The Return

My last night in St. Kitts was somewhat low-key even though we had a little bash via slab party. That strange gorilla-in-the-mist effect was still going on, with this white smog that's been hanging over the island for weeks (according to Accuweather it is Saharan dust, but I don't agree - it isn't pink, there is no pink residue, there are no spectacular sunsets).



Then it was up at 5am and off to the airport by 6. There was a little drama at the gate when a very drunk student (again, it was 7am) was determined to smoke in the airport, on the tarmac, on the plane, etc. Security, the pilots, and just about every airport employee talked to the guy before deciding he was too drunk to fly. Thank you.

Goodbye St. Kitts. Sniffle.

The colors throughout the Bahamas were pretty cool as we flew over. Very artistic.

It reminded me
of how weird it was to sail around the many-island chain. Out of nowhere, the water would get shallower and up ahead would be a sand spit. You could anchor and dinghy up to it and stand on this sliver of sand, surrounded by nothing but blue and green sea. When you sailed back the way you came, the spit would be gone - as if it had never been there.

Ah, the memories...And then we were over Miami.

I was slowly losing my St. Kitts' zen. Once in the airport, it took exactly one full hour to get through immigration and customs and get out to the curb (I didn't have any checked luggage and anyone who had a connecting flight had to go through the same process I did). Michael swept me up in the rental car and off we went to sit in traffic...and more traffic...and more traffic. Zen slipping....Once back on Key West, the rental's thermostat read 98 degrees. Oy. When I walked through the front door to the apartment, the cats booked it outside onto the patio and acted like they'd never seen me before. Sigh. I will say that once I went out and talked to them, recognition set in, and all was back to normal. But whew, I was scared for a moment there! And just like that, it's like I never left. Sort of. I can't remember the t.v. channel numbers and don't know what direction to look for traffic. The pizza from The Cafe was as I remembered though. When all else fails, eat.