Emily’s Musings

For the past couple of days, the whole island has smelled like a big FART. That most certainly included the inside of my house. When David and I first smelled the oh-so-lovely smell, we immediately checked Hannah’s diaper. Which is a strange thing for us to do because her poop doesn’t stink; not like that anyway. We then looked to our dogs. Both of them have been known to CLEAR a room in a second with the stench of their gas. However, this stinky smell didn’t come from them either. Now, knowing that it is physically IMPOSSIBLE for either one of us to have something so wretched, and stinky come out of our bodies, we immediately went outside. Because that is obviously what you do when your house stinks! Only to find that the smell was ten times stronger outside than it was inside!

We know where the smell came from now. Every few months a volcano spews gas on the island of Montserrat. This island is four islands down from Saba; and judging by the smell, I can’t imagine living on that island. Yes, people live there. I would think that one volcanic gas spew and the whole island would clear out! The STENCH! YUCK! Today, Saba smells like it should; like flowers.

Yesterday, I morphed into Betty Crocker and made homemade bread and homemade Oreo cookies. They both turned out delicious. As I was kneading the bread on my luxurious counter space, all three feet of it, I couldn’t help but look out the window at my beautiful ocean and island view. Through my kitchen window you can see the island of Saint Barths. It is a French island and it is known as the “Beverly Hills of the Caribbean”. Victoria’s Secret shoots their catalog there every year, and famous people (Catherine Zeta Jones and Uma Therman to name a few) vacation there. I have seen photos of them in People magazine (my favorite trash mag), frolicking on the beach. I have never been there, I only dream of going there. As I was cursing myself for thinking that making homemade bread would be great and “totally worth the effort”, I imagined myself living on Saint Barths; where I could walk into any bakery and buy a baguette. Because they have bakeries there, like a normal island. On “Planet Saba”, we have to make our own.

This is the island of Saint Barths, as viewed from my patio on Saba.

This morning I woke up to the sound of Hannah (15 months) singing on the monitor. She makes up her own tune and sings just one word. It is usually the word “hi”, but this morning it was “side”. Which of course means “outside”! When I went in to get her, she said “shoes!” because obviously you need shoes to go outside! Lucky for me, I have a daughter that likes to get up before the sun does. I get to see breathtaking sunrises every morning while she pushes her toy stroller around the patio in her pajamas.

The sunrise this morning. The ocean is very calm, it looks like cake frosting.

This is the view off my patio. Beautiful eh?

The sun has risen. The island in this photo is Saint Eustatius. This is the view I get to see everyday.