From Ironmom to Island Mom- and Back: treasures in your back yard

This is me & Randall Williams, who was at the W a week ago with a few other Food Network celebrities. (He's with Dinner: Impossible). I haven't seen the show (you know I'd rather read - or blog - or live - than watch TV) but I gather it's pretty popular. Anyway I had the gall to challenge him to a game of pool and before you know it we're tied, and I'm agreeing to a 6:30am run.

The run ended up being a walk and while we're chatting and I'm telling him about the TV show idea I've had for the last couple of years, what did he think, I see a big black bird of some sort spreading its wings and doing some dance and I go, "is that a bat???" Randall pointed out that actually it was a black bird of some sort and it was doing a mating dance, and sure enough, the female was watching it all, beak up in the air in disgust, playing hard to get. I remarked how I would never have noticed it had I been running (instead of walking), and in fact I wouldn't have thought about it at all beyond "oh, that's not a bat, it's a black bird" and kept on walking or running. However, Randall just makes you think about stuff you may have otherwise overlooked. As proof, we started talking about the terrible state of education in Vieques. I had met with a local official the previous day, who'd informed me that of the 8 schools here, 4 don't have a principal, there is no superintendent here, and certainly no substitute teachers (which I already knew). Randall said he'd stopped at a school while touring the island, and while impressed with the uniforms and the school buses, had felt something was missing. My surface analysis of the situation, he said, explained the feeling he'd had. Surprised, I asked him why he'd ventured into a school? He replied he doesn't just like to visit beaches in places like this - after all, beautiful beaches are beautiful beaches; he likes to dig below the surface and see what the average tourist doesn't bother to examine. As we talked further, specifically about the TV show idea I have, we got into talking about how often we assume we have to travel to find something interesting or fulfilling - while it may have been in front of us the whole time.

This is where I segue into our visit to Don Quique's place the previous weekend. DQ has worked at the W for a while, and when the kids and I met him last year, he had invited us to his house to "see chickens and a few other animals." He kept asking Bill now that we're back, and we kept blowing him off. Finally, the Sunday of the Masters, I obliged, if for no other reason than to give Bill some quiet time with his beer & TV. We followed DQ to his house about 5 minutes away and ended up having one of the most enjoyable, fascinating afternoons to date. DQ and his wife have managed to grow myriad fruits, vegetables, flowers, and yes, chickens, and their backyard was more interesting than any botanical garden I've been to in the US. Once we got past their 22 year old dog (yes, 22! and doesn't have eyes!) we got a detailed, loving description of how the various flora grow. When I later met Randall, I thought of DQ and this unexpectedly wonderful afternoon, and how we do indeed sit upon treasures and are usually too blind to appreciate them.

"Linda" - 22 yrs old

unripe mangos

pineapples take a year to mature!

aloe

Cashews come from this. The cashew itself here must be roasted; if you open it, it contains an acid that burns you. No wonder the nut is so expensive!

W view

Vieques Cultural Festival - Olive at her booksigning

The kids' educational center, Oasis, performed

Reciting African poetry

Dancing La Bomba, a dance inherited from African slaves

Jackie performed in a skit. She played a slaveowner.

Jackie's hanging out with her BFF, a fellow slaveowner. The slave has had a baby and Jackie tells her BFF she's welcome to have the slave's baby.

Hanging at the W

Pablo and his famous Passion (passion fruit margarita)

Gracie & her pollito

BLACK SAND BEACH

Sarah Cook, about to become a famous potter (her work is now sold at the W!!)

Hiking to Black Sand Beach (resting on a tree root)

Black Sand Beach was another unexpected gem. Sarah had suggested going there and I had no idea we were about to embark on a beautiful, interesting hike and end up in a magical place, where we'd be the only ones on the beach. The black sand was striking but I think I mostly appreciated the cliffs and the rock formations which were unlike any I'd seen on other beaches in Vieques.