Hell’s Half Acre

Jamie has caught the tummy bug that has managed to pass itself around here regardless of the fact that we interact with few people. We really must be living in a petri dish to constantly be picking up these bugs without having contact to infect us. Since he was under the weather and I was not about to miss an opportunity to exercise (it is weird how I really look forward to our exercise walks), I headed out a couple days on my own, down the jungle trail. Luckily I was not besieged with crocodiles but instead the walk seemed to get creepier and creepier the further I got towards the military point (and the turnaround). As the landscape changes from open to brush and scrub up against the pathway the jungle closes in and the wind dies and it gets very quiet. Well, very quiet except for creepy sounds. And while I’ve gotten somewhat used to some creepy sounds and stick my head in the sand without consideration for the animal making the sound (croc, snake, crab or iguana), I really don’t like the way they coordinate their creepy moving-about sounds so that every little creepy crawly thing begins as I enter and continues, following me or anticipating my arrival along with path, with shuffling, moving about and general creepy sounds. Make it once and cut it out. There is absolutely no need for them to involve their neighbors and have the entire jungle making an event, escorting me along the path, anticipating my arrival and then following me with their creepy crawly jungle noises. But they persist regardless of my thoughts.

Right now rain is coming in; the sky has clouded over and the wind has picked up. The wind always picks up pretty well just before the water dumps. We’re back in the wet season and the mozzies are living each and every drop.

We’re very seriously thinking about taking a short trip to the US - to get a different landscape around us, to pick up stuff we can’t get here, to visit with friends and family - but can’t exactly decide when. I had thought we’d go after the biggest months of hurricane season (July and August) but we might go up for only August. That early we may even be able to partake of some of New Mexico and check out the Silver City area that we’ve always wanted to visit. Yes, you can get a little jaded with the perfect turquoise, the brilliant blue, the puffy white and the crystal clear seas. Jamie needs him some mountains.

I have upgraded to Firefox 3 and I have to say I’m not very happy. Or maybe it doesn’t play well with Hughes, but I have had the slowest machine in the world (irregardless of the fact that it is slowly dying) and can only point the finger at FF. And on a very personal nature, let’s just say that Jamie has been a Very Happy Boy lately. And we intend to keep it that way.

We didn’t get to Bead Beach on Sunday as Jesse, Jamie and Sissy were all under-the-weather, but hope to find time this week to visit. Otherwise, we’ll head out next Sunday. So no pictures for the near future.