Return to Life

I am alive. I am well. And, I am no longer MIA from this blog. In a few days I will have details as to what has occupied my time almost non-stop since returning home from our trip to Maine.

I do however have a confession to make with regard to last week. We were cruising....again. It is quite possible that there may be an addiction involved. Or so it seems to my children. I actually received a phone call from on of my daughters (I've decided to drop the in-law part, after all they are the only daughters I will ever have) voicing her concern. I believe she even mentioned the "I" word (intervention). I think their tune will change come Thanksgiving when they too will be standing in line for the lunch buffet!!

I have to fess up though that I'm beginning to believe that if you've seen one Caribbean island, you've seen them all. Please don't share that with the Caribe Tourism Board, they might revoke my privileges.

The two photos above were taken in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. We were fortunate to be in port a full 24 hours prior to the fuel tanks exploding in the harbor. While there we chose to hike up the hill to the old fort in the sweltering heat in lieu of taking a cab. It was our fondest desire to get some exercise before returning to the ship for our mid-day meal. I don't know if I lost any weight but the walk around Old San Juan was a treat.

Our ports of call also included Grand Turk (their recent encounter with a tropical storm has left their points of interest in ruin but their beach was beautiful), St. Thomas, and Half Moon Cay. The photo here and the blog header were both taken on Half Moon Cay. This is quite possibly the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. The sand was softer than butter and the water as blue and clear as the pictures depict. No photoshop trickery needed.

I was taking a mental hiatus from photography on this trip. I have been on photo overload recently and it was refreshing not to feel the need to click away at every turn. Doug did drag me out on deck one evening and insist I take some pictures. I assure you that kicking and screaming were involved but the end result was one of my favorite shots from the trip.

Why is it that my pool never looks like this?

In spite of too many late nights and half price happy hours, it was a wonderfully relaxing week. Many thanks to the Freys for inviting us to help celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary with them. You guys are the best. (We'll meet you in the Crow's Nest at 4!!)