Here in Esperanza the waves are still battling the fisherman’s pier and the pier is loosing.  The boards have popped off and large sections are loose.  Pretty typical damage to the pier when a storm passes.  The difference is the concrete walls that we use to sit on and gaze at the sunsets are now broken and falling.  I couldn’t tell if it extended all of the way to the footings or if it was just the top part.  The waves are still crashing out there and debris is flying so I didn’t think it wise to wander out.  We also lost a couple more little trees on the shore.  Every year there are less trees out there.  Their root systems don’t stand a chance against the waves.  Makes me wonder what will happen when all the trees are gone and the waves wash against the road!  (We don’t even want to talk about them crossing the road).

We did have a bit of rain today.  When we store all of the plants in the guest bedroom it gives me a chance to pressure wash the empty upstairs porch.  I saw the radar with the  Christmas colored red and green blobs heading toward Esperanza. I headed out in my rain jacket anyway.  The wind blew, the sea salt was flying and the rain drops pelted me.  But my theory was you get wet when you pressure wash so what is a little rain?  I forgot one important factor.  The wind.  It gusted off the ocean until I was soaking wet and chilled to the bone.  I mean teeth chattering, goose bumps, and frozen.  I was dreaming of a steaming mug of hot chocolate, a screaming hot shower and my father-in-laws wood burning stove.  Alas all I had here was the hot shower.  Even now that I am warm I still would like some hot chocolate.  I wonder if they sell it on Vieques?  The Swiss Miss kind with the little marshmallows in it.

So the radar looks like we might get some more rain.  The waves are still churning like a washing machine in the bay and the visitors are quite glum.  Tonight in the restaurant I told them at this juncture it will only get better.  The sun will shine.  I hope I didn’t inadvertently lie.  It would be nice to power wash the rest of the porch tomorrow in the sunshine!

K   

So far so good.  A little rain and some wind.  Not bad.  Dr. Master’s says the southwest of PR should see the worst of it around 8:00 pm tonight.

The family and I headed out to find some fun.  All the beach gate are closed today (for good reason!). No go there.  We then cruised over to the North side. I thought we could go for lunch at the W pool bar but it was dismantled. No go again.  But if you put little girls near a pool swimming is required! So the girls took a swim (We found fun!).  We talked to a couple of guests and they were surprised to see us.  They thought “Hey there, new people! The planes and boats have started running.”  I said no go we live here and were looking for a casual lunch. So back to the car and we drove to the pueblo.  Isabel was shuttered up.  No shopping to my littlest nieces dismay. Then a drive through Bravos.   It looked good with a couple of waves in front of La Lanchita. Not a surfers dream but it was fun to see.  The real wave action is at Sun Bay.  The gate was closed so we took the dirt road up to the point.  Really big waves with lots of sea grass mixed in. 

Currently here in Esperanza the sun is shining, the bay is kicked up a little, and we will see if we get some more rain.  Back to movies and we will try to figure out what is for dinner.  El Q is closed tonight but we will be back tomorrow.

K

All as is quiet here in Vieques.  Frogs and crickets are chirping.  Esperanza Bay is so flat we could skim rocks and we have no breeze. Headed down to Duffy’s tonight for a burger and a cold beverage.  The Malecon had almost no foot traffic and the rental jeeps were almost nonexistent.  Glad to see that we are no longer under a hurricane watch.  So it looks like just rain and a little wind.

So now we wait.  4 adults, two nieces under 8 years old, three dogs, and 200 plants in a small house.  Down to two bedrooms and only one bathroom (the third bedroom is crammed with plants).  We are ready. 

I will send more info later as needed…

K  

One year ago we were putting on the party clothes for a fun evening at Taste of the Islands (by the way it is scheduled for October this year).  We ate, drank and danced the night away.  The next day, with Champagne bubbles still in my head, Irene decided to pay us a visit.  She wasn’t that nice.

Now one year later we are looking at another “I” potential.  I say go ahead and form and curve North.  Please spare us the winds but drop a little rain.  If you must come please wait until after my nieces leave.  Their flight is on Friday.  Watching, waiting and the hubby is fixing the generator.

K

We had a nice rain shower earlier today with more to come.  The winds are strong and several of the potted plants are blowing over.  At least the garden will have water!  The rain barrels are ready to go and the gutters are cleaned.  That should mean rain, rain, rain.  It is kind of like washing you car.  As soon as you finish the rain starts.

Other news…  The water company is talking about shutting off the water to make repairs.  This would be an island wide shut off.  Predictions are 2-3 days without water.  So stock up on water/ice and take a shower…  Who knows what will happen!

Keeping an eye on the Invest…

Regards,

Kate

Here in PR we have a plethora of July holidays.  Let’s go through a quick breakdown, we start with July 4^th (not really celebrated but it is a day off of work for some folks).  Then we proceed to the 3^rd Monday of July for Don Luis Muñoz Rivera’s birthday (holiday weekend #1).  Then we have Constitution Day on the 25^th and in the same week on July 27^th is the birthday of Dr. José Celso Barbosa.  This week everything shuts down.  So we have holiday weekends #2 and #3.  But here in Vieques we really keep the party going because we celebrated Patronales from July 11^th- 14^th. (Here we have holiday weekend #4).  Little Vieques has been hopping with visitors here to celebrate and have fun in the sun.  As I mentioned last year the island goes cold turkey on holidays in August.  I really think that is because everyone is exhausted but the official reason is the kids return to school.

For the month of July we had a little rain, sunny skies, and Sahara Air Layer.  Loving this!  No storms so far.  We are looking at a rain event on Monday and Tuesday.  Our lobster fishermen just brought in today’s catch and said he won’t be going back out to check his traps until Wednesday after the “Tormenta”.  We will have to see how much rain we get from this “vigorous tropical wave”.

Other news on the island…  They are still repaving the roads.  Unfortunately they have not repaved one section of road that is filled with potholes. Hubby hit a pothole on Tuesday and bent a rim.  Immediately he took the rim to the machine shop for a repair (remember we had two holidays this week and it is so hard to get any work done).  He tried to pick it up Thursday AM but it wasn’t ready.  They said come back this afternoon.  Early afternoon I take the car with the spare tire on it to town.  As I entered pothole alley I zigged when I should have zagged and bent the rim on the spare tire.  Hubby had to rescue me.  Thankfully the guys at the machine shop had already repaired the rim by this time (It was afternoon).  So please, please Carretaras fix pothole alley.  Another bent rim and a trip to the repair shop are not what we need.  With the rains arriving the potholes will only be larger!

Off to take care of the bookkeeping.  Only 27 working days left here at the El Q.

K

Sometimes living here you hear something and it is nearly impossible to believe.  Nearly, I said, because after living here for nearly 6 years the impossible can sometimes be true.

Imagine my surprise when I read a Facebook post last Friday asking if we had heard about the puma/ mountain lion on Vieques.  I laughed and laughed at the post and threw it up to a rum induced delirium. I kept reading and yet another post is reporting the same story. Then I remember this is Facebook, not a news source. Really you can’t believe half of what is “printed” on the internet.  So I googled puma, cat, chupacabra, Vieques and here is what I found:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.elnuevodia.com/drnainvestigaramuertesmisteriosasdeanimalesenvieques-1279918.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3DChupacabra%2BPuma%2Bvieques%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DMlo%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26prmd%3Dimvns&sa=X&ei=gH3jT7-RHors0gHgtvGnAw&ved=0CFsQ7gEwAg

Now I am really laughing.  Actually I am doubled over, losing my noodles, laughing.  This report made the local paper.  This is a news story!!!!!!  And if this cat story was not enough they threw in references to our local legend of the Chupacabra or “Goat Sucker”. So we will wait and see what the Department of Natural Resources comes up with during their investigation.  Surely we will have a Part II to this post.  As a friend of mine says “You can’t make this stuff up!”

Signing off from a dry, dusty, hot Vieques!  Bring on the rain (and no storms please).

K

Things are quiet here on this late Monday afternoon in Esperanza.  And it is hot!  I am sitting here typing with a fan blowing directly on me.  Otherwise I would be a melting, sweaty mess!  This bout of heat started about a week ago and will not let up.   Along with the heat is the absolute absence of rain. Only one tease two nights ago as the raindrops fell on the leaves of the trees for 30 seconds. I did not even get a chance to close the front door before it stopped. We do have a 40% chance of rain tonight but the so far the skies are blue, blue, and blue.  This color is a welcome change from the Sahara Sand filled air that caused our hazy but sunny skies last week.  Thank heavens for the dry air but it made hot feel even hotter.

News on island is a little scarce.  The only exception is the asphalt trucks that move slowly and noisily by the house at 5:30am.  It is an election year and that means we will have fabulous roads.  They even put in gutters!   (Thanks guys we know that is hot work!)  I drove out of Esperanza last night toward La Huecca and it was like driving on butter.  No chance of a bent rim on that stretch of road.  Speaking of election year, I cannot wait to see which acts they will bring over for Patronales… They should outdo themselves since votes are at stake.  I heard a rumor about Cultura Profética performing.  They always out on a great show.  And a little reggae never hurt a girl!

So off to take the Labrador to the beach.  A swim will do us both a lot of good and cool us off.  After that it will be time to water the plants again… unless that 40% chance comes true.

K

Well here we are at the beginning of May and we have plenty of rain.  Looking at the satellite that blob is covering nearly the entire Caribbean.  So it’s not just our island with the rain.  Thankfully we are not having the flooding that other islands are experiencing.  Be safe out there!  Looks like this weather pattern will continue on and off for the weekend.  But it is only a forecast.   I know our visitors are a little disappointed but we welcome all of this wet for the plants and the horses.  Of course that also means the weeds are growing like mad!  Spent 7 hours the other day weeding the garden and I am still not done.  But that is a result of too much time off the island traveling for a wedding and vacation!

A little note about the weather here…  If you don’t like what is happening where you are standing get in your car and drive to another location.  Frequently when it pours in Esperanza the Pueblo is dry.  Or vice versa.  We even stand in the front door of the restaurant some nights,  watch it pour rain in the bay and only receive a few drops on the street.  After all this is the Caribbean at the beginning of our wet season.  However there is one thing we can always promise.  The sun will come out.  The blue skies will return!  Another helpful hint… we sometimes we even call around the island to find out where it is raining and where it isn’t so we can plan a beach day. Just a tip!

K