Hiatus & Blog Improvements: Your Input Sought!

Greetings, my Better Lifers!  I hope you are enjoying each and every day.

My days have been a flurry of Discovery Day celebrations, family visits to the island, my Stateside visit and requisite errands, upcoming friend visits to the island and more.  

In addition to the usual "island busy,"  I've also been working more on freelance writing projects and having fun developing some exciting possibilities in that arena.  As part of upgrading my focus on writing projects, and after 8 delightful months of blogging with you all, I want to make some improvements to this blog as well.

So . . . please excuse me while the blog goes on a temporary hiatus.  During this time, I will be transferring it to a different host, reformatting, making it more user-friendly to newcomers trying to wade through the many posts, addressing other technical details and generally retooling it to better serve you and to open us to broader possibilities in the future.  I'm very excited about this!

Plus, don't worry, we won't be disconnected during this period!  I'll still be available to you on Facebook, Twitter and email.  Especially on Facebook, we have a nice Better Life community developing, and it will be fun to have some group discussions there.

Moreover, I would REALLY LOVE to hear from each and every one of you with your feedback to the blog so far:  What do you like about it?  What bores you or turns you off?  What would you like to see more of?  Do you follow the blog because you like island details, or because you daydream about your own career/geographic change, or because you enjoy the inspirational/Better Life philosophy, or to keep up with me personally, or . . . ?  

Truly, my goal is to tailor this blog to you while remaining true to my own Better Life and writings.  Please share your thoughts with me and the Better Life community by posting a comment to our Facebook page.  If you prefer a more private medium, please offer your feedback, comments and suggestions to me by email at choosingthebetterlife@gmail.com

Thank you in advance for your comments!  I'll post status updates to Facebook and will look forward to talking to you all soon.  Meanwhile, take care, smile and have a great few weeks!

Fragments of a Thursday: Golf Carts, Dogs and Aloe

G'day, Better Lifers!  I'm having a delightful Thursday and thought I'd share some of it with you.  This isn't a comprehensive view of the day, but is a glimpse into some of the little snippets that are blending together to bring me joy today.

First of all, this post is a labor of love because my rapid typing skills are on a major slow-down today.  I cut my index finger, and it remains sore on the typing tip.  BUT, what led to the cut is most excellent - I was cleaning Beau's new golf cart!  Yup, Beau got a new-to-us used golf cart that I'll be able to drive in lieu of the extremely temperamental and mostly brakeless 15-year-old one I've been using!  The golf cart was shipped from Florida, so I had to wash it down really well to make sure no saltwater splash residue remained - the salt is so corrosive.  Anyway, it's well worth a temporarily sore finger.

This is how I ride.

Today is a delightful, blustery day on the island.  We're enjoying the clouds and breeze and respite from late summer heat.  With the various clouds rolling around, we've enjoyed particularly spectacular sunsets and sunrises lately.  I was still sleepily nursing my coffee during this morning's brilliant displays of reds and purples, but here is a glimpse at one of our sunsets earlier this week.

View from the back deck with a glass of sunset wine.

I'm pleased to report that Angel is healthy and happy after her recent near-death experience.  (Now that she's safe, I find myself entertained by such exaggerations.)

The only residual effect is that my lick-at-everything dog proceeded to pick the shaved area of her arm until it was red and raw.  Sigh.  In order to keep her off of it, Angel has been relegated to the green cone.

My little conehead.

While telling my neighbor and friend how pathetic she looks in this cone, he made a brilliant suggestion - put aloe on her leg!  Apparently, dogs don't like the taste, so it will keep her from licking the area.  Plus, of course, aloe has good healing properties.

So, with a pair of scissors in hand, I marched to the aloe plant in my front yard and took a little snip.

Bush medicine.

Curious as to how it tasted myself, I flicked my tongue across the cut end - blech!  Bitter.  Terrible, lingering aftertaste.  Don't let curiosity get the best of you.  Trust my neighbor.  Trust me.  It tastes bad.

After a few swigs of coffee to cleanse my palate, I squeezed the aloe and applied it to the sore spot on Angel's leg.  A sniff.  A lick.  No more.  Voila!

Meanwhile, it was time to turn my attention to Milo.  After disappearing for a few days to roam and play with the other island dogs (eating by Brooks' cousin and generous others, I suspect), he has returned home.  But before he is allowed entry . . . bath time!

Drying on the deck.

Perhaps the most exciting part of my morning was the long overdue set-up of my little office area!  For the past year and a half, I've been using my laptop, usually at the kitchen counter with a variety of papers spread around.

But, from my former life in the States with a big home office, I still had one unpacked box of goodies - all the makings for a desktop setup.  Huge monitor, keyboard, wireless mouse, battery backup, external hard drive, etc.  After laying it all out, I realized that my tech-challenged self had forgotten how it all went back together.  This, despite my Type-A post-it notes on most of the components!

So I arranged a remote service call with my favorite techie - my brother.  We made a Skype date, and I proceeded to show him all the stuff, and he talked me through how to put it all together.  I think I mostly remembered after all, but it was good to have "professional" back-up, and it's always a delight to talk to my brother.

So, now I'm ready!  Having gotten my home in order, so to speak, I'm mentally ready and inspired to focus more on my writing.  It feels fun and exciting to me!

My new "office" enjoys plenty of light and an ocean view.

Since the glare in the above photo prevents you from seeing outside, I'll give you a more direct picture of my view - the very best part of this office!

Ahhhhhh.

I mean, how can I not write my little heart out in this setting?!

I had just sat down at my new set-up to email my friend and thank him for his brilliant aloe suggestion when I realized - oh no - Angel is licking her leg!  I grabbed the aloe to reapply a fresh patch.  No matter.  My always-hungry-will-eat-anything-and-everything dog apparently acclimated herself to the bitter taste and was calmly licking away.  Sigh.  Back to the cone!

But it's not all bad.  Angel in the cone provides endless chuckles for me and Beau, and she is fairly comfortable in it.

Napping, for example.

And on high alert, per usual, when anyone has food nearby.



I recognize this is a very random smattering of disjointed tidbits from my day.  But all of these little pleasures add up to one giant Better Life!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my own wonderful mother (and grandmother and aunts and cousins and mommy friends)!  

In honor of my mother, I am breaking my usual weekend silence on the blog to wish her and all of the Better Life mamas a wonderful Mother's Day.  You mothers do so very much for your children and families, and you deserve to be celebrated!

To my own mother, thank you for your unconditional love, ever-ready smile, intuition, comforting hugs, steadfast support, exuberant enthusiasm, patience, understanding, playfulness, wisdom, beauty, life lessons, address-sharing, island errands and grandpuppy-sitting!  You're my number one cheerleader, and I love you so very much.

My mother relaxing with her grandpuppy, Angel, during a recent island visit.

 Happy Mother's Day!

Regatta Farewell

Dearest Readers, consider this my TEMPORARY farewell.  Regatta fever continues.  Now my adrenalin is really racing as we are about to set sail!  Literally.  We are leaving on a friend’s sailboat and leisurely headed down to the Regatta.  (My family is visiting and taking care of the house and Angel, and I’ll be delighted to spend more time together upon my return.)

I won’t bother taking my computer with me, and I don’t have any mobile gadgets other than a very basic cell phone.  Upon leaving the States, I gave up the old Blackberry!  While Bahamians also have all the latest iphones, ipads, etc., part of my Better Life is controlling myself against the lure of constant-internet-everything.  So, while I’d love to update you periodically from the middle of it all, I will remain unplugged and “in the moment” and just enjoy it!  Of course, I’ll be snapping photos like crazy and will fill you in upon my return.  Since I’m going to be unplugged, any new comments you make won’t post until my return.  Thank you for your patience, and I’ll certainly respond then.

Have a wonderful couple of weeks and I’ll talk to you early May!  Hugs and Better Life blessings to each of you!

Fishing Trip, Without The Fish

Ahhh, the Better Life!  It's all a state of mind.  I mean, here I am, in the most beautiful, pristine, idyllic setting one could wish for, and I STILL get caught up in a frantic flurry of the almighty Things To Do.  On a typical day this week, for example, I started my day at 6:30 a.m. per usual.  It quickly turned into a day of blog posting, social media responses, catching up on overnight email, starting laundry, walking the dog, hanging laundry to dry, mopping the floor, cleaning the bathroom, paying bills online, making lunch, visiting with my beau over lunch, drafting documents and conducting email flurry for local summer children's camp that I help organize, switching laundry off the line to dry, phone calls from family, prepping dinner, etc., etc.

I still had hoped to catch an early shower (never knowing when the water might go off) and run one last errand before closing down for dinner and the evening.  That hadn't happened yet, and it was already after 4:00.  Then, the phone rang.

It was my beau calling.  Generally, he starts his day in the wee hours of the morn and wraps up official work late afternoon/early evening, spending the next few hours catching up on other work, running errands, enjoying happy hour (me too!) or whatever.  That day, he announced he was going fishing!  But it sounded like I was too busy to join him?

Hah!  In all of two seconds, I reminded myself - WHY do you live here?  To sit longer in front of a computer?  What did you leave your former life for?  To continue working too much at the expense of missing out on living life?  NO, to all of that.  YES, to let's go fishing!

I grabbed my sunglasses, visor, cold drinks and hit the road in my golf cart towards the dock.  The next hour and a half was absolutely worth it.  We didn't catch a single fish, but I had a great and relaxing end of day!  

Wanna experience it again with me?

First, we pull out from the dock, easing through the shallow and crystal clear channel area.

We cruise by the government dock, where people were cleaning fish at the bench, admiring one of the local sailboats floating and ready for an upcoming regatta, and generally unwinding from the day together.

Nearing the sailboat (more on these boats and the regatta soon) and the picturesque church.

Having completed our shoreline stroll, we zoom away from the island.  Heading north for a few miles, we stay on the western, protected, calmer side.

Waverunners and water toys are common during the busy tourist season.  Locals aren't thrilled about them buzzing about, but - as we say around here - what it is, is what it is.

Plentiful boats in the area this time of year.

Look at this big momma anchored far out.  At a distance, guessing it's 240+ feet, one big cruising yacht!  We're seeing more of these this season.  Speculation is that the super-wealthy, who would normally cruise to Europe and the Mediterranean are saving on fuel costs by staying more local in the Caribbean!

Zipping along through the numerous little cays dotting the area.

One of many deserted beaches popping out of the rock by the sea, with soft, white sand.

Approaching the "cut" over to the deep, rougher "ocean side" on the eastern side of the island chain.

About to go through the cut.  Some days, it can look deceptively calm, but still surprise you, so a good captain is always alert.  One day, going through this same cut on a calm, clear day, we were suddenly swamped by a 15+ foot wave.  Fortunately, nobody was hurt (more than some pretty severe bangs) or thrown overboard.  I was holding onto a rail with both hands and crouched low, just focused on staying with the boat.  Definitely the roughest seas I'd been in.  Scary.  So glad an experienced captain was handling the boat!

Crossing the cut, waves slap and splash, but it is relatively uneventful as we venture into deeper, ocean waters.  We've gone from clear, pale blue and turquoise green waters into deeper royal blue waters, which will turn to navy blue as we head out even deeper.

Heading east, away from land into nothingness as the sun sparkles and slowly lowers itself for the day.

At this point, we're about a mile from land and in 1,000+ feet of water.

Now the fun kicks into a new level!  My beau sets two reels with bait (ballyhoo) and casts them into the water before resting them on either side of the boat's stern.  We're fishing for dolphin, as in mahi-mahi, not Flipper.  I was at the wheel and throttle at this point, which is why you are not graced with pictures of the line-baiting, etc.  :)   

We troll along for an hour, heading another mile out with almost nothing in sight except a distant peek of land, a sprinkle of boats in the distance and an occasional passing plane.  As we putter along, I breathe easy, cold drink in hand, munching on cashews, Best of the Eagles playing on the boat's stereo, sun warming the soul.  My beau, when he is not regaling clients and friends with entertaining stories, is a man of few words, and we sit in comfortable silence, taking in the peace of Mother Ocean together.

Eventually, we head south, towards a cut closer to home.  We pull in the empty reels.  Although we didn't catch anything, that is secondary to the bliss of getting out on the water.  Fish aren't running quite yet, but we don't care this day!

We dock the boat, where I mange to tie a hitch that is deemed "perfect," and we put the boat away.  I head home and fix dinner while the sun finishes setting off the back deck.  Less than two hours ago, I was feeling the press of the day.  Now, I am at peace.

I hope you can find little bits of that in your day, too.  Have a great weekend!

Weekend Unplugged

Dear Readers, I hope you've been having a wonderful, Better-Life kind of week!  I definitely have.  I've been relishing being back home:  nesting, organizing closets, cooking, laundry, catching up on my "lists," seeing friends, eating fish and lobster (lobster season is now closed but people keep some frozen to have on hand), boat rides, fishing (nothing caught, but still fun), snuggle time with Angel, planning some summer activities with the local kids, working on freelance writing project proposals, enjoying the night's bright sky as the moon nears full, going for walks and so much more good island living!

The morning seems abuzz with extra excitement today - boats racing back and forth among the islands carrying people to work, golf carts and trucks rumbling along the roads.  After today's work day, the holiday commences.  Most people will be off-work tomorrow and Monday for the Easter holiday.  Everyone seems to be looking forward to a long weekend.

That includes me!  I plan to celebrate by . . . unplugging from the computer!  I know I've mentioned here before that I try to keep some boundaries with the computer - primarily on evenings and weekends - to preserve the simple island life and not get overly sucked into the internet at all hours.  I haven't been as disciplined lately because I'm having so much fun blogging with you and connecting with interesting folks on Facebook and Twitter about the Better Life.  But, for this weekend, it's back to basics!

So, as of this afternoon, I'm going to sign off until early next week.  I encourage you to do (somewhat of) the same and enjoy the simple pleasures of your lives - time with significant others, children, family; reading a good book; going for a walk; getting together with friends you may not have had time for lately; spending some time celebrating the holiday in church/synagogue or in quiet meditation by yourself in a peaceful setting.  Happy Easter, have a good Passover, enjoy your long weekend and keep Choosing the Better Life every day for yourself!

Happy holiday weekend!

TGIF and Thank you!

Good morning and welcome to your Friday!  Although I no longer groan "TGIF" with a heavy sigh of relief, Fridays still mean the end of the work week to me, so I still enjoy the particular lightness of weekends.  Weekends are when I might actually sit down with a book in the middle of the day.  Weekends are certainly prime time for fishing/snorkeling/diving excursions, visits to other islands to see friends and more social time with the islanders who have been working all week.  

I usually keep distance from my computer on the weekends, too.  I'm sure I'll be tempted to pop online more, now that I'm enjoying this blog and interacting with y'all so much.  BUT, part of choosing the better life means - for me - sticking to some of those boundaries that end up keeping life simple and a little more carefree.  So, if you write or post comments and don't hear from me right away during the evenings or weekends, please don't take it personally!  I'll respond to each and every one of you as soon as I'm back on.

I can't tell you how much your comments, follows, subscriptions, etc. are meaning to me.  Thank you for making my anniversary and blog launch such a delightfully fun day!  I'm glad we're in this adventure together!