wings with teeth.

We are settling in, the home is starting to feel like such, especially now that we don't have bed bugs. YES. I. SAID. BED. BUGS. 

I've been down here more than a handful of times, you'd think I'd be able to diagnose a "no-see-um" or "wings with teeth" or "sand fly, flee, or the most annoying thing known to seaside since pirates" bite, but no... I thought for sure that we had bed bugs, after a Saturday morning with the exterminator, Lionel, ripping apart our entire bedroom, we know now, that we (like everyone) are getting eaten by no-see-ums. Luckily, I have some oil that keeps them at bay. They are relentless, apparently, they like fresh meat, and my sweet little girl is a delicacy. 

We have a car.  WE HAVE A CAR!!! In and of it self- a huge win. After handing it off to a stranger on the side of the highway in Miami to load onto a eighteen wheeler, and trusting that someone we have never met will ship it over to an island, Jason picked it up yesterday unharmed. We returned the rental and basked in our win by having dinner at a little place that buys from local farmers. The best pork chop we've ever eaten, and Scarlett fed popcorn to the fish oceanside. A crab can catch popcorn out of the air. We also saw a barracuda that was at least my height end to end. Scarlett was not frightened in the least, but see an ant on the sidewalk, well, that is a different story, maybe that is a lesson for us all, it is the little unseen that is freaky, not the big barracuda sauntering by that freaks us all out. The "wings with teeth" that eats away at our happiness. 

We had our new neighbor over for wine and dinner, she is lovely, and full of experience and advice. We sat our on the deck looking over the ocean, ate Jason's kabobs, while listening to The Lake Street Dive, and it felt like home. Friends, old or new, make homes. Stef, my dearest, comes in 10 days. I cannot wait to show her "my place", The Virgin Islands, the drum I've been beating for the decade we've been friends. 10 days until I can say "See!". 

We got the pool light fixed. Irvin, the REAL pool guy, pieced together a pool light out of nothing, he was as happy as I was, and proud of his work. There is a real pleasing mindset here. Things don't happen fast, but the job seems to be done with a quality here, with a drive to make you happy. Example, Jason is now a "regular" at the Kmart restaurant. That is funny enough, but my prince took me there for lunch, and I gotta be honest, the food is fantastic, and the "chef" wants to be told and often how wonderful her food is, she just beams. You can tell that her heart is in her work.   

Scarlett swam last night for the first time. Night swimming, I mean really, there is nothing better! 

Anyone who knows me well knows that my main concern is food. Everyone here thinks the food is expensive as hell, I guess, thanks to Whole foods, I think it is fairly reasonable. Seems to me that there is a lot of options, not all organic, but hey, it is far better than expected. This week I am going to try to plant some herbs and find these farmers markets that I keep seeing homemade signs for. Booze is half. We'll likely come out ahead in the end, unless we just drink twice as much, win/win. 

Iguanas are weird. One flopped onto our deck this week, yes, "flopped", they are the least graceful creatures I've ever seen, and I have a toddler. It sounded like a drunk bull running down a brick road.THEY CAN RUN FAST, how? I really couldn't say, their legs look like pancake batter mixers that have a tooth missing. They haul ass where ever they are going, only to sit there and look funny. I guess they probably write the same thing about me.  Islandiguana.com? 

This week our family had a loss, this is the hard part, where I can't just hop in the car and put my arms around the loved one that needs it. A phone call is just not the same. As I look out on the ocean and think of all that happens to all of us in this world, I think about how connected we all are, how no matter miles, circumstances, or sickness, we are all in this together. It made me miss my family more than usual. 

This weekend we are going to attempt to ferry our car over to St John for the day, to explore that fantastic place.