Constitution Day At Shacks Beach

This KAP (kite aerial photography) photo shows a very busy Shacks Beach on Constitution Day, 2009.

It's strange how much a change of point of view makes. From the ground, it really did feel crowded (for Shacks anyway). From up here...not so much.

And it really wasn't as crowded as I expected. Constitution Day is usually bigger than the 4th of July, but not this year, at least not at Shacks. I don't know what Jobos looked like; I didn't venture down there.

One of the things I love about "our" beach is that this really is a crowded day at the beach. Back in Michigan our favorite beaches at Warren Dunes, South Haven, and Grand Haven can have 10,000, 20,000, as many as 50,000 people. We like it when a crowd is a couple of hundred people on eight miles of beach.

Okay, one more holiday - Barbosa Day on Monday - and then we have month-long drought. No more holidays until Labor Day. ARRGH!

There are a few more pictures from this KAP session on Flickr.

Kennedy "reading"

Kennedy likes to sit on the balcony and
"read" just like her Abuelo (grandpa). (If you look closely, her book, Dean Koontz's "Frankenstein," is upside down.)

But sometimes, she "falls asleep" with her book on her chest. Just like her Abuelo.





She also likes to "read" to Jazz and Amber. It's not always easy to get their attention and make sure they're listening so she has to be very persistent. And, of course, everyone loves the part where she says "the end."

Holidays in Puerto Rico

I've written before that we Puerto Ricans love our holidays! In fact, we love everybody's holidays! This is a very special week in Puerto Rico. This week has three holidays, a fact I forgot yesterday when I went to take care of some government related business and found the offices closed. Oh, yeah! It's a holiday!

The sad thing is, my totally informal, totally unscientific survey of a dozen or so people found not one person who knew what the holiday was about. So in the interest of free information, here's the run-down of this week's holidays:

Yesterday celebrated the birthday of Don Luis Muñoz Rivera (1859–1916). Don Luis was a prominent journalist, poet, and politician who advocated independence from Spain and later, the United States. His son Luis Muñoz Marín was the first democratically elected governor of Puerto Rico. This holiday is celebrated on the third Monday of July.

Saturday, July 25, is one of the biggest holidays in PR, Commonwealth Constitution Day. It used to be called Occupation Day, "celebrating" the landing of U.S. troops at Guánica in 1898. Because the "real day" falls on Saturday, government offices and banks will be closed on Friday. this is a big enough holiday that, even though it is not a U.S. Federal holiday, the U.S. post offices here on the island are closed for the day. So, no mail on Saturday.

July 27 is the third holiday this week, celebrating the birthday of Dr. José Celso Barbosa (1857–1921). Dr. Barbosa was a medical doctor and an early advocate of statehood, founder of the Republican Party on the Island.

So there you have it, the week of three holidays. There is a rumor that there are three holidays in this one week to make up for the fact there are no holidays in August. August and June are the only months that do not have official holidays. (June has Noche de San Juan/Night of St. John, which is a de facto but not official holiday.) Maybe my birthday in June can become a holiday.

Apollo 11

It's one of those moments: if you were there, you'll never forget where you were. Forty years ago two American astronauts landed on the moon.

I was 18, not quite two months out of high school. I had to leave for work at 5:30 on Monday morning, but my parents and sister and I stayed glued to the TV in our living room, watching the final approach on Sunday afternoon, the landing and finally Neil Armstrong's first steps a little after 11:00 pm. I stayed up until well after midnight Sunday night, watching Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin bounce around on the moon. In those days there was a lot of empty time to fill (it was a nearly seven hours after the landing before Armstrong came out of the lander) and reporters like Walter Cronkite kept us up to date and entertained and informed.

I followed the space program from the beginning. When I was in the second grade, I watched - on a tiny black and white TV - the launch of Alan Shepherd's tiny Mercury capsule ("you didn't so much get into it as you put it on") for a little 15-minute hop. Then we waited while the Navy searched for his capsule, a teeny speck floating in the Atlantic, and then pulled him safely on board a helicopter.

I was home sick the day NASA launched John Glenn into orbit. If I hadn't been sick, I might have missed that launch. As it turned out, I saw every manned launch through Mercury, Gemini and the Apollo program. Yes, I saw the launch of Apollo 13. I was in college then. We only had a few TV's on campus (no cable TV in every dorm room, in fact no cable TV at all!) and it was harder to keep up. But we did. We waited with the rest of the world for the astronauts return.

The space program was in a way a diversion, a distraction, from the horrors - on both sides of the Pacific [how ironic is that] of the Vietnam war. But at the same time it was a reminder of the awesome power of the human spirit, of what we can accomplish when we work together. It was a reminder of our apparently insatiable need to explore, to find out what's out there, to go there, even if the motivation is as simple as greed (money is why Columbus sailed west after all).

For those of you too young to have seen the Apollo 11 landing, you'll have your unforgettable moments. I'm glad this is one of mine.

class reunion is this weekend

My 40th high school class reunion is this weekend. I will be here, at Ola Lola's, not in Milford, Ohio, but I will be thinking of everybody at the reunion.

It's kinda strange. Maybe it's an age thing, but I have more interest in connecting with classmates now than I ever have before. As plans for the reunion have come together, I've connected with a number of people from back in the dark ages and that's been really interesting and a lot of fun.

I hope everyone has a great time this weekend. Thanks to Shirley and Vicki and everyone else who have worked so hard to make this weekend happen. Sorry I can't make it. (I am more than a little amazed at just how sorry I am that I can't get there.) Since plans are to make this an annual thing, maybe next year!

And yes, that's what I looked like 41 years ago (our senior pictures were taken in August of the year before we graduated). Do I see hair on top of the head?

Reef Squid

We've seen reef squid while snorkeling the past few days. We LOVE the reef squid! They are beautiful and so much fun to watch. They usually travel in pods - we've seen as many as 24 together. The video is of a pod of babies, guys about three inches long.

They were in about 18 inches of water, just a few feet from the shore. There were probably 5o people in the water within 20 feet of these little guys, totally oblivious to what was there, just under the water a few feet away. Of course the squid were (mostly) oblivious to the people too.

There are more new reef squid pictures and some older ones as well on Flickr.

It was good to see you back, Scott

Zan's friend Scott was back in PR at the end of June. He arranged his business trip schedule to be in PR when Ola Lola's was open - and so he could play golf at Royal Isabela Golf Club as our friend Stanley's guest. Thanks, Scott! We truly appreciate that kind of customer loyalty! It was good to see you back again.

Speaking of Royal Isabela, we are working on a date for the Second One and Only Ola Lola Open Golf Classic. We'll let you know as plans unfold.

Happy birthday, Angel!

Today is our granddaughter Angel's birthday. (This picture, with her dad Steve) was taken when they visited Puerto Rico in June.) She is four years old today!

Happy Birthday to our Angel. We love you!

Busy week

Happy birthday to my baby sister. We love you and miss you. Hope today (and every day!) is a wonderful awesome day for you. Come visit soon!

It was a very busy weekend at Ola Lola's (woo-hoo!!) and we're just getting caught up. Still lots to do to get ready for this coming weekend!

More tomorrow.

Hey, now - you're a rockstar...

and you are so-o two! Happy birthday, Kennedy Anne! Today is your second birthday. Hope it's fun and full of sun and joy. We love you, baby girl!

And a belated birthday to our friends Alison and Jason K., both of whom added a stripe yesterday. Happy birthday!

Shacks Beach Marine Protected Area

A number of people are working very hard to make the Shacks Beach area a Marine Protected Area (MPA). This is a very important effort to protect the beach, water and especially the reefs of Shacks Beach. Here is what an MPA is:

Marine Protected Areas
Over 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. Yet less than .5% of Marine Habitats are protected

The federal government’s MPA program defines marine protected areas as "any area of the marine environment that has been reserved by Federal, State, territorial, tribal, or local laws or regulations to provide lasting protection for part or all of the natural and cultural resources therein" (E.O. 13158, Federal Register, 2000).

MPAs perform as sites for research and education, as biodiversity reserves, as tools to conserve historic or cultural marine resources, as designations to reduce user conflicts, and to manage natural resources.

MPAs provide varying degrees of protection and permit or prohibit different uses.

Most MPAs permit certain human recreational or commercial activities and some extractive activities such as fishing or shellfish harvesting, while many MPAs prohibit certain extractive activities such as oil and gas drilling.

Benefits of Marine Protected Areas

—Conserves our ocean resources

—Enhancing the reproductive potential of marine species

—Protect long term health of our oceans

—Increased fish size

—Promotes cultural heritage

—Maintaining species diversity

—Preserving habitat

—Preserving ecosystem functions

—Ensure fisheries production

—Spillover

From the book: Ocean and Coastal Law and Policy Baur, Donald C./ Eichenberg, Tim/ Sutton, Michael

You can read more and see more on a new blog, http://shacksbeach.blogspot.com. Check it out. We expect to be able to follow the progress of the process on this blog. BTW, you may recognize many of the photos - they are mine!

Hace calor!

Chocolate enjoys cooling off with the hose too!

It's been pretty hot here in Bajuras the past month or so...temperature's actually about the same as always for this time of year - from mid-70s (low) to mid-80s (high), but the tradewinds have been lighter than usual and the humidity seems to be running higher than usual.

But, it's not all bad. When you live like you're camping, there's no need to worry about "dressing for success" or staying dry. So, lately we've been living in swim suits all day, showering with the hose outdoors, having regular water fights and getting in the ocean as much as possible.

Woo hoo!

Meet Mylo

Sometime in mid-February 3-4 tiny kittens (probably only about 5 weeks old) were dropped off near our house. We heard them but only our nephew Jordan saw the litter. However, I did find and started to care for a teacup-size female that I called MyLO (for "My Little One").

Before long she was coming when I called her to give her food and water. She also was climbing (and coming back down) our huge almond tree and using it as her safe haven. And, we were taking her to the vet and treating her for ear mites and fleas, as well as getting her needed shots and scheduling her to be spayed.

In case that weren't enough, I guess the name should have tipped me off that we weren't just a temporary foster home: she was now part of the family. The true test came when one of our friends and customers was at Ola Lola's and said she wanted to adopt her. I said, "Well, that might work" and John said, "No, you can't give away our kitten."

Turns out he was under the illusion that she might keep the mice and rat population down. The problem with that is that until very recently most mice outweighed her by half. At one point early in her stay, the dogs - who were raised with a cat and think it's just a funny looking puppy - cornered Mylo and she arched her back, puffed out all her fur and her tail, and hissed loudly. She was no more scary than a poofed out Q-tip.

John and I were both under the illusion that she would be an "outdoor" cat. This - particularly for those of you who have seen our house - is truly laughable! We are, in fact, always open to the outside on at least 2 sides of the house (even when it's pouring rain). So, instead we have an "everywhere" cat who now weighs almost 3 lbs. She loves to sleep on the deck by the computer, spring onto the bathroom roof, scale the fish nets we use as railings for the stairways, play high-wire along the window ledges, and climb the trees in the garden. She has also discovered that the outdoors is hers and hers alone when Ola Lola's is open (no dogs allowed). From this vantage she pounces on customers' legs as they go to the bathrooms, darts in and out of my feet as I bring food from the kitchen, and watches the party from treetop level - whichever suits her fancy.

So, I guess it's time that everyone meets Mylo.

Wave-eye view

The kite surfers at Shacks Beach - especially our good friend Eric - are among my favorite photo subjects. I have photographed them from the beach and have some pretty spectacular (if I modestly say so myself) KAP (Kite Aerial Photography) photos taken from above with a kite. One of my photos was chosen for the cover of the current issue of Kiting, the magazine/newsletter of the American Kitefliers Association.

The one perspective I don't get very often is from water level. For the most part the winds are best for kite surfers in the winter - which is also surf season. Usually the water is too rough and choppy to bob around trying to dodge kite surfers and get some good pictures. Plus, in the winter there is usually a strong current along this part of the beach which makes it hard to keep the proper position.

But last week the conditions were nearly perfect: good wind for Eric to kite in, warm calm water with little current for me to tread water in. I was out snorkeling when I saw Eric putting up his kite. I kicked hard to get down to that part of the beach.

The results are pretty good for a first try. I learned a lot. Hopefully, I'll get a few more chances like this while the water is calm, before the surf kicks up in the fall. I really like this perspective and want to work with it more. And Eric is such a great subject.

You can see more from this set on Flickr.

Mess on the beach

I hope this video and just the sight of our beautiful beaches cause enough outrage to change the way people look at our most amazing resource.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAB8PG6ZO9E

This video was shot the morning after Noche de San Juan at Ocean Park, a well-known and popular beach in San Juan. I would like to be smug and say something like, "well, that's in San Juan." But Jobos looked pretty much the same this morning. And our beaches will look this way after the 4th of July (and after the 3rd this year since that's Friday and the "official" holiday) and Constitution Day and...and...and...

This obvious lack of respect for the incredible beauty of our beaches and ocean is probably my biggest disappointment in living here in PR. It hurts to see this and it makes me very sad. Many of us, puertoriquenos and norte americanos alike, try to make some little difference, but that's all it feels like sometimes: very little difference. There are a lot pissed-off people expressing their outrage on Facebook. I hope somehow that outrage turns to action instead of a shaking of the head and a sad, "well, that's the way it is. There's nothing I can do."

This is a translation of the text in the Ocean Park video:

Unfortunately, the video is long.

I wonder how many offenders were arrested for throwing trash in public areas.

I guess that there were none with so many people.

I expected to find at least Tito Kayak, protector of the environment, picking up trash...or at least tied to a palm, protesting this disaster...but I guess he's still asleep, after all it is not yet 10 am.

And when I left the beach, I met a couple of tourists who could not believe what they were seeing ... asked me because if this island is so beautiful, why is there so much trash...I tried to explain there is generally less trash...they responded: ohh, it must be cultural...I never felt so embarassed

but I guess those that spent the night in the ocean, today say they spent a brutal night.

The penalty to Puerto Rico. The penalty.

Feel free to share this link with any of you/our friends, especially here on the island. I hate preacing to the choir. Let's ALL make a difference, here on the island or wherever you are.

Fiesta de San Juan de Bautista

Today is Dia de San Juan de Bautista (St. John the Babtist Day). Last night was Noche de San Juan, the night of St. John. It is a night of revelry and partying on the beaches. People camp on the beaches (which is technically illegal) so at midnight they can continue the tradition of throwing themselves backward into the ocean three times. More than a thousand people crowded Jobos last night.

For some Noche de San Juan is just an excuse to party on the beach. For others, though, it really is a religious observance, celebrating John the Baptist baptising Jesus. Unfortunately, it's not all fun. The morning after the beaches are always a mess with trash, empty beer bottles and even used diapers. Somewhere around the island there are always fights and cars broken into. It's sad that a special, fun night is marred that way.

We didn't make it 'til midnight, didn't even plan to. Instead of throwing ourselves backward into the ocean, we went night snorkeling much earlier in the evening out on "our" reef.

The reef at night is a completely different place. Obviously it's harder to see; your field of vision is defined by what your dive light illuminates, like the way your driving vision is defined by your car headlights at night. Fish appear in completely different colors and we have to identify the familiar ones by shape alone. We see fish at night that we don't normally see in the day time. And the sea urchins. By day, the appear to be anchored to the rocks like barnacles. But they're not. At night they cruise around the rocks and the reef. It's pretty amazing to watch.

It's not the first time we've been night snorkeling (I even have one night dive). I guarantee it won't be the last!

Happy Father's Day (belated)

First of all I hope all the fathers had a wonderful day. I had a pretty lazy day - right up 'til Ola Lola's opened. We worked our tails off! (Not complaining, mind you, but it was Father's Day.)

To my own children, Happy Father's Day from your father. Please know that your father is happy and that you are one of the reasons he is happy with his life. (To make a sudden shift) I miss you and wish we were more a part of each other's lives, but I'm happy you are living your own life. Your mother, stepmother and I worked very hard so you could be independent, even from us. (Especially from us?...)

To my own father, I miss you, more with each passing year. There are so many things left unsaid between us, and so much of what was said was said badly. I was always afraid I was a disappointment to you (Mom said I'm wrong), that my son John is the son you should have had. Be that as it may, I wish you were here to know your grandchildren and now your great-granddaughters. I think you would love them. And I think you would be proud of the way your grandchildren turned out, in spite of my mistakes as a parent. I know I am proud of them. I wish you could know them.

One thing that was never said enough: I love you, Dad. Happy Father's Day.

Elaine is now officially a certified diver

Elaine swims through the coral "canyons" on the outside reef at Shacks on her final certification dive

Elaine got her SCUBA diving certification card this week. HOORAY! Way to go Elaine! Now we're both certified which means we can rent SCUBA tanks and gear and go diving on our own. There are a lot of little places we want to explore.

When we first got here she was perfectly happier to "just" snorkel. I was the one who really wanted to dive. Her passion was (and IS) her horse. I like to ride, but I'm not nearly as good or as passionate about it as Elaine is. Our "deal" was she rides, I dive.

But the more you snorkel, the more inviting, the more interesting diving becomes. And I do like to horesback ride. Plus, we both want to share our passion with the other, and we both want to share in what makes each other happy. So Elaine learned to dive so we can go together. Now it's my turn to learn to be a better rider.

On Saturday, I take my first horseback riding lesson since I left college. A good good friend is a trainer and for my birthday, she is giving me riding lessons. We're hoping this can lead to regular access to another horse in addition to Chocolate so we can ride together.

A great party at Ola Lola's last night

Wow! What a great birthday party last night at Ola Lola's. I have no idea how Elaine manages to put together a surprise party, for me, at our bar, right under my nose, but she managed it. What a great time! Thanks to so many of our friends who came to help us celebrate and for so many e-mails and messages on Facebook. And thank you, Elaine!

If anyone has pictures of the party, please e-mail them to us so we can post them. It's hard to be the guest of honor and the barman and the photographer all at once.

Happy birthday to me! It was awesome!

My photo on the cover of Kiting magazine

Kiting is the newsletter/magazine of the American Kitefliers Association (AKA). The cover of the latest issue is one of my photos of a kite surfer at sunset here at Shacks Beach. The photo, titled Hang Time, is one of my all-time favorites from my kite surfing pictures. This issue features several articles about kite surfing and kite surfing locations, including an article I wrote about kite surfing on Puerto Rico's north coast. A few of my kite surfing friends probably won't be too happy with the article. They would just as soon keep the "secret" to themselves.

I've been a member of AKA since 1985. Kiting and kite flying has brought some of my best, longest lasting friends into my life, including Elaine. We first met at a kite festival. It's really a romantic story but it's really her story to tell, so you'll have to wait for her. To find out more about kiting and and the AKA, check out their web site, www.aka.kite.org. It's a great organization.