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
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.
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?”
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.
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