Want to stay updated to Life on St. John - subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
This morning I awoke to some distinctly unmelodious screeches. Checking out the source I found three parrots up in the telephone pole. They seemed to be playing with or perhaps talking to each other. Although there is species of parrots that is native to the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, these birds are not that. They’re most likely visitors or escapees from some cage somewhere. Anyway they put on quite a show for me this morning and I was able to get a few good photos.
Watching the sun set at Mallory Square in Key West, Florida, has become a tourist attraction and a nightly arts festival featuring artists, food carts, and street performers.
Here on St. John it appears that a similar, if quite a bit smaller in scale, activity has begun at the Cruz Bay overlook on the North Shore Road, minus the street performers, artists and food sellers that is – at least for now.
Earlier (around 6:00 AM) for just about five minutes, the sky exploded in a bright orange. In the far south, towards St. Croix, a small patch of blue could be seen and looking to the west, there was a rainbow.
Shortly afterward, the dark squall clouds gathered together. Lightning lit up the sky and thunder shook the house.
Before 1985 there was a wooden viewing tower atop Caneel Hill, built by National Park contracted workers. That year the powerful Hurricane Hugo destroyed the tower leaving it pretty much a pile of debris, a state in which it remained for some 21 years.
In 2006, a St. John resident, Frank Cummings, who operates SNUBA, decided to do something about it. With some persistence, he was able to obtain both permission and partial funding from the National Park to construct a new tower atop the 719-foot high hilltop. Work began in May of 2006 with the help of private volunteers and additional funding provided by Steve Black. The debris was removed and carried down the hill and the new construction materials were carried up.
Volunteers carried up the 80-pound bags of cement, containers of water, tools and afsteners. Teachers from the Baptist school brought up a generator, and Boy Scouts from Illinois helped bring up the recycled lumber substitute along with volunteers from the Friends of the Park.
Just to the west of the popular Hawksnest Beach, lies a much smaller and far less visited stretch of soft coral sand known as Little Hawksnest.
I revisited this little beach yesterday and realized that it has been some time since I had been there. The tide was high and the surf was up (our St. John winter season is just about upon us) and there wasn’t much beach to speak of with waves washing up almost to the vegetation line.
It isn’t always this way and on more normal days one can find a quiet little beach just to the west of the public beach.
To get to Little Hawksnest, you’ll need to walk to the far western end of the public beach, take the trail through the woods that parallels the shore until you get to the rocky coastline separating the two beaches. A relativity easy scramble will bring you to the beach.
Thinking back (all the way to 1972) I remember attending the wedding of Charlie Deyalsingh (Trinidad Charlie) and Cathy Hartford on this very beach, where among other festivities we had a pig roast.
Remember I said relatively easy scramble, but thinking about it, setting up a pig roast on that beach must have been fairly challenging. I guess we all were a lot tougher in those days.
Press Release from St. John Film Society:
We have a wonderful event planned for next Wednesday night at Cinnamon Bay Amphitheater. We sent out the press release on Wednesday (hope you received it!) and would love a mention on your fabulous site if you have the time and space. This event local filmmakers: Joan Keenan, Janet Cook-Rutnik & Bill Stelzer. We also have some very special visiting guests. Thanks in advance and hope you can make it!
Halloween Costume Prize Columbus Georgia
The Uptown Tap and The Vault, 1024 and 1026 Broadway, Columbus, Georgia, will award a five-night free stay (with meals) on St. John, Virgin Islands to the best overall costume.
Small Plane Crash on St. Croix
A single engine Cessna 177 enroute to St. Thomas crashed while attempting to return to the airport on St. Croix killing the three people aboard
Today’s Photos I’ve included some sunset photos here again, I hope I’m not overdoing this, but the light was sooooo nice!
Miss Michelle's Pre K Kids in Halloween Costumes
Sunset over Great Cruz Bay, St. John Virgin Islands
Chocolate Hole, St. John USVI - Late Afternoon Light
For parents of the Lower School Kids and anyone else who’s interested – here’s a video of the kids who did a little parade at the upper school:
Leinster Bay was once called “Smith Bay.” The current name “Leinster Bay” was adopted by James Murphy, a St. Thomas merchant, slave trader and ship owner, who purchased Leinster Bay, and surrounding estates in 1796. The name Leinster came from the province in Ireland where his family came from.
This photo was taken from the Annaberg Sugar Mill ruins.
Yesterday a pair of dolphins put on a show for boaters at moorings, kayakers and swimmers in the vicinity of Maho Bay. The pair cavorted around the spectators, blowing out air from their blowholes and bringing their tails, heads, and dorsal fins to the surface.
Getting good photos of these guys are not easy, especially without a telephoto lens and excellent timing, but I was able to capture two fairly decent shots of the dolphin surfacing while three girls, visitors from our neighboring island, Puerto Rico, swam after them as their mom followed in a kayak.
Entries (RSS)