllllllllllll.  Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip.

We listened to the howling gusts of wind that were most likely going to be the cause of a canceled charter in the morning.  We talked about how not funny it is that 2 of the other house on our property have power because they are on a different feeder. SJ fell asleep. The Fisherman took him off to bed for a second time.

SC got her jams on and the three of us laid there again.  Me, thinking of all the stuff I needed to be doing while the caffine was pumping through my veins.  SC, slowly drifting off next to her drifting-off daddy.

Then, a cat fight.  Loud.  It broke the silience. Now, silience again as we have all decided slumber is our best bet.

Only to be awakend to the loud noice of electricity almost an hour later after it all went off.  Lights on, computer re-booting, printer adjusting, clocks flashing.  Very distrubing.  But, thankfully it was out only for an hour.  This was a relatively short period of time to be with out power.

How often does power go out?  More often than I would like and always at times that are not convenient. Like at the doctor’s office.  The “women’s doctor” doctor’s office. The last time was almost 4 weeks ago.  It was out for about 2 hours then.  Does this happen in America?  My MIL told me it happens at the ranch.  But they live in the middle of nowhere,  Well, I guess we do, too.

How do we deal with it?  Well, seriously, what can you do about it?  Not much right?  It’s nothing that WE do that makes the power go out.  I supposed of we owned a house we could look into solar power options.  But we don’t.  So I won’t.  So we make the best of it.  Our kids get a kick out of the lanterns and candle lit dinner we have every once in a while.  We don’t watch that much TV, especially the kids, so that is not an issue.  During the day, we can always go outside, like to the beach, right? It’s not much fun to sleep with out power, especially in the summer when there is no breeze.  You keep your freezer shut, don’t flush the toilet and pray it comes back sooner than later.

Make sure you are prepared because you never know when it is going to happen.  How?  Flashlights, candles.  Those are the main things.  Bottle water.  Gas for your grill.    Just think “This is like camping!”. 

Power outtages for short periods of time are common for what ever bizarre islandy reason to want to give it.  I could really care less because, well, see above:  You can’t do anything about it.  Even when it is out for an entire day, chances are it is an island-wide event and guess what?  Its party time.  No one can do anything, so everyone starts partying.  And those are REALLY fun days!  

Needless to say, when our power came back on at 9:02, we put SC to bed, turned on the TV,  fell asleep and missed the webinar for the second time.

footnote:  West Indians use the term CURRENT to mean the same as POWER as in “Our current went out last night.”