Rainbow over Chocolate Hole

Gerald Singer www.SeeStJohn.com
Like I was saying yesterday, St. John is really a beautiful place to be. The above photo was taken yesterday afternoon from my deck overlooking Chocolate Hole Harbor.

Winter is here. On St. John the change of seasons is subtle. It’s definitely cooler than during the summer and the sultry days of the hurricane season, when often there is hardly a breeze. No more need for air conditioning, but no need for sweaters either.

The water is colder also. Probably something that visiting tourists wouldn’t notice, but for native St. Johnians and long time residents whose “blood has thinned,” the water seems cold and those that like to “take a soak” in the late afternoon, don’t stay in the water nearly as long as they would during the summer.

The trade winds are stronger than any other time of year, as the jet stream dips to the south. We call these brisk winds the Christmas Winds, and they’ve been piping up over this last week. Whitecaps dominate even inland waters and here on St. John people say, “the sheep are in the meadow,” when describing the rough state of the usually more tranquil Caribbean and Atlantic waters.

Also during this last week, we’ve experienced ground seas, large swells generated from North Atlantic storms and low pressure systems, that come ashore on the north side of St. John and break on the exposed coastlines. Not so great for swimming, but great for surfers, who head out to the surfing beaches of Tortola and St. Thomas.

(For those of you who would prefer gentler seas, I suggest visiting some of our south shore beaches like Lameshur and Salt Pond Bays.)

Also during the winter, bird watchers can find species that come down from the north and pass the winter on St. John and people watchers can find a species of human beings called snowbirds doing the same thing.

During the slow months of the Hurricane Season, mid July to mid November, I seem to know just about everyone I see in Cruz Bay. The restaurants and bars, the ones that remain open are often nearly empty and town is quiet. As the Chritmas and New Years season approaches, Cruz Bay and St. John are transformed. Town is bustling with (comparatively) well dressed tourists. Restaurants are full, and excitment is in the air.

Another season, another day in Paradise – St. John US Virgin Islands.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 18th, 2008 at 11:09 am and is filed under Life on St. John USVI. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.