Week 5

I am taking the advice of my mother and brother, I am making this a weekly blog. For two reasons this makes sense, one being that I can't write coherent sentences after work, and two being if I sat every night to put my thoughts down day after day my blog would become accounts of annoying customers and what time I went to sleep. A seven day recap should be a more intriguing read. I hope...
Week two-ish of work has been about the same as week one-ish, my schedule is consistent in that it fluctuates between morning and evening shifts, or more accurately early morning and morning. I have now worked both and the early morning is far superior. As I write this my visage is  in the dappled light of a giant lime tree that has a beautiful cluster of orchids in the hollow of a long lost limb. You, as the reader do not know this but I am going to have to recess as a bounty of fish, tortillas, chicken soup, with chips and salsa is being spread before me. Sadly Steph and I are not playing footsie, we have been dealt a hand where our schedules do not coincide. In fact today I got home from work as she was leaving for the day. We will be talking to HR about it shortly, we moved knowing home is where the heart is and our hearts can't be in orbit around our schedules hoping for collisions. 
I am back, it was delicious. We had our first rain on Thursday, even though I got caught walking home in it I enjoyed it to some extent. It was the first rain I felt in over a month, it felt good in that it was a hard, real, rain which I had not been caught in for an indisguindishable amount of time. The only thing at all vexing about it was my worry over losing the creases in my pants, and Steph worrying over my soggy condition when I got home. The precipitous weather is so ineffectual on my psyche as compared to Portland it confirms many of my decisions to move down here. I had all but forgotten that the skies had been dark when the next morning I found two of the island's Scottish Terriers playing in the surf on my way to work. I know my mother is reading this not believing the words I just wrote, but yes two Scottish Terriers playing fetch in the ocean. 
The sun is setting now, it as beautiful as ever but it always disorients me. From our apartment I can look at the sea, and looking on a map it looks like the sea is directly west, but we are on an ever so gradual outcropping of the island. My East Portland/ Oregonian ingrained compass tells me if my toes are touching a body of water the sun is going to set somewhere in front of me. I have developed the unfortunate habit of wandering in the wrong direction here, Steph usually trusts me to know where I am going but the sun sets in my compass' south. So I find myself circling blocks as I amble about, luckily San Miguel is small and I don't ever actually get lost, just tardy.
My personal categorization of ecology has also changed, the vulture has replaced the crow, the melodious black bird stands in place of the starling, skinks and geckos are substituting the common house spider, and pigeons are pigeons. I can't figure out what the pelican has replaced but they crack me up as they take lumbering dives into the ocean. Compared to the other sea birds they look like they are doing belly flops, but they often pop up rewarded with fresh sashimi. My other favorite comical avian that I happen along frequently is the sandpiper, they are the Prefontaine of birds. On my early morning commutes I will happen upon a flock in the middle of the street and they will run ahead of me for up to a block before they realize they have the ability of flight. It is absurd to watch them work their tiny legs trying to keep pace ahead of me like I am a tidal wave only for them to lift off the ground and find themselves out of harms way with flutter of their wings.
As we start to relax out of our little macroville I can't wait to happen upon iguanas, boas, and other large creatures that the Caribbean has to offer. Speaking of which, I recently learned that one of my friends, and coworkers, is a certified instructor of scuba and her boyfriend runs a local dive shop. So we will be partaking in some good discount dive opportunities as soon as our commission pay checks come in. Steph will need a little bit of coaxing but I am sure that as soon as she is face to face with a sea turtle she will transform into a mermaid every opportunity she gets.