Absent in Paradise

The deliciously warm, turquoise blue, water of Limetree Beach surrounded me once again. The swells from the gentle waves slowly lifted me up and gingerly brought me back down as I floated on my back looking up at the bluest sky I have ever seen. A few small, white, puffy clouds dotted the sky. Pelicans flew by inches above the water and within a few feet of where I was floating and high in the air a Magnificent Frigate soared making large, slow circles in the sky.

I love the Caribbean Sea! I love the way that it surrounds me and warms me like a thick winter blanket. I love that the salt content is so heavy that you can’t help but float when you lay back and feel the Sea lift you and gently rock you as each small swell runs past and easily caresses the hot sand on the beach. I always have a great time at all the St. Thomas beaches but Limetree is special to me. Perhaps it’s because it was the first taste of the Caribbean I experienced when I first visited St. Thomas a few years ago with Gerie. Or maybe because it’s such a short walk from the Bluebeard’s Beach Club unit that Gerie owns, to the water, that I can access it anytime I desire…and I desire it constantly while I’m there.

I could float on my back in that beautifully warm water for my entire vacation and leave knowing that I had a great time!

Deee! Deee! Deee! Deee! Deee! Deee!

The digital alarm rudely plucked me out of the water and back to my bed in Long Island, New York. It was Monday morning and time to get up for work. Two days ago, Saturday morning, I drove Gerie and her friend Candy to JFK airport. They…without me…were flying to St. Thomas for a two week vacation. They…without me…were going to swim in the Caribbean and enjoy my favorite place on the planet. They…without me…were going to bask in the hot sun of St. Thomas while I went to work.

Why am I not there? My oldest daughter got married on July 11th and I’m broke. I saved as much as I could for my daughter’s fairy tale wedding and when Gerie bought her ticket in October of last year, I knew that I couldn’t afford to go. Birthdays and Christmas were tightly observed with the wedding in mind. Even my tax return along with the “Stimulus” check from Uncle Sam went to the wedding.

It’s been a tough year and I really needed a vacation like the one that Gerie and Candy are having right now…in St. Thomas. But…I love my daughter and am happy that I could give her the wedding that she dreamed of since she was a little girl. I hope that she never knows what I sacrificed to make her wedding dream a reality.

Gerie calls me quite often from her cell phone. She calls me at home. She calls me at work. She calls me at my cell phone number. She tells me all the things that she’s doing and all the fun that she’s having. She asked if it bothered me and perhaps she shouldn’t call as often…but I told her no. I want to hear it all. I want to vicariously live the vacation that I’m missing. And of course, I love her so I want to hear from her often.
She calls me when she wakes up and is sitting on the terrace of her Bluebeard’s Beachclub unit. She tells me about all the people who are there. She tells me that everyone is asking about me. She tells me about the iguanas and the hummingbirds on the Mock Orchid tree near the terrace. She tells me about the Pelicans flying inches over the water. And I close my eyes and with just a little imagination I pretend that I’m there. In the background I can hear the Sea rolling in at Limetree Beach. I can feel the hot air and smell the sea for brief moments of time.

So why am I writing this non-trip report? Gerie’s idea! It started with the dinner at Toad and Tart that she and everyone she writes to online went to last Tuesday night. Every year all the online and local friends meet at some restaurant and this year Gerie planned it at the Toad and Tart. A place that I haven’t been to yet.

“You know what you should do?” She asked. I cringe whenever she says that. It usually is followed by something that I don’t really want to do.

“What?”

“You should write a trip report based on our phone conversations.”

“No! I don’t think so…write your own trip report when you get back.”

“Really! It would be great. You could call it “Paradise Lost” and talk about how much you miss St. Thomas while I share with you all the things I’m doing and seeing.”

“No!”

“Everyone at the Toad and Tart is asking about you. And when I told them why you weren’t here they said how sad that was. But a lot of them were upset because there wouldn’t be one of your Paradise Trip Reports this year. A lot of them were very disappointed and told me that they look forward to reading your stories.”

How is it that she knows what buttons to push to get me to consider something that I just vehemently said no to? She appeals to my vanity. She appeals to the most base thoughts and feelings that I have…something that I should be ashamed of (of which I should be ashamed…I sometimes wish that Gerie was a nurse instead of a teacher!). I tell you…the longer I’m with this woman the more she knows how to manipulate me.

By Wednesday I was considering it. “Are you taking notes?”

“For what?”

“For your trip report. Paradise Lost.”

“I don’t like the title Paradise Lost. How about Paradise Missing? Lost makes it sound so final…so permanent. I’ll be there next year so it’s not lost…it’s temporarily misplaced. And two years from now we‘re getting married on Limetree beach.”

By Thursday I had figured out that it was going to start with a dream of floating in the Caribbean until my alarm clock woke me into reality.

So here I am on Saturday morning writing a trip report about a trip and vacation that I haven’t taken. First I got on VINOW.com and read about how much everyone enjoyed the gathering at Toad and Tart. It sounds like the Tart did a fabulous job and that everyone had a great time…without me!

So…a week has gone by since Gerie and Candy left for St. Thomas. In that time they swam in the blue, warm waters of Limetree Beach. They met up with some old friends like Fred & Nikki (Fred…the Steelers are looking good this year! And Nikki…I still hate the Cowboys!). They went snorkeling at Coki Beach on a day that there wasn’t any Cruise Ships in but found Coki crowded anyway. It appears that some youth group had an outing at Coki that day and I could hear the little kids screaming over Gerie’s cell phone when it started raining. Everyone ran into the water so they wouldn’t get….wet?

Gerie told me about a white egret that nestled into the Mock Orchid tree outside her terrace and spent days preening. Apparently a storm went through and the egret rode it out it the tree along with an Iguana. They both were apparently in the tree for a few days. They must sense when a storm is brewing and look for a safe haven. The day after the storm they were gone.

They went to Duffy’s the other night where Candy had a two pound Lobster and Gerie had a Cheeseburger. I’m sure that they both got Lei’d there! Last night Gerie told me that she and Candy were going to wake up early to go to The Delly Deck where the world’s best Western Omelet is served. I hope she orders one just to tell me how great it still is. If I close my eyes and concentrate…I can taste it now.