45under45: Day Two

I'm settling into my island life. Waking up with the sun, listening to the ocean, still spinning my wheels trying to come up with the exact metaphor to describe the rustling palm fonds, the birds singing... Coffee: Three different prices for the same size. (Oh, Abaco, I love your quirks.)

With my coffee leisurely consumed and the tide falling, it was time for sea glass hunting. (Nicholas was hard asleep! Yesterday's checkers battle was so one-sided. I just clobbered him. I guess he needed to recharge in a monumental way. He slept a total of 14 hours... until after noon!!!) Summer and I suited up and headed out to one of my secret sea glass beaches.

This combination of sand, rocks, and pebbles acts as a rock tumbler. Any bits of coral or glass get tossed around and over to perfect smooth finish. For the most part, there aren't many intact shells. And, since not a lot of folks visit this particular stretch of beach it is delightfully uncombed. Summer and I discovered a few handfuls of keeper sea glass pieces. However, I got a full sand pail of rocks for painting. (More on rock painting in another blog.)

Once Summer and I returned, I decided it was time for Nicholas to be officially checked on. Thankfully, he was breathing and in a short time, ready to go to the beach. Surprise, surprise...he chose On Da Beach where he made friends with some local boys. They all loved sharing the kick board and snorkel gear. The ocean was super calm this day!

While I was watching the boys, reading, and taking pictures...I was visited by a cute black dog. Nicholas, missing Millie, came racing out of the waves to enjoy a little doggie time. And, the dog was happy to be petted and rest in my shade.

OMG...Yes! I miss my dog so much that I called this little fella up onto my lap and cheerfully accepted his sweet kisses. He tucked himself in and I had a nice chat with him. "Who's a good boy? My, aren't you handsome. How old are you? You're a little gray on the muzzle. Oh, what a soft dog. Ooo... does that feel good? You like scratches on the chin? Uh huh. Yeah. Ya' got any more kisses? I could use some."

He leaned in. 💓 I tried to push my love for him into where his body was touching my own skin, hoping that would some how pass through the doggy-ether and Millie would get the message.

Turns out that this dog is named George and he has owners. They were swimming about 50 yards away. So, I guess he wasn't a keeper. Too bad. 'Cause I kinda loved him a lot.

Summer spied this large thing flopping about in the surf. From the comfort of my new beach chair, I masterfully identified it as some piece of black plastic. And then we went back to sun bathing. Nicholas, not lounging like a lizard but playing in the surf and ever the curious cat, went bounding down the beach to retrieve said object. Turns out it wasn't black plastic at all. Definitely a million dollar find! Fame! Fortune! Silver? Space debris? Nah. The general consensus of the On Da Beach staff and customers... part of a boat's lower unit. It's still really cool, though.

While at the beach, somehow the hours just vanished and my skin had started to crisp. I guess we had enough and headed back home for some time in the pool, showers, drinks, and more relaxing.

The power on these islands is often on again/off again. Every house has its own generator, as does this ours. Mostly we're not even bothered by the lack of power. The lights click off, the air stops working, things go quiet. And then, the generator kicks on and everything is A-OK... except that the wifi doesn't work. 😁 So, we play cards, checkers, work puzzles, actually talk!

Later that night Nicholas and I had a checkers rematch. Yesterday, in his stupor, he was easy to beat. (And, I beat him mercilessly! Yep... I'm that kind of mom.) This night, he beat me for at least two games. So, I tried to get him out of his zone by taking pictures. I told him that I wasn't...that I was just taking selfies.

He was like, "Mommy. You're not very good at being sly."

"Mommy! Stop it. I know you're taking pictures of me!"

"MOMMY! STOP!"

"Mommy, I know what you're doing."

To that I said, "Nicholas. I am not taking pictures of you! I'm taking selfies!" So, I had to take one.

Ha! Ha! Nicholas, I got you again! XOXO

This was our game. Can you find the next move? There isn't one. Not knowing what to do: no ability to ask Google thanks to no wifi, we left it. (The next day I did get the chance to look it up. Turns out that the last player to make a legal move is the winner. Another game chalked up for Nicholas.)

We decided that since our game was tied, we'd bug Summer and Shawn. Summer was working on our first puzzle of the trip: a 1,000 piece doozie of General Mills cereal boxes.