Flashback to June

Summers of Jay, of course, begin the day after my last day of school. The plan for that first day usually involves sleeping late, and some sort of frozen beverage with lunch. This year the plan was an early alarm clock buzzer, followed by a day of travel. If I was going to break summer routine, there had better be a good reason. St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands was our destination, so that's a good enough reason, right there. My mom and her husband celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in May, and wanted to renew their vows on a beach  in the Virgin Islands, where my sister Julie lives. No way were Carrie and I going turn down that invitation.  It was a quick and thorough break from school, and an easy place to move into relaxation mode. The first picture, I took as we glided along the bay after Julie had taken us out on a small boat to a nice snorkeling spot.

Weather-wise, June marks the beginning of hurricane season; not exactly ideal. We did get rained on, and the bugs were pretty vicious, too. We managed to get some sunny beach time, and snorkeling in the rain is remarkably pleasant, especially compared to sitting on a rainy beach. Plenty of fresh seafood, great burgers at Skinny Legs, and tasty home-cooked meals by our hosts, Julie and Ken, kept us fed and happy.

We sailed with Captain Phil to a small island which is part of the V.I. National Park, where Mom and Jim renewed their vows and read poems they had written to one another. It was sweet and touching, and at one point I had to start taking more pictures, and think about baseball, to keep from tearing up.

The weather was perfect until our sail back to Cruz Bay. Julie pointed out that we were actually moving backwards, so Captain Phil, who was a total professional at both the boating and the ceremony officiating, turned on the power to get us home. But not before the storms hit, soaking us all pretty good as the ponchos were brought out. Safely back, we shared a celebratory dinner, sheltered from more rain, as a musician performed for a happy crowd. I asked him to play a song for Mom and Jim, but he claimed to not know it. The musician said I could sing it, which made me laugh, given my abilities, so this will have to do:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C21G2OkHEYo

Peace,

JS4