The first of the Full High Holidays had been a rousing success by any standards. Sleep-ins had been ordered all around in preparation for the evening’s shenanigans. Fun had been slathered on a big old platter of Joy and Love and served up at every possible location that afternoon. It was a moveable feast of happiness and contentment.
Combustible elements orbited the cliff front, inevitably colliding in endless varieties of explosive enjoyment. The bonds of highly compatible chemistry were reinforced. Electrons racing across continents had held them together for eight months at great distances. They had helped bring them together again. Now in the full gravity of each other’s presence they were shared freely to create an incredible metaphysical covalent bond. Family.
A mesmerizing sunset was shared on the cliffs and the crew set off for the beach road. A roll through town gave a taste of what was to come as a number of Jamaican Sound Systems were being fine tuned, hoping to be honored as the loudest of the night. Jamaican Sound Systems are highly regarded amongst DJ’s and audio enthusiasts. They are defined by two contradictory ends – As Loud As Possible, and No Distortion. And they are usually rigged for outside play which is its own set of problems. There were a lot of good ones but it sounded like the bar on the corner near downtown had the edge.
At the beach they met up with a long list of extended family to send hundreds of Chinese lanterns into the twilight sky. Wonder Woman and Clark Kent were there, The Tobago Kid and OneBillionPeople, Turtle.Zero, PhotoBomber and the Dread Pirate Dread, Dr. Dru and the Tooth Fairy, and many, many more. The glow on the beach from the inflating lanterns in the receding twilight was glorious. Constantly rotating pairs of individuals coaxed their miniature hot air balloons skyward. Success brought oohs and ahhs and long moments of bliss. Failures brought the whoops, screams and laughter of excitement, brief terror and unbridled joy. A perfect start to New Years Eve.
The Fallen Stars rolled down the beach with the Rising Stars, PhotoBomber and the DPD. They had left the Fallens this morning to move down to the beach. A stop at their crib preceded a wild ride up to the near west end in an attempt to grab some dinner. It was not the first, and would not be anywhere near the last, of an incredible string of habitually overloaded Jamaican Cab Rides. Stories worthy of their own individual tales, each and every one. Tonight they judged the sound systems as they passed, and rewarded them by seeing how much they could bounce the suspension of their vehicle as passengers. A fair bit it turned out.
The crew rolled up the near west end to one of their favorite stomping grounds and this is where the evening started to fall apart, though this was only apparent in hindsight. The arrival was terrific. You know, who could really complain, for Chrissakes God was there. Not a bad guy, God, just probably a little more tested by the One Down Under than the good book let’s on. Vanna was there with Ms. DeVille, and Dr. Dru and the Tooth Fairy had wandered up from the beach.
Calypso wafted through the sea breeze as the party ensconced themselves at a long makeshift banquet table. Dinner orders were placed and rounds of drinks came and went. Rounds of dancing on the beach, running on the beach, falling on the beach and rolling on the beach came and went. More rounds of drinks came and went. It was awesome, except for one detail, very little food came and went. After a couple of hours this created a little tension for some in the party, for others a roiling gut, and for still others a bit of a slog.
Sketch was not running right and needed to pull in for some service. Sketch went out to the cliff road and took a little constitutional. He ran his diagnostics and figured a full rack and lube job would get the jalopy running right. He called in the wrecker and before the crew knew it he and Boom Boom were in tow back to the garage.
PhotoBomber and DPD wanted to get back to the beach side of town before it went crazy and their time was running out. Dr. Cousteau and Ariel were looking a little droopy and talking about needing to stop by their room. The current location was perfect for enjoying midnight, an easy walk to the craziness, a great view of the fireworks and an easy exit to the nest. The extended family made all these points clear and it would have been a blast. But… a brief conclave sent the gang on another interestingly full cab ride hurtling up the cliff road.
Back at the nest Cousteau and Ariel peeled off almost immediately. Nick and Nattie and Carlton and Bananny strolled through the grounds. They looked up at Sketch and Boom Boom’s barely lit room, shades drawn but not closed. A few jokes were proffered at Sketch’s expense. He has a huge account for such purposes. They wandered down to a small cottage perched on the edge of the cliff and sought refreshment…
