Sunday, Feb 15th - A word from Rutherton

Sunday, Feb 15th


Was it a grueling trip down here? Yes. Was it insanely draining, hypnotically exhausting and at times anxiety-ridden? Yes. Were my sleep deprived nerves wracked with hallucinatory wreckage? Yes. Was it worth it? Uhhhh...does Mrs. Butterworth pack a gooey, syrupy, messy, yet oh so tasty, punch?

(um, that's an obvious "yes ma'am, Mrs. Butterworth")




So okay then. Let's talk about the facts.

Chapter 1:

It took us three days to drive down here. We spent one night in Atlanta at Pat & Claire's (and their cuties Liberty and Cyress). We arrived at 8 in the morning on Thursday after being on the road for 16 hours, caught breakfast with Phyllis and Burt and subsequently spent the day at the beach! We've already begun planning our many 'next steps' in this Bahamas house-building process. We spent the entire day Saturday repacking the trailer so that we could make room for a refrigerator, grill, wheel barrow, hot tub, and other such oldies but goodies. We slept in the bed of our truck last night. Now we are in the hotel for almost a week! Cash and Mickey are not only allowed to stay in our hotel room, but to roam around the hotel, ride in the shuttle to the beach club, hang out at the club's pool, and roam around the beach! The hotel staff, guests, and neighborhood peeps love them, as is expected.


Chapter 2:

We have a phone in our hotel bathroom. We've spent the majority of our time with Burt and Phyllis. Every day but Saturday we've gone to the beach with them after breakfast. Everyday we have breakfast together at 9AM. It's the hotel's buffet breakfast, which is super substantial. Everyday we've had lunch at the hotel beach club. Twice we've gotten takeout for dinner - once from Rotelli's pasta and once from Bru's Room sports bar. On Valentine's day we ate at a different outdoor sports bar and got ice cream at Foxy's around the corner from the hotel. Thursday through Saturday the hotel provided musical acts on the porch where all the guests drink and socialize. Today we played Dominos at the beach. Tonight we ate at an English pub called The Anchor. We are having a grand of a grand old time! It's been four days so far and it feels like we have been here for AT LEASt two weeks!


Chapter 3:

Today I rolled out of the truck and went straight for a run. Get this: I started out on Atlantic Blvd and ran the majority of the jog on Ocean Blvd where I tripped over the most fitting road-kill - a flattened fish! I passed Nassau St. (the capitol of the Bahamas), the address 1107 (where I grew up), and Brooks St (my mom's maiden name). I ran all the way to the beach club and back: a healthy four miles! Man, that felt sooo good...It's been about a month since I've ran anywhere. Yippee ki yay, right?

The ocean breeze gives me such a thrill! The beautiful weather gives me SO much energy! I put 193,000% more effort into repacking the big ol' trailer the other day than I would have done in the cold. The plants, the trees, the sun, the water, the friendly peeps - mmm mmm good is all I'm talkin' about!

This afternoon at the beach I went snorkeling by my lonesome and it was incredible! The ocean was flat as a pancake and clear as a trophy case (haha what?) ... I swam and free dove for about 20 minutes. On my way back in I suddenly noticed a fluorescent pink jelly blob right next to me on the right! It didn't have tentacles but it was definitely a jelly blob, just bobbing along under water, but close to the surface. I was NOT about to get any nearer! It was very fascinating though - it appeared to be made of rings that got smaller and smaller, just like a fingerprint. I mean, imagine a pink fluorescent fingerprint about the size of a miniature cereal box floating through the water! So just as I was trying to avoid it I looked nervously ahead and to my left there was another one!! I swam a straight line IN BETWEEN the two glowing fingerprint jelly blobs! I was concerned there may be more so I looked all around me but I did not see anything. I continued making my way to shore, a bit faster than before...

I attempted a google and wikipedia search for what I had seen in the water today, but I did not come up with anything quite like I had seen. The closest match I could find are a type called Jelly Combs. I will post a drawing I made of what I had seen in the water as well as some google images that are the closest I could find to what I had seen...


This week holds many errands, planning, preparing, and hanging out in between!
True love is in the air!
Peace outie for nowie,
Ruth

P.S. Today I met a girl my age named Ruth...Bringin' it back baby! Bringin' it back!