I have been duly chastised...

Here I sit
Broken hearted
Thought I'd write
But can't get started...

Maybe it is because I have not written for so long; a lot has gone by and I don't know where to start. Maybe I am suffering writer's block but I don't think of myself as a writer so I can not claim to be blocked. Lazy? Maybe that is it; island time has bitten me. For whatever reason, I have been very delinquent and am suffering guilt for it.

Probably the best way to recover from my dry spell is to start with recent events. I will mention older events as I think of them. A lot has transpired but nothing of major consequence. I'll slowly get you caught up.  (Side note: I have started to get some underwater video. I have debated on whether to polish and publish these for you or just to show you raw footage as I get it. I am leaning toward showing raw footage. I do not enjoy editing and that would only slow down the process of including you in my adventure.)

Under the boathouse    In this video are gray snapper and blue striped grunt.

Lindsay, daughter, spent a week with me in the middle of November.  She was my first guest and we had a good time. More than visiting me, she was here to get into the water. She truly is a water baby. And she knows a lot about the fishes in her domain. She got me to start learning the different fish and their habits. As you can tell, I am passing this learning experience to you (reference above). But Linz and I did some snorkeling around the boat house and went out to Ball Reef (where I took the students doing the fish larvae work a month ago). Ball Reef is a wonderful snorkeling spot because one of the three mooring buoys is in 10 feet of water and over a coral reef covered by fish and fans and other marine life. We just dropped a swim line (a ball float on a hundred foot line that stretches out down wind or current from the boat). Then we hung on the line for the show just below us. The water was not as clear as I have seen it but the view was still great. We did two dives with lunch on the boat in the sun in between. A wonderful afternoon was had by us both.

I was able to put together a trip to Morgantown over the Thanksgiving week. It took some arranging though. Of course Inja and Qat had to be cared for as well as the island must be manned. But I took on the task of manning the island in my absence which, I believe, is the first time the Keeper has found his own coverage. I think Evan and Jeff managed this task in the past. But it worked out well.  I had someone who wanted to stay most of the Thanksgiving break. So I needed someone to cover only one day/night at the beginning and the end. Both were discovered easily. I had all covered.   My thanks to all who helped me. And I think Inja was spoiled for a week.  She does like it when people come to the island.

But the island coverage did not happen without problems.  I am dealing with the fallout these days.    Next posting...

cz, 11:00 12/6/14