This isn't a postcard. This picture was taken from my condo balcony on my recent visit to paradise. I invite you to come, sit on this balcony with me as I share a few insights that continue to reveal themselves even after my return.
Join with me on my first adventure out of the US that required my going through Customs (which went quite smoothly); my first vacation taken by myself (but not lonely); my week of discovery of exotic places on this planet, (and also discovering some new places within)
That deep blue water is the Caribbean Sea alongside Simpson Bay in St. Maarten of the Lesser Antilles.....very far from where I call home where the skies of South Carolina may rival these for blueness, but where there is no comparison of these combinations of blues and greens of water and sky, surrounded by green palm trees, volcanic mountains, soft white sands, and oh so brilliant sunshine that was always present, completely seductive and captivating in casting spells for leisure that looked and felt quite like idleness and laziness, but never boredom.
My first early morning walk to a nearby deli for freshly baked croissant revealed millions of yellow butterflies accompanying me appearing as snowflakes of yellow fluttering all around. Each morning these beautiful fluttering creatures were present until about mid-day when I imagine the intense sun forced them into retreats of shade and shadows. Walking among them flying overhead and all around, I felt a more aptly descriptive name for them would be flutter-bys because of their flight patterns and ever so brief stops on flowers and leaves....so brief that I was unable to snap a picture that captured the magic of their presence.
On my flight, I read about and planned visits to many interesting sights and attractions on both the Dutch and French sides. As I read about the history of this smallest island in the world that was to be divided between two sovereign powers and where the current boundary is a result of numerous wars between great European powers in the 17th century, my curiousity was definitely tweaked.
St Maarten and St. Martin is one of the Lesser Antilles islands that lies in the vague border between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, has two different languages, and is ruled by two nations. Ownership of the island is split between the Dutch and French (my condo was on the Dutch side). Only 37 square miles, or about half the size of Washington, D.C., make this the smallest territory with the southern half, 16 square miles, is Sint Maarten, ruled by the Dutch, and the northern 21-square mile area is Saint Martin, the French side.
No rift exists between the people of these cultures. The partition remains to this day and the two separate life-styles--charming vignettes of their respective homelands--coexist in complete contrast but perfect harmony. The island's inhabitants are quite proud of their nearly 350-year history of peaceful co-existence. According to legend, Columbus discovered the island in 1493 on the feast day of St. Martin of Tours. During the 140 years that followed, the Spanish, French and Dutch disputed possession, or at least the right to use the resources, of St. Maarten/St. Martin. On March 23,1648, a treaty was concluded atop Mount Concordia delineating the boundaries of the island. The Dutch received 16 square miles and the French received 21 square miles, owing to the latter's superior naval presence in the region when the treaty was signed.
My visit to museums to learn more about the prehistory and archaeology of the Arawaks will have to happen on another visit. My visit to the Butterfly Farm will also have to wait, as will my salsa dancing at heaven Disco or the full-moon reggae bash till the wee hours at Kali's Bar.
My days were mostly spent reading on the beach, snorkelling in the area in that clear, blue water near the rocks where all the brilliantly colored fish were hanging out, or else I was floating on my raft while napping or sometimes enjoying the antics and activities of pelicans resting on the nearby rocks or diving for fish within 20 feet of right where I was floating. Other diversions were having lunch at the Tiki Bar on the beach or poolside while sitting on a stool in the pool, sometimes drinking a frozen Pina Colata, and watching the beautiful sunsets where the each night out performed the previous night's displays.
I thought I would paint, write, sight-see, adventure, and I did do all those things.....just not in the way I had envisioned. More about that in another blog entry.
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