Summer Travels and the Muse

This past July our travels took us to my native Colombia. We enjoyed a family reunion at Villa Clara, my sister's farm near Ibague.



I was captivated by the magnificent beauty of the Andes Mountains surrounding us.



In August we returned to one of our favorite playgrounds on this beautiful planet. We chartered a boat out of St. Thomas and made the rounds through the British Virgin Islands.



While some of us snorkeled the pristine waters, our crew mates Brooke and John preferred diving for deeper treasures. Here they brought up a gorgeous starfish for a quick visit to the surface.



Being on water for seven days recharged my creative batteries. I sat on the boat admiring the beauty and I got to imagining a mermaid named Marlena. I could see her amid the coral, playing hide and seek with the schools of angelfish and blue tang. She came home with me and followed me right into the studio. She's here for an extended stay.



You can click on Marlena or any of the photos for a close-up view.

Sailing the BVI

Last week we spent it sailing around the British Virgin Islands, one of the world's top sailing destinations and conveniently near St Croix. We flew to St. Thomas (here's a view of our St. Croix neighborhood from the plane) and chartered a 40-foot catamaran there. Then we sailed to St. John and worked our way up the island chains with stops in Jost Van Dyke, Tortola, Virgin Gorda and Anegada.



Days were spent sailing, swimming, snorkeling, napping, drinking and eating great food on board and at local restaurants, taking pleasure in the magnificent scenery and simply relaxing with our friends. Here are some of us enjoying happy hour on the boat.



For me, the best part of the trip was reveling in the full moon glow over the water, swimming with sea turtles and feeling Poseidon's expansive embrace. My favorite spot was Loblolly Beach in Anegada, pictured here. Anegada in general is a spectacular place. Very flat and very small (only about 200 residents), very shallow (hundreds of ship wrecks, making for great diving) and fabulous snorkeling. Not much to do but admire the surreal colors of the island.


The day of our return to St. Croix reminded me of what a wonderful place this is. We began the day on St. John with fabulous snorkeling in Great Lameshur Bay. We sailed back to St. Thomas and returned the boat. A 20 minute plane ride took us back to St. Croix. We went home, dropped off our bags and headed out to Coconuts on the Beach in Frederiksted to get our Kurt Schindler fix (our favorite musician, pictured here). Bob and I left the show midway and drove 10 minutes over to the Whim Museum grounds for a performance of Bluegrass music under the stars. When Bluegrass was over, we returned to see Kurt finish his last set.