[identity profile] blogfloggery.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] lkh_lashouts
Link: A Tropical Blog
Disclaimer: This blog entry is verbatim, as originally posted on LKH's blog. Copyright belongs to Ma Petite Enterprises.



Things I have learned by being this long in the tropics:

That it is possible to tan through SPF 100 sunscreen and if you don’t reapply regularly, it’s possible to burn through it.

Getting wet in the ocean means you either need a different kind of sunscreen, or to reapply every time you get out of the water. Trust me on this, sunburns ruin all the outdoor fun, and some of the indoor fun, too.

Lizards bigger than our Pug and Japanese Chins are abundant. The dogs are not okay with this.

There seem to be more insects here. They like the taste of my flesh and laugh at bug repellent. Apparently, I taste better than Spike, Genevieve, or Jon, if the number of insect bites is a way to keep score.

The broad-brimmed floppy hats that I’ve always thought were ridiculous and only looked elegant on 1940s-1950s era movie stars really work at keeping the sun out of your eyes. It’s especially effective at my desk when I write. I do not look elegant in the hat, but I am solidly in the “everybody who isn’t a movie star looks silly in them” camp.

Everyone loves bacon, even fish, even if it’s second-hand bacon via sea sickness. Jon discovered this on our snorkeling trip.

Not even the dogs like a long walk in a hundred percent humidity.



Sand is everywhere; there is no escaping it.

The sea really can be teal, turquoise, and shades of blue that I’d only seen in calendar shots of exotic places.

Dolphins are a terrible and intriguing distraction for all of us.

Osprey, even more so; our local birds decided to eat their breakfast outside my office window most mornings.

That pelicans hit the water so hard the fish are stunned from the impact before they are scooped up in that big bill.

That peregrines really are one of the most widespread birds of prey in the world. Totally didn’t expect to see one here, but it was loving on the seagulls in that serial killer sort of way.

That seagulls are the sparrows of the ocean to me, they all look vaguely alike and I’m not sure what I’m looking at.

That I’d rather snorkel and dive with the fish in open ocean than go spear fishing for them.

That I still love kayaking on the ocean.



Kayaking in mangroves is amazing. Genevieve called it tricky.

That sea hares get purple ink all over you when you pick them up, and the ink smells like sweet flowers.

There is nothing sexy about getting in, or out, of a wetsuit.

That snorkeling/diving really is like swimming in the world’s biggest, most beautiful aquarium ever.

That spying a sea turtle, even if it’s just a head poking up and taking a breath, makes me happy.

Viruses don’t care if you’re in a tropical paradise, they’re still out to get you.

That even here in this beautiful place with all four of us plus the dogs, we can still be homesick.

That traveling with the dogs here can be an adventure.

Dawn comes in soft & pastel, but sundown explodes in technicolor fire, as if the day grows up and gets hot and heavy by nightfall.

If you’re with the right person, walking hand in hand on a tropical beach is as romantic as it’s supposed to be.

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