Nora & Her Family
in the Caymans
We're up early, BW for his dive lesson, me for a work
out. His is undoubtedly the more interesting of the two.
They give the lesson in the pool, putting on the
equipment, explaining it--giving a lesson in physics as
well. He tells me they do this in a kind of circle, kneeling
on the bottom of the pool at another hotel. They learn how
to breathe through the regulator, the underwater hand
signals, the dos and don'ts.
While he's learning to be Lloyd Bridges I write for about
an hour and a half. Felt very good. To reward myself, I go
down to the pool for a regular-type swim. I get my towel,
scope out two chaises. Quite a crowd at the pool today. As I
dump my stuff, the woman in the chair next to mine says:
Excuse me. I look over and she turns up my photo on the back
of her book. You look an awful lot like this picture. I'm a
little taken aback because without make-up, wearing my
sunglasses and I'm-on-vacation-straw hat, I don't think I
look much like the picture. Plus I'm not used to getting
recognized. Plus I so rarely see anyone in real life reading
one of my books.
I say something bright and charming like: Ah, yeah, I
guess I do. LOL.
She is delighted, thrilled, and very sweet. She's with
her brand new husband--they're from Charleston,
WV--practically neighbors. They are Jody and Jim. We chat. I
sign Carolina Moon for her. Then she shouts across
the pool to a couple of women. One of them is holding
Heart of the Sea. Second woman is from Pittsburgh,
and tells me she LOVES my books, and that she met my dil,
Stacie, over the weekend. Stacie spotted her reading another
of my books and went over to talk to her. This woman is a
national sales rep for PepsiCo, so now we can rhapsodize
about each other's product. LOL. I sign her books, and we
all chat. She's Nancy, and she and Jody and Jim have made
pals over the last several days.
They ask a few questions, but it's all very friendly and
casual. I take my swim. We chat a bit more in the pool, and
BW returns, notes this and is surprised--as I am not Chatty
Girl. I introduce him, and Nancy fetches another of my books
for one of her traveling companions.
BW and I go have lunch on the restaurant terrace, and
when we're done, the waitress tells us it's on Nancy. Well,
my goodness. I look around for Nancy, and she comes over to
the table with THREE more of my books. The woman's gone on
vacation with no less than five of my books. She works for
Pepsi. How can I not love her?
Nancy's off to the airport and Pittsburgh, BW and I are
back to the pool. Chat a little more with Jody and Jim. Jody
shows us her finger where a stingray mistook her digit for a
squid. They don't have teeth, but the cartilage is strong
enough to have left a mark.
BW's off for his first dive. I finish my next book.
Robert Parker this time. It's been years since I read
Parker, but I read Potshot at the beach last month,
and I'm hooked on him again.
On the pool terrace and the beach, they're setting up a
banquet for some convention. A lot of tables. Gonna be some
party. BW returns and we sit on our terrace and have a drink
while he tells me about his dive. A different kettle from
snorkeling--spookier and a lot of fun for him. They were
down 40 feet, buddied up and with an instructor to explore
another wreck--a banana boat that was a front for drug
smuggling--unbeknownst to the crew. When the crew found the
pot and wanted their cut, the captain flipped them off. So
they flipped him off--right off the boat. But they didn't
know how to operate the boat, damaged it trying to get into
Georgetown. Cops burned the pot, and the story goes that the
wind blew the smoke for two days and everyone got a free
high. LOL. A dive company bought the damaged boat, and sank
it for wreck dives.
The convention-goes--some Internet group--begin to arrive
for cocktails.
Tonight's sunset is a show in itself. I've seen a lot of
gorgeous ones, but this was amazing. Layers of clouds hulked
over the horizon, and with the sun sliding behind them, they
look like they're etched on blue glass. Tones and textures.
Shapes and shadows. Rose, gold, mauve, reds. Huge billows of
clouds, like a Maxfield Parrish painting. You almost expect
to see some goddess rear out on a winged horse. It goes on
and on, with those tones changing as you watch. Deeper
golds, a long God-finger of cloud underlit in brilliant
white, a volcano spewing deep red smoke.
Then it all goes purple and silver and gray and the sea's
like a huge silver platter with a few boats set on it. The
long sunset turns into that fingersnap twilight that becomes
tropical night.
On the beach, the party crowd livens up. The band
plays...guess what? Yes, it's yet another rendition of
Margaritaville. God bless Jimmy Buffet.
Nora
Nora's Cayman
reports are ©
2001 by Nora Roberts & ADWOFF
All Rights
Reserved
