Christmas Story I will be telling Sat. at a Christmas Fair in N. Charleston

The Sun is the poor man’s Blanket

Three Straight Christmases on a Deserted Island

                                                                                                   Ron Alexander

With about 20 students on board for our Marine Science under Sail boats, we celebrated our third straight Christmas on a beautiful deserted Cay called Little San Salvador.  It lies only about 25 miles South of Eleuthera in the Bahamas and eight miles north of San Salvador where Columbus sailed in.

Most of the islands around this part of the Bahamas are sparsely populated. The people are lovely and have the best check-in greeting– when they see each other all the time, they look at each other in the eye and say S’ALRIGHT”?  If they feel good they reply S’ALL RIGHT! If they have not seen each other in a while, they will say “IS THAT YOU MON?”  If you are feeling good you reply YES MON, IT IS ALL OF ME! If not feeling well, you reply NO MON, IT IS ONLY PART OF ME usually with your head hanging down.

Uninhabited Little San Salvador has a large anchorage with turquoise clear water and a large pink sandy beach.  On a sunny lightly cloudy day, the turquoise and the pink will reflect off the clouds producing a spectacular day. At the Southern tip is a orange, green, red, blue coral reef loaded with a sparkling rainbow-colored marine life plus edible fish & lots of lobster and conch.  The reef looks as if it was decorated for Christmas.

 I enjoyed being away from stores and the heightened commercialization of the holiday. Our celebration was simple. The nearby reef was an abundant hunting ground, and we captains and crew caught and cooked a sumptuous feast – lobster, grouper, and the versatile conch – conch salad, conch fritters, & fried conch for the Christmas Day Dinner.

Early on Christmas day we drew names for gifts. Only one gift per person, and with nowhere to make a purchase, it would require some ingenuity and creativity. I will never forget the sweetness and humor provided by these simple gifts handed out after dinner on Christmas day. A nice little manger scene crafted from pieces of coral found on beach was my favorite gift. A funny little poem composed especially for the recipient was a welcomed frequent read during the after dinner exchange. “It came without ribbons, it came without tags, it came without packages, boxes or bags. Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas means a little bit more?” Dr. Suess

 I usually gave a nice shell I found while hunting under­water or sometimes a specially prepared (sautéed with ginger sauce) lobster tail for an addition to the meal.

 After dinner, sitting out on the deck and in the cockpit, with stars overhead in a clear night reflecting on the clear water while singing Carols.   Silent Night  Jingle Bells                

Away In The Manger    Deck the halls    Do you hear what I hear?

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing          Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas            Here Comes Santa Claus

Let there be peace on Earth   O Little Town Of Bethlehem  Rudolph The Red-Nose Reindeer

With the bright stars above and the biolumnesence below, we felt like we were floating in space, sort of like being on Santa’s sleigh flying through the air and over the ocean. Do you know what biolumnesence is? It is like fireflies – you have seen fireflies haven’t you? Well these are like fireflies in the water. So here we were with stars above and fireflies in the water below that looked like stars, and when away from city lights – there are all kinds of colors of celestial bodies below and above – yellow, orange, red, blue and even green – just like Christmas lights – how delightful!

What is that big star? Is that the one to follow to Baby Jesus?  Isn’t that the Real Reason for the season?  Celebrating baby Jesus is why we call it Christmas.

Anybody out there believe in Santa Claus? Well,  Here Comes Santa Claus anyway.

 let me tell you, I decided to sleep on a hammock outside on the deck that night. And sometime in the middle of the night, I hear

Bells jingling up above me and a deep cheery voice shouting “On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer, on Vixen, on Comet, on Cupid, on Donner, on Blitzen, on Rudolph (yep Rudolph came on these tropical trips).

The sled came right over the mast, I thought it was going to hit it, and they landed on the wide beach nearest us. And some things were left on the beach. I jumped in the dinghy and rowed right over there. And the SLEIGH was gone in a blink of the eye. What was in that big gigantic stocking (really a sailbag) that we left on the beach? I looked inside and it was just what I had asked for, well smaller versions anyway – musical instruments a triangle, bells, drums, a xylophone,  a guitar, a ukele, a harmonica, claves(wooden sticks you hit together), a tiny piano. Wow, what fun – something for everyone to play!  Santa is real even in the tropics!

. “It came without ribbons, it came without tags, it came without packages, boxes or bags. Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas means a little bit more?”

John Tesh

I love this line!

Ron Alexander Yep, weary of getting all up tight about shopping! My 3 favorite Christmases were on an uninhabited island Little San Salvador in the Southern Bahamas.