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I flew out on Easter Sunday and came back 10 days later. I had been contemplating a trip to St. John in the Virgin Islands since my junior year of high school when I discovered the island while leafing through some National Park books and thinking about my future. I went to a private college prep school for high school, so they started in on us pretty early and aggressively with "what are you going to be/do, etc." talk. I was more sure of that when I was younger. Besides well-meaning parental pressure to be a cartoonist, I thought I would like to be a medical researcher. I enjoyed my science classes thoroughly, and I loved mathematics too. But I had no idea how I would afford college. So I thought maybe I would intern at a National Park for a year or two after college and then go for a degree. That's not how the story unfolded, but it was still nice to look into it, and I found St. John.
Finally, nearly 14 years later, I touched down in St. Thomas and took the ferry across to St. John, taxied to Cinnamon Bay, set up camp right by the beach and enjoyed the magical 10 days.
Those ten days were so wonderful. The picture above was taken at my favorite beach during my visit. It was isolated enough I could sunbathe nude. It was also a prime spot for watching the pelicans dive for their food. There were a couple big rays hanging out in the shallow rocky area to the right of the beach. It was fun to snorkel and watch them rise out of their sandy hiding spots. Snorkeling out to the cay in the bay, I saw sea turtles, angel fish, and other fun fishes. One afternoon an iguana crawled onto the beach, I thought it was a piece of driftwood until it moved.
The cold icy, snowy winter has made me more than ever think of going back to St. John. Back to the warm sand, warm sun, warm clear waters. The dazzling sunsets. Sunrise walks along the beach with my big mustard-colored mug of campfire green tea, talking with Douglas from Salt Pond when I'd bump into him at those sacred times. Those who are really connected to the sea and the islands know that you walk along the beach at sunrise and sunset, and maybe you will bathe a bit too at those times. Sizzling in the noonday sun is for the tourists.
There is another beach I would like to return to. There are many, actually. This, in the picture above, is one of them. The other, the beach where Heidi and I found the whole giant nautilus shell, the Baie de Shabadran on Maré in the loyalty islands of Nouvelle-Calédonie, is the closest I felt to heaven on earth.
The water refreshes me, it recharges me. What beauty, what power, splendor and grace. Oh to be on a white sand beach beside the turquoise waters.
Finally, nearly 14 years later, I touched down in St. Thomas and took the ferry across to St. John, taxied to Cinnamon Bay, set up camp right by the beach and enjoyed the magical 10 days.
Those ten days were so wonderful. The picture above was taken at my favorite beach during my visit. It was isolated enough I could sunbathe nude. It was also a prime spot for watching the pelicans dive for their food. There were a couple big rays hanging out in the shallow rocky area to the right of the beach. It was fun to snorkel and watch them rise out of their sandy hiding spots. Snorkeling out to the cay in the bay, I saw sea turtles, angel fish, and other fun fishes. One afternoon an iguana crawled onto the beach, I thought it was a piece of driftwood until it moved.
The cold icy, snowy winter has made me more than ever think of going back to St. John. Back to the warm sand, warm sun, warm clear waters. The dazzling sunsets. Sunrise walks along the beach with my big mustard-colored mug of campfire green tea, talking with Douglas from Salt Pond when I'd bump into him at those sacred times. Those who are really connected to the sea and the islands know that you walk along the beach at sunrise and sunset, and maybe you will bathe a bit too at those times. Sizzling in the noonday sun is for the tourists.
There is another beach I would like to return to. There are many, actually. This, in the picture above, is one of them. The other, the beach where Heidi and I found the whole giant nautilus shell, the Baie de Shabadran on Maré in the loyalty islands of Nouvelle-Calédonie, is the closest I felt to heaven on earth.
The water refreshes me, it recharges me. What beauty, what power, splendor and grace. Oh to be on a white sand beach beside the turquoise waters.
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