Chronicles of a Shoemaker's Daughter

.... 10 THINGS THAT MAKE ME SMILE: 1. Puppies - they need you, they love you, they're grateful, they're playful, they are in-the-moment. 2. Rainbows - a miracle of God ... mother nature ... and science 3. The smell of freshly baked bread 4. Babies - what is not to love? They are cute, they smell great, and they need you, love you, & let you love them back 5. Sunny mornings after a day of rain - the entire universe seems cleansed and pure 6. Being with certain friends, after a long absence ... or just seeing them, even if I was just with them yesterday 7. Good food - especially that first bite of a treat or meal that I've been looking forward to, perhaps even salivating in anticipation ... or ... the first bite of something new that is just SO good, I wonder why I've never tried it before! 8. Certain songs or pieces of music 9. Three-year-olds - They are curious, chatterboxes, with keen insights and explanations for just about everything as they explore t

... is how I would describe my all too brief stay in Nevis this year. Photos to follow, but today, I think I will post this text, more as a habit-builder, as I promised I would post an update once a week, Not sure if adding photos later counts as an update ... but there you have it ... the photos are arriving later. When I think of my few days on that little sombrero-shaped island with the crown of clouds that dominates its mountain-peak, all I can think is: Nevis, ah Nevis! How do I love thee? Let me count the ways ... you are the yang to St. Kitts' yin. The calming antidote to the excitement that St. Kitts offers visitors. Pretty, confident, sleepy and serene ... I had secured 2 rooms at Oualie Beach for a 3 night stay in Nevis. The goal was total R&R ... and an opportunity to get to know Nevis a bit better. I ended up checking out a day early so that my friend "Vincent" could spend his last night on St. Kitts before catching his plane back north on

Well, I must say that I have a lot of special memories of each and every day of this recent holiday - involving so many other special places and special folks that may not get mentioned - not because those moments were any less special, but because this day really stands out in my mind right now, as I grapple with a colder than normal early June in Toronto. In case you're wondering, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th photos in this blog are NOT recent, but from 1990! Now, back to 2009 - one week into this trip, the first Saturday was THE day that finally brought things full circle for me ... the day that I truly fell in love with "my special island" all over again. And, finally ... one of my old friends was visiting the island for the first time, one of the people who was part of my circle of friends, 21 years ago when I first went to St. Kitts and moved into the Jack Tar Village for the better part of a year ... Finally, a member of my old Toronto "crew" who never really

Each return trip gives me a new perspective on the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis ... and reveals aspects of the islands that I may have overlooked or simply not had time to process during previous trips. St. Kitts is changing at a much more rapid pace than Nevis, and I was never more aware of this fact than the period between May 9th to May 30th. I was very fortunate this time to spend a full three weeks in the Federation, and frankly, I could have easily stayed another three weeks. My friends in Canada still don't get it. Their loss, but they can't say that I don't offer to share. A friend from Toronto did join me during the first two weeks. Nancy and "Steve-eh??" where also on island at the same time and provided a nice balance .. as well as lots of laughs ... to the dynamics between two platonic, middle-aged, over-worked, opposite-sex travel companions! It was "Vincent's" (not his real name, but this seems to be his adopted Kittitian name

... and it has been a heck of a long wait to get there, with still another 6 weeks, three days left to go! So, how will I justify this one? Well, even though I have experienced major financial ups and downs (mostly downs) this past year, thanks to a friend who presumably needs a vacation more than I do, I have booked another two-week stint in St. Kitts and Nevis. My friend has never been there before and wanted my company as tour-guide and general "partner-in-crime." At one point, it looked like there would be 4 or 5 of us traveling together, but alas, the others couldn't justify the expense this year. Well, neither could I, really, but I have found that when you really want something to happen, you will find a way to make it happen. Last fall I started in earnest trimming a few dollars a week from my regular budget, because I really needed to find a way to fund my vacations while I also figure out a way to re-create my now non-existent retirement fund. I have tried f

Since I posted my first blog under the "Post Cards" banner, lots has happened on my two favourite "Small-Island" Caribbean places, and not all of it good. I have been following another blog for the last six months written by an amazing woman who had gone to St. Kitts as a Peace Corps volunteer. Now, she is not your stereotypical, just-out-of- college, "eager to change the world" PCV though, because she is a mature lady (just like me) with a wealth of life and business experience. I thought, when I first read about her and was "introduced" to her via the travel forums, that the NGO's to which she would be attached to work would be very fortunate to have someone with her depth of experience doing community development work with them. Sadly, the other day, I read that she has resigned from the Peace Corp and has returned to her home in the US. I won't get into her story here, but I share the link to her blog, so that you can read about her j

Well, I thought I would do a "check-in" to bring you up to date on how things are going with managing my "addictions." Alas, I do still spend some time during the wee k on the travel forums. The surgical precision with which I had hoped to move away from needing my travel forum fix, has not quite achieved the result I was aiming for. Lets face it ... it's a cold cruel winter up here right now. Put another way, I am not cut out for the "cold-turkey" approach to quitting ... anything. So, I think I am now aiming for the "Harm reduction" approach, which involves find ing safe ways to deal with addictive or potentially harmful activities. For instance, if you can't quit smoking, replace your strong cigs with a milder brand ... if you are going to drink alcohol, make sure someone else does the driving ... if you are going to have multiple sexual partners, make sure you use condoms .... etc. And if these addictions are getting in the way of l

So, by now you must have figured out that among my many addictions, I am also addicted to a certain couple of tropical islands ... and I'll probably keep penning these little memoirs of past and present events, occurrences and general island nonsense, until I have bored every last person who is reading them! After all, it's my blog and I'll do what I want ... OK, this is where the angels in the backgroud spin that old tune on the turntable, "It's my party, and I'll do what I want, I'll do ...." well, you get the picture. Or the sound, in this case. Be warned, this is a long one ... and I have no pictures to accompany this part of my story. Part II of this particular St. Kitts "so-long-ago-it's-almost-like-it-never-even-happened" saga, was to have been put up here a while ago, but I got side-tracked by autumn activities, cookie-baking, night school and finally the Christmas season. At the start of all this flury of activity, I was readin