I confess to having a wee bit o' social anxiety...



thus, was nervous about attending beach bash with 50 people, and gulped a one-half mg. Lorazepam before heading out.



spent the first 2 hours nursing two (count 'em Gazzy!) two beers... and hanging out with the lady and her daughter who were handling the barbecue (pork ribs and chicken leg quarters), petting the dogs, and examining the house my friends designed (stunning !!)

I had some difficulty managing the stairs, and I guess it was noticed, and commented upon... between the hostess and her next-door neighbor.

thereafter, a lovely man (the neighbor) introduced himself, and mentioned that he had MS, and was doing the same thing as me, moving to paradise to live mostly medication- and stress-free in a cottage on this 25 mile long, 1 mile wide island on the barrier reef... an idyllic and carefree existence...

turns out he's a hairdresser, and when he heard my MS-story (numb, bitten by fire ants, couldn't braid hair due to swollen hands, so CHOPPED it all off raggedly) he volunteered to repair my botch-job.

after that, our dinner table consisted of the local newspaper publisher, editor, and a couple of reporters, and a rousing discussion of local politics and gossip, and I turned out to NOT be shy at all, because I enjoyed the people and the topics under dissection...



and since I'm basically YETI-incarnate, my friends volunteered to shave my legs, so I could appear in public on the beach, without terrifying the residents.

since I hadn't brought my swimsuit (not expecting to swim), one was loaned, and there you have it... my extreme beach makeover!

my friends loaned me some scuba neoprene boots, so I could safely navigate the turtle grass and jellyfish (numbness, coral, and man o'war stings don't mix well!) and sunblock SPF-50, and whoopeeee!

we swam for hours in front of the former Prime Minister's beach place (boarded up for hurricane season and deserted) and collected polished tropical beach debris (seeds and shells), after coating our calves and feet with baby oil to block the sand flies from biting.

there's few cars on the island, most everyone gets around in golf carts and on bicycles, giving the place a really exotic feel... the little stores are quaint, and the people eccentric and fascinating.

also, since everyone SEES each other all the time, in order to all live together, there's a high degree of comradeship and friendliness between the locals.... the island has about 15 thousand residents, and since hurricane season is well underway, it was tough finding a restaurant that was OPEN.

I had a delicious meal of snapper in a white sauce, with fresh steamed spinach and linguini... and a salt-crusted margarita (on the rocks, not blenderized)

tarpon were gathered, as they know the filletting scraps are tossed at the end of the evening.

my hubby and friends were blase' about the whole deal, but not me!

I went out on the dock, and knelt there, handing tails and fins to these GIANT tarpon, who have become accustomed to being hand-fed...

their teeth are like sandpaper, (not like pirhannas or anything!), and it was fun to hold a piece out, and wait for a fish (nearly as big as ME!) to swim alongside, and snatch the delicacy out of my hand.

yes, I got splashed, and soaked, while my companions were busy discussing politics and conspiracy theories avidly, back at the candle-lit, linen-covered table perched over the water.

at 4 the next morning, we arose, and walked to the beach - since the island's only a mile wide, you can go to the beach for sunrise, and the OTHER beach for sunset!

we watched the sun come up, and the colors change, from midnight blue, to aqua, to peach, to mauve, to pink-tinged orange... simply breathtaking.

since tourist season is over, we had a little beach house for only $30 bucks a night, fully furnished and equipped, even air-conditioned... surrounded by palm trees, mangroves, and flowering tropical bushes (bougainvillea, hibiscus, etc.)

joy-of-joys, my friend owns a bookstore on the island, and I came home with several new treasures to read...

oh, and they were THRILLED by our gifts (dried fruits, homemade jams, fresh greens, and most especially, fresh organic eggs... things hard to come by, or hideously expensive to import.

so, EVERYBODY was happy, except my hubby, who got some sort of nappy-rash (AMN, that's Brit-speak for diaper-area troubles) so, I've tended and ointmented him, and parked him under the fan (with orders to stay put for an hour), mostly so I could use his computer (ha ha ha!) as mine is still DOA, in pieces on the kitchen table.

here's where I went, if you're not totally bored of the subject by now:

http://ambergriscaye.com/pages/town/island.html