This is a view from the sea to our place. How is that for a natural garden!? We have palms, coconuts, hibiscus, bouganvillea, mexican bird of paradise, a banana tree and many more plants that I don't know the names of. The only drawback to having such vegetation around is that when the breeze isn't blowing off the ocean it is a great place for mosquitos and bugs to hang out.


We are getting used to perpetually wearing either cactus juice (it's like a cream) for the no see ems or off spray with deet for the mosquitoes. It gives us a kind of natural glow... :-)

Here are some pictures of our place.

Alot of the houses in Roatan are either made of mahogany wood or concrete. Our little rental place is made of wood, with lots of screened windows and shutters. I really wanted to go up on the top floor (for the breeze) but Tony, the guy who manages these places said that once the rainy season comes we won't want to be up that high since the winds are pretty fierce. It is interesting who you talk to you get different responses to the rainy season. Some people make it sound terrible whereas today one guy we know said that last years rainy season was great because it only rained hard at night and most days were nice with occasional rain. We will see. I must say I welcome a cooler climate.


I had packed up alot of books, and stuff to make cards but when we didn't take the trailer we left that stuff (and lots of other things) at home and now that we are here I wish that I had it. The evenings are long. Once it is dark, there isn't much to do .. except for to a pub and we don't want to do that. Maybe I should write a book. Oh no, did I say that outloud. I showed some of my pictures to Lisa and she is convinced that I should either do a book on Roatan or write an inspirational book. We will see. She is writing two books right now and asked me to do some photography for her. I look forward to that. I need to get my photography copywrite.

Many of you know that I want to have a dog so badly. Once we get our place (can't have dogs here) I will look into that. But it is interesting that the second day we arrived this big dog sauntered up on our deck and just plopped himself down. He comes everyday now and hangs out. I found out his name is Pepsi and I will enjoy having his visits to our place.


Showers are wonderful inventions in humid climates. I usually cool off at least twice a day. Let me say.. I certainly don't take that for granted!!


Today we finally figured out how to get on highspeed internet. It took us about 2 1/2 hours mind you. There is one guy who lives down here who is the administrator and his instructions were pure greek, but by the grace of God we finally figured out. It is great to be able to write, connect and hear from many of you. The internet makes this whole journey so much more bearable. I thank you for the emails, notes and comments.

Tonight there is some problems with the server due to a storm that is brewing. I remember our first night being a little nervous by the lightning and thunder (because as you see from the pictures those wooden slates are usually open.. it's too hot to close them) But last night I woke up to some a good lightning storm and just rolled over. It is amazing how quickly we adjust.


We met our neighbors today: Ron and Patricia. They are living here full time too. Ron is from the states and Patricia is from here. They are really very nice. We met out on the dock tonight. They caught a dog fish (ugliest thing ever!!!) and we sat our talking and enjoying the sea breeze.


Our car should be here on Monday. Please pray that we will be able to get it in the island without any complications (ha... oops sorry... there are always complications on the island... so I really asking for a miracle!!) Our friend Elizabeth is going to try to bring it in under her company so that we won't have to pay any duty on it. Not sure if they will go for that though. It will be wonderful to have a car!! But in the meantime I still sing the praises of those taxi drivers. They are great! We just walk to the end of our road (about a 5 min walk) and within minutes a driver stops to take us wherever we want to go.

Speaking of singing: one of the advantages of not having tv or good computer connections is that Bob and I often sing in the evenings. This is a song we sang together tonight. It brought alot of memories because our friends, the Hutchison's used to sing this when we lived in Saskatchewan. It was true then and still true today.

If I stand By Rich Mullins

There's more that rises in the morning
Than the sun
And more that shines in the night
Than just the moon
It's more than just this fire here
That keeps me warm
In a shelter that is larger
Than this room

And there's a loyalty that's deeper
Than mere sentiments
And a music higher than the songs
That I can sing
The stuff of Earth competes
For the allegiance
I owe only to the giver
Of all good things

CHORUS:
So if I stand let me stand on the promise
That you will pull me through
And if I can't, let me fall on the grace
That first brought me to You
And if I sing let me sing for the joy
That has born in me these songs
And if I weep let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home

There's more that dances on the prairies
Than the wind
More that pulses in the ocean
Than the tide
There's a love that is fiercer
Than the love between friends
More gentle than a mother's
When her baby's at her side

So if I stand let me stand on the promise
That you will pull me through
And if I can't, let me fall on the grace
That first brought me to You
And if I sing let me sing for the joy
That has born in me these songs
And if I weep let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home