We slept and sometime in the night or early morning, the winds calmed. Just prior to awakening, I had a dream where I was floating in space above water. I guess my brain sensed the calming to a point where a gentle float was possible and my body was able to relax fully. A most pleasant awakening.
Our propane tank ran out as we made breakfast. We hooked up the next tank to finish cooking. There was a place to get propane on shore so we added that to our day’s agenda. Our other plans were to hike to the ocean side of the island and to return to the little art gallery again. Jeff and Deb were up for hiking after their boat chores. We had chosen to stay one more day in Rock Sound to let the seas calm before heading north. a light breeze picked up from the north and we did not want to motor upwind into waves.
We went to shore, dumped garbage, toted water and then walked to the hardware store to see about propane. The hardware store was located near the government dock. On the way, we passed a building that advertised a men’s clothing store. We went in. The store had many things and there were a few men’s bathing suits on the rack. I asked if there were any more, and was told to visit the men’s clothing store, a little room off to the left of the main store. Sure enough, a large selection of swim trunks were there and we were successful securing a pair.
We continued to the hardware store which had everything. Christmas balls and lights were still on the shelves and Easter baskets were being put together on a side table. The woman running the store was very nice and told us we could leave our propane tank and pick it up later. The person filling the tanks was due back soon. We walked around a bit more in the area and checked back. No propane yet. We are open until 5 she said.
There were seeds at the hardware store. they seem to arrive in large cans and then they are put by hand in small manila envelopes and labeled by hand. There were carrots, beets, okra, onion, cabbage, tomato,peppers, broccoli and watermelon. I asked the woman at the store about planting. She stated she was an amateur grower because she just started gardening after retiring from a career in nursing.
This led to a long conversation about her career. She had wanted to be a doctor but at the time, 40 years ago, there were only scholarships for nurses and teachers. She decided on nursing. She also took it upon herself to be trained in midwifery and later got a master’s in psychology. She did community health for a time, then worked in the local clinic as nursing director for 30 years. She then worked as a nurse in another practice. It was a 24/7 job in a small community. She was always on call. She delivered many babies on the island spanning two generations. One was a set of premature twins that did well. There is no local hospital so people who cannot be taken care of on the island are flown to Nassau.
Regina has four children. Her husband owns the hardware store and when she retired from nursing, she began filling in there when the regular clerk has a day off or a vacation. She loves the flexibility of her new life even though she loved her career in nursing.
Their son went to college and is now an electrician on the island. Their daughter went to medical school in Trinidad and is now doing an internship in Freeport. She is thinking about pediatrics or family medicine. Another daughter is a teacher in Georgetown. Her baby, a daughter born when she was 41, is now 19. She tried college but does not yet know what she wants to do. She is back home for a bit while she thinks about her future.
Our propane tank was still not filled but we were so grateful for the opportunity to meet Regina and hear her stories. We decided to return later in the day and to proceed with our other plans.
We headed up Fish Street to the art gallery. We communicated to Jeff and Deb that we were there and they planned to meet us for our walk. When we got to the art gallery, Warren was not there and the shop was closed. We tried his number just to find out when he might be open. No answer. We waited in the shade for Jeff and Deb as a man known as Prince walked over to the shady area on his crutches. We had met him with Warren other day. He asked us if we were looking for Warren and called him and told him we were there. Warren was on his way back.
Warren arrived soon in what I think to be his usual state of disarray. He still had his morning cup of coffee in his one hand and a can of gold glitter spray paint in the other. A client had wanted a shiny frame so he had gone to another township to get the paint. In his rush to open the shop, he left his car door open and beeping and left the coffee and spray paint on the bench. We gathered them for him and followed him into the shop. It was almost 11 and, by this time, Jeff and Deb were now waiting patiently on the shady bench. Maybe Jeff was waiting not so patiently but he was comfortable.
We went in the shop knowing exactly what we wanted and with a goal to leave in 15 minutes. We wanted the painting of the moon over the water and a small painting of the Rock Sound waterfront. Warren remembered our interest in the moon painting from the other day. He had said at the time that he was embarrassed to sell it, it was poorly stapled to its frame and was not yet signed even though it was completed in 2007. He had told us to come back but he didn’t think we would.
He found the stapler and quickly added some staples. He had trouble finding his fine marker but finally found it and signed the painting. Then he put some information on the back. All the while, he was talking about his day, “I am running behind, he said, “The lady at the store is a talker and I am a talker. I know this but it was still hard to get away.” He cut out his card from a sheet of cards and asked me to glue it to the back of the painting later.
The photo of Rock Sound was unfinished as well. “I have not painted the bushes yet. The dock is brown.” This particular scene of Rock Sound was a common painting in the gallery in all sizes. It is a painting of Rock Sound through the eyes of Warren the artist. Even with the bushes painted, it would still look like the Rock Sound that he sees with no dilapidated buildings or peeling paint. It is the rock sound we will remember.We told him we loved it, as is.
There are community service awards throughout the gallery. Warren’s love for Rock Sound is palpable. He has decorated a whole section of street, named it Fish Street and picks up trash daily. He has set up trash bins throughout the community. He has painted signs for the caves, and the Blue Holes. His next project is a sign for a man that sells peanuts on the street. It will be a Mr. Peanut in a Rasta cap. Describing that gets a full belly laugh, one of 7 counted in our 30 minute interaction.
He had not given much thought to the pricing of the paintings. “$15-$20 each,” he said. David gave him $50. “That is too much,” he said, but accepted.
“You are so busy,” I told him, “I hope you will be able to finish your coffee.
“Please pray for me that I can ease my boredom,” he said, “When I am bored, I start a project, and now I am so busy with all of these projects!” Belly laugh number 7.
Finally, we headed to the beach. On Warren’s map, it was not too far down the road. The half mile turned into a mile or more but we passed some houses and some lovely blooming trees. One of the trees looked like it had daffodils on it. It reminded me of spring at home. Finally we came to a dirt path over some dunes. We reached the ocean. It was a beautiful span of beach lined with tall Casaurina trees. We waded and walked a bit but at this point were getting hungry. We headed back.
Along the road was Hall’s Grocery store. On one side was Hall’s gas station and beauty supply store. On the other side was Hall’s Deli, and upstairs was Hall’s department store. We checked out the grocery which had been closed on our prior exploration of the island. They had good inventory and reasonable prices. We bought a few items.
At the register, David presented a credit card. So many places only accept cash. “Will this work?” David asked the man at the register who turned out to be the patriarch of all things Halls.
“I won’t know until I run it through,” he laughed.
We asked about a good place to have lunch nearby and he pointed to the right (Hall’s deli). “That is my son’s place,” he said proudly. “He had a gift and wanted to open a restaurant. But we said, first you must have proper training. We sent him to school to be a chef. When he cooks for parties in the homes of white folks, they all beg him to come to the states. Go there for lunch and if you don’t like it, I will give your money back.”
We headed to the deli. The menu was recited to us quickly by the woman at the counter. There was a case in front filled with bread and sweet rolls and pastries and another filled with desserts: key lime tarts, something chocolate and then something with a white icing on top, guava duff. There were locals in line waiting for their take out. They all said we had to try the duff.
We ordered some sandwiches with a 20 minute wait. It was take out but there was a picnic table and some benches in the shade and we waited, sipping on water and lemonade that we purchased at the store. Birds had rather taken over the picnic table so we sat on the benches along with an orange cat and two friendly dogs who appeared healthy. We got so hungry that we decided to eat some guava duff first. I went in to purchase one. The woman was taking orders on the phone and packing boxes into bags for the steady line of people waiting for their orders. Still she paused to tell me the duff was best warmed and proceeded to warm it for me. As it finished, so did our order and I returned to the group with full meals and dessert.
The sandwiches were very good but very large servings with double the usual order of hand cut fries. Our hunger had caused us to get more than we could handle. We had no room for Guava duff but carefully brought it back to the boat to be refrigerated until it could be rewarmed at another time.
We picked up our propane and said goodbye to Regina. It was 430 by the time we got back to the boat and unloaded propane and water and duff. David went to nap, vowing he would never eat again. I swam in the cool waters beside the boat, Josie and I floating and rocking gently in Rock Sound.
In the evening we played some music, watched the sunset and blew the horn and caught up with John. Around 9 pm, David expressed some interest in leftover pasta salad. We finished it off and headed to bed joyous for remarkable people far and wide.
