Dear Readers I have not been all that well recently. The last three days have been a bit of pain as I have felt distinctly dickie. Today I am feeling better and have ventured outside for some air.
Sitting on the terrace listening to the pounding of the waves on the reef, there is a hefty groundsea, I tried to catch up on some reading by flicking through an old copy of the excellent en Route, Air Canada's inflight magazine.
Arjun Basu, the magazine's editor-in-chief wrote an excellent article entitled 'The Write Stuff,' (March 2007) in which he talks about Air Canada's sponsorship of the CBC Literary Awards. In his article he says, 'Reader feedback is like blood to a writer; writing is a solitary activity, and once a piece ... goes out into the world, the writer cedes control of it to the audience - a feeling that is even lonelier than the act of writing itself. Feedback helps keep the writer's craft - and the writer - alive.'
How right he is!
I often wonder, as I write my column for The Anguillian or write up an article for the Chamber of Commerce, what people really think of my work. Sometimes I have the odd person come up to me in the street and tell me they look forward to the Thoughts of an Expat column I write but that is about all the feedback I receive. It would be nice, and extremely moral boosting, to have a few more comments forthcoming on this blog for example. I am never really sure if there is anyone out there in reader land or not!
To begin a dialogue with readers would be a good thing to launch for 2008. It will inspire me to write more often and, hopefully, to write well, and will become an interactive, living thing.
So, I ask this of you, my loyal readers, if you like my work, tell me what you like about it and pass my blog address on to friends. If you dislike it, tell me why you dislike it and perhaps give me pointers on how to write something you will like. Just remember, I cannot please everyone all of the time!
In the meantime, I have run out of steam. I am covering the Chamber of Commerce AGM tomorrow for ACOCI Connection so am off to have a rest. Happy reading folks and I look forward to reading the feedback!
Oh, and if you are not sure about how to leave a comment, just click the word 'comment' at the bottom of each blog and follow the directions!
Showing posts with label The Anguillian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Anguillian. Show all posts
Wednesday, 30 January 2008
Tuesday, 18 September 2007
Our Son is Visiting!
Our son, Thomas, is here and I am being lazy!
I have not written anything for this blog for a week, which is very remiss of me. I will rectify that now.
Thomas is staying with us along with his old school friend, Kit, and Kit’s parents, Colin and Christine, who are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary this year. The weather has been glorious. We have spent lots of time on the beach enjoying the sunshine and Anguilla’s wonderfully clear waters and multitude of marine life.
Colin has bravely tried a Resort Scuba Dive with our friend Sheryl, who plucked up courage to join him as a birthday present to herself. He has decided that once is enough, she is going to continue and try for her PADI Open Water Certificate. They both did very well indeed as both were terrified!
Thomas and I went diving to the Cathley H wreck, Hole in the Wall and along to No Name Reef. It was the first time we have dived together and I loved it. We were lucky to see a rare sighting of a Frog Fish. Dougy Carty, who owns Special D Divers, has not seen one in Anguilla’s waters for eight years. It was a curious little fellow. It was dark red with mottled grey blotches and it crawled along the sandy bottom making for the shelter of an over hanging rock.
Colin, Christine and Kit went off to St Martin for a couple of nights and we joined them for the second night having had a quiet night in with Thomas. We see him so rarely that this was a real treat. We caught up on all the gossip and took daft photos while larking about on the terrace.
On St Martin we went to the delightful Tropicana restaurant in Marigot for lunch. This is often packed with people as the word is out that it is good. We were lucky to get a table down by the water as the restaurant is situated on the marina. The food was as wonderful as usual. A real temptation to the palate and the free home made banana rum was a welcome addition to the coffee at the end of the meal.
We stayed at the Mercure, a stone’s throw from Marigot. It was the first time Joe and I had stayed at one of these chain hotels and we got a good deal. We booked a duplex apartment for the three of us and found that we had a lovely mezzanine with a king size bed and an ensuite upstairs, whilst Thomas had a large single bed with his own bathroom in the living room downstairs. The accommodation came with refrigerator and sink on the ample balcony and there was TV and lots of storage space. It was not bad at all. The hotel had a beach and a pool and the cost of a night’s stay was complete with a help yourself buffet-style breakfast.
I have, of course, been working a little while our guests have been here. I have just finished trailing the island’s Governor around for The Anguillian, the local newspaper. This was fun. Now I am working with the Prison Service as there is a community project that they have launched which has attracted my attention. The prisoners are renovating old buildings on the island and they are doing so very well indeed. More on this later on this blog I am sure.
The photos are of Thomas giving Joe a head massage, Christine and Colin at Roy’s Bayside Bar and Grill, Father and Son on the tennis court, Thomas tree hugging in Island Harbour and Thomas, Kit, Christine and Colin in the water at Junk’s Hole.
I have not written anything for this blog for a week, which is very remiss of me. I will rectify that now.
Thomas is staying with us along with his old school friend, Kit, and Kit’s parents, Colin and Christine, who are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary this year. The weather has been glorious. We have spent lots of time on the beach enjoying the sunshine and Anguilla’s wonderfully clear waters and multitude of marine life.
Colin has bravely tried a Resort Scuba Dive with our friend Sheryl, who plucked up courage to join him as a birthday present to herself. He has decided that once is enough, she is going to continue and try for her PADI Open Water Certificate. They both did very well indeed as both were terrified!
Thomas and I went diving to the Cathley H wreck, Hole in the Wall and along to No Name Reef. It was the first time we have dived together and I loved it. We were lucky to see a rare sighting of a Frog Fish. Dougy Carty, who owns Special D Divers, has not seen one in Anguilla’s waters for eight years. It was a curious little fellow. It was dark red with mottled grey blotches and it crawled along the sandy bottom making for the shelter of an over hanging rock.
Colin, Christine and Kit went off to St Martin for a couple of nights and we joined them for the second night having had a quiet night in with Thomas. We see him so rarely that this was a real treat. We caught up on all the gossip and took daft photos while larking about on the terrace.
On St Martin we went to the delightful Tropicana restaurant in Marigot for lunch. This is often packed with people as the word is out that it is good. We were lucky to get a table down by the water as the restaurant is situated on the marina. The food was as wonderful as usual. A real temptation to the palate and the free home made banana rum was a welcome addition to the coffee at the end of the meal.
We stayed at the Mercure, a stone’s throw from Marigot. It was the first time Joe and I had stayed at one of these chain hotels and we got a good deal. We booked a duplex apartment for the three of us and found that we had a lovely mezzanine with a king size bed and an ensuite upstairs, whilst Thomas had a large single bed with his own bathroom in the living room downstairs. The accommodation came with refrigerator and sink on the ample balcony and there was TV and lots of storage space. It was not bad at all. The hotel had a beach and a pool and the cost of a night’s stay was complete with a help yourself buffet-style breakfast.
I have, of course, been working a little while our guests have been here. I have just finished trailing the island’s Governor around for The Anguillian, the local newspaper. This was fun. Now I am working with the Prison Service as there is a community project that they have launched which has attracted my attention. The prisoners are renovating old buildings on the island and they are doing so very well indeed. More on this later on this blog I am sure.
The photos are of Thomas giving Joe a head massage, Christine and Colin at Roy’s Bayside Bar and Grill, Father and Son on the tennis court, Thomas tree hugging in Island Harbour and Thomas, Kit, Christine and Colin in the water at Junk’s Hole.
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