The time does fly by and I can’t believe Christmas and New Years are both over. We continue to meet new people who come and go in our community as well as building friendships with those that are staying here for the entire winter. I did get overwhelmingly nostalgic as the holidays were approaching but we did find many ways to celebrate. From caroling and souse to being invited to share Christmas Day dinner at the home of Libby and Dick. We have also gone fishing – I did get a bite but the enormous fish just nibbled and went on his merry way. We walk along the beach and never get tired of the beautiful changes in color and wave action that occurs with the wind, tide and time of day. We had an incredible rainbow that was neon colored and remained in the sky for a very long time…surprisingly no rain accompanied the rainbow.
Bill has done some more hunting for conch and still experimenting with how to get the animal out of it’s shell without destroying the shell or the meat (we have a friend who will take the meat and make it into conch fritters but so far we don’t have enough to give her. We’ve tried a few restaurants and love the view from Cracker P’s. Right across from Cracker P’s is Tahiti Beach. On one of the very warm days we anchored for a swim and took the Whaler to shore. Much to our surprise when Bill through the little anchor in the water Simon’s fetching genes surfaced and he flew off the boat to get the anchor. Of course the water was very shallow and he does swim. He seemed to have the best time swimming along with us. The beach is on the protected side of the ocean and is incredibly calm.
Bill has taken on a project teaching anyone who wants to learn how to make turks head knot bracelets. He also gave lessons on splicing lines. He does need to keep busy. We do volunteer to open the library for 2 hours Thursday morning – another way to meet people and join the Hopetown Community. One of the major events that frequently takes place here are fundraisers for a variety of organizations. Recently there was a Rage Party. The Rage is a Bahamian boat that races competitively – shirts are sold and of course food and drink are always present. We also had a Golf Cart parade. Although there are many cars on Elbow Cay, the primary form of transportation are Golf Carts. Most of the homeowners have one and there are many available to rent. However, during this past week when the Cay was inundated with tourists all the carts were rented. Unfortunately, there were only 5 Carts decorated for the parade (on Guana Cay they had 44 highly decorated carts) so there may be more incentive for next years parade.
Junkanoo – this is a traditional parade that occurs during the holidays and is comprised of groups and/or individuals who wear highly elaborate colorful costumes accompanied by drummers and a variety of other noisemakers. Unfortunately, last year here in Hopetown the parade got out of hand and it seems there were people who were wounded. I’m sure liquor had an influence as well. So the powers that be cancelled the midnight Junkanoo. New Years Eve was gorgeous. There was a full moon, millions of stars and it was warm. We had a wonderful, colorful, loud fireworks display that we watched from Jim and Nancy’s flying bridge. So instead of the adults the children of Hopetown (visitors as well as residents) had a Junkanoo during the day on Dec. 31st. I took lots of photos that are on my web page. The children were adorable but the surprise was they also had a group of musicians and once you hear the sound of the drums everyone starts moving and dancing with their own noisemakers. The parade went through town, the sun was shining and it was great fun to watch. However, for those of us who miss the pageantry there will be a 2 night event at the end of February for groups that will eventually be competing in a major Junkanoo in Nassau. We have reserved a slip at one of the Marinas in Marsh Harbor for those two nights.
While we are waiting for moderating winds and temperature we will walk the beach, collecting sea glass and visiting the other Cays around the area.
Bill, Simon and I wish all a Happy, Healthy New Year filled with love and joy.
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