St Maarten/St Martin

A week away in the Caribbean began on Friday night, April 28, as we flew the red-eye on Delta from LAX thru Atlanta with a four hour layover before our flight to the Dutch/French island of St. Maarten or St. Martin.

We deplaned the old fashioned way on a rolling stairway and walked across the tarmac to a small building where we quickly passed through customs but then had to wait quite a while for both of our bags. Then it was off to get our tiny KIA car from Thrifty and we headed out to find our way via mostly unmarked streets to find the Divi Little Bay Resort. We had just arrived at the outdoor (but covered) reception area when the skies opened up and the warm rain poured down for ten or fifteen minutes. By the time the skies cleared, the two bellmen were nowhere to be found so we trudged our bags down to the end of the peninsula to our first floor one-bedroom condo. Our view was across the bay to the city of Phillipsburg and the area where up to three cruise ships would dock.

Sunday, we walked into town to check out the Carnival which brings groups representing various islands into town to dance through the streets to the rhythms of bands that preceded them on tractor trailer rigs. After several hours of dancing, they finished up going down the one-way, one-lane Front Street as the music played from concert style speakers and reverberated off the buildings that line the street. Let's just say that most island women have no body-issue concerns and anorexia isn't a cultural problem. It was quite an experience and when the music began to ring in our heads a little too much, we headed over to boardwalk for some barbecued ribs and either beers or rum drinks.


Tuesday, we drove around the island - two countries, no border control - as we enjoyed scenic outlooks over beautiful turquoise shaded waters. We stopped at Orient Beach, a long crescent shaped beach, for a few hours of sunning and lunch. We avoided the far end of the beach which houses a 'naturalist' resort and paid our $14 for two beach chairs, an umbrella, and two drinks. Being on the French side, there were a few topless women including two who sat beside Carolyn which meant I never looked at Carolyn when I talked to her! After a good lunch, we continued our roundtrip.

Wednesday started off a lot cloudier than the previous days, but we headed out for a half day catamaran snorkeling trip on the Golden Eagle IV. After being the lone passengers boarding at Bobby's Marina, we picked up a full compliment of passengers from the three cruise ships docked in the harbor. Meanwhile, we made friends with two of the crew members, Kars, a tall, curly haired blond from Amsterdam spending six months working after finishing high school, and Billy, a Scottish lad from the Borders south of Glasgow who was spending a month trying to figure out his next move which was probably the Navy. The snorkeling was OK off a tiny island, but as we walked along the beach a boat from the 'naturalist' resort arrived with a group of unclothed passengers. Let me assure you, none of these people were models, and we cut short our stroll along the shore. On the way back from the island, it began to rain rather heavily. Our seats along with quite a few others was not covered so we got fairly soaked!

The following day we tried another type of boat - a 12 meter. I was a backstay grinder and Carolyn was a winch wench as we sailed aboard US 56 against a Canadian boat in a short race. We were beaten to the starting line but after rounding the second mark we had taken a one boat length lead. However, by the time we closed in on the finish line, a slight wind shift required us to go to the far side of the finish line and we lost by about a boat length. As we cruised back into the harbor, they let me take the helm. I wished for a little more wind than we had, but it was a good experience and a good workout. I can't imagine how exhausting a four or five hour actual race would be.


Our final full day on St. Maarten, we headed around the island again, stopping at the French capital of Marigot where we wandered through the marketplace and purchased a memory water color, and then drove to the ferry for Penel Island. Penel can only be reached by boat and has two competing beach managers and two restaurants. We perched on the Yellow beach, but Carolyn soon shifted 15 feet to the Blue beach at whose restaurant we ate. Carolyn had a huge barbecued lobster while I tried the pork ribs. At four, we took the final ferry back to our car and headed home to Divi.

Saturday, we had to pack it up and fly out, however, a baggage handler decided to drive his baggage ramp under the right engine and wedged it under the engine cowling. We ended up sitting on the plane for four and half hours (at least we had AC and a movie) while we waited for a replacement plane to be flown in from Puerto Rico. By the time we got to Atlanta and passed through customs, we had missed our connecting flight by several hours so Delta put us up at the 'glorious' Holiday Inn North. Since we had only had crackers and cheese since noon, we were fairly hungry and the only place open at 1:00 am was the Waffle House. Evidently, a Southern staple, it comes across as a low rent IHOP which would not receive an "A" from any Health Dept., but we were hungry. To bed around 2 am and up at 6 am, it was back to the airport and then on to LA.

Other than the plane problems, we had a great, relaxing trip with beautiful beaches, fun activities and good food.

St Maarten Pics Posted

Check on the Flickr image and check out some of the pictures I've uploaded from our trip. Trip details to follow.

UPDATE: I guess if you use Firefox which I don't at work, the Flickr image doesn't appear below the archive list. So click here.

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Won't be back for a week or so. Friday night we fly to Atlanta then onto St. Martin for a week's worth of sun - both Dutch and French. We may get to see some of the celebrations for the Queen on Saturday or Sunday which should be interesting.

I'm hoping to take a sail aboard a twelve meter America's Cup yacht during our stay and may well work in a day sail on a catamaran as well. Otherwise, we plan on enjoying the warm sun and water, kick back and forget about work or remodeling for awhile.

Prayers for our travel safety and ability to rest/sleep on our red-eye would be appreciated.

Interestingness

Venècia
Originally uploaded by bcnbits.

Sometimes when I have no piles of paper on my desk, I will check out flickr's "interestingness" section. There are some amazing photos posted every day - an inspiration for an amateur photographer.

I particularly like this one of Venice. Hopefully, the light and timing will afford many opportunities to take my own reflections during our upcoming trip to St. Martin.

Easter Must be Close

You almost can always tell when its close to Easter or Christmas because that's when you find numerous publications questioning various aspects of Christ's life or Christianity in general.

This year is no different as we find one 'explanation' for Jesus' walking on water.

Then of course there is the newly found Gospel of Judas that 'proves' he was the closest to Christ and offered Christ up for crucifixion at Jesus' direction.

And, soon will come the movie "The Da Vinci Code" which is based on the premise the Jesus fathered a child with Mary Magdalene and the Catholic Church has hidden the 'secret' for milenia.

Can you imagine the riots if these sort of stories/films were made about Islam?

Jack Bauer's Theology

For all my fellow 24 fanatics, Jack's theology at least per this blog.

It Can't Be That Long Ago!!

When younger, these notices bring up a different set of emotions. Yesterday, a post card arrived in the mail announcing my 40th (!!) high school reunion.

Four decades, last century, last millennium. Before landing on the moon; before personal computers, cell phones, PDAs, or the internet; before Japanese cars were preferred over Ford or GM; before California toll roads or car pool lanes; before housing replaced orange groves; before cassette players let alone CDs or DVDs; before high rise condos off of Jamboree; before college, wife or daughter.

I used to count years after college as a small percentage of my life without being in school, now they're counted in decades after. Carolyn was nice enough to say that if I chose to go, I'd probably be one of a few who had no (or little) grey hair, however, there is that thinning issue. I wonder how many of my schoolmates are Great-grandparents!

Thar She Blows!!

Carolyn was having a Southern Living party Sunday afternoon, and after I had mowed the lawn, trimmed the hedge and swept, the sun was out and the sea beckoned so I called Dennis to see if he wanted to sail. He thought that sounded like a good idea as he didn't want to have to do too much yard work anyway.

I met him at the harbor a little after 2, and he had already gotten the boat ready for launch. A few kayaks by the bridge required us to do a 360 before we were able to get the mainsail up, but soon I was skippering down the channel as Dennis hauled in bumpers and stowed them.

We set an almost due south course and the wind was fairly strong with swells that were fairly small. About two miles offshore, I noticed a small wisp of water or was it a breach from a porpoise? I alerted Dennis who grabbed the helm while I grabbed my camera as we witnessed a whale's back arch out of the water about 100 yards ahead of us!! It was quick and we watched intently to see if we could see him breach further north, but to no avail and I wasn't able to get a picture. It's hard chasing after a whale in a sailboat.

The wind continued to pick up and our GPS had us cruising at over 7 knots at some times while our knot meter on the boat was showing 4.5 or so. But our leeward rail was almost in the water sometimes and the lower part of the jib was splashed with water. As we turned back towards the harbor, we spotted a pod of porpoises to our south apparently chasing bait fish and churning the water as they swam south away from us.

We had been hoping to see a whale aboard the Journey, and now we finally have. It would have been fun to see a few more or for a little longer, but that's what sails are for.

Recovery Sunday

Sunday is definitely a day of rest after Stephanie Kanda's wedding yesterday!

Carolyn was off in the morning to have hair and nails done while I ironed my shirt and steamed her dress and my suit. It was then up El Toro road to the Rancho Las Lomas wedding site which is tucked into the hills above Cook's Corner and which is populated with caged parrots and other birds along with horses and even a zebra.

The wedding programs with Carolyn's rendering of Las Lomas looked great and they even included a thank you to her inside. We sat near the Gomes, LaVoie's and Leus with both Christina and Anne-Marie acting as bridesmaids. It was an outdoor ceremony which included the Jewish tradition of breaking a glass as a symbol that their marriage should be as difficult to break apart as it would be to put that glass together again.



The ceremony was followed by a cocktail hour outside on the patio and by the pool. We enjoyed catching up with Alex Gome, David Paul Leu, and Drew Kanda along with their parents before going inside for the entry of the wedding party and the first dances. Steph and Manny (Emanuel) obviously had been working on their moves!



And Steve held it together well enough to waltz his daughter around the dance floor, but it was a little more difficult, and he was a little more choked up, when he gave his toast to Steph and Manny before dinner. He loves 'his little girl' very much!

Dinner was tri-tip cooked perfectly along with asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes, and we were up often to hit the dance floor or converse with our friends at various other tables. Or we would make our way over to the chocolate fountain to dip strawberries or cake for a little extra energy boost.

We were nearly the last groups to leave at around 11:30 and Steph and Debbie encouraged us to take some of the flower arrangements home. During the evening it had begun raining, and we were all thankful that it had held off until we were all inside, however, it was still raining as we left and we ended up nearly soaked as we waited for the valet after taking a bit of a walking detour!

Home around midnight, I hit the bed pretty quickly but Carolyn had a difficult time getting to sleep before 2 a.m. So needless to say, today has been rather low key with a spa soak, some college NCAA basketball, and an afternoon nap to replenish our strength. It's amazing what a night of partying and dancing can do to tire you out!

It was a wonderful day and evening, and we are happy for both the Kandas and the newly minted Pasternack's.

Update

I haven't posted in so long, I'm totally out of practice. Perhaps it's just because things have been rather normal lately, except that Bryce and Ashley were home for a week checking on job/church opportunities in the So. Cal. area.

Bryce enjoyed zipping all over the area in Carolyn's Mini Cooper while Ashley endured hours and hours of interviews and meetings or classes. We liked having them stay with us and got to have dinner with them about half the time they were here (when they weren't with friends or the Hales).

On Saturday, we hosted a Hales, Crockett, Bunker, Hutchins "make your own tostada" dinner which was followed by a few games of Catch Phrase. It's the most funny when you get clues such as "something I like" - could we get a little more information!

Then, John and Sally hosted a lovely last dinner for the six of us at Mission Viejo Country Club on Sunday.

It's now a little quieter at home and Gracie has no 'dog lovers' to annoy. Unfortunately, Carolyn came down with a cold which she's blaming on a British virus. Hopefully, the warmer weather we're having now will help her feel better.

Rainy Day Ramblings

Well, the Hutchins have been house-bound for about ten days as Carolyn broke out with these bumps on her body Saturday the 18th. We had been up to our kitchen designer to talk about alternatives for a master bath/closet expansion, but Carolyn was feeling a little weird and itchy so we stopped in our doctor's early in the afternoon.

We were fairly surprised when he declared that Carolyn probably had chicken pox! Evidently, a light case in your youth doesn't guarantee immunity in adulthood. She started on an anti-viral and benadryl to ease the itching. But that pretty much eliminated any plans for activities in which Carolyn came into contact with others. So no church, Community Bible Study, art classes or Bible Study. Good thing that the Olympics were on to keep us occupied, and that, so far, I have avoided contracting the pox myself.

Carolyn's CBS friends have been very generous in bringing dinners so neither of us have starved (or had to learn to cook - me). Although the virus can drag you down, Carolyn has tried to do various cleanup projects around the house and has sometimes worn herself out by attempting too much.

This weekend we threw out old picture frames that were broken or tarnished, reorganized the library closet including decades worth of pictures, cleaned out financial files, and straightened both the art studio and the back room. We would stop when we came across a particularly poignant or funny photo, or to examine Carolyn's various hair styles or the length of my hair or beard.

We also came across my travel journal from our 1992 European trip with CVCHS when we chaperoned 15 high schoolers through six countries in 21 days. I read some of it to Carolyn last night and it brought back memories of Munich, Dachau, St. Marks Square in Venice, climbing the steps up the Florence Duomo with Ashley (463 each way), eating gelato in Rome, going to the Louvre in Paris and discovering Ashley had lost her stuffed Lambie in some earlier hotel. I seemed to focus on our meals and the cultural differences or toilets of the countries we visited. But we had a good time!

Today, after much heralding, rain has again returned to Southern California. This will be another test of our recent home repairs and my driving skills as I seek to avoid colliding with my fellow commuters.

"Walking Man" - pointilism

 
 

Boat, Play and Model Homes

Saturday morning continued this winter's bright and sunny days, and I headed down to the harbor to work on the boat with Dennis while Carolyn headed off in other directions for other chores. It was warm in Dana Point even though one could feel the fog hovering offshore less than a mile out.

I polished the stainless steel stanchions and re-stained the teak handrails while Dennis worked on cleaning the transom and the interior. We fixed the drain on the sink, re-wrapped rigging tape on turnbuckles, and a myriad other little chores before Steve came down around 3 and we both hauled Dennis up the mast in our bosun's chair to check out the spreaders and take down the wind indicator so it can be replaced. Dennis gave a show to a three year old passenger on an adjacent boat who was fascinated at how high he was.

After stopping by Wanda's briefly, I headed home for dinner and a shower before we left for the play "Hitchcock's Blondes" at SCR with tickets courtesy of Lewis. We had turned down dinner with Chris and Pattie to see the play which turned out to be a bad decision.

The play resolved around an unfinished early film by Hitchcock and an attempt to decipher the film from individual frames recovered from the deteriorating celluloid. But the '19 year-old' film student, threw around the F-bomb as verb, adverb, adjective and noun so much that we felt assaulted. Added to the profanity were continuing references to sexual acts as either the film professor tried to seduce the student or 'Hitchcock' tried the same or to degrade his leading lady's body double. We felt more and more uncomfortable so that we finally left our front row seats and walked out before the intermission! Today's OC Register's review would indicate that the reviewer, at least, was unaffected by any of that, a warning that we need to be vigilant in our entertainment choices.

Sunday morning we drove into Irvine near the former Tustin blimp hangers to check out a couple of model homes for interior design and master bath research. We'd received an initial design for a remodel of our bath and master closet late last week and we wanted to see how the newer homes were incorporating some of the features we want. Priced modestly in the low $1 millions (cough, cough), these nearly 3000 sq. ft. homes gave us ideas on the size we need for both bath and closet and a possible upstairs laundry room. We took pictures showing large tubs, transitions from stone to wood, and vanities both dual and his/hers. We have a bit more research to do on both layout and materials although I laid out the proposed size of the bath on our bedroom floor using books to show where corners and fixtures were. Carolyn enjoyed my hands on display.

The rest of Sunday we enjoyed painting (Carolyn), watching some of the Olympics (Tor), and church (both). We may also have contemplated how much different the two coasts were this weekend with 85 degrees in our neck of the woods while New York city got 26 inches of snow. Viva California!

Ready to Eat

Gracie waits expectantly to be served on the good china!

 
 

Winter Sunrise

I wake in the dark and stumble downstairs for the paper and to brew a pot of coffee. By the time I exit the shower and have shaved, the winter sun is beginning to cast its glow low in the sky brilliantly coloring the few clouds with hues of orange and red. The colors shimmer off the lake's quiet waters and fill our bedroom with delicious tints.

It's worth getting up for (or at least opening one's eyes) to see the beauty God has blessed us with! What an artist!

The Earth is Spinning Faster

I swear the earth must be spinning faster around the sun because it's already the end of January. One twelfth of the year gone. Wasn't it Christmas yesterday and summer last week?

We continue the great American clean-up as we tackle closets, cabinets and stashes all around. This past week it was the 'medicine' cabinet where Carolyn disposed of all the meds past their expiration dates, and yet, we still have sufficient supplies to start our own small pharmacy. Then, we cleaned out underneath our master bath sinks, eliminating dozens of hotel shampoo bottles and non-functioning appliances.

Our new spa was delivered late Saturday morning and we hope the new concrete pad that was poured on Friday is cured enough so it can bear the weight. An electrician came out to hook it up only to find that we need to pull new wires as its a 60 amp setup versus the 40 amps we had. Electricians are expensive! But I'm not fooling around with 220. He should be back today to make the installation.

Sunday, we enjoyed reading the papers in bed and then headed down to the harbor for a nice sail, followed by a short walk around the harbor, a stop by Nan's, and then off to church.

Perhaps, the time seems to be going sooo fast because my next holiday isn't until the end of May! If work can speed up and vacations can slow down, that would work for me!!

Analogy Police

Now here is a police force we all could use!

Winter Sun

With the exception of rain on the Rose Parade and a slight drizzle a week ago, the weather in So. Cal. has been bright and sunny in stark contrast to the rains of last year. Perhaps, I'm a little too anxious to see how the repairs hold up in a harder rain.

I've been trying to walk at lunch and have managed to about four days out of five last week. Today, though the wind is blowing and the chill by the mountains is a little more pronounced so I passed. I have to save my strength for tonight's poker game!

The last two weekends have been fairly productive. I spent several hours on Saturday and Sunday, installing new sprinkler heads and a new line after all of our outside construction work and then painting the stucco which had been repaired. Carolyn has been gardening and slowly bagging and trashing the abundance of "stuff" in several areas in the house that accumulates when you never move. But, there is always more to do!

Saturday, I went in for my eye exam and new contacts and my far vision actually needs a little less power, but we had to tweak my near vision to help with the clarity. Those pesky Excel spreadsheets in size 6 font are getting harder and harder to see.

Oh, after 17 years, we splurged on ourselves with an early Valentine's gift and purchased a new jacuzzi. Our old one was falling apart on the sides and the motor was no longer operational. This one is little smaller, but is more hydrotheraupetic and Carolyn is anxiously awaiting its installation in about two weeks. I wonder if I can claim it as a medical deduction?

Sunday was church and then dinner at the Stadium Brewing Co. with Pattie and Chris after watching at least a little bit of the Steeler - Denver game. And, then the work cycle begins again (I miss three and four day weekends).

Storm Watch Dud

The 'weather' people on local news warned us of the impending rain over the weekend which was to drop 1-2 inches of rain. That was OK with me as there were four football playoff games over the two days to occupy my time.

Friday night, Carolyn and I headed over to the Spectrum so Carolyn could buy a present for a bridal lingerie shower and then we could grab dinner out. Somehow Fredrick's didn't appeal, nor did a few other stores have a reasonable selection, so we ended up in Nordstroms. I always find it a bit more than a little uncomfortable to trail Carolyn through the racks of bras and panties, and Carolyn tries not to buy an absolute nothing for one of these 'events' as the younger set will be more than willing to supply those. Carolyn found a nightgown which was short, cute, comfortable and opaque, and as the clerk wrapped it we found out she had previously worked at Victoria's Secret. Her observation was that there are two type of men who shop there: the man who knows exactly what he wants; and, the other who is nervous and anxious to buy anything and get out. I understand the anxiety.

Dinner was at Champs which is lined with large screen video displaying every possible sport imaginable. Over Carolyn's shoulder, played hockey, pro and college basketball, and snowboarding. Carolyn had a pretty good pulled pork sandwich while I had a chicken wrap that also became my Saturday lunch.

Saturday morning, it was misting so I hurried to lay out some plastic on the deck to protect the garden room. I think that was the hardest it 'rained' all day, as the storm (or drizzle) never really materialized. Then I settled in for some playoff football before the evening at the OC Performing Arts Center, the Pop series, which featured Henry Mancini's music and his daughter's singing. Front row, nearly center, the typical Lewis provided seats. We enjoyed it very much then took in an after theater dinner at Jerry's Deli.

Sunday started off lazy with reading both papers in bed, but then I got into cleaning out some of my clothes in the closet and Carolyn was also inspired so we ended up with a MUCH neater closet and two full bags of clothes ready for Goodwill. This, of course, morphed into a need to move the sewing machine back into 'Ashley's' room and a bit of rearranging there. Meanwhile, I managed to slip back to the game room more than once, while Carolyn contemplated, to catch portions of the two Sunday football games.

Then, we made it to church at the temple for the first time in about four weeks, and Mike taught a great sermon from Hebrews 4:1-3 about the importance of knowing you're a Christian (not just because of what I've done, prayed, or felt) as the consequences are eternal.

Home again we enjoyed a roast Carolyn had put in before we left (the smell permeating our house), and then settled in for the first two hours of season 5 of 24 and Jack Bauer. The tension begins again!

First for '06

Well, it's about time that I again get into the bloggin' thing for 2006 after all the activities with Ashley and Bryce over the holidays.

The year began well with Bryce preaching at their old church, Christ Church, attended by both sets of parents. We were greeted for our annual pilgrimage and Bryce's sermon was excellent. Then A&B headed to Santa Barbara for a few days to visit the Crocketts.

On Friday, I took the afternoon off from work and took Ash, Bryce, Carolyn, and Sally sailing off of Dana Point. It was warm for December, about 75, but the wind was light and we ended up having to motor in after a decent sail outbound. Then the Hales, Wanda and Margaret joined us for a dinner at Ichibiri as our send off for Ashley and Bryce.

When we got home around 10, I wasn't sure if A&B were going to be able to get packed by the next morning as piles of clothes, books, etc. were waiting to be equitably distributed in suitcases, a box, duffels and backpacks. I hit the bed while Carolyn stayed up until 1:30 finishing sewing their duvet cover while watching Leno in our bedroom (did I mention that I don't have a problem sleeping). While I slept, a miracle had been wrought by Bryce as all their stuff had found a home and both their bedroom and the game room were in perfect order. Good job!!

Sally arrived at our home before 8 in her Yukon, as it was big enough for the five of us and the bags, to make the drive up to LAX. After a little re-arranging at the check-in counter, Bryce was able to end up with only one overweight bag ($25) and they were on their way down the long concourse as we embarrassed them by continually waving them all the way through security. And what is it about Ashley, that she required a wanding at security? She doesn't look that threatening to me!

The rest of the weekend, we stayed busy by cleaning up the yard, putting away all of the Christmas decorations (7 boxes), and watching some of the playoff games. I was totally bummed to see Carson Palmer hurt on the second offensive play for the Bengals as I wanted to see how well he could perform in a playoff situation. Carolyn tried not to mope around too much as she missed having Ashley (and Bryce) around.

Sunday evening we drove down to Capo Beach to the Aufhammer's temporary residence to join them and John and Sally for dinner. We had a good time catching up and had a lovely meal: salad; chicken; asparagus; mashed potatoes with spinach; and, cherry pie. And Chas did the cooking!

This week is my first full work week in about a month. I hope I can survive until the next holiday in May! Last night we took in a play at the Laguna Playhouse, 2 Pianos, 4 Hands, which was funny with excellent musicianship. I think it was even funnier to Carolyn as she has endured the same sort of piano lessons.

Tonight we begin our couple's Bible study again and so most of our life has returned to normal.