September Remember.

Posting the First Wednesday of every month, the Insecure Writer's Support Group, is the brainchild of Alex Cavanaugh. YOU can sign up HERE to participate.

Every month a question will be posed that may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Remember, the question is optional. You can write about anything that relates to your writing journey.

Let's give a warm welcome to our co-hosts: Beth Camp, Jean Davis, Yvonne Ventresca, and PJ Colando!

This month's question is: Since it's back to school time, let's talk English class. What's a writing rule you learned in school that messed you up as a writer? 

My first English/writing teacher was my mother. That makes me lucky because in homeschooling me she quickly realized I learned differently than my sister. We didn't have a name or diagnosis for it back then, but it turns out I'm mildly dyslexic, and it's enough to make me a bad speller, to transpose numbers and to be a slow (but avid) reader. When it came to writing, she was the one who recognized when I was eight, despite all the spelling mistakes, that I might have a talent for writing. She was my first and ever strongest cheerleader. That said, when I did get enrolled in a "regular" school, I had some pretty awesome English teachers who also encouraged me, despite the red marks all over my papers for misspellings or misplaced commas or dangling participles or whatever. They saw I could write a good story, essay, or poem, so they overlooked a lot of my stumbling blunders.

Origins: a recurring post in which I delve into the history of a word or phrase.

I am preempting Origins this month to bring you a small tour of my visit home to the Virgin Island

The Battery in Cruz Bay, built by the Danes in 1764. 

However, a Danish census shows that settlers were living on St. John as early as 1680.

Although it is much modified, this the house I first lived in when we moved to St. John in 1955.

The picture on the right shows me and mother on the street in front of the house.

Too many years after publication, my books are finally for sale on island 

and I had a wonderful little book signings

My cousin Rafe Boulon and his wife, Kimberly.

The windmill at Susannaberg, one of many sugar plantation ruins.

Sunset from Susannaberg, looking northwest into the Atlantic.

Waterlemon Bay.

Trunk Bay. My grandparents bought it in 1928. 

They build a summer home here to escape the "hustle and bustle" of living in Puerto Rico.

After World War II my grandmother converted the six bedroom home into a guesthouse which she ran, without electricity until 1960 when the beach was transferred to the National Park.

Me, early in the morning at Trunk. 

The windmill at Annaberg. When I was a kid a family lived in the windmill. 

It had a roof and second floor.

The evidence of volcanic upthrust is everywhere.

There are some magnificent and dramatic rock structures.

Catherineberg, the most complete and beautiful of all the windmills.

The walls of most of these ruins are between four and five feet thick.

All the buildings on all the islands were constructed by enslaved Africans.

An example of the clarity of the water. 

This is looking down through about 4 feet of water.

Wild donkeys are everywhere. Sometimes they are a nuisance. 

Unfortunately tourists think it's fun to feed them people food 

which cause tumorous fatty deposits to develop. Feeding them also makes them bold. 

People think they are tame, but they aren't. They can kick and bite without warning.

Cairns at Solomon Bay. I stacked the one on the left.

My sister climbing out of Solomon. Most of the trail follows the contour of the hill, but there are a couple of steep rocky places. We did pretty darn good for a couple of old broads.

Iguana on the trail to Solomon.

Magens Bay, St. Thomas.

Sunrise from St. Thomas looking east down Sir Francis Drake Passage.

Yes, that Sir Francis Drake. He did sail through the passage. 

The island to the left is Tortola, British Virgin Islands.

St. John is to the right. A mere quarter of a mile separates the BVI from the USVI.

Fort Christian, St. Thomas. The first building constructed after the Danes took possession of the islands. The first phase of its building began in 1666 and was finished between 1671 and 1680.

This is the third iteration of the Lutheran Church to be built on this site and dates to 1793. 

It is the oldest established church in the islands, dating back to about the time the fort was built.

Hotel 1829. 

After being shuttered for many years, 

new owners are giving this beautiful hotel a facelift and hopefully will soon be reopened.

The most precious part of this building is the large Tiffany stain glassed window from 1910.

The Sewer.

Being Thankful

Today I'm ever so thankful for the month I got to spend on my island home with family and friends.

Even went through tropical storm Ernesto! 

What are you thankful for? Did you go anywhere special this summer? Did you have any good English teachers?

IWSG, Memories, and Writing

Posting the First Wednesday of every month, the Insecure Writer's Support Group, is the brainchild of Alex Cavanaugh. YOU can sign up HERE to participate.

Every month a question will be posed that may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Remember, the question is optional. You can write about anything that relates to your writing journey.

Let's give a warm welcome to our co-hosts:  Renee Scattergood, Sadira Stone, Jacqui Murray, Tamara Narayan, and LG Keltner!

This month's question is: Has your writing ever taken you by surprise? For example, a positive and belated response to a submission you'd forgotten about or an ending you never saw coming?

It's funny, strange, and serendipitous how this question applies to me. I've been in a writing slump for some time. These slumps have happened before and I don't fret over it, as I know no matter how long they last, I'll eventually find my way out of it.

Recently I've been posting pictures with a few lines about the history of my family on the island of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. I've been posting to my Facebook author page , St. John Travel and Life, and to Voices of St. John VI. The multitude of positive and up-lifting responses has been humbling, inspiring, and totally awesome!

These postings led the editor of a magazine - someone I've written for before - to ask me to write a story for her magazine. And not just one story, but perhaps several. And, I'll get paid for it, and handsomely too.

So, to continue in this general vein, I will post here a few of the pictures I've posted on Facebook.






My mother, Erva Claire Boulon, on a donkey at about age 14, 1931 at Trunk Bay, St. John.

My grandmother riding into Cruz Bay, St. John to pick up the mail. 1945. She ran a guest house at Trunk Bay from the late 1930s until World War II then picked up where she left off after the war ended.

My grandmother, Erva Hartwell Boulon on the upper porch of the Main House at Trunk Bay, early 1950s. She ran her guest house without electricity. Doctors, lawyers, and artists stayed there for the quietude and peace she provided.

Among her more well-known guests were the author John Dos Passos, Dr. Robert Oppenheimer and his wife Kitty, and the artist Otto Freid.

This is a postcard from the 1940s of the kitchen at Trunk Bay.

This is me at Trunk Bay, about 1957. I appear to sand skiing.

Being Thankful

Today I'm thankful for the memories and for the opportunity to share them.

What are you thankful for? Has your writing ever surprised you?

Celebrating One Hundred Years

Last week, the 25th of August, marked 100th birthday of the National Parks. I thought to celebrate I'd post some pictures of the Virgin Island National Park. Most of the *park* resides on the island of St. John which was established in 1956 when Laurence Rockefeller bought up about two thirds of the island and donated it to the National Park.

Annaberg, one of many sugar plantations on the island, was under cultivation by 1731. By the 1800 it was one of the largest sugar producers on the island. This picture was take some time after 1933.

(Source)

The windmill was added sometime between 1820-1830. 

Up to that point the horse mill was used to grind the cane. 

You can see a part of it in the above picture to the far left, what looks like a curved wall.

 The factory building where the cane juice was boiled down to make sugar, molasses, and eventually rum. The wall to the right is part of the horse mill.

Boiling vats inside the factory building. Just one of the large iron pots remains in place, in the center of this picture.

 Looking through a window of the factory building at the windmill. 

 Catherineberg. During the slave revolt of 1733, the slaves used Catherineberg as their headquarters.

 It is the only windmill on the island you can walk under. 

Reef Bay. The last operating sugar factory ended production in 1908.

It was one of two factories that used a steam engine for grinding cane.

Above Reef Bay on a gut (a water course that runs after it rains) there is a waterfall with pools. The pools have water in them most of the year. Carved into the rocks above one of the pools are these petrogylphs believed to have been put there by the Taino (Arawak) Indians, the first inhabitants of the St. John. There is evidence people lived on the island as early as 1st century AD. They were gone long before Columbus arrived in 1493.

Maho Bay, which includes left to right, Francis Bay, Lillie Maho in the middle, and Big Maho.

Cinnamon Bay, taken from the sea, and home of the National Park campground. 

The building on the beach is an old Danish warehouse

Trunk Bay, is one of the most photographed beaches in the world. I've posted about it many times. This is the beach my grandparents bought in 1928, and where my grandmother had her first guesthouse. It's where I learned to swim. Now part of the National Park, it's a favorite place for visitors to come. There's even an underwater snorkeling trail that follows part of the shoreline of Trunk Cay. (The island to the far left is Jost Van Dyke, a British island. Dead center is Whistling Cay. Behind it is Thatch Cay. Thatch Cay is also British. The point of land to the right of Whistling Cay is Mary Point, which forms part of Maho Bay.)

Hassel Island, St. Thomas.
In 1671 Denmark successfully colonized St. Thomas and by 1680 the port of Charlotte Amalie was a thriving free trade hub. During the American Revolution, powder, arms, and shot were sent to the Continental Army by way of St. Thomas.

To protect the harbor, Prince Frederik's Battery was built in 1788. It sits right at the entrance to the harbor. During the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark was friends with the "Little General." St. Thomas was such an important port that the British occupied Hassel Island, once between 1801-02 and again between 1806-15. Both times they expanded or build new batteries and forts. During the British occupation, Prince Frederik's Battery, acquired its present name, Fort Willoughby.




The British built the Garrison House which was also used for storing munitions. It's construction is unique, and as far as I know, the only one like it in the world.













It's the only building in the islands that has wooden windows  covered in copper.














Fort Christianvaern, St. Croix. Christiansted, where this fort is, was established in 1735 and became the capital of the Danish Virgin Islands in 1755.

I hope you've enjoyed this brief tour of the Virgin Islands National Park. If you can't visit this one, do take  take the time to visit a park near you. We are blessed to have these lands set aside for us in perpetuity.

Being Thankful

Today I'm thankful for, what else? National Parks.

Here are some Parks and Monuments I've visited (not including the Virgin Islands. :)

Yellowstone

Grand Titons
Grand Canyon
Yosemite
Petrified Forest
Saguaro National Park
Death Valley National Park
Golden Gate National Recreational Area
Muir Woods National Monument
Redwood National Park
Mesa Verde National Park
Everglades National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park
Fort Larned National Historic Site
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
White Sands National Monument
San Antonio Missions National Historic Park
Lincoln Memorial
National Mall
Jefferson Memorial
Washington Monument

There may be others...

***

What are you thankful for today? Have you been to any parks or monuments? Do tell!

Spirit Trees - Part Two

Last week I wrote a little bit about Spirit Trees, trees that at one time people in the Virgin Islands believed contained spirits. This week is not about Spirit Trees as such. It's about trees that have been around for a long time, old trees that I feel deserve some special attention. If these trees don't have spirits in them, they ought to.

In south east corner of Emancipation Gardens on St. Thomas, grows an ancient casha tree. This particular brand of Acacia (in the Mimosa family) is native to the Caribbean. How it managed to

survive is fodder for a story because these trees have brutal inch and a half to two inch long thorns that can pierce tires and shoe soles. It has lived through a time when the ocean lapped a few feet away, through the making and paving of streets and building of buildings. For some reason it was never targeted as a nuisance tree that should be gotten rid of. Instead, it was allowed to grow and its twisted ropy trunk is a wonder to behold.

Down the street from Emancipation Gardens is a park which dates back to 1764 and was originally called Coconut Square. In  1945 it was renamed Roosevelt Park to honor a visit made by Franklin D. Within the park are two baobab trees, the seeds of which were brought to the islands with slaves. These trees were definitely thought of as sacred because they provided food and shelter. There is one baobab on St. John (click on the link and you can see a picture of it) and another on St. Croix which is about 250 years old. Because these trees are basically filled with water they don't have rings so age is approximated by the diameter of the trunk. I have no idea how the trees are in Roosevelt Park, but they must be at least 200 years old. 

On St. John at Cinnamon Bay - home of the National Park Campground - there is this huge rain tree. They are native to Central and South America and probably came into the Caribbean with the various Indians as they migrated up the chain. That's my friend, Margaret on the left and me giving you an idea of its size.

The lignum vitae, also known as ironwood, is a very slow growing native of the Caribbean. The wood is so dense and heavy it sinks in water. Because it is self-lubricating and so hard it is still used for making bearings. It is the national tree of the Bahamas and Jamaica. They only grow to about 40 feet, but don't let the size fool you. This one at Cowpet Bay on St. Thomas is probably several hundred years old...

...as is this one in Cruz Bay, on St. John. As you can see, they tend to branch out low to the ground and make nice shade. Clusters of very pretty purple flowers bloom in the late spring.

I don't know what kind of tree this one is, but it can be found at Magens Bay on St. Thomas. Long ago a storm blew it over, but it kept right on growing. That's Margaret, demonstrating the width of the roots.

And this is a group of classmates posing on the trunk. I'm second from the left.

All of these trees are, to my mind, Spirit Trees. They have survived hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and human beings.

It seems the more gnarled and twisted a tree is, the more we love it. Certainly the older a tree is, the more we cherish it, respect it, honor it. We can see in those places where it has been scarred by life, and in its very rings, the history of time. Those scars give it character and we are awed by its ability to survive. We like to go to these trees and sit beneath them. We like to hug them. Some of us may even talk to them.

I have often wondered why we do not seem to look upon our elder human beings in the same way. Should not their wrinkles, their gnarled and twisted limbs and the scars they bear be as loved and cherished as an old tree?