Chasing Sunsets

Today was a nervous day for people who drive vehicles with little bitty cloth tops.

We had combinations of blue skies, fluffy clouds, and these nasty booger squalls moving through all day:



We could see every thing from clear blue sky to rainbows, and everything in between. Including torrential rain and sudden wind gusts. It looked like it had the makings of an electrical storm, and we are always up for one of those. Well, two of us are, anyway.

I was in town doing some Christmas shopping, and thought for a moment that the radio tower at the church there in the background was ripe for a good lightning bolt. I thought that would have made a great photo. Then I realized churches are probably pretty well protected this time of year.



And then I realized propane trucks are probably not.....so I didn't wait for that one.

Because of the weather squalls, La Gringa and I decided to go check on the boat down at the marina, and still had some daylight left. I took a fresh look at the wiring ( nothing electrical has been working since we got it out of the yard) and by some miracle found a loose connection. Voila, we now have fully functional boat again! After five weeks! Gas tank leak fixed (knock wood) and all systems go. Just in time for a set of sons to descend on us for the holidays. Last bits to fix are the tilt indicator on the outboard. I found a broken actuator, and hopefully can find that part here on island tomorrow. I also have to fix the newly installed bilge float switch. It's brand new. It doesn't work. I'll wring out the wiring tomorrow.
(I just realized, I sound like I got that "manana" thing going on, don't I...)

So "Cay Lime" is finally in her own slip back at Heaving Down Rock and ready to go. Almost. Any day now. Really. I mean it.



If we can just figure out how to get that dock extended a little bit. (I am always complaining about something, I know...I know...)

As we were leaving the marina, we noticed a pretty neat sunset going on.



Oh ho, we thought. If we hop in the Land Rover and dash over to the beach, we might get a nice view of it over the water to end the day with. It was slipping away fast, as sunsets in the tropics are wont to do, so we grabbed a shot of it over a pond where we have been seeing flamingos lately:



I thought that was a little more scenic than over the parking lot.

And with La Gringa de la Baja 500 driving, we made it to the beach just in time for the last of it. And it was pretty nice, for sure. Just as it was starting to get dark, another vehicle pulled up next to us on the beach. A teacher had brought her class down to the sea to watch the sunset. We were struck by how happy and excited they were. Their little feet were a blur getting out of them shoes.




And we watched their teacher pointing out things in the sand, and could hear her singing to the children as they explored an empty beach, looking at shells, and driftwood, and just running barefoot after a day at school.



Oh man, if I had been raised like this, I might have turned out to be good people, too!