Silver Skies

We've had some really weird skies since I've been here. The forecast keeps referring to "dust" in the air, and I'm wondering where that's come from. It's not the pink Saharan dust that blows over during hurricane season, settling on our stuff, giving us spectacular sunsets, and protecting us from hurricanes (by drying them out a bit) or the black ash from Montserrat's volcano. It's white, and this morning it looked like the moon was coming up instead of the sun. We have no sunsets at all (well, the sun sets, but you know what I mean).

It does make for some really pretty pictures though (almost like they're black and white).



Betsy's energy level and stamina have really improved in the past week. Here she comes!

We had another lovely walk until we ran into this. No pictures could do justice to how terrifying this dog was, but I was too busy trying not to sh** my pants to take one as it was charging us. The other day when we walked past, the dog barked but was safely tied up. This time he came barreling at us, fangs bared, slobber flying, chest muscles bulging. Holy crap! Betsy and I both backed up into the water and walked sideways away from the thing, and I wondered if Betsy would save me if Cujo got me first or vice versa. He seemed to have a line drawn in the sand and stopped short, but it was still unnerving. We will be turning back before we reach this house from now on.

Having survived that, I then proceeded to have a bad hair day. This is why
I've had my hair in a ponytail every day. Sheesh.

Notice my shirt is inside out? Me neither until hours later. $%*!

Yesterday I met up with my pal Pat, and we got lunch from a very nice Rasta guy (Yayah Fari) selling vegetarian food along the bypass road (Ital Creations). He had just set up shop when we left the island, and I had really wanted to try him out. He has a different special every day, and I tried the breadfruit pie, salad, and provisions. Pat had a veggie burger (and not the kind you get in the grocery store). It was very tasty and priced well. He only had one drink that day, some kind of green juice made of grass and lemon - it grew on me and tasted good when I burped later. If we come back to the island, I plan to ask him to cook us up some stuff a few days/week. He could do it cheaper than us (he has his own organic farm) and with more imagination. You can wander around the grounds, but I forgot.



Then we took a drive up to Caribelle Batik for a quick shopping trip (just the way I like them).



We had a nice low-key day, and when I got back, Flush ran up to me with all kinds of sticky burr-type things caught in her fur. The two of us plucked them out until she was as good as new. Why do all cats do this? At one point she was on my keyboard, passed out like a photo I posted years ago. I couldn't take a picture because the computer had been on my lap, and I was stuck until her nap was over about a 1/2 hour later. No problem.

While TS Andrea swirls off the shore of Key West & the Gulf, keeping them damp and dreary, Crown Weather is suggesting a wet system is headed our way by the end of this weekend. We had planned a picnic on Sunday, so I hope it goes north of us. And the ground has been shaking a lot lately too. Most earthquakes have been around Antigua, although felt here. This one was much closer and yet no one, including me, seemed to feel it.