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There are a few places in this world which have
evoked the feeling that I am actually in the
presence of a supreme being. I'm not going to
go all mushy on you, but one has become a
favorite - I love the Bahamas. Not so much the
islands themselves, although we have stayed and
fished at some nice places...The biggie for me
is flying in on a small plane and watching the
sea unfold below me. The color is beyond technicolor
or whatever phrase the movie industry has come up
with to describe its latest version of "in color."
It is a combination of earth and sea and sky which
intertwine and form a moving swirl of coral sand
in gigantic finger paintings which merge and morph
into yet more pictures. Turquoise opals
which haven't been created yet.
Traveling in a boat across the channels and deep water
to yet another flat, I'm hanging off the side of the boat
(well not literally, my head is) watching the images
flash by. Sea palms and fronds, starfish, blue holes
all appear and in turn disappear to become something
else. Perhaps a deserted wreck, (wonder how that
happened and why no one has done anything about it.)
Later I discover the wreck is also home to several
schools of fish. Even our fish of the day, bonefish.
Our trip to South Andros last February had a storm day.
I went out in the storm and tromped up the beach - the
rain really came sideways for a while, and I was
soaked - but it was warm and I would eventually dry.
The wind blew the tops off the waves and piled foam
on top of the next wave. Breath taking. The sea
churned up shells which I gathered and took back to
the veranda. A few of the smaller shells made it
back home with us - most were re-deposited on the
beach for the next beach walker to find. I think
I found four or five different kinds of coral. And
a lot of stuff I couldn't begin to name.
Yet on this remote beach, I'm only a short walk away
from a fresh cup of coffee and the comfort of civilization.
Better than civilization, Emerald Palms Resort.
We leave Wednesday night on the red-eye again for South
Andros. It is becoming a habit. Not a very convenient
one at that - it's a full day (or night) plus to get
there from Seattle. I do understand why so many people
go to Mexico or Belize - simply, it's closer. If the
Bahamian Tourism people ever convince an airline to do
a direct flight from Houston, Texas it would make the
trip much easier for the American west coast people.
Even with flying all night, we will actually put foot
on S. Andros at two in the afternoon the next day.
My husband, Castwell (also known as JC), is piling stuff
on the davenport again, just a bit deeper this time as
we are taking some goodies with us for our friend.
I'll probably get sunburned again, but the BullFrog is
already on the pile to go. (So is the stuff to take
the pain out of the probable sunburn.) We have made a
few trips to the electric beach in years past to help
avoid a sunburn, but time ran out on us this year. We'll
return on the 13th of November, and a new issue of FAOL
will go up the next Monday.
There will not be a new issue for the week of November 10th.
I do feel guilty about leaving and not being able to
put up a regular issue, but trust me - we need a break.
We'll come home rested, with memories of great fish
and my color vision of the sea and great expanses of
flats will be renewed for a while.
See you all for a new issue on Monday, November 17th!
~ The LadyFisher
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