December 7--I DID IT!!!

Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still and dark. 
--Rabindranath Tagore

    Yesterday was my most excellent Monday ever!

    It began with another early morning lap-swim. Sunday's storm had chilled the water a bit. Note that I have to cross a busy two-lane road to get to the fitness center complex. There is a cross walk with a traffic light and an employee to press the stop button and monitor it. But between the driving on the left and drivers' random decisions to ignore the red light, I have to be on my toes even with the walk signal displayed. So far, so good.

    Then, working on keeping my "brave broad" status... I did it--I went parasailing! It was a really long adventure because we were taxiing people to and from the shore to the boat with the parachute on it. I wish I could have had a measurement of my blood pressure before and after. I was quite anxious and nervous before, and so relaxed after. It was a very cool experience. I did convince myself to relax a bit during the flight, but my palms had red marks afterward due to the death grip I had on the straps, which was totally unnecessary. Faith took me up there, yogic breathing got me through it, along with the mantra, "I've jumped out of a perfectly good airplane, I can do this!" I was also motivated by the possibility that I may not have the chance to do it ever again. Who knows?!!?!? Friends went along to take pictures, those may show up here in days to come.

    After that it was back to the beach and ocean. We had a couple mini-rains (like we were told happens). The weather is supposed to keep getting better the rest of our stay. 

    I could easily live in a country whose common potato chips are made from sweet potatoes.

    I am reminding myself not to fuss about how dry it is in the winter in KS. Every surface here is wet and stays wet. My straw hat got drenched in Sunday's storm and shrunk. Now it makes me look like a cone-head. It takes at least two days to get anything dry-ish here.

    On the home front, after more than a two-year (re)search, my husband put down a deposit on a dark blue 2021 RAV4 Hybrid. We will get it at the end of January. Two huge accomplishments this wonderful Monday--parasailing and the vehicle.

    Leaving the restaurant after dinner, there was a crescent moon with a planet nearby, but my camera does some weird processing so it looks like a full moon. It's a cool photo anyway. 

    And one of our many visitors...

    Love and blessings from the brave broad in Jamaica!

        Leta