I was the luckiest sister in the world earlier this month and was whisked away to
Maho Bay on St. John (USVI). Suffice it to say I had never experienced island life that wasn't Hebridian or Cape Coddish. I'm a convert. I will be there next winter, I guarantee. and I will bring back more yum yums.
The camp where my sister and I stayed
supports artists of all kinds. Glass, ceramic, batik, etc. As if it wasn't enough that I was soaking up the sun and the humidity and the warm sea, I was in crafter heaven as well! I fell in love with glass, and the art of making glass and the mesmerizing process of glass-blowing.
These guys, John and Pete, from New England (my homies!) were better than any TV. I watched them work for hours.
I also brought home lots of their artwork. Supporting fellow crafters, don't you know..
I know! Little glass rings on a leather cord! The coolest necklace ever...
The batik artist wasn't there, but a few scraps of her stuff was for sale in the shop, made from old sails. The colors were so St. John. I had to make something from them right away. So I dug out my tiny sewing kit from my luggage and set about adorning my new hat. It was ecstasy to be working with fabric While I Was On The Beach.
The colors don't show up so well in these photos, but they are so calm and cool and sea and sky-like, it makes me especially happy to put on my hat now that I'm back home in the cold mid-atlantic.
I had whipped up a couple of linen wraps for me and my sister before the trip, big rectangles of fabric, really, to use as sarongs or something to lie on on the beach, or whatever. We used them constantly.
They hung to dry on branches, and looked like prayer flags marking our spot on the beach. I have further plans for them: I think I will decorate them with the left-over batik scraps I got. And then with the left-over leftovers, I want to piece a string of prayer flags. I couldn't get enough of the fabric/Maho Bay combo, obviously.
Ellen, my sister, made me take this shot. A wee scrap, returning whence it came...
Things I can't begin to express in words but must call attention to:
The colors of the caribbean bays.
The flowers.
The softness of the water.
The ease of breath. (Don't even ask me what I mean by this, it's just a real thing.)
The indistinction between outside and inside.
The sound of the gentle surf.
The entire cast of Finding Nemo only a snorkel and mask-length away.
Did I mention that I must go back there?
