St. Thomas Friends and Views

Before we came to St. Thomas I had contacted Tol Burk about the church here. He put me in touch with Hubert, a member and preacher for the church here in St. Thomas. Hubert picked us up on Friday and gave us a tour of the island.

Here are Hubert and Nan with Charlotte Amilee in the background. The arrow just over Nan's shoulder points to the Marriott where we are staying. Our section is actually down the backside of that hill toward the beach.

During Hubert's guided tour his boys got out of school. We went and picked them up and went to the top of the mountain for a look.

Here is Hubert and his two sons. Hubert has very nice, well mannered sons.

Mountain Top looks over Megan's Bay, which is on the North side of the island. You can see from this photo why it is a popular place. This photo is actually taken from Drake's Seat, just a little lower in elevation than Mountain Top. I don't recall seeing a more beautiful place in the Carribbean.

The island in the background is for sale. I believe it is named Thatch Cay. It is only $42 million so if you want to go in with me, we can have our own little place in paradise. Any takers? I was thinking about making a low offer...maybe $100,000??

When we got to Mountain Top a small shower had appeared over the island that Nan and I will purchase. The sun caught it just right and this great looking rainbow appeared. We talked with Hubert's boys about what the rainbow means - that God, when He sees it, remembers the covenant with Noah that He will not destroy the world by flood waters again. Whenever I see a rainbow it is nice to know that my thoughts are similar to God's thoughts as we both remember His covenant. Here is the picture. Now you can meditate on that covenant too.

Here are the soon to be co-owners of Thatch Cay. Are you the other owner?

Saturday evening Nan and I went out to catch the sunset just outside our room. The next several shots where taken during that sunset.

You can ride this sailboat into the sunset if you like.


The moon, Venus and the sunset make a nice end to this update. We're leaving for home tomorrow and look forward to seeing everyone there.

Moose In the Carribean?

We arrived in St. Thomas with nice 84 degree weather. The weather has been great the whole trip with only occasion showers (five minutes or less) during parts of the day. We have taken some pictures we want to share.

Here is the view from a restaurant balcony. This is looking toward Charlotte Amalie, the capital of St. Thomas. You can see the cruise ship docked near town. There were 6 cruise ships in port at one time.


This picture is the view of the ocean from the back of the resort. The water, skies, trees, etc. are all very beautiful.

We had a bit of a problem. We were walking down a hill from the hotel to the section of the hotel where we are staying. All at once a witch jumped out, yelled loudly, cast a spell on Nan and then smoke filled the air. Once the smoke cleared, the witch and Nan were gone. All that was left is what I took a picture of next. It didn't take long before I realized the witch had cast a spell on Nan.

An old man came along and told me that we had been victims of a witch that haunts the resort property. He said that if I wanted my wife back, all I had to do was kiss her. Kiss her? Kiss this? Take a closer look...

To demonstrate just how much I love my wife, here is proof that I did it. I kissed her and yes, she did return to normal. The only thing that seems to be different about her now is that all she wants to eat is salad. Oh, and she does make some strange, grunting sounds every now and then.

We have more to report but I wanted to get this post finished. After all, that's enough for one day! By the way...so far, no moose to be found in St. Thomas. And I'll bet I'm in trouble as soon as Nan reads this one.

No Moose In North Alabama

We spent the New Year's weekend with Joel and Anna. There were no moose to be found .

Joel and I went to Wheeler Refuge to see what sort of water fowl might be wintering there. We got an eye full. There were very few opportunities to take any meaningful pictures. Ducks and geese are generally a long way out from the shore. We did see several hundred, if not more than a thousand, Sandhill Cranes. Here are two shots. The first is a close view of 3 Sandhills.

This picture shows several cranes in flight. Because I was using a zoom lens I could only get a few in the frame compared to the hundreds that were flying overhead.

Here is a furry friend we saw along the way. I'm not certain what sort of squirrel this is. His belly is quite yellowish-orange.


After going through the refuge we ended up in Decatur, Alabama, a place where I lived between ages 6 and 7 or so. I called mom and dad to see how they were doing and told them what street I was on. It turned out that I was only a few blocks from my old house. They gave me the address and we drove by it. Here is a picture.

I have lots of memories from our time at this house. If I am not mistaken, my room was the window on the right. Dad showed me how to cut grass in the front yard and a nut, probably a hickory nut, flew out and hit me in the leg on my second or third attempt to cut a straight row. I believe I quit cutting after that until a few years later. In the back was an alley where I rode my bike. One day I was riding, fell, and cut my head open which required stitches. Come to think of it, it is probably good that we moved from here. I was getting injured all the time!

Finally, I have to show off the dessert tray that Nan prepared for a get together. I thought it was really pretty. The cheesecake around the edge is Nan's mom's speciality. This dessert was gone pretty quickly.

Not sure when the next moose quest will occur. Stay tuned and Happy New Year to all our good friends and family - even to those of you who just happen by.