Monday, August 31

A Donkey Named Daiquiri

There are many many contests that have deadlines either by midnight tonight or sometime in September. I am eager to finish and/or polish a few short stories and get them entered and try my hand for getting published to a wider audience.

Very few days in the Virgin Islands go as they had initially been planned. The joke is in the planning and thinking you'll actually get all of your to-do list completed. My morning ultimately consisted of driving around to Trunk Bay, Hawksnest, and Jumbie Beach to check on some coconut trees that needed trimming, coconut removal, or cutting down. Not surprisingly, a stop at the Visitor Center completed the coconut field trip, as more information needed to be gathered on just how to go about requesting the purchase to pay for the removal and pruning of said coconut trees. By then, it was well into lunchtime territory.

At the Deli Grotto, I scanned the menu. After all this time on the island, I've only been there for coffee and breakfast, never lunch. I read the ingredients with a meticulous eye, in hopes that I'd find the perfect sandwich to quench my hunger. Pink Cadillac. What kind of sandwich hails back to The Boss and his well-known song? This sandwich, that's who. It's turkey, cheddar, guacamole, salsa, and cream cheese, on pumpernickel. I initially said, no cream cheese. The lovely woman working the register was frank- the cream cheese is what really makes this sandwich. To ask for no cream cheese is nearly blasphemous. I changed my mind, quickly. I do love cream cheese ordinarily, but the mixture of it with the listed ingredients, all together, made me just the teenciest bit squeamish. My response to the nice lady was to make it however the deli normally makes it, and I'd love every bite. She smiled. I got my sandwich not too many moments later. Back at my desk, I dove into the Pink Cadillac.

It was delicious.

I would recommend ordering one to the next person I see looking for a good sandwich. Next time I visit, however, I'm interested in the hot roast beef and cheddar on french bread. There's not too much in this world that rivals a good roast beef sandwich, which is a matter of personal preference. My ultimate favorite roast beef sandwich? I'd have to go with the one I had from JJ's... Jimmy John's – I can't remember it's official title or number on the menu board, but it's one of the subs that has double the meat and double the cheese (roast beef and provolone), and I like mine with peppers, o+v, s+p, oregano, and easy on the mayo. Mmmmm....

Eventually the day turned into discussions of the incoming area of interest in the tropical Atlantic. Tropical Cyclone formation is highly likely in the next 48 hours. That would place the storm potentially right over top of us, soon. There is a potential that we'll go into Incident Command mode soon, if the area of interest develops into a tropical depression, storm, or H. I'll be following the weather underground and National Hurricane Center closely during the next 72 hours or so.

After work, I stretched my legs and felt the itch to go running. I Ran. Goal: 5 Miles. 88-90 degrees. Heavy haze. Muggy. Searing hot sun. 750 mL in a water bottle not meant for trail running, but it will have to do. I dodged rocky boulders leaping out of the trail, roots teasing my shoes, and branches swinging low enough to clothesline me in an instant. I ran on, steadying myself with every muscle in my legs. My wrist grew tired as I pinched my hand around the water bottle. I reminded myself the sensation isn't too different from pinching onto one of the ginormous pinches at the gym. My mind shifted: this is a double workout. I'm practicing my pinching while trail running. Perhaps my comeback to climbing shall go well afterall. I ran on, swapping my bottle from left to right, then right to left, back and forth, trying not to lose my balance too badly as the water sloshed around with each stride. I ran on down the hill from Lind Point into town. From there, I surged forward far enough to go back uphill again, to Gallows Point and then on to Battery Hill. The sweat poured down my face. I waved to hello to anybody that paid me any attention. At last, my Forerunner let me know I'd run at least 2.5 miles. I turned around. The ride back was wonderful. I stopped at the dive shop for just a moment and checked the schedule. No diving for me tomorrow. I ran on. Jeremy, one of the instructors and captains honked his horn at me as I passed through Wharfside Village. I turned back. He asked if I could work tomorrow. Yes. I can be on the boat tomorrow, happily. Excellent! I'm going diving!

I ran home with an extra surge of energy. The mostly uphill trail returned me back to Lind Point. From there, I gathered my snorkel gear, which I'd left in the office, in order to bring it with me while diving tomorrow. Hardly before I'd finished stretching, I got my gear together and set aside my stack of goodies to take with me when I walk down to the shop in the morning. Mind you, it doesn't take long to throw a bathing suit, SCUBA gear, and some leave-in conditioner into a pile.

I read some more of Grandma Raised the Roof, which is a nice account of how Island Fancy was built. It is of particular interest since I actually got to live in the location about which the book is written. With the reading, I scarfed down two bean and cheese burritos, which I'd purchased on a whim last time I was at the market. Patio Burritos... a small step above Swanson frozen dinners, aren't too bad. For $1.06 per burrito, it's a cheap dinner to eat just two. It was a good blend of fat, protein, carbs, and sodium.

OH! I almost forgot to mention! I recently got a gift certificate for Amazon.com. I do enjoy a nice gift certificate now and again. I have noticed that my SIGG bottle has not done well in the salty air. With chips and dents galore (evidence of my hardcore badassery), it's started to leave chips of paint everywhere from my hands, clothes, and desk, to my floor. As nice as the trail of blue paint chips may be, I think I may need to retire this bottle. Enter gift certificate. I searched high and low and found that SIGG is now making steel bottles- under the name Steelworks by SIGG. For the first time, they're making bottles overseas, in Asia. Rather than having my bottle being Swiss made, it'll be Asian made, per the Swiss. I guess it should arrive in Alexandria just as I get home.