I'm learning more of what it's like to be a cat. i sleep more than i have since i was a growing, even in the middle of the day. Mr T (to the left here) and Smidge are teaching me well. There's much to be learned about the balance of work and play. They don't seem to have any issues of concern if the day only holds sleep and play. There is some strange mix of biting and loving that takes place, keeps one on the toes! and it's amazing how much more you get touched when you're either furry, or you speak up a lot. I really don't like when they whack the tails off the lizards, but i do like it that the lizards get away. And i discovered that those nasty lizard poops are made up of cockroach bits. kinda gross, but cool too. don't ask how i found this out. and cockroaches seem to make excellent kitty entertainment, but i feel the need to rescue them too. hunting as a form of engagement is great, though i don't like the kill and abandon technique (suppose that's what happens when dinner is served every day at 8 and 7)the kitties prefer to be out in the rain screaming to be let in with the people than to go alone to the outside room that is dry with a bed. i understand this. i too have learned to do a song and dance at dinner time. and napping seems to be much more fun with one paw draped over another warm body in the sunshine.

17 September 08

Ever since i left New England, i’ve loved the rain. since i’ve known dry alpine air, and chaffed desert plains i’ve loved the rain. On this hot, caribbean island, where the land is hard and impenetrable from months of baking sun, i’ve longed for the heavy clouds that bring the sound of rain to my rooftop.

It came this morning, first as little patters, slowly building into a great crescendo of thunderous drops all around. Now the rain has receded into slow drip-drops so i can hear the kerplunk of each heavy fall on the giant jungle leaves.

Then i think about the folks in Haiti and i am sad. my pleasure, their pain.

And still i will enjoy the rain. and love the people all the same.

29 August 2008

have you ever seen a mangrove?? they are these amazing cool trees that can survive in both fresh and salt water. they have these amazing roots that grow up really high out of the water. they live by the ocean side and are an integral part of the coral reef ecosystem. Roatan, the little island i'm living on just north of Honduras, is along the MesoAmerican Barrier Reef, second only to Australia's Great Barrier Reef in size. the mangrove passes are soo cool, and they are nurseries for the baby fish and home to crocodiles and such, and they are like filters for the coral from all the crap that come sliding from the mainland. very cool and very special trees. envision them staying put on the edges of the water while sustainable development occurs around them!

it finally rained today and this made me very happy. it's been freakin' hot, like hot, hot. and finally there were storms starting late last night that thundered through the day. i am happy for the sunshine, and that makes the storms even more delicious!!

we have a lot of trees, jungly type trees, around our house. we are in a community that is part resort, part private homes. we are in a private home with the kitties, housesitting. we have a peek-a-boo to the ocean, which is about 60 seconds away. i like climbing in this tree which is very high up off the ground, but occasionally i freeze and get really scared- i don't know where it comes from, and it's not very convenient. if i was just always scared that might be better for me. then i would not get stuck mid branch.

21 July, 2008

My GoD! is it really 8 1/2 months since i last wrote. geesh- i swear i had good intentions. now i don't know where to start! to go all the way back to november, 2007, or to just give it to ya from here. well....progress is fun. i guess we'll go with the short version with lots of pictures.

ahh...november- it was delicious being in Flagstaff. i had NO idea how much fun a hostel could be. it was just really sweet to have a cozy bed and a shower. THEN there were all the amazing people...Maria from the Czech Republic was riding from Alaska to Texas. uh, got me there! she's soo cool. and lovely little Sara from Switzerland- traveling her way to her self via the world. so i played music in the dining room, which brought lots of people out of their rooms and we had such a fine fine evening laughing and story telling and all things wandering travelers. so i HAD to stay another night to enjoy these delicious people, and thank HeaVen and EaRtH i did because i met Sarah Emberson from Sheffield, England, and that's a treat of a lifetime. we ended up traveling with Sara and Jimmy on a little camping trip to monument valley, and we wandered our way there convoying with Roger and his Spaniards, who had to get to moab by midnight. we found winslow arizona for him (i liked it too :)
then on to the Petrified Forest, cause little Sara had to see it, and then to Canyon De Chelly (pronounced inexplicably De Shay) where i parted with my camera for a while in Roger's car. it was eventually reunited with me in LA where roger left it with paolina. how fun is that? anyway....did i say i would keep it short? i don't mean to lie. it just happened.

so these folks becamee my immediate new best friends and i cried when every single one of them left. and then of course when one leaves a new one comes, and i kept asking, is it time for ME to leave? and my heart kept telling me to be patient. so more new friends, lovely evenings with music and days with delight and then met a couple of chaps to hike up Mount Humphries (12,000 feet +/- ) and then one of them, lovely bloke, Jacob, was staying on a few days as well, so more hiking. turns out he was looking for a travelmate with a car to do a lovely route in southern utah he had laid out. so after a quick thanksgiving meeting Sarah from Sheffield and Oistein from Norway back in Santa Barbara while Jacob did a whirlwind week in mexico, we were OFF! oh my MyNess! it was all so incredible. the first time i can remember not feeling the need to fix something. it was PERFECT. our travels took us to gorgeous glen canyon (we 4X4ed over some old golf course), antelope canyon, which was closed, then to navajo national monument, which we didn't feel like discovering, because really i just wanted to get to my beloved Monument Valley. wOw. it was a lot colder than last time...a LOT colder. so next to the fire with guitar and gorgeous starry sky, and when we woke in the morning, it was so cold we couldn't even break down camp (like -8 degrees celcius) so we wandered about the valley...and so delightful sunrise tromping. packed up and headed up the ways to have a yummy navajo bread with breakfast in mexican hat at that sweet little restaurant at the big bend, over the river- you can't miss it! onward to Muley Point. ok- that drive is nearly unbelievable. you HAVE to do it! and out to the end of the road to the point, where we wandered our way down to ..... (to be continued)