Floating in the western anchorage of Conception Island, Mel felt what she is sure most have felt while visiting: paranoid. Clearly the government of the Bahamas put some sort of space ray into her brain and extracted her perception of the perfect island and then built the thing in the middle of the ocean. Then they went ahead and made it a national park so that some rich dude couldn’t buy it and close it off to cruisers. Clever, Bahamas, clever. I am sure you ask for nothing in return for enjoying the beautiful island just to keep us on our toes. In the meantime, Mel is now imagining a place where you can pretend to play the piano underwater. Let’s see how your space ray handles that one, Bahamas!
There are lots of pictures in this post. Mel couldn’t stop taking pictures. She is going to make a giant collage and have it printed on a blanket, so that when she is old and demented and living in a home, she can ask her kids to wrap her up in her “Conception Blanket.” Such a request will have the double advantage of grossing out the other nursing home residents and, if she’s lucky, reminding her of the time when she was vital enough to take her conventional life and toss it in the ocean in search of awesome horizons, at least for a little while.
Of course, this is our kids’ reviews of the most beautiful place we have visited thus far:
Tommy: I was really hot out of the water and really cold in it. There wasn’t much wildlife in the mangroves. I have finished reading my book series. I need more books!
Allie: I liked the mud sand and the hike with the really steep mountain. But I got tired.
This is how cruising kids indicate that they need the company of others their own age. So the Burnetts have left the epitome of beauty for the social bustle of Georgetown, now surrounded by so many anchor lights that paranoid Mel catches herself peering out the windows at what looks like a very slow attack of UFO’s that never land. The Georgetown Regatta Week starts tomorrow. After getting excited after seeing 16 turtles in the mangroves, she hopes meeting people from 300 boats won’t be too overwhelming!
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