Thanksgiving

I got up really early on Thanksgiving to make a satellite phone call with my family. Skype sometimes works for me, but they have never been able to hear my voice…I always have to type. So this day, I got to have a real conversation with them and I even got to talk to my dogs!

The rest of the morning was spent cooking and preparing for the actual Thanksgiving event. Desserts were made, the turkey got put in the oven (thanks to advice from Kyle’s mom), roll dough was made, etc.

We also made some pumpkin spiced cookies that LeeAnn got us in our November bucket!

We did all of this while listening to some oldies!

As the turkey was coming out of the oven and as Katrina was figuring out how to carve it, Kyle and I started on some sides. Two kinds of gravies were made!

Then it was time to eat. We had turkey, stuffing, two kinds of cranberry sauce, puréed, mashed sweet potatoes, green beans and peppers, green bean casserole, and rolls! It was really good. And we all ate way too much. Then we shoved more food in in the form of pies and tortes and cookies for desserts! We even had whip cream thanks to Colin, Katrina, and my arm strength.

After we ate, we decided to burn a few calories by playing a game Colin introduced to us as Dartmouth Pong. Too bad we can’t have beer here. So we played with salt water in the cups but we drank sparkling apple cider instead. Also tasty!

Then it was time for the Shark Chute run. We all piled into the gator with five buckets of slop and four jugs of water to fill. We were pretty crammed in there. Steve was hanging off the back, Colin was in the back too, but sitting on a slop bucket, Kyle drove, Katrina was in the passenger seat, and I was in the middle of them, with no seat. We were all holding empty jugs (except Kyle).

We dumped a bunch of buckets. One bucket contained the turkey giblets, the neck, and the carcass of said turkey. So we thought a shark would show up…BUT NO…it was disappointing. But then we got to see a turtle passing by. That was cool. The turkey got pushed back to shore, so Katrina threw it out further before we left. The chubs that were around sure loved that turkey neck. Enjoy…I guess.

When we got back, we played Quiddler and other games until it was really late. It was a good, full belly day.

Halloween!

Halloween was a really a weekend event. Decorations had been finalized by then. We had orange streamers, ghosts made of garbage bags, cats and bats cut out of cereal and granola bar boxes, painted black, Horace the spider made of a garbage bag with sticks for legs, and the paper lantern had a face of a jack-o-lantern taped on.

The celebration started on Friday with Steve’s birthday. The pancakes in the morning were for Steve’s birthday, but the pumpkin shapes were for Halloween. Katrina and I used the fridge magnets to write Halloween themed words on the fridge.

At the pool party we had, Steve noticed that the gator hours hit 66.6! WHAT?!?! It really did. What are the odds of that? Dinner, the two Cranium matches, and the movie were all enjoyed in our costumes. Saturday was used to better perfect our costumes and Sunday was our photo shoot.

We started at Corner Beach were Katrina beautifully transformed into a mermaid. She had gills and fins and everything! She used paint to paint some gills on. Katrina cut out shells from a cereal box and painted them. She used her green skirt as her legs, her snorkeling fins as a tail, and she put tinsel from the Christmas stuff in her hair. She looked really good!

Then it was off to South Shore. I assembled my costume and turned into a Teenage Mutant Ninja Green Sea Turtle. I found a short brown Rubbermaid tote in bulky storage and Katrina painted green plates on it. I used paracord to string up a belt and suspenders to tie them to. The Rubbermaid handles already had holes in them, so that was easy. I used watercolor paints to paint my cheeks, legs, and arms green. I borrowed Colin’s Teenage Ninja Turtles tee shirt, put on my green banana, and I was good to go. Just swing the nunchucks around and I was the real deal.

Then it was Colin’s turn for photos. Colin was a beautiful hula girl. He wanted to make a coconut bra. He started finding coconuts and hacked away at them. They weren’t the right size. He must have opened twenty of those things. The murder site is very gruesome. He was able to find one half of a coconut that was the right size near the garden. And I had one by my tent I had been using to start seedlings. Next came the drilling. He drilled holes and then strung string through them to create the bra. He borrowed my sarong and I helped him with his butterfly tramp stamp temporary tattoo. He put on a lei and made a headdress out of plants, sewing on each flower. His photo shoot consisted of him doing hula things, playing with his belly button, eating his beard, and being the sluttiest girl I have ever seen. Mission accomplished, you sexy thing!

Then off to find some of Steve’s “people.” Steve became a Red-Footed Booby. He used his white sun shirt as his body, a Reese’s box rolled up and painted blue for a beak, Cheese-It boxes rubber banded to his feet, and had paper with strips cut out, taped to his arms for wings. It took Colin and me to tape those things down. It was pretty windy. He found some Booby birds to hang out with. This one below had a pretty long bowing session with Steve. He was so great looking that he even fooled the birds. Steve really wanted to feed a chick a dead fish. I think there should be limits to costumes.

At camp, we all got together to take a group costume photo. We all had a blast during our Halloween events!

Turtle Swimmin’

One day, I did the Sea Turtle Survey. And from where I was in the Hidey Hole, I estimated seeing 17 turtles in one hour. I got back to camp and told everyone. Then we all decided that we wanted to see some Green Sea Turtles from the water. After eating lunch, we all got our stuff together and headed over to the Hidey Hole. Colin was the first to jump in. Then Kyle, Katrina, and then Steve.

Once people were in, I saw how clear the water was. Usually, it is kind of murky over there. We might actually get to see something! Then it was my turn to jump in. The water here is so perfect. The temperature is amazing. You never feel too cold or hot, just perfect.

We all started swimming in different directions to try and find a turtle. There was lots of sea weed stuff down there. And there were a ton of fish.

I kept looking behind me to check for sharks; they always come from behind. And I saw a big cluster of fish following me everywhere. I don’t need any cleaning, thank you though.

Then I saw a turtle. He was swimming away from me. But he was so cool. I was not sure what to expect. I have been swimming with manatees in Florida before and I was totally freaked out because the water was really murky. There would be nothing there and then all of a sudden there was a huge manatee butt in my face. I didn’t like it. But this day, swimming with turtles, the water was clear enough for me to see the turtles before they were right in my face. I liked that.

After I watched that turtle swim off, I swam in the opposite direction to find more turtles. I was distracted looking at some fish, when I saw a large, dark figure off in the distance. So the first thing I did was get my camera recording. I watched as the figure was getting closer and bigger as it was headed right for me. Then, as it was close enough, the shape was more defined and the Green Sea Turtle was seen in all its glory. She headed straight for me; I don’t think she saw me yet. She was flapping her flippers like a bird as she soared through the water. Then she noticed me and turned so as not to run right into me. She was only about four feet away from me. I guess it is true that if you stay still, wildlife will come to you. She turned and slowly swam away. Off to do more turtle things.

The whole trip was pretty amazing. Everyone but Steve got to see at least one turtle. We all had a good day though. Colin stole my sunglasses so I took his as we went back to camp and rubbed in the fact that Steve didn’t get to see any turtles.

Don’t worry. Steve and I went out another day and he got to see his own turtle. Success!

Sun Bathing

A couple weeks ago, I was just walking around the island on my day off. My final destination was going to be the Hidey Hole so that I could see some turtles. I was going to go straight there but had this weird feeling to go to South Shore first. I got to the beach and started to walk it when I saw some trash half in the water/half on shore.

I had already found a spaceship and I was wondering what I had discovered now. I started to move closer when I discovered that it wasn’t trash at all. It was something far from it. It was an endangered Green Sea Turtle! We have never seen them on the beach. What was he doing there? He was beautiful. I took two pictures and then ran to my bike. Of course I didn’t have a radio with me, of all days. I have never ridden that fast in my life. My legs were burning. When I reached camp, I still had enough in me to scream at everyone. I told them to get their cameras and to get their asses in the gator. I drove us back the beach and we found the turtle had moved higher up the beach. He was just chillin’. We were concerned that there was something wrong as it was still light outside and we have never seen them on the beach before. We determined that dude was just there to sun bathe.

Katrina did some reading when we got back. The large tail indicates that he was a male and that he was at least 25 years old! I guess I didn’t have to go all the way to the Hidey Hole to see a sea turtle after all!

NOTE: These guys are endangered and require lots of space. All marine animals are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. Sea turtles are one species that are protected under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and also Hawaii State Law. Responsible viewing can be done by viewing “from a distance” and they should never be fed, touched, or ridden. I wish my zoom was better on my camera to get a closer photo, but I am happy with what I was able to get!