Corn Dog
April 30, 2010 Posted by: ERIN
Family Fun in the Sun
April 27, 2010 Posted by: ERIN
Last week I got to play 'tour guide extraordinaire' for my parents and my Uncle Terry's family. They were all on their spring break and came to San Salvador to escape the chill and occasional snow that always seems to persist in upstate New York this time of year.
My parents arrived early in the week, and to be honest, with this being their third trip down I was starting to worry that I'd run out of new and exciting thigs to show them. But this year, the weather cooperated in ways it hadn't during their previous visits, and we were able to do a whole lot more snorkeling and swimming. We even had the most beautifully calm day at French Bay, which is generally considered to be the best snorkeling spot on the island, but is notorious for begin too rough to actually get in the water. Parrotfish, trunkfish, lobster, blue tang, trumpet fish, and a whole school of jacks ... it was spectacular.
Then mid-week, after spending a few nights on Paradise Island in Nassau, Terry, Roxann, Patrick, Timothy, and Nick flew out to join us. I was concerned that our little island might not hold a candle to the glitz and glam of Atlantis, but after a few days on our gorgeous, relaxed, deserted shores Terry announced that THIS was their idea of a "paradise island". Of course, I couldn't agree more.
Tom and I tried to show them the very best that San Sal has to offer: Monument Beach, North Point, Dixon Hill Lighthouse, Grotto Beach. We fed them conch fritters and guava duff. We also went on hermit crab hunts in the bush and spelunked in Lighhouse Cave (Roxann was a real trooper when the bats decided to say hello!). Tim took to snorkeling like a fish, Nick had to be dragged from the sea, and Patrick kicked some serious butt at scat. And Tom had plenty of fun roughing up the boys during long afternoons of football in the surf.
Oh, and I also tried to get plenty of photos of Uncle Terry doing goofy things. Enjoy!
51 Years Later
April 11, 2010 Posted by: ERIN
Several months ago the field station was professionally surveyed, which involved clearing a fair bit of overgrown land along the property lines and back near the water catchment basin. Considering how the vegetation here in the subtropics is very dense, it wasn't surprising that the backhoe revealed some long forgotten items ... heaps of old Navy equipment, an ammunition bunker, miles of rusting barbed-wire fence. But by far the most interesting thing uncovered was a concrete slab at the very edge of the catchment.
Christened "The Slab of Fame" by its makers, it contains what I assume are the signatures of the men who poured the concrete for the catchment basin. Now we're talking several acres of concrete, poured in the hot summer sun. I'd want to put my name on the darn thing when it was done too. But what I think is really neat is that this is exactly what anyone who has ever written their name in wet cement hopes for. Fifty years in the future someone sees your name and wonders about who you were and what your life was like in that time and place. It's sort of like claiming your spot in history. So let me introduce you:
First there was Wayne O'Neal. He was kind enough to include the date: August 3, 1959.
Jack Coleman also included the date, but then went on to let us know that he hailed from the great state of Massachusetts.
Next was Mr. Hughes, but you can call him Whitey.
Then came J.J. Fletcher, who certainly loved his hometown of Trenton, New Jersey.
Followed by J.D. Lecik ... a man of few words.
And next came Wooby Guenther of New York. Was "Wooby" a common name in the 1950s? Including his handprint was certainly a unique touch.
Sadly, there were also a few places where the concrete has cracked and worn away over time, obscuring the additional names.
But I've saved my most favorite for last ...
A beloved Potcake for sure, Furious The Mutt must have been the crew's mascot. Who knows why he was so angry, but the guys even included his paw prints!
I thought it would be fun to try to contact these men. Let them know I found their names and that their labor is still being appreciated after all these years. But I tried googling all the name and place combinations and wasn't able to come with anything to connect them with San Salvador or the U.S. Navy. So instead, I'll just say it here:
Thank you for all your hard work, guys! The catchment basin you toiled away on still provides water for over 1200 thirsty people a year. I hope you enjoyed your time on San Salvador, and although you left the island long ago, you haven't been forgotten.
Bluebottles
April 8, 2010 Posted by: ERIN
We've noticed a whole bunch of these pretty, puffy creatures washed up on the beach lately, and after a little internet research I discovered that they are Portuguese Man 'o War, also called Bluebottle Man 'o War.
They can give swimmers a nasty sting, but luckily we haven't encountered any in the water yet. And once they wash up on shore, they're easy to avoid.
Zipper did manage to eat one before I could get it away from him, although I don't think he would recommend it. He promptly vomited.
Redneck Mulch
April 7, 2010 Posted by: TOM
Erin has been closing down some of her gardens for the year (she has been gardening 8 months) as we start to move into some of the hotter months. For the larger beds this basically consists of pulling the plants, weeding, and covering the soil with mulch of some kind (leaves or grass). We don't have a small leaf mulcher yet (one is on the way) and our small mower capable of bagging is on loan.
So in order to create mulch I raked up some leaves--conveniently many of our trees are experiencing "fall" right now--and placed them into a 55 gallon drum with the top cut off.
I then started up the weedwacker, stuck it inside the drum, and created a mix of fine to coarsely chopped leaf mulch for Erin. Not the best method, but it worked.
I'm sure my Dad, who on more than one occasion sped up a charcoal fire with a leaf blower, would be very proud of my improvised use of lawn equipment.
The Potcake Mobile
April 6, 2010 Posted by: ERIN
