Surrounding the island of St. Martin are numerous other islands. Depending on which direction you look standing on Orient Beach you can see Anguilla, St. Barts, or Saba. Closer are the uninhabited islands of Green Cay, Tintamaree and Pinel.
About a half mile off shore I’ll often swim or snorkel to Green Cay. There’s not much there except a beach that comes and goes with the Trade Winds and lots of dead coral which is impossible to walk on without shoes. An old World War II radio tower is there as are boats that washed ashore. But the view of Orient Beach is fantastic and it is as quiet as it gets!
Pinel is cool as there are restaurants and private beaches where you can lose the laundry if you choose. It is a short boat ride and makes for a nice day with friends though it proved to be a bit too busy for me though I’m glad I went. Once!
Tintamaree is a longer boat ride away and it is uninhabited and I’ve had many, many adventures there. I watched a church organist play a muddy organ one day standing in the water with my friend Hugh. Conner once led an attack on the uninhabited island and returned wounded and defeated. On another day Conner and I had to save two people from drowning because they thought that they could swim. It is also the place where I learned about mud baths.
It’s a beautiful little island with Palm Trees, coral reefs, wild goats from an old farm, abandoned walls made out of stones mounted on top of one another, a long empty beach, and another wild one on the leeward side of the island. I’ve been perhaps 15 times and met some of my best friends in life on this trip.
Before I was “suddenly single” I was standing in the surf one day and we were looking for sea glass. People throw bottles off of boats and the ocean crushes them and the water rounds off the edges and they become smooth. Most are green because most of the beer in the Caribbean comes in green bottles. Anyway, in my house is this jar of sea glass. Above my kitchen sink on the window sill are two pieces that I collected on my last trip to Tintamaree.
When I go now, I’m the odd man out. There are all of these couples and I am dear friends with some and don’t really know the others. The first timers take off by themselves so that they can kiss or make love in broad daylight on a Caribbean island. Who can blame them?
The old timers raid the coolers.
Now I have this new routine. I slide off by myself (mainly cause there’s no one else to slide off with) and wade out into the surf and look for sea glass. Sometimes I’ll have my I-Pod and listen to sad music while I do this though many times I just let the sea sing its song. It’s not as easy as you think because the sand is so soft and the waves are constant and you see green and grab just a hand full of wet sand as quickly as you can. Half the time you come up with something and half the time you don’t.
I’ll spend an hour doing this by myself, lost in thought and in sun, sea, surf and sea glass. It is a holy worship experience. And the relics of this religion of lost love are all in a jar where they sparkle and shine. Two lonely pieces rests on the window sill, signifying that which was whole is now broken.
I pick one up and hold it between my fingers. It is smooth and nice to touch. It reminds me of warm --- water, air and hearts.
Then I think of things to come. And I smile and put the broken back in its place.
On a window sill that looks out at the past.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Sea Glass
Surrounding the island of St. Martin are numerous other islands. Depending on which direction you look standing on Orient Beach you can see Anguilla, St. Barts, or Saba. Closer are the uninhabited islands of Green Cay, Tintamaree and Pinel.
About a half mile off shore I’ll often swim or snorkel to Green Cay. There’s not much there except a beach that comes and goes with the Trade Winds and lots of dead coral which is impossible to walk on without shoes. An old World War II radio tower is there as are boats that washed ashore. But the view of Orient Beach is fantastic and it is as quiet as it gets!
Pinel is cool as there are restaurants and private beaches where you can lose the laundry if you choose. It is a short boat ride and makes for a nice day with friends though it proved to be a bit too busy for me though I’m glad I went. Once!
Tintamaree is a longer boat ride away and it is uninhabited and I’ve had many, many adventures there. I watched a church organist play a muddy organ one day standing in the water with my friend Hugh. Conner once led an attack on the uninhabited island and returned wounded and defeated. On another day Conner and I had to save two people from drowning because they thought that they could swim. It is also the place where I learned about mud baths.
It’s a beautiful little island with Palm Trees, coral reefs, wild goats from an old farm, abandoned walls made out of stones mounted on top of one another, a long empty beach, and another wild one on the leeward side of the island. I’ve been perhaps 15 times and met some of my best friends in life on this trip.
Before I was “suddenly single” I was standing in the surf one day and we were looking for sea glass. People throw bottles off of boats and the ocean crushes them and the water rounds off the edges and they become smooth. Most are green because most of the beer in the Caribbean comes in green bottles. Anyway, in my house is this jar of sea glass. Above my kitchen sink on the window sill are two pieces that I collected on my last trip to Tintamaree.
When I go now, I’m the odd man out. There are all of these couples and I am dear friends with some and don’t really know the others. The first timers take off by themselves so that they can kiss or make love in broad daylight on a Caribbean island. Who can blame them?
The old timers raid the coolers.
Now I have this new routine. I slide off by myself (mainly cause there’s no one else to slide off with) and wade out into the surf and look for sea glass. Sometimes I’ll have my I-Pod and listen to sad music while I do this though many times I just let the sea sing its song. It’s not as easy as you think because the sand is so soft and the waves are constant and you see green and grab just a hand full of wet sand as quickly as you can. Half the time you come up with something and half the time you don’t.
I’ll spend an hour doing this by myself, lost in thought and in sun, sea, surf and sea glass. It is a holy worship experience. And the relics of this religion of lost love are all in a jar where they sparkle and shine. Two lonely pieces rests on the window sill, signifying that which was whole is now broken.
I pick one up and hold it between my fingers. It is smooth and nice to touch. It reminds me of warm --- water, air and hearts.
Then I think of things to come. And I smile and put the broken back in its place.
On a window sill that looks out at the past.
About a half mile off shore I’ll often swim or snorkel to Green Cay. There’s not much there except a beach that comes and goes with the Trade Winds and lots of dead coral which is impossible to walk on without shoes. An old World War II radio tower is there as are boats that washed ashore. But the view of Orient Beach is fantastic and it is as quiet as it gets!
Pinel is cool as there are restaurants and private beaches where you can lose the laundry if you choose. It is a short boat ride and makes for a nice day with friends though it proved to be a bit too busy for me though I’m glad I went. Once!
Tintamaree is a longer boat ride away and it is uninhabited and I’ve had many, many adventures there. I watched a church organist play a muddy organ one day standing in the water with my friend Hugh. Conner once led an attack on the uninhabited island and returned wounded and defeated. On another day Conner and I had to save two people from drowning because they thought that they could swim. It is also the place where I learned about mud baths.
It’s a beautiful little island with Palm Trees, coral reefs, wild goats from an old farm, abandoned walls made out of stones mounted on top of one another, a long empty beach, and another wild one on the leeward side of the island. I’ve been perhaps 15 times and met some of my best friends in life on this trip.
Before I was “suddenly single” I was standing in the surf one day and we were looking for sea glass. People throw bottles off of boats and the ocean crushes them and the water rounds off the edges and they become smooth. Most are green because most of the beer in the Caribbean comes in green bottles. Anyway, in my house is this jar of sea glass. Above my kitchen sink on the window sill are two pieces that I collected on my last trip to Tintamaree.
When I go now, I’m the odd man out. There are all of these couples and I am dear friends with some and don’t really know the others. The first timers take off by themselves so that they can kiss or make love in broad daylight on a Caribbean island. Who can blame them?
The old timers raid the coolers.
Now I have this new routine. I slide off by myself (mainly cause there’s no one else to slide off with) and wade out into the surf and look for sea glass. Sometimes I’ll have my I-Pod and listen to sad music while I do this though many times I just let the sea sing its song. It’s not as easy as you think because the sand is so soft and the waves are constant and you see green and grab just a hand full of wet sand as quickly as you can. Half the time you come up with something and half the time you don’t.
I’ll spend an hour doing this by myself, lost in thought and in sun, sea, surf and sea glass. It is a holy worship experience. And the relics of this religion of lost love are all in a jar where they sparkle and shine. Two lonely pieces rests on the window sill, signifying that which was whole is now broken.
I pick one up and hold it between my fingers. It is smooth and nice to touch. It reminds me of warm --- water, air and hearts.
Then I think of things to come. And I smile and put the broken back in its place.
On a window sill that looks out at the past.
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