We Will Miss Micheal Arendell--Bannie

I had a very nice day today but then life can change in the blink of an eye.  The sun was shining (been cloudy for well over a week), had a very nice early morning run followed by deep yoga stretches, got my household chores done, my daughter got her cattle to market and life was flowing along nicely. I appreciated the nice little moments of the morning.  Then things changed quickly.  One of my dogs, the Jack Russell Terrier, Addy, got stung multiple times by wasps and swelled up like crazy.  I suppose that is what she gets for sticking her head in places where it doesn't belong.  But nonetheless I treated her swollen face and babied her some.  Then we get a phone call that one of our good friends Bonnie died this morning.  It appears he had a heart attack.  Looks can be deceiving as he always seemed very fit and healthy.  He was a waiter/bartender at our local hangout and was in love with Addy.  Addy loved him back.  He never failed to bring her scraps every time we were there.  Like everyday.  Once Bunnie, short on table scraps, had the chef grill up a Filet Mignon for her!

Bonnie was a humorous man, full of good jokes and card tricks.  He was warm, sensitive and tenderhearted.  I know he struggled with alcoholism in the past but it seemed he had a good handle on things lately.  He took his hat off to me for maintaining sobriety in this environment.  Like I said before, it ain't easy.

So Bonnie we will all miss you and our little restaurant will never be quite the same.  Addy?  she will keep looking around the restaurant for you.  Go in peace my friend.

Shortly after getting the news about Bonnie we hear some acquaintances of ours from Antigua were making the ocean journey back home but apparently didn't make it.  The story is sketchy as of yet but so far we know that 2 of the 3 sailors are dead, one is hospitalized and the boat is adrift according to Antigua coast guard.  There is some question as to whether the man in the hospital is off the boat or another man.  Pirates immediately come to mind.  The ocean was very rough that day as well but not sunk, just adrift with (rumor has it) 500 cases of Heineken on board.  We may never really know what happened.  Just very tragic. They were Caribbean men full of life and laughs. Maybe today we will hear more via the coconut telegraph.

Link Day

I am new to blogging so some of this technical stuff challenges me.  For example I just learned how to add photos!!  Ye-haw alert the media.  Today I am going to attempt to add a link.  After spending the entire morning writing and editing another project I desperately need to get away from the computer and accomplish some other things. So short and sweet today.   This is the link to the book I have a piece in.  It is to be released on May 3. The book is available on Amazon too.
       www.hcibooks.com/p-3991-the-ultimate-runner.aspx

Staying Sober in the Caribbean

What are the first things one thinks of when pondering the Caribbean.....beautiful blue waters, sunshine, beaches, palm tress swaying in the breeze...ah paradise.  Oh what about the pina colada in hand or a beer.....or some other tropical alcohol laden treat like mango madness, planters punch or the famous rum punch.  This picture wouldn't be complete without the drinks, right?

So how do I live here for six months of the year and stay sober.  Well it ain't easy.  Alcohol is everywhere.  In your face at every corner.  Fortunately I have a refuge....a beautiful home to stay at where I can create my own sober environment most of the time.  If my space at home gets invaded to the point of anxiety there is always the privacy of my bedroom.  However simple avoiding exposure to drinking situations gets pretty crazy.  I do not want to live in a bubble.  I have developed tools that enable me to cope.  I put my health first.  I look at my time in the Caribbean as health camp so to speak.  Rather than return to the States needing a body detox like many vacationers I strive to be in better shape from when I arrived.  So I run.  I do yoga.  I scuba dive. I explore new places.  I challenge my mind.  I follow self-healing philosophies. I befriend those without drinking problems with whom I have some common interests.  They are far and few between but so are good real friends.  I find there are days when those drinking around me doesn't bother me much.  Then there are days when I cannot stand it so I  find other things to do with my time.  It is a balancing act.

I believe anyone who truly needs to abstain from alcohol can do it.  Remember that sobriety is a choice. A healthy choice. It requires coping tools unique to each individual and healing from within ones self.    

Really Getting Published

In my last post I mentioned I am getting an article published in the Ultimate Runner, published by HCI Books.  It is due out in May sometime.  I am pretty geeked about this and can see I really need to beef up this blog.  I was notified that I should prepare myself for an interview and podcast, all publicity for the whole work but I am a part of this too.  It was also suggested that I include a blog site.  PANIC...so I am developing a plan for this blog on running and self-healing.  I am also going to shoot for 4 entries a week with a patterned type of theme to it.  Gotta love goal setting!   So what have I been up to:


I recently took a boating trip to Tortola.  Nice picture of the crew below.  Myself, my nephew Don, our good buddy Paul and Captain Jim.  Don and Paul are my dive buddies and Jim in my SO. Tortola is a very nice place with great diving and sailing.  It is however not a great place to go running, being a woman alone and an early morning runner.  So I took a bit of a break in my training.  I think I need to do that once in a while even though I miss it and get stoved up and ornery.  10 days was just too damn long to go without running.  I returned back to St Maarten refreshed and ready to run.  So I am back at it.  20 miles a week minimum, yoga stretches and healthy eating choices.

 

I traded running for 5 very nice dives and a overnight trip to the island of St John where I visited my daughters boyfriends family.  St John is beautiful and I enjoyed the immense amount of National Park there.  The beaches are amazing.  No tiki bars and hairbraiders here! We also were the "mother ship" to a sailing vessel from St Maarten for the BVI Sprig Regatta.  I was leery at first mainly because these sailors are quite the drinkers.  I tend to steer myself away from these situations where I am surrounded by drunkeness....self-preservation I guess.  But it turned out quite ok.  I learned alot about sailing and how to deal with alcohol in my face for days in a row.  Not easy but I did it.  Witnessing drunks followed by the hangovers every morning is a good reminder of what I dont miss!!!