Critters

I don't know how it happened, but once again I am sharing a home with nine animals.

This is Dusty the dog.


Dusty apparently has no problem being dominated by any of the eight cats, who quite literally walk all over him. Sample culprits below.

Not shown are the three black cats that apparently come in tall, venti, and grande, with an inverse degree of shyness. Feral cats in the Virgin Islands are called "bush cats". While Trap-Neuter-Release programs may actually worsen the problem on the mainland, they make all the sense in the world on a 9- by 5-mile island, where there's no further supply of felines to move in and take over the neutered kitties' territory. The St. John Animal Care Center works hard to care for the island's bush cat population.

Whereas these guys don't know the meaning of hard work:

Journey

My flight was late, so I missed my intended ferry by mere minutes, so I had to catch the next boat an hour later. No worries; welcome to island time. Fortunately I'd chosen one of the car rental companies willing to meet me late (Courtesy lives up to its name; thanks, Josephine!). But it meant I had to drive home in the dark along the South Shore Road.

According to Feet, Fins, and Four-Wheel Drive author Pam Gaffin, the steepest grade on St. John roads is rumored to be 37 degrees. The knowledge that the hill called "Jacobs Ladder" is named for the family who lives at the top of it and not a stairway to the afterlife makes it no less harrowing. Throw in some hairpin turns of interesting camber, a bunch of potholes, and do it all on the left-hand side of the road in a left-hand-drive car. Here's what some of it looks like in daylight.

For bonus points, try this in the dark, after drinking slightly more than the recommended daily allowance of single-malt Scotch in the wee hours the night before, to arise at 4 a.m., then dragging your body weight in luggage among various methods of transportation all day long.

The reward: a beautiful space awaiting me to rest, and waking up to this sunrise the next day:

Arrival

The view from my deck on my first night.