Travel with JoY

"I have to go gather the ingredients," says Ishon, the chef for the day.    We were staying at a small hillside resort, the Caribbean Cottage Club above the chichi Port Louis Marina on the island of Grenada, West Indies.  The half acre property has seven humble wooden cottages; the grounds lush with the growth of Coconut Palms, Banana trees, Citrus and flowering shrubs such as the Plumeria, all awash in the regular misty showers that waft down the mountainside to the sea.  I asked Ishon if I could watch or help prepare the Oildown for the evenings communal dinner. "I will let you know when I am ready" as he lumbered out the gate to find provisions. 'Provisions' is the term for the mostly ground crops such as sweet potatoes, dasheen ( aka Taro), Yam and breadfruit, a starchy tree fruit. Hours later, with all the ingredients laying out on his outdoor concrete table Ishon called me to help and said, " I should have told you to bring a knife" only to...

We leave for Grenada, in about six days. Excited anticipation is building to see what it will be. Will the bed be comfortable?  Will the water outside our door be good swimming?  How will the locals treat us?  What will I paint? Last year in Trinidad the birds were so beautiful and abundant I had to paint them. The spectacular national bird of Trinidad, the Scarlet Isis painting went back to the islands, to Barbados as a gift for for and from relatives.   The first bird influenced painting, Hummingbirth which was inspired by my little companion, the Copper-rumped hummingbird, will be in an exhibit while we are away, at the Janet Carson Gallery in Eau Claire,WIsconsin. Fabulous Florals is an exhibit of floral designs by area florists inspired by a work of art. It'll be interesting to see what they do with Hummingbirth .  I found a nice heavy canvas bag designed to carry golf clubs on a plane. I'm planning to load it with acrylics , rolls of canvas and stretche...