Cold, cold, cold (written Jan 17)

Thursday morning I awoke to orange sunrise and lay awake while the sky lightened and the breeze caressed my skin. Breakfast was scrambled eggs (with reconstituted mushrooms, chopped onions, Swiss cheese, and chopped whelks (they look like moon snails: USVI whelks....). An outdoor shower with unheated water felt chilly and wonderful....

Friday morning I woke under heavy, warm blankets in a big, soft bed in a heated house on Cape Cod, crunchy snow on the ground, the mercury headed for single digits in the next day. Ice is building up on the shore of the Mill Pond.

Layer upon layer of clothing definitely makes sense..... a big change from “OK, if I AM going to wear a shirt at least I can soak it in water beforehand.”

I loved the last week on St John, catching my first jacks and foraging for whelks with Cynthia, experimenting with all sorts of food combinations I have not previously tried.... and look forward to her next visit. We even discovered that, while the germ of a coconut is tasty, a coconut sprout is inedible, even if only 1” long.
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So, what next? Good question. I'll be spending a couple weeks up here on Cape Cod, then back to the islands with a whole renewed appreciation of the warmth and softness of the air, the delight of sailing comfortably year-round, the laid-back lifestyle. I expect to be up here more often, too, despite the cold... you see, there's this gal...