Connie in the Caribbean: Ahhh, the breeze...

What can I say about the cool down of December and January? I am grateful. Happy for the return of once a day showers and sleep time that requires a top sheet to take the soft chill from the night. The days still bring a high of 82 with little variation in the temperature from morning until evening but without the oppressive humidity and breezeless sky that I experienced while living in Basseterre during September and October.

The house that I live in now sits atop a hill in Spooners, a blink of an eye Parrish above a valley of homes in Lower Cayon, a village located across from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Opening the slats of the many hurricane windows throughout the house creates an invigorating breeze. So invigorating is the breeze here on my hill that I have actually begun taking daily walks climbing upward toward the abandoned sugar cane fields that used to be part of a large plantation before the government shut down the industry in 2005. At the crest of these fields the view is breathtaking, reminding me how lucky I am to be spending the winter in a tropical paradise, away from the cold and gray grip of winter that claims most of the United States.

It seems as though things have returned to normal here in the Federation. Kittitians are back to work or school or gathering in groups on earlier claimed street corners catching each other up and filling time gossiping. They seem content to be people watchers and street poets, biding their time between sunrise and sunset, weaving fish stories of grand yesterdays and greater tomorrows. I guess for some this is a purpose, insulating from the reality of relentless hours, navigating the "how to" of filling endless days. "Liming" is the word assigned to the many wasted days and wasted nights of the unemployed or indolent. Depression, recession, dependence on tourism, government indifference, personal apathy; all are cited as reasons and excuses depending on who is doing the citing.

On a lighter note, I met with the St. Kitts/Nevis ACPCD on Thursday morning and she was encouraging, positive and complimentary regarding my efforts here. Important stuff when recognition is the compensatory return for commitment. I also enjoyed my first day back at the school, meeting with the class of 3rd graders I have come to regard as "my kids." For the time being, I plan to continue working there once a week focusing on improving writing skills and encouraging creativity.

I came upon a troop of green vervet monkeys this weekend and they were fascinating to watch. Fathers preening and posing on tree limbs, yawning in their indifference to the females, distinguished by their larger size and their turquoise blue scrotum. Mothers are proprietary in the treatment of their babies and most won't allow young or even adult females to hold or carry them. Grooming is very important and mothers of infants spend hours picking parasites from fur and licking away dirt and other materials. Cute is not necessarily friendly though. Vervet monkeys have been known to attack people and their belongings, raid gardens, fruit trees and laundry lines. Remarkably fast, they are also Houdini like escape artists, able to climb, swing through the forest branches and swim their way out of trouble. Disappearing into the camouflage of the foliage doesn't hurt either.

Monkey pictures and their beach hangout: