We have a great time, beering and swimming and chatting. At some point Ninja comes up next to me and gets involved in some talk about. After a few moments he kind of elbows me a little. I look over and he looks down at his hand which is holding a bag. He kind of gives a little head turn and shirk, then adds a raised eyebrow and a turn of the eyes. He doesn’t say ANYTHING. He raises the bag, “Here.” That’s it. In the bag is a Red Stripe ball cap. With a bottle opener on the brim… Dude. Too Cool. Way Too Effing Cool. Thanks, you know I love it. I have a crap ton of cool ball caps and this quickly and easily slipped in as my No. 1. I had figured this was the last trip for my old straw hat. It was beat, the top was literally starting to come off. I thought about it for a moment and couldn’t think of anything more fitting than a sea burial in Negril. We decide for ecological purposes we won’t actually bury it at sea but I head out into the ocean wearing it one last time. I take several dives with it on. I come up from the last one and pull it off my head and thrust my fist through the crown. It has given it’s all and protected me through many adventures. I’m a little sad to see it go. I leave the sea and set it to rest on a front row lounger at Country Country. Not a bad way to go…
There is much laughing and swimming. A large group in the water and a large group around some loungers on the beach and a pretty constant changing of the guard in the two groups. I have a funny conversation in the sea with Booger about Gonjon, just amazing how his trip has played out. Booger may have said he knew there’d be a little Jizzness going on but he is clearly as astounded as all of us about how it’s all playing out. And speaking of Gonjon…
I’ve been wondering since he joined the board in May exactly how to pronounce his screen name. Is it a hard G like Gordon or a soft G like Gerry or a Spanish G like Geraldo? Is it an American J like John or a Spanish J like Juan or a French J like Jean Luc? GoneJohn? JohnJohn? HonJohn? JohnJuan or HonJuan? GoneJuan? I think I’ve settled on GoneJean…
At one point we get a terrific ocean front beer delivery from one of the finest serving wenches I’ve ever run across. This creates a madhouse. The St. Austi Girl is surrounded by a large group of thirst crazed beach bums at the waters edge. It is hilarious. I’m a little worried about evidence…
St. Austi Girl heads in with the first couple of deliveries, this got everyone fired up as you can see!
The terrible turtle trio in the water
The lovely ladies lounging
It looked like it would rain most of the afternoon, then it did. It made for an incredible lighting effect.
We eventually decide we’re all going to meet up over at Canoe for the webcast. Hubbity and us head back to SeaSplash to clean up. Naps, glorious Negril afternoon naps, come into play as the mid-afternoon storm rolls through. Later we grab a cab with Hubbity to the near West End. We have a great time at Canoe. A lot of boardies are in town and the place is crowded. Booper and GonJon (or was it Jizzness as usual?) show up in a water taxi. Coolest entrance anywhere, all week. It’s GonJon’s birthday and Booger is going to pull out all the stops. A great birthday cake with a single memorable and consumable candle is broken out. One poor baby, one happy GonJon…
Brasi has been underground since Tuesday. We connect and make plans to meet at SeaSplash. The rest of the bale has plans to burn down the West End tonight celebrating GonJon’s Earthday. We have another great meal at Canoe and offer our best wishes to the Man of the Day.
We spend the evening on the beach loungers at SeaSplash with Brasi and his Jamaican friend Lisa. Sweetie Pie loses her legs early and we gently settle her down for the night. Back to the beach and the conversation flows easily. Brasi is well in tune with the paradoxical nature of much of the runnings of Jamaica. We talk of many experiences and viewpoints. We talk about our meeting on this board and learning of our shared heritage. Clan MacLeod, Broheim! Brasi tells me that his Mom already loves me. “Of course, Brah, we’re family!” I say with a laugh. Well, we were blood. Now, though? Now we’re family.
