Island Time

In September of 2004, Dar and I were on Grand Cayman Island for a day... one of the ports-of-call for a Caribbean cruise we were on. That same day Hurricane Ivan had grown to a huge Category 4 storm, had little Grand Cayman in it's cross-hairs, and was only three days out.

We cabbed a couple miles up Seven Mile Beach and wiled away the day soaking up sun, sand, and beer, the latter from this little beach bar I'll never forget... a small open air shack... about a dozen stools around the three sided bar... a mixture of locals and tourists trying to enjoy the day but aware of the inevitable devastation just a few days away. Curious as to why I didn't see much storm-preparation activity... boarding up windows, etc... a local guy, a cab driver, explained "island time" to me. To paraphrase: if a thing doesn't get done today, it might get done tomorrow... or the day after. There's no urgency... no panic... no worries. Things might get done... but then again, they might not. It's "island time".

Yesterday, Monday, we were on "island time"... didn't accomplish a dang thing. We started the day by bidding bon voyage to some friends who were heading back to Northern Minnesota for the arrival of a grand-child... and ended the day around a birthday celebration campfire. Some good discussions... a slow lunch on the bay front with friends... a little of this and a little of that. The day just evaporated... but it felt great.

Maybe Tuesday will be different. Maybe I'll knock something off my to-do list. But maybe not.

T

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