Saturday, September 4, 2010

Sept. 4, 2010

barr-a-cuda!!

meet melvin
he lives down the road from us
and he is our roatan resident wood carver
you can see his work in many restaurants, on people deck's
or in front of shops
we are happy to have melvin's carvings in the
'made in roatan' shop

he uses driftwood from the sea 
and has a really funky unique style.
he just puts his carvings out in front of his house
and within days they are usually gone.

so i saw this barracuda last night and decided
today to take a walk down the road to get a photo
as soon as he saw me he laughed and said,
'debi, i make this guy because he is the big one that scared your son so bad!'

yes there is a huge barracuda that lives out front of our place
and one day mattie was snorkeling alone and mr. meany pants
(my nickname for the barracuda)
wouldn't let matt pass
and kept showing up in front of him

pretty scary.
so here you go mattie
melvin made this for you.
if i didn't hate barracuda so much i would buy it 
and put it on the back deck
but they are my least favorite sea creature.
so i decided to take  a photo instead.

here are a couple more of melvins carvings:

someone on the beach commissioned melvin to make this. the fins are hand carved.  i like it
as i walked up to this i thought, is that mermaid nursing a dolphin???  melvin looked at me and smiled and said, that mermaid is giving to the dolphin.. see she is nursing him.. the mother of the sea...ummm.. okay melvin.  :-)

this is a picture of his little workshop and how he displays his stuff by the road

at one point while we talking about life together he looked at me and said
'we need to lay everything at the feet of the Master
that is the secret to a happy life"

wise words melvin
very wise words.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Sept. 3, 2010

happy friday!

i rise and shine early 
usually getting up around 5:30 am
i looked out the window at around 5:50
and saw the most beautiful colored clouds poking over the tops of the trees
in the yard

i decided
to go down to the beach to get a better view
i didn't even get dressed just saundered down in my pj's
i didn't think there would be too much traffic on the beach
and i was right.

did you know that the cars actually drive on some of the local beaches here?
of course you don't know that!
:-)
no one drives on the big resort beaches but on the local beaches
it is very common to see taxis, buses and even motorcycles roaring down the beach!
but this morning,
not a soul
what a morning it was!
a nice way to start a friday

we went to the shop today 
but it was so s.l.o.w.
hardly anyone in and  hardly any sales!

 i went to the market to give money
to pedro's son
(pedro is the man who has jewelry in the shop and just recently died.)
i was happy to be able to meet his wife, wilma
i had a good chat with her giving her my condolences 
and bob  decided that it would be good to take her
to the grocery store to buy some groceries for her family after the cruise ship left
so we did!

we are so thankful for our canadian friends
who send us money for emergency situations such a this.
thank you 
thank you
thank you
a million thank you's

and believe me,
she was incredibly grateful
to the point of tears

 

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Sept. 2, 2010

don't be afraid

i spied this guy on the deck and ran to get my camera
because he was totally brown with black markings
i rarely see them that color

but by the time i got my camera and chased him around
he went back to his olive green color and soon 
this head had changed from light green to brilliant blue.
i kept saying to him
'don't be afraid'
but he wouldn't let me near him
finally i managed to get within inches of him to get this
(didn't use zoom)
such a beautiful creature!
the detail blows me away!

today was such a lovely day here
a slight breeze is blowing 
and it is so refreshing

i had a nice visit with laura and sebastian this morning
so good to catch up
we had lunch here together
i thank God for friends like her
i wanted to take a photo of laura but she wouldn't have it
so here is a photo of sebastian,
the sweetest baby ever!






Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Sept. 1, 2010

practice makes perfect

today while i was puttering around the house
i kept hearing drumming 
over and over and over and over and over
again

i love drums
i tried to play them when i was a teenager but my rhythm isn't great
so i decided to head down the back walkway to the beach
and over to the public school to see what all the racket 
(i mean music was all about!)

as it turns out these boys are practicing for a parade
they will be in for independence day
on sept. 14 
(one day earlier.. why?  who knows!)

they were quite ackward when the gringa showed up and
mosied into their practice area and started taking photos
i would have stayed longer but i could see i was making them
nervous and truly they needed the practice!  :-)

yes i am going to be out on the road by gemelas store
on sept. 14th at 7:00 to see the parade
i am sure by then the guys will be just great!!

you can do it!
yes you can!! 

not sure why these guys were looking behind them.. focus boys focus!!  

i wonder if these kids realize how beautiful their school yard is!


Tuesday, August 31, 2010

August 31, 2010

live, love, laugh

my friend jenny gave me this about 8 years ago
i brought it to roatan because, 
well as you can see,
it is small and portable 
and doesn't take up alot of space

but more then that is because
i really believe that.

live:
engage with those around you
whether you know them or not
breathe deep and experience 
taste, feel, see
live

love:
don't be afraid to risk and reach out
not just to strangers or those at work but
even to those in your family where we often play it safe
consider their needs more highly then your own
ask yourself:  what can i do to make their life better

laugh:
everyday find cause to laugh
not a weak, half hearted chuckle
but that deep belly laugh that makes strangers turn their heads
to see what could possibly be so funny

live, love, laugh

yes
yes
yes

today while at the shop so many people asked why we moved to roatan
it is simple
God called us and the people here stole our hearts away
we live to serve them....

live love laugh
don't be afraid to let someone, anyone 
steal your heart.
don't play it safe.
risk it all
for someone else today.
anyone....


August 30, 2010


 
finding shade

after bob's birthday snorkel we headed to west end
to go to rudy's for their infamous smoothies
mmmmmmmmmm
bob had strawberry and i had watermelon
so delicious

the birthday boy enjoyed his smoothie


this is the view from across the street.
i was standing in the shade enjoying the view
it is getting hot these days
i think it is because of the hurricane that is twirling
about dominican republic
it is sucking all the breeze away from the island.

we are grateful that we are tucked in the way that we are
since hurricanes seldom hit the island
but we shouldn't get too confident in that and we still be to be prepared

praying for those who may be in the path
of earl today or in the coming days to come



Sunday, August 29, 2010

August 29, 2010

a sunset for my love

today we went to infinity bay to celebrate bob's birthday
one day early but sunday is typically beach day for many of our friends so we thought
that would be the best day to celebrate together
it was!
lots of friends showed up to wish him well,
we had two cakes,
lots of laughs,
our customary sunday snorkel
and watched the sunset lazily into the horizon

a great day!