First trip to Negril - Travel Report - Day 3: Part 2

[Hubby-man]

Day 3 Part 6
Markus

Daisy left me alone for few days with this travel report business. I haven't heard the whip crack until today. The time has come. So let me put on some Beres Hamond, sip on this delicious homemade Dirty Banana that Daisy has gracefully supplied as “inspiration”

and let's see what I remember...

The rest of day 3 was sort of a non-descript, lazy afternoon, so this is gonna be the reeeeally boring part of the trip report. My mind was sort of dangling that afternoon.

After taking care of the Cigarette situation with Cheap Charlie, Daisy wanted to take a floating device out for a spin, so we picked up an air mattress from the water sports hut on the grounds. I had packed my sketchbook and was looking forward to getting some sketch-time in.

In front of the Grand Pineapple is a stretch of water enclosed by a floating rope. The rope is quite close to the beach, whereas Alfred's next door has a rope that allows access MUCH farther out.

Daisy stood on the beach, light-blue air mattress clutched under her arm, with the pitiful look of a little girl in the candy store overwhelmed by all the choices. One section of the water was closer to where I would be drawing, the other one on Alfred's side just looked so much bigger and... “newer”. She gazed longingly over her shoulder over to Alfred's beach.

Me: “Really honey, you can really go over there, see I'll just pull this beach chair right over and I'll see you from there.”

She flung her head around, biting her inner lip, agony painted all over her face. “This beach, that beach, mmh,...” You could just see the conflict tearing her apart. I'm almost sure for a moment she wanted both and actually tried to figure how she could split herself in two.

Finally after a lot of weighing and looking adorable, she decided she needed the great wide open of Alfred's. I watched her for a while floating this way and that, mostly three feet from shore. When I was certain she was completely relaxed I sat down on my beach chair and sketched away.

A while later she joined me happily on the beach. My sketch wasn't going all that well, as always when I try to draw during a vacation. I'll have to do better next time. I doodled a little longer ,While she sunbathed in a beach chair behind me. It's weird, when I'm relaxed, I can feel her presence. I don't really care much what we do, when we are connected like that.

I could be cleaning out latrine... when we're in a bubble together like that the whole world seems perfect.

Eventually tired from all the sun that had burned down on her skin Daisy needed a nap. I don't care much for those, I have a hard enough time falling asleep at night, so I stayed behind to sketch some more at the bar. She told me that I could NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES allow her to miss the sunset. Serious stuff.

Sipping Red Stripes I sunk into a reed chair and tried haphazardly to capture the bartender Andrew's likeness. This of course a hopeless undertaking. Andrew seems to never rest or take break. His motion is completely uninterrupted. One moment he faces you, then you see his back, now a three quarter view, dang, now he's bending down, looking up, shaking something, fixing the blender....and so on. Finally I settled for the tiles on the bar as a challenge in perspective.

I heard some voices behind me, but ignored it. When I eventually turned around I saw that I had gathered a little audience made up of kids and staff. The kids immediately ran off as I turned around, so did one of the staff. That left a single individual in a spotless chef's uniform. He complemented me profusely asked if he could see my sketchbook. I obliged with all the obligatory statements, like :”It's not very good” and “You'll surely be disappointed.”.

He took it anyways and was sincerely interested, not like most people who rush through a sketchbook in search for a Mona Lisa or a Mickey Mouse or what ever the hell they look for expectantly, before they hand it back to you in honest disappointment accompanied by a fake “Very Nice, ehehe!”

Me: “It's just a sketchbook , you know.”

Chef: “It is beautiful. I will never be that good.”

Me: “Oh, no why would you say that.”

He introduced himself as Leighton. He was a incredibly sweet and soft-spoken young man.

Me: “You draw”.

Leighton: “Ya, a little. I paint, what ever comes in to my head. I never know what it will be, even while I'm painting. Sometime it comes out like something scary, and my wife asks me why I have to paint that dark stuff.”

We talked some more. I gave him a few hints that I had gotten from great painting teachers over my life and he actually took notes eagerly. That made me think I should really teach a free class for untrained local artists or maybe some kids, the next time I come back. Man that would be cool.

I almost forgot to wake Daisy. The sun was getting rather low. Maybe 45 Minutes left till sunset.



When I got back to the garden side the Moon hung in a satin blue sky. The low light bathed everything in Gold. It was breathtaking.