sniff sniff

Sis Good morning!
Last night I went for a walk in the hills overlooking Grapetree & Jacks Bays.
It was magical!!!! We've received alot of rain & this end of the island is green & lush.
Flowers are opening & releasing their fragrant smells into the trade winds.
It was close to sun set...........just as the sun is going down & the rays of light are captured in the majestic white clouds & they are illuminated! They range in bright white to a searing red iridescence. The sky is a painters pallet of soft pastels, pinks, blues & purples.
A cool sea breeze is mixing with all the smells......an ambrosia for the soul!
Grasses are almost as tall as me & the white butter flies are happily dancing & chasing each other almost like a silent winged ballet.
The ginger thomas are beginning to burst open and the humming birds are gathering its rich nectar............Just as I thought it couldn't get any better than this, a trio of pelicans soar in formation inches above the water..............night lights are beginning to come on & you can see the Divi's reflection dancing on the water.........heaven spills over to earth!

All this and much more awaits the day you arrive home!

oh my i am swooning and falling to the floor as i type.......
i adore ginger thomas!
White BUTTERFLIES
this sis can see them

give thanks for the visual (the way the I describes it is as a visual to this sis)

guidance
Sis Irijah

I'm glad to help in the visual 🙂
you can also see web cams in C'sted boardwalk or the beach at F'sted
gotostcroix.com
It will not have all the glories there, but it does refresh your heart, mind & soul just to "see" your home land.
Any time I can help with a visual, let me know & I'll keyboard you back!
Peace & Joy Sis!

Oh my... this is what I want to hear about the island on this message board!! Thank you Islandtyme, so much for giving us a 'visual' of the island. I'm sure there are many lurkers and semi lurkers ( like myself) who miss the atmosphere of St. Croix so much. Even though it was several years ago that I lived there I can just stop and think about the island and all the sights and smells and sounds come rushing back. It makes me feel so nostalgic . Anytime you want to give us a visual of your day, please do!

Paula

these are just SOME of the fleeting thoughts i have daily....even after all these years

turquoise
hibiscus
pink
red
yellow
purple
bougainvilla
ixora
magenta
round
zion hill
grove
paradise
mountains
cramer's park
music
dancing
real people
the market
gus and his dad
dirt roads
mombajiou
judith's fancy
mango
papaya
dripping juice
orange
and colors in between
soursop
sugarapple
gnips
tangy
tamarind
the view from ______'s gates
avacado (pear)
banana (fig)
green
yellow
ripe for shakes
big
tiny
and in between
aloe
good for hair
good for regulation
slimy
mahogany road
rasta washing cars round the way
customized vw's to die for
okra as big as can be
lemon
lime
tania
scotch bonnet bushes
at hess
verbona
bush tea
mint
spanish thyme
lily of the valley
ginger thomas
cactus
turtles
lizards
herbs
simpson
hurricanes
national guard
do everything in your power to protect your life and property
please move to higher ground
centipedes
tiny
bigger
even bigger
bigger than bigger
yucca
flamboyant
coakly bay
mahogany birds
sugarbirds
iguana
mongoose
whelks
tomato
potato
pumpkin
carrot
patties
ocean
ocean
ocean
and more ocean

just to name a few

wonderful poetry folks... I almost feel the breeze... and, as the title suggests... smell the smells.

We went to the Delaware beaches this weekend. Fall is coming so the day temps were in the low 70s; low humidity and respectable winds off the water from the northeast. High blue skies with occasional wafting cloud cover. If you sit on the beach and just relax, this is the time of year where you alternately feel a cool, dry gust of air.... then a bit of spray off the water... then that warm, warm Sun. The contrast just keeps me mesmerized... I can't tell which sensation I like the most. I know it's not island-like.... but, there's something about the ocean, isn't there...

Today the clouds are beginning to scatter and releasing us from it's gray & dreary grasp.
Trees thick in foliage, bent under the weight of rain, are reaching upward towards rays of sun light peaking from the heavens.
In a puddle, a sugar bird baths, his tiny wings playfully splashing while another scurries about retrieving bits of her fallen nest.
They sing happily!!!
Like Christmas tree ornaments, butter flies hang in the grasses & begin to dry their delicate wings........stretching tiny legs and in a flutter they are off...dancing again!
My pair of red dragon flies, peak out from their lair & rub sleepy eyes............then gaily skip across the pool. Soon they embrace and in a synchronized tango to preform a private show just for me.
Roar of the surf has quieted, and the air has become still.............a dogs barks in the distance as I begin to brew my coffee.
Rich thick java mixing with damp ozone, sea brine and hibiscus tickle my nose as my dog spots a gecko and gives chase.
I pour a cup, then breath in deep its fresh aroma before calling for my dog . We take a lil walk to the back & sit quietly while the palms sway slowly, we drink in its glory, a new day has begun!
Tranquility broken by the noise of a weed wacker........reality sets back in...........time to start looking for a job *sigh*.

Hope y'all have enjoyed my morning!

EngRMP................yes the ocean does something to ones soul. Perhaps it reconnects us to the safety of the womb.
What ever it is, I can't get enough of it!

hey sis whats sugarapple?!

good afternoon

emjohnson, i do not know the real name of it
i was always told it was sugarapple
it is roundish kinda sorta
smallish kinda sorta
green and bumpy (kinda sorta) on the outside and the inside tastes like heaven...kind of custard like.
it is not a soursop
sorry i do not know it's real name.

guidance
Sis Irijah

I love the poetry of this thread also.

I knew the sugar apple by the names of cherimoya or atamoya in Hawaii. Those aren't Hawaiian words, but that was what they called them. They have similar flesh and seeds as the soursop, but they are smaller and not shiny. Lots of people are selling sugar apples right now on the sides of the road and they are SO GOOD (if you like sweet). Try one!

Why don't you move back to STX ??

greetings and good afternoon!

trying so hard to do just that.
need a stable job that will pay a regular non fancy rent.
need to live within walking distance to work if on early shift.
they had a job listed at a restaurant in gallows bay recently that i would've jumped on like white on rice a month or so ago.
it sounded perfect.
i almost applied and begged them to hire me and let me sleep in the galley on a cot til i could manage my own.
hahahahahahahahah.
as a cook, i am amazing at most things.
i do not, however, do french or fancy oriental.
(stir fries are my limit...but they are awesome....).
i am a vegetarian, but can cook the hell out of some meat.
i can make a carnivore think tofu is meat, or at least they will love it despite it being a vegetable.
what i do not know i can be easily shown.
work the early morning set up the best (5 am and on).
am so fast i sometimes surprise myself.
just give me some food to prepare or tell me what you want and i am off to the races.
am an amazing grill cook.
can prep everything you could possibly need properly and promptly.
do not do fancy garnishes sad to say....but know basics of that.
am called the cleaning wiz.
trustworthy.
dependable.
i overstand island custom pertaining to deliveries and island time, therefore can make do with what i have on hand in a pinch and have it do okay.
am master at making soups from scratch as well as utilizing leftovers in said runnings.
same goes for "re-gifting" parts of leftovers into parts of other meals.
also ran a 20 bed assisted living center for 6 years.
had 12 employees.
was the manager as well as the live in.
was told i was the most efficient manager they ever had and a master at all the paperwork.
worked as the med tech there too...can only give insulin shots though. (need new and local certification).
my livity (faith) does not interfere with my work.
i am non judgemental in most things and do not chat about my livity unless seriously questioned. i feel that faith is private. i do not live to SHOW the world i am a Ras, i live and love by example-which is the best explanation.
i have never had a problem in the working world because i am a Ras.
just felt i had to say that up front, as some do not overstand my livity, therefore some shy away from me, which is sad in my site.
i am said to be funny, and am usually easy going.
i get along with most people.
i do not like to be pushed to confrontational limits.
on the other hand, i am in university at age 53 soon to be 54.
i tell you though.
if...
i had a job in place, and a place to lay my head until i could settle, i would leave in january.
i would put edu on hold, get settled, and then go back to school at UVI part time.
it is my spirit's greatest desire to once again, say, i am home.
one never knows.....

guidance
Sis Irijah

I graduated from UNC Chapel Hill when I was forty-one, so I understand your educational struggles and the effort, time and money you've invested to pursue this personal goal. I have to admit that graduating made me feel better about myself, so I would advise that you finish what you've started in NC. It may be possible to finish at UVI, but you might also find your education shoved to the back burner so you can take on extra work to make ends meet. You have expressed an emotional need to reconnect with the VI, and once you've graduated, you owe it to yourself to return, to see if this is where you should be.

Since you're a middle age white female, I wonder how you will be perceived by Rastafari on STX. While you have never experienced problems in the working world stateside due to being Rastafari, the Rastafari I know on STT tend to view white Rastafari as poseurs. They seem to think it is inconsistent for a white individual to want to be a part of a group that views white people as the evil creators of "the Babylon system" that oppresses blacks, the destruction of which the Holy Piby emphasizes. Perhaps local Rastafari vary in their dogmatism, and perhaps a less dogmatic group will welcome a white female sympathetic to the Rastafari cause, but I wouldn't count on Rastafari in NC having all that much in common with Rastafari on STX. I may be completely off track, but I just wanted to give you a heads up in case you hadn't considered things from this perspective.

greetings and good afternoon

dntw8up....give thanks for your input...the education vibe in particular was encouraging as sometimes it is well rough working full time and going to school full time as well. it is best to stay and finish my education...a sis can dream though, no?

as far as the other aspect of your reasoning, as one who has been trodding Rastafar I for thirty years, one could hardly call InI a poseur, seen, no matter who they are. the only reason InI made mention of InI livity atal on this post is because one would not want to make positive links with ones that may possibly lead to viable employment, without disclosing livity, as sometimes as Ras, InI face discrimination in the work force. better all the way around to be truthful from the start.

InI did live on stx for many years and feel that to re acclimate Iself will not be a problem. as far as what others may or may not think of this sis, it does not matter atal. InI am not here to live for others opinions. InI live a simple life. InI do an honest days work as H.I.M. suggests that InI do. InI love and praise InI God and King in all ways and in all things. other peoples opinions of InI are not necessary to validate InI as a person. but give thanks still for the reasoning, seen?

guidance
Sis Irijah