Saturday I was up bright and early again. There is no time for sleeping in when you’re on such a wonderful island as this. Adventure awaits! Besides, my body never lets me sleep in anyway.

Immediately after breakfast, I put my BC and my dive bag on my back, and walked six doors down to the Carib Inn, which is Bruce Bowker’s villa and dive shop.

Bruce was the fellow that my brother and sister and me used to dive with every time we came down to Bonaire to visit Mom and Dad at Christmas when they were still working here, and we had moved back to Canada to live with our aunt and uncle. Bruce is a very friendly gentleman, and hasn’t changed much since I knew him before.

I checked in and registered my credit card, and told him I would be going on the morning boat dive. Bruce’s operation is rather unique on Bonaire in several respects. First of all, he has the highest repeat business of any dive shop on the island. Secondly, his dive boat will only accommodate 12 people, so you are not bumping into other divers on the reef all the time. It is also a speed boat, which is better for going longer distances. Also, as I mentioned yesterday, his dive masters don’t rush people to get in and out of the water on an exact schedule. They trust us as experienced divers to know how to time out our own dives.

One of the surprises was that Bruce would not be my dive master. As Bruce is now approaching retirement age, he says that all of his time is required to manage the 10-room villa and the dive business. Besides, he wants to give his dive masters as much bottom time as possible. But I’m used to Bruce being in the boat, leading me around the reef. Maybe I can talk him into going under water at some point, just for old time’s sake.

  Photos here

I bought some more Auro-Dri to clean out the water from my ears after each dive. I also bought a T-shirt and a little plastic chart for the names of the different fish. Bruce also took a $10 deposit on a padlock, which gives me my own locker. In fact, that’s where I ended up leaving my wet suit and my BC. The best part is that he has the cheapest air fills on the island. The first fill is $13, and the subsequent fills are $6. This compares to $18 each fill at the other dive shops. The only drawback is that he does not offer Nitrox. But for me, it doesn’t really matter as Nitrox was an additional $10 to use, and so I’ve only done two Nitrox dives here. I know where I’ll be getting the remainder of my tank fills from now on.

Morning Dive at ANGEL CITY

My dive master was a guy by the name of Ralph, who is from Germany. He seems a bit like a surfer dude, with blonde hair and a very relaxed manner. He has around 5,000 dives to his credit, and said that he has stopped logging them now. The way they determine what site they’re going to is by a vote from the passengers. The two guys from Toronto who were on our boat wanted to go to ANGEL CITY which is next-door to The Hilma Hooker by the TWR transmitter site. I agreed, as the reef is a double reef there, which is rather nice. Basically you swim down the face of one reef, then up over a hill on another reef, and down the other side, if you wish.

We hit the water just before nine o’clock, and I followed the couple around, as they had said that they like to take their time. Basically, I’ve found there are two types of divers: There are the survey kind of divers that dive a bit, hover about 15 feet off of the reef and just look for big fish. And then there is my type of diver who gets within inches of the coral, and try to spot all the delicate and minute sea creatures that live within the reef. These kind of divers tend to stay in one spot and take a lot of pictures, which is just my style.

One interesting thing was that this couple said that a normal dive for them is 100 minutes. Up until now, the most I’ve had was an hour. The basic difference is that they spend the second half of their dive above 30 feet, so this doesn’t really count for bottom time. I breathed as slowly as I could, but I got down to 50 bar at about 63 minutes, and I signalled them that I had to leave. He pointed the direction back to the boat, and I swam back and exited. Sure enough, they did spend a hundred minutes, so I just swam around with my flippers, and enjoyed the salt water while we waited.

One of the interesting things we saw was an ocean trigger fish. This was a silver-looking fish with large fins top and bottom.

Another nice thing about boat diving is that you don’t have to deal with the sand, or a difficult exit, but the boat portion cost me an extra $22, so I can’t do that all the time.

When we got back to shore, I rinsed my equipment, and walked next door to the Divi Flamingo for a fish lunch. By the way, I did take a shot of Bruce and myself and put it up on my Twitter account at:

Twitter.com/johnapollos

Afternoon Dive at MONTE’S DIVI, Klein Bonaire

The afternoon trip left at 1:30, and we headed over to MONTE’S DIVI, the Klein Bonaire stop right next to ROCK PILE where I had been previously. Klein Bonaire dives are still a little bit nicer than dives from the coastline here on Bonaire.

One of the really cool things I saw was what I think were cleaner shrimp which approached my hand when I put it near them. They were sitting in amongst an anemone, and were only about ¾’s of an inch long. They were so tiny and flimsy, they looked like a swish of my hand would destroy them. I believe these are the cleaner shrimp that clean the other fish’s teeth. Although one of them didn’t actually sit on my hand, it got very close to doing so. Perhaps I’ll have to be more patient next time. I remember reading about an experienced diver for the National Geographic who actually had one of these cleaner shrimp snip off a little wart on his finger.

We saw several morays, and I got a few nice shots of some very colourful fish.

I also got a couple videos: one of a lion fish, and another one of a little box fish. I find it funny how clumsily a box fish swims with its tiny little fins and square body.

On the way back to the mainland from Klein Bonaire, I got talking to a 12-year old boy sitting beside me. He was in the “Discover Diving” program that is for kids as young as eight years old. This was his second dive, and they are limited to forty feet. He had stayed down for an hour, which is unusual for a novice. Apparently his parents don’t even scuba dive, and were busy elsewhere today. Hopefully they will join him in the underwater garden that is Bonaire.

When we got back to shore, I decided it was too nice a day to head back home immediately, so I went for a dip in their swimming pool.

I got talking to Bruce, and he told me he had been in business on Bonaire since 1980. Originally he had worked for Captain Don in his dive shop. He told me that there are some months when every single tourist is a repeat customer at his Carib Inn. I find the atmosphere even between the tourists more friendly as it is a smaller group setting. I think I will recommend that Joanna does her refresher course at Bruce’s place when she gets here.

For supper, I decided to check out the restaurant over at the Divi, as I just didn’t feel like starting my car today. They had an all-you-can-eat barbecue with ribs, chicken, fish and beef. I definitely didn’t go away hungry.

While I was sitting at the table, I watched a gentleman swimming out towards his catamaran with a little plastic storage bin floating in front of him. Apparently he was bringing something from the shore to his catamaran, and didn’t have a dinghy to make the trip. A short while later, I heard a splash, and saw him pushing the storage bin in front of him back to shore. He has a house on the island, and this was simply the easiest way to get to and from his yacht. He also owns the two-mast single-hull yacht that is to my right. It sure would be nice if I could hook up with one of these yacht owners and go for a sail.

As I sit here under the palm trees, I am again overwhelmed with how much the Lord has blessed me. I would ask, though, that my supporters pray that we will make significant headway on our website project in this coming week.

By the way, the trade winds are back.

Today began with the usual duties of cooking breakfast, feeding the dogs, and getting to work by eight. The interesting thing is that when I set my place at the table, I have to wipe off the table with a cloth every day. I’m always amazed how much brown dust comes off the table onto my washcloth. In fact, every day everything it is coated with a very, very fine layer of brown dust that comes in through the open windows. I now understand why many people employ maids here. It is impossible to keep up with this fine layer of dust that settles everywhere in your house. I generally just clean the areas that I’m eating from. I also wear slippers around the house, or else my feet would be completely black in a minute.

Photos here

Today, immediately after devotions, I photographed and interviewed Benny Saragosa. I had mentioned to the three Bonairian workers yesterday that I would be interviewing them and taking their photo for the Staff page of our new website. I noticed that they all came in this morning with their nice TWR T-shirts on. I think they are all very flattered that we are featuring them on the website.

Benny is a 26-year veteran of the local staff. Benny is the supervisor of maintenance, and also one of the antenna riggers. He is a wonderful Christian gentleman, with a very refreshing attitude. He always seems to have a smile on his face. He is one of those guys that people just like to be around. He puts his many talents to use as part of the team here, and shares in broadcasting the Gospel to millions in the region.

Today he showed me around in the maintenance department. He also showed me some of the tool boards in the maintenance room. I’m wondering if Dad set those peg boards up. There is a wall where everything has a time when it is scheduled for maintenance.

Benny and the maintenance crew are currently working on a house renovation project in addition to all their other duties.  Man, these are some busy guys!

Once I fired about a million photos, I took Benny back to the lunchroom where I brought out my iPad and typed up the first draft of his bio. I then emailed that to Brandon, who massaged it a bit. It is now on the Staff page of our temporary website.

Next I went around and took a few shots of Brad Swanson. He is one of the most capable people here, and very humble. He runs the most popular blog for TWR on Bonaire, but there isn’t a single shot of him on his own website. I took a picture of him using Adobe Audition, as he was reviewing the programs scheduled to be broadcast later that night. Brad has continually amazed me with how much technical skill he has. He runs the local network for us, and seems capable of solving any problem we hand to him.

Laura worked remotely today, so I worked on my own most of the day. I completed the Ministry Partners page, Staff page, and the Contact page, as well as did some work on a few other pages.

I spent time today working on the photo sorting project.  We haven’t quite determined the best way to handle this yet.  But, we’ll get back to it on Monday and figure out a solution.

At lunch, I went across the road to the Seaside Restaurant. Unfortunately the sign on the door said CLOSED until further notice. Apparently about three major restaurants have closed within the last few months. While I was there, I took some photos of the dock area, and the Sand Dollar Condominium complex next door. It was this beach where I first learned to scuba dive from. Formerly, this is where Hotel Bonaire was situated, but it has since been torn down.

As usual on Friday night, I went over for pizza and a movie with the Pedersen family who live in the Belnem area. I told them I would be there between six and 6:30. When I pulled up about 10 after six, I discovered the kids waiting for me at the front gate. Apparently they had been making bets about how many cars would pass before I arrived. I guess I’ll have to nail down an exact time next time so I don’t wear these kids out. As usual, they wanted to play with my electronic gadgets, and all piled on top of me on the sofa.

After pizza, we watched the Star Wars movie, “Phantom Menace.” I’m an avid Star Wars fan, and he had it on a big-screen TV from a Blue Ray disc. It was spectacular!

Movie night wrapped up just a bit after nine, and I went home in order to get to bed in good time, as tomorrow I will be diving. My ear problem has cleared up, and I’m good to go!

I’m actually dictating this blog from the Divi Flamingo Casino and Resort, which is directly across from my home. They have better WiFi than I get from my neighbour, Brandon, so I have started to hang out here in my off-time. It’s nice having the run of a resort without having to pay the resort prices. I think with my Tilley hat and so on, I fit right in with the tourists here, but I do spend a fair bit of money at the dive shop, so it’s all good!

Today was another fairly uneventful day that began with me cooking breakfast on the gas stove. When I went to feed the dogs at 7:30, I took a few minutes to do some stooping and scooping. When we wrote up my TO DO LIST a few days ago, Brandon put at the bottom, Other duties as assigned. I guess that is part of my other duties.

(Not many photos, so there isn’t a web album for today)

As I dictate this on my cell phone for my mother to transcribe, I’m sitting at the end of the dock at Bruce Bowker’s Carib Inn, which is about a block away from my house. It had been my intention to join in on a scuba video night here, but apparently I got my wires crossed, and there is nothing happening here tonight.

It is now almost eight o’clock, and I can see the boats all around me, tethered to the mooring buoys. I just had a nice conversation with a diver from San Francisco. He told me that Bruce has the highest return rate of all the dive shops on Bonaire. One of the reasons is that he lets the divers be self supervised with respect to how long they want to stay down. These days, with dive computers, you get a credit for time spent at a shallower depth. So if you spend 25 minutes at 60 feet, without a computer you would have to figure on a total bottom time of 50 minutes. But if you return to 30 feet on the way back to the boat, the computer gives you credit for that and lets you stay down for perhaps 70 minutes. People like not being baby sat when they’ve been diving for decades, like this gentleman has.

To my right is the town harbour, and the two local heavy tugs have just left port. They are heading south for who knows where. Out on the horizon about five miles away is what looks like the lights of a super tanker that apparently just left the Bopec Oil Terminal on the north of the island. My guess is it is heading empty back to Venezuela.

To my far left, just beyond the airport lights are the four towers of Trans World Radio. Immediately to my right moored to the dock is a high-powered speed boat they use for diving here. My guess is that Bruce sometimes goes to the east side of the island in this boat. I plan to do at least a few dives with Bruce before too long.

Today’s work began with me making a comprehensive list of all the bugs I’ve discovered in the new website software. As usual, Brandon assisted me with putting out last night’s blog. He is a great help, making sure I have all my facts correct. We usually get the blog online by ten o’clock.

I also replaced the TWR Bonaire logo in my website banner with a Bonairian flamingo I discovered in the vast store of photos here. So now my banner features a flamingo and the Bonairian flag, which I think looks a little better. We are currently waiting for the graphics department in the US to design our TWR Bonaire logo.

After lunch, Laura came to work, as her son Benjamin was in school. We sat down and went over our ‘bug list’ in great detail, and actually were able to solve a couple of the problems, but we added a few more. We ended up with about 23 points that we need tech support on from the U.S. IT Team. That is now in their hands, and we will have to wait to see when they get back to us.

We then divided up the site map, with each of us taking a page that we would be updating. We have roughly divided it in half. I’ve also tried to prioritize which pages I will be begin working on first. The first one I’m going to tackle is the staff page. Tomorrow I have to take pictures of our Bonairian full-time workers, and also interview them to create a bio. I think the Bonairian workers are quite flattered with the attention.

Sometime in the afternoon, Benny, the Bonairian foreman, came in and asked for a DVD copy of the video that he was featured in, so I made a copy for him and left it with Brandon. These guys are wonderful Christian men who are very helpful and friendly.

The next thing that Laura and I discussed was the organization of the almost 10,000 photos we have on file. It was my thought that we need to figure out a way of making them searchable by first tagging all the pictures. Right now we are investigating what software would be able to stamp each picture’s meta data with the tags we want. For example, each picture will be stamped, “Copyrighted TWR Bonaire.” Next we would add other tags. For a picture of a tower, the tag would be “Tower,” and then we could label it for the year. So let’s say you are looking for a tower from 2003, you would type in “2003 Tower,” and up would come a list of all the pictures of the towers at that time.

Laura agreed that Picasa, the free photo-editing software from Google, would likely be the best choice. We will dive into learning that software, and see if it will be what we need.

The next step is to document exactly how we process the pictures, so that the staff can continue to tag the pictures as they take them in the future.

The end result, we hope, will be a local, searchable data base of photos. Due to security concerns, it is against TWR policy to publish photos in the public domain without approval. Some photos may be published in conjunction with the 50^th Anniversary and at a later date.

After work, I decided to drive through Antriol and see if I could stock up on my ear-cleaning solution. I still have half a bottle left, but I don’t want to run out. It is an alcohol-based solution that removes the water from your ear after a dive. It takes getting used to, as it kind of bubbles in your ear for a couple of minutes. Unfortunately, the drugstore didn’t have anything of the kind. I’ll have to check with a few of the dive shops.

Next I decided to try a local Chinese restaurant called The Peking Restaurant and Bar. It is just down the hill from the old theatre in Antriol. I thought I would like to see some of the local people, so I sat down for a meal. I ordered the nasi goreng special, and ended up with way too much to eat. It was an interesting cultural experience and I didn’t leave hungry.

I really enjoyed talking with the local people that I met at the restaurant. To hear and see things from their point of view brings an interesting perspective.

Then it was off home to feed the dogs, and head over to where I am now.

I still find the smell and the sounds of the sea an irresistible draw. I don’t think I ever got over not having the ocean nearby after I left Bonaire. I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to be back here by the ocean.

The stars are out. The breeze is gentle, and the mosquitoes aren’t very bad, so it is a wonderful evening all the way around.

Time to read a bit more in the book about my namesake, Sir John A. Macdonald: Nation Maker.

Today was a fairly uneventful day, going to work by eight, and working on website-related issues all day.

 Photos here

It rained a fair bit on the north end during the last 24 hours, and things are still damp.  The island seems to be a bit more green than when we lived on Bonaire (perhaps 10% greener), and there are some people that actually have lawn mowers!!

The website is starting to take shape, and we were able to set up various options.  I was working on inserting audio samples, and writing up a list of the bugs in the program that remain.  As usual, I brought sandwiches with me, and worked a bit on my blog during my lunch.

In the afternoon, Laura arrived, and we worked together on the website.  We are connected via Skype, even though we are only 30 feet away in different offices.  Whenever we have questions, we run over to the other person’s office and try to sort them out.  I am very lucky that Laura knows the principles of webmastering very well, and we seem to be on a more or less even playing field that way.  If anything, she is a little quicker than I am.

When five o’clock came, I packed up and decided to drive to the hardware store in Antriol.  I picked up a soap holder for the shower in the guesthouse, as the existing one was badly rusted.  I keep having to pick out bits of rust from my soap bar each morning.  I quickly found what I needed, and also grabbed a higher wattage light bulb for the bathroom.  I bought a fold-up lawn chair as well, and that’s what I’m sitting on (which I’ll leave behind when I return to Canada).

I then decided to go across the road and see what the Kentucky Fried Chicken was like.  It is rather a novelty that they have exactly the same thing as we do back home in Canada.  From the ads to the food, everything was exactly as it is in all KFC’s around the world.  One interesting thing was that they charge a 6% sales tax if it is eat-in.  Six per cent is not as bad as our 13% in Ontario.

I headed up to Lookout Mountain to take some photos. The actual name is Seru Largu, and is located here:12.19409, -68.27314 (Copy and past this into the search bar of maps.google.com.) I didn’t have my regular Canon camera with me, but used the iPad’s built-in camera.  It seems to take decent pictures.  There was a mockingbird that came to visit, and a few goats dropped by as well.

I’m dictating this just before 7:00 p.m., and the lights are beginning to come on below me in Kralendijk.  On the mountain ridge to my right, there is a complete subdivision built up that wasn’t there 30 years ago.  The tanks from the water plant are still there, but now there are about a hundred homes beside them.

The water plant that is by the shore in the distance, opposite Klein Bonaire, only does water desalination.  The power plants are located elsewhere around the island.

I understand that Trans World Radio broadcasts from an FM transmitter up on this mountain as well, which I intend to visit at some point.  This is a local FM transmitter just for the island of Bonaire.  Like our main transmitter in the south, it is remotely operated and fully automated.

As I sit here dictating my blog, the birds are singing, and it is just such a peaceful scene altogether.  I’m not diving today, as my left ear is still bothering me somewhat, although it seems to be getting a bit better.

I’ll sign off for now, and go back to reading my book about Sir John A. Macdonald on my iPad.

As I write this blog, I am sitting on a small beach right in front of our Transmitter Site at the dive site called THE HILMA HOOKER.  I have just completed my first deep-dive test in order to be certified as a deep diver.  The Deep Diver course is one of the specialty courses that SSI offers (Scuba Schools International).

 Photos here

Let me first confess that I’m not actually typing this on the beach. I’m dictating the audio into my cell phone, and my mother, Eleanor McDonald, will later download it and transcribe it. Thanks, Mom.

The sun is about to set in 15 minutes, and the surf is gently rolling in.  I had intended to go straight home after my dive, but the beauty of this place has kept me here.

On the horizon, I can see a Dutch coastguard cutter patrolling the coast about a mile off shore.  Apparently it does regular patrols on Bonaire, and is based in Curaçao.

To my left, I can see the long piles of sea salt from the Cargill Salt Company.  Some divers have just exited the water, and are enjoying the scene about a thousand yards down the coast.

About half a kilometre to my right are some beautiful homes.

Today began with my alarm going off at 4:45 in the morning.  I was able to make a connection with the Gypsy Divers.  This is a dive shop in the U.S.that maximizes their diving time by diving before dawn and right up until dusk.  They get six dives in every day compared to the normal 2-4 for the regular diver.

I met them on the dock in front of the Divi Dive Shop, and they were already gearing up at five in the morning.  It was dark, but we all had our flashlights.  They were diving Nitrox, so I did the same.  This allows us more bottom time and shorter surface intervals.  We hit the water at 5:20, and proceeded out to about 60 feet deep.  My gauge actually is set to metres and bars, so we were at 20 metres, and my tank started at 210 bars of pressure.  I’m diving an 80 cubic foot aluminum tank.

I had hoped to see some phosphorus fluorescence in the water, but didn’t observe any.  This was my first dive with my dive light, and it served me very well.  It is rated for 200 lumens, and is very compact.  When I shone it down the slope, I could see a hundred feet below me.  There were five of us altogether on the dive, and two of them had light beacons on the back of their tanks so we could keep track of each other.

The unique thing about night diving is that the coral feeds at night by extending its polyps about one-quarter inch out into the water.  Some corals are not noticeably different, while other corals have little translucent tentacles sticking out.

Just as I’m writing this, a flamingo is flying along the coast towards the north, and is almost getting lost in the sunset.

Another almost swallow-like bird just hovered in front of me and plunged into the water.  Apparently, it is fishing for its supper.  Now it is hovering, and now it just dropped again.  It is not much bigger than a swallow, and I’m not sure what type of bird it is.  It hits the water about every 30 seconds.

Back to my story:

The dive master began to circle his light on a certain spot, so I came over to investigate.  It was a sea turtle sleeping on the bottom in between the coral heads.  It had to be at least 50 feet deep there, and these are air-breathing creatures.  I don’t understand how they can sleep under water without running out of air.  He was rather lethargic looking, but did move around when he spotted us.  After about half a minute, the dive master moved on so as to not disturb him.

I also spotted a parrot fish in a mucus membrane.  I had heard about them sleeping in little bubbles, but this is the first time I saw one.  It looks like a spit bubble, but is the entire size of the parrot fish.  In this case, it seemed to be only on the seaside of the little cubbyhole that he was lying in.  He was not moving at all.  I saw two such parrot-fish bubbles.

Many of the fish were simply laying on the bottom at rest, or in sponge bowls.  Only certain fish were active, like the large-eyed squirrel fish.   We also spotted a moray eel, sticking out from under a coral head.

Both dives were 45 minutes in length, so at 20 minutes, the dive master gave the turn-around signal, and we headed back in the direction we had come from at a slightly shallower depth.  About halfway back to the dock, the sun had come up enough for us to turn our dive lights off.

Just as we approached the dock, I spotted a few flounders in the water.  Then the dive master started pointing at an old pipe lying halfway under the dock.  As I got close, I could see a little eye staring back at me.  It was a small octopus in about a four-inch opening.  It was the strangest sight, as you could only see part of its tentacles, and this one eyeball assessing you.

Once we had got on the dock and swapped out our tanks, I asked him when the next dive would be.  He said, “We only have to wait ten minutes, and then we go back in.”

Officially, a new dive isn’t an actual new dive unless ten minutes has elapsed on the surface.  It wasn’t long after ten minutes when we again jumped into the water.

Second Dive

We were only in about 20 feet of water when a couple of the divers started pointing vigorously at the sand.  I looked and looked, and only saw a bit of sand.  They kept jabbing their fingers, pointing energetically, so I came in for a closer look.  Lo and behold, there was a sand-coloured octopus looking back at me!  His little oblong head and breathing gills were amazing.  It probably only weighed a couple of pounds, and was about 10 or 12 inches across.  I immediately switched to video, and got a good minute long video of him.  As I moved in closer, he would flutter his “legs” out from under him and scurry a bit further across the sand, and then stop and stare at me.  I’m sure I must have been annoying, but I was enthralled!  After a couple minutes, I decided to leave the little critter alone, and resume the dive.  The other divers had moved quite a ways away by that point.  The rest of that dive was good, and we did spot another sea turtle on its way to the surface.

We exited the water just after 7:00 a.m., and I quickly washed and collected my gear.  You just leave the empty tank in the EMPTY TANK area.  I actually have a locker right on the dock, so it is super convenient.

They were going for breakfast, but by that time it was 7:20, and I still had to feed the dogs, stow my equipment at the house, get changed, and be to work by eight, so I declined the breakfast invitation.  After the dive master signed my log book, I hustled on home.

I quickly made some sandwiches for breakfast, and made it to work exactly on eight o’clock.  In fact, I was the first one there, and had to wait for Brad to arrive to unlock the door a couple minutes later.

– – – – – – –

Today we got a lot of work done on the website.  I was able to go through the USER’S MANUAL and explore almost all of the features.  That task should be complete by tomorrow.

Unfortunately, we’ve discovered several “bugs” in the web software.  I am writing up a list of the “bugs” to submit to Benjamin Tangeman back at head office in the States.  Hopefully, we can get these solved, but I think some of them we may have to live with.  This is the problem with proprietary software as opposed to freeware.  But over all, we were making good headway.

When I was going to break for lunch, I discovered that it was pouring rain outside. There are no windows in this former recording studio. No sound penetrates and there are no windows, so I have no idea what is going on outside. I waited another half hour and then drove Brad to his house, as he had ridden his bicycle. He has two very friendly Rottweilers. Then I had goat stew from Ella’s Cafe.

– – – – – – –

As I’m sitting on the beach tonight, the sun is just setting, and the pelicans have moved in to fish.  They are circling the water about 100 feet out, and then diving.  I must say, I miss the ocean.  It is a beautiful sunset with sun illuminating the bottom of the clouds halfway to the horizon.

Brandon was kind enough to let me work through my lunch today, allowing me to get off work at 4:30 in order to meet my deep dive instructor.

We met exactly at five o’clock on the beach, after I had swung by the Flamingo Resort to grab my tank, and by the house to grab my gear.  A half-hour from desk to beach with all my gear is pretty good, I would say!

The dive instructor’s name is Ebby, and he has been a dive instructor for ten years.  He is Bonairian and is very easy going and relaxed.  Getting into the water was a bit tricky, as there really was no sand.  It is all coral rocks at that location.  We snorkelled out to the marker buoy, and then blew off our BC and headed down the slope.

I was at about 70 feet when, all of a sudden, the hulk of the wreck loomed up in front of me!  It extends from about 60 feet down to roughly 100.  It was rather eerie how it all of a sudden materialized not 20 feet away!

I was very conscious to keep my breathing slow and regular, and keep my dive computer in my hand to track the depth and my remaining air pressure.  As I neared 100 feet or 30 metres, I began to taste the air becoming a bit oily.  At this depth, I was breathing four times the regular pressure at the surface, or four atmospheres.  The consistency does change somewhat, and I can’t say I really like it.

We rounded the bow and saw a interior of the ship in front of us.  I would say it had to be about 400 feet long.  My pictures didn’t seem to turn out very well, as there was a lot of sediment in the water, but I kept clicking anyway.  We swam into the hold and through one of the partitions into the other part.

Then Ebby started pointing furiously to a crack just above the sand line, inside the haul of the ship.  I could see a few tentacles inside, so I got down and shoved my camera through the opening, and took a few shots of a large lobster.  We then exited on the other side of the wheelhouse, and for a minute, I lost sight of Ebby.  I grabbed my noisemaker, but then he soon came around the side of the wreck again.

We went around the stern, and I got a few shots of me beside the propeller.  We swam along the upper part of the hull, and discovered some very aggressive sergeant fish.  Apparently they had laid their eggs on the hull, as there were purple patches every now and then.  The sergeant fish would rub their sides on the hull, and I couldn’t figure out what was going on, and then they would charge at you, apparently defending their territory. The rubbing apparently oxygenated the eggs.

At this point, I checked my dive computer, and we were at 19 minutes.  I gave Ebby the signal that we had one minute remaining of bottom time, so we started our ascent. You only get 20 minutes bottom time at 100 feet.

The rest of the dive was uneventful, with only a slightly difficult exit.

My only complaint is that my left ear is bothering me a bit.  I’ve begun to shoot an alcohol solution in, designed to prevent swimmer’s ear.  Hopefully, that will address whatever is irritating me.  I’ve decided to hold off on the next deep dive until next week, just to be sure.

The sun has now set, and only a few of the clouds are still bright orange.  And so ends another perfect day in paradise!

The work week began today in spite of the Civic holiday back in Ontario. Apparently I won’t get a day off until Sept. 6th, which is Flag Day in Bonaire. As usual, Bob dropped by for the devotions. When he saw my Tilley hat, he asked me if I knew the famous story of the elephant who ate a Tilley hat three times, and, after a wash, it was just as good as new. I actually had the owner’s manual for the hat, so we passed it around. I was also able to take a photo of the group after devotions, but Bob had already left.

 Photos here 

My first order of business was to resume work on the new website. I was working on the Site Map when Laura shared a Google Doc of the site map with me. I guess she likes the collaboration feature of Google Docs. I think the staff here are quickly becoming fans of Google.

Next I finished reading all the Policies and Procedures of Trans World Radio. I must say, they are very thorough, but it all made good sense. Unfortunately, they are not in the public domain, or I would share them with you. Maybe I can work on that, as I think it is a model for any Christian organization that others may want to copy.

During lunch, I munched on my sandwiches while updating my blog. I’ve been fortunate to be able to enlist Brandon to proofread my blog before we make it public. He has helped me quite a bit with names and places, etc. I usually save it online as a draft, and notify him by email. Then he edits it, and hits the Publish button, which is when you guys get to see it. I’m finding that the iPad is not very WordPress friendly, so I have to tweak things on my lunch hour.

I’ve also had the help of my mother, keeping things looking word-perfect.

I  took a run to the hardware store with Dave during my lunch. It is a very large, professional looking store, much like the Home Hardware stores at home. It is just up the road from the graveyard. Right across the road is a Kentucky Fried Chicken. My, how things have modernized here!

Back at the office, Laura, Brandon’s wife, and I dove into the site setup again. We are both still working through the manual, and ran into some design issues. We will have to submit a tech support request to the U.S. office to see if we can get these worked out.
At the same time, we discovered some really great functions, such as scrolling banners for the front page. We also consulted amongst the staff on a few other content options. In order to keep track of the questions and issues we are working through, Laura asked me to create another Google Doc and share it with our team.

I got email responses from the local dive instructor at the Divi Dive Shop. We will be doing the first of my deep dives tomorrow night after work. I’ll be diving the Hilma Hooker, which is a former drug boat that sank just off of the transmitter site.

I also heard back from the Gypsy Divers’ dive group that is staying at the Flamingo resort. I had been looking for early morning dive partners, and they fit the bill perfectly. I am to meet them at five in the morning at the dock with my gear. We may be able to get two dives in before I go to work. This group does six dives each day, and uses Nitrox to do it. I am Nitrox certified, so I may do that, too. Nitrox is oxygen enriched air that has a 32% oxygen content. The result is only 68% nitrogen, which enables the diver to increase their bottom time on repetitive dives.

It was Monday, so Donna, of the finance department was in. She dropped by and gave me a tip that because it was Monday, Captain Don would be holding court at Captain Don’s Habitat. This is just the kind of local information that I need. That would begin at six.

When I left work, I decided I needed more photos of the island. My first stop was next door to the former Activities Building. It has now been sold to the Basisschool de Pelikan, or Pelican school (http://www.pelikaanschool.com) The building has been very well maintained.

Next, I drove back to my former home in Antriol. I walked up on the porch and knocked on the door. A nice Bonarian lady answered the door, and I explained that I used to live here over thirty years ago. She graciously let me take photos outside the house. It is rather overgrown, but the house is still in good shape. She is renting from an owner who lives in Curaçao. She is moving at the end of the month.

Then I drove down to Captain Don’s Habitat, which is half-way between the studio and the water plant. I noticed a fellow sitting in a wheelchair with a line of people waiting to talk to him. Sure enough, it was Captain Don. He is in his eighties now, and is missing his right leg. Apparently it never healed properly after he broke it during a salvage operation on a beached ship.

Don’s own ship sank off of Bonaire in 1964, and he decided to stay. He is mainly responsible for establishing the Marine Park that has preserved the coral reef surrounding Bonaire. The reef is now the chief source of income for the island in terms of scuba tourism.

We chatted  briefly, and I asked him if he knew Denny Hogan. Denny was a former TWR tower rigger, and an accomplished scuba diver. Denny still comes to Bonaire and climbs the towers, even though he is retired and in his seventies! Yes, Captain Don knew Denny Hogan very well. He said, “He has been trying to get me saved all these years. But I’m an hardcore atheist.” I said that hopefully Denny would succeed in influencing him to become a Christian some day. Then captain Don asked who was bringing him his drink.

I wandered off to the patio restaurant and ordered some fish Pizza. It was actually rather good. I took lots of photos, including the huge Tarpan fish that were cruising right below the terrace. Apparently they get the scraps at night.

Well, it is time for bed, as I have to get up before the birds tomorrow. The ocean is calling my name!

Today I was able to attend the International Bible Church, which has replaced the Activity Building that I had been used to when I was living on the island.  Actually, it is only about a block away from the old building, and is located just to the right of the road that heads towards the water plant.  It is a smaller building, although it is of similar construction to the old Activity Building.  Trans World Radio sold the Activity Building to a Bonairian school some time ago, as there wasn’t enough staff to warrant keeping it.

 Photos here

When I arrived at the church just before 9:00 a.m., I was welcomed by Dave Pedersen.  The first thing he said was, “You better get rid of that tie, or they will ask you to preach.”  I looked around, and, sure enough, the only other people wearing a tie were the song leader and the pastor.  Oh well, I don’t mind wearing a tie.  At least it made a good impression for the first time.

I sat over on the side that they indicated with the wide-open doors in order to get a bit of a cross-breeze.  I sat beside Donna, who works in the finance office at TWR-Bonaire, and on my other side were the Pedersens.

The worship leader was a retired American named Bob, who has lived on the island for several years.  He had a deep Carolina accent, and led a very worshipful song service of traditional hymns.  Sue Felix played the piano.  Apparently Sue is in charge of the music program.  There was another American lady and a Bonairian lady who were on the worship team during the vocals.

It wasn’t long before the Pedersen’s youngest daughter changed her seat to be able to sit beside me.  She is the sweetest little girl, and is incredibly friendly.  I was able to get her to stand up on her seat when we sang the hymns, and sing along with me.  Previously she was absorbed in a colouring book.  I pointed to how the words flowed in the hymnal, and before long, she was pointing to the words herself.  Apparently she can already read quite well.  Next, she kind of played with my watch, and I had to try to concentrate a bit harder on the sermon.  But it’s been a long time since my own daughter, Rebekah, was that age, and I rather miss the attention.

At the beginning of the service, the worship people asked if people could stand up and share some of the blessings they had.  I put up my hand, and asked if they had an hour to listen to all the blessings I had been given.  I related how it had been 28 years since I returned to Bonaire.  I actually started to get a bit emotional and had to sit back down.  The worship leader mentioned that I was looking for a dive buddy, so hopefully that will yield some fruit.

The speaker, Siegfried, was from Bonaire.  The regular pastor is on vacation in the United States.  Siegfried gave a good word about “by your fruits, you shall know them.”  He actually used the example of planting a mango tree, and then discovering cacti fruit on it instead of mangoes.  He had quite a dynamic manner, and it was a good sermon.

After the service, a lady walked up to me and said that her friend was associated with the Sea Monitor Foundation.  This is a non-profit group that has 14 different monitors in the ocean around Bonaire that require weekly cleanings and recording of the readings.  Basically it involves a diver going down once a week to retrieve the temperature and current readings.  I have emailed and asked him if he would like some help.  I’ve always wanted to be involved in environment efforts in the ocean.

I then got a photo of Amado and Sue Felix as well as their nephew visiting them from the U.S.  Another TWR family from Holland was there; the Veldmans, who have six kids. They are actually on vacation at the moment.  He is a new diver, and so may become a future dive buddy for me.

And then a Bonairian lady walked up and asked me if I was the John McDonald that used to go to HAVO.  I said I was actually in the first HAVO ever.  HAVO was the upgraded school system called Higher Education which inaugurated the year I entered high school.  Apparently, Alvin, one of my classmates, was her brother.  He is studying in Holland, but she will email him.

There was another lady, I think her name was Ella, that was visiting the Pedersens the previous evening who was also in the service.

Brad Swanson runs the sound system.

Overall, it was a very friendly congregation, and they seem to be very active.  Next week, they are taking up a food collection for the Food Bank.  Apparently some people are actually going hungry on the island and the church is stepping in to help out.

After church, the Pedersens invited me out to lunch, so I went to their place for a second time.  As the service was over at 10:30, it was a while before it was time for lunch.

On the way to their hosue, we drove around the sub-division in the Belnam area, and I noted how many new homes there were, but, as usual, there were a lot of homes that were incomplete and appeared abandoned.  While lunch was being prepared, we sat around playing video games for a while, and then had a breakfast-type of lunch.  It was again a joy to be surrounded by such a loving family.

I excused myself around three o’clock and drove home, expecting to do a scuba dive.  However, the boats left at 2:30, so I was too late for that.  As it was, I was feeling rather tired from my hectic week, so decided to have a short nap.  Once I had been revived, I got up and worked on my blog for a little while before going downtown to get some supper at one of the seaside restaurants.  I’m getting rather spoiled, and will have to budget a little better next week.

Some of the restaurants were closed, so I ended up at Karel’s Restaurant, which is actually on top of a dock.  They cater to the yachts that anchor nearby, and actually have their own little water-taxi service to bring them to the restaurant.  I just got to the restaurant when Roy said Hi.  Apparently he was having a few drinks before flying home in the morning.  I ordered a seafood plate, and chatted with Roy for almost a couple hours.  It was an absolutely enchanting evening on the ocean front.

On the way home, I noticed a few motorcycles rumbling by. Bonaire has the highest per capita Harley-Davidson ownership in the world!  There is even an annual motorcycle rally in when people actually ship their Harley-Davidsons to the island for the event.  The strangest thing is that there is no helmet law on Bonaire.  Just like in a lot of the States, people ride around with no helmet at all.  It is rather scary to watch.

And so, after a rather relaxing day, it is time to head to bed and get ready for the busy work week ahead.

Saturday morning I got up, even without my alarm, at six o’clock.  It was my first day off, and I planned to make the most of it.

By eight o’clock, I was across the road to the Divi Dive Shop where I checked out the availability of a boat dive, since I don’t have a dive buddy.  It turned out that they were leaving at 8:30, which is what I figured, so I signed on.  I grabbed my gear, walked down to the dock, and picked up a tank on the dock and strapped it to my BC.  When the boat arrived a few minutes later, I got on board, and noticed that the tanks were already on the board.

 Photos here and here

The interesting thing this particular day was that it was overcast, and the wind was blowing from the opposite direction; it was going from the west side towards the east side, and the waves were crashing on the shore, although not very hard.  This was because of hurricane Ernesto passing to the north of us. I took a photo with my cell phone of the dive shop flags blowing inland, and sent it out on Twitter.  The winds only reverse about three times every year, so this is a real event.

Once on board, the dive master passed around a clip board and asked if I wanted to do a one or two-tank dive.  Everybody was doing two-tank dives, so I said, “Sure, sign me up.”  The two tanks were already onboard. The dive sites we were heading to were on Klein Bonaire, just over a kilometer away.  Apparently a boat dive is about $75, and gives you two dives off a boat, plus unlimited tanks for subsequent shore dives later on the same day.  The boat we were on had a rather large inboard diesel engine.

On the way over to Klein Bonaire, the dive master explained that we were going to go to the south side of Klein Bonaire, which was sheltered from the wind, given the direction it was coming from today.  Our first dive site was named Rock Pile.  We were only about 50 yards off shore when we docked.  Klein Bonaire still looks the same, just a coral-strewn beach without much sand at all, and a very flat landscape beyond.

On the way over, I struck up a conversation with the guy sitting next to me named Roy.  He was diving with another fellow from Brazil, and I asked if I could join them as an extra buddy, as I was alone.  They both readily agreed. Roy is a fire fighter from New York City, and his girlfriend didn’t want to come with him on this trip.

FIRST DIVE – KLEIN BONAIRE – “ROCK PILE”

One of the first things I spotted when we got down around 40 feet or so was a small LION FISH.  The lion fish has become a plague on Bonaire, as they are very aggressive, and kill off a lot of the other fish life.  They are not native to the Caribbean, but were introduced accidentally.  Roy said that last year, he spotted a whole host of lion fish on Bonaire, but this year there are not quite as many.  While all other type of fishing is restricted, it is always open-season on lion fish.  In fact, they have a group that trains people to kill lion fish.  You need a license to do it as they are extremely venomous.  If the lion fish is large enough, they are actually good eating, and are beginning to become a delicacy on Bonaire.

Our dive master was a Bonairian fellow by the name of Ebby, and he was carrying a three-prong type of tool with him.  I soon found out why, as he spotted a lion fish on the bottom, and moved in carefully, and grabbed it with a tool.  He then took a second tool out of his bag and slit its throat, as well as removed some of the spines on the fins.  He explained later that if he can get straight to the throat, he will do that, but often has to cut away one fin first in order to get close enough.  He then simply drops it onto the sea floor, and it dies.

I was able to get some good photos on this dive, including a couple of me and Roy.

We got back on the boat, and went about four dive stops down the coast of Klein Bonaire back towards the mainline.  The name of this dive site was Nearest Point, as apparently it is the nearest point to Bonaire.

SECOND DIVE ON KLEIN BONAIRE – “NEAREST POINT”

On this dive, I got some good shots of a QUEEN ANGEL FISH, and some lovely SPONGES.

One of the most amazing things on this dive was that I spotted a SEA TURTLE resting on the floor.  I was able to get in close, and shot a 2-minute video of the turtle looking back at me from about six feet away.  Eventually he became annoyed and swam away.  It is amazing how these air-breathing creatures can be so relaxed 40 feet down.  I was also able to spot a few SPIDER SHRIMP with their tiny, surgeon-like claws.

I came across two large TRUNK FISH.  They are triangular shaped, with a flat bottom, and horns on their forehead and on the bottom by their back.  What startled me was their colour!  There were two of them in what looked like a stand-off, and they were coloured blue!  I knew from experience that they were actually a spotted brown colour, but this must have been a mating dance between two rival males.  I fired off a few pictures, which distinctly recorded the blue colour.  Then they got annoyed and split up, and I followed one into the reef.  Sure enough, 10 feet away, it changed colour into its regular spotted brown colour.  I never knew they could change colour like a chameleon.

We then went back on board and returned to Bonaire.

I asked Roy if he would be interested in doing a shore dive later that afternoon.  He said that he had actually signed up for a boat cruise, but that it might not go due to the weather.  By the time I had finished rinsing my gear out, he returned and said that the boat had been cancelled, and he would be happy to go.  So we arranged that I’d pick him up at the tank locker in front of my house at 1:30.

I went home and dumped my gear, and then drove down into town in search of a quick lunch.  I found a lovely little restaurant called Brandaris (I guess like the mountain) and had barbecued chicken and ribs.  It was delicious.

When I picked up Roy, he insisted on paying me for gas, which was very generous of him.  We discussed where to go, and decided to head to the north end and dive A Thousand Steps.

On the way up, we spotted some goats on the tourist road, and then a donkey crossed in front of us.  I stopped, and took a couple pictures.  I then said, “Why don’t you see if he’ll smell your hand?”  Unfortunately, the donkey nipped him, and he got a bruise on his finger.  But he is a tough fire fighter, and said Not to worry.

The shortwave curtain antenna array for Radio Nederlands is still up, but apparently they are going to demolish it next month when shut it down.  There must be almost ten towers there with a massive grid of cables between them, forming a huge shortwave antenna system.  I find it amazing that they are going to go off the air.  Apparently it is due to budget cuts, as well as a drastically smaller listening audience for shortwave transmissions in this region.

THIRD DIVE – “A THOUSAND STEPS”

We then arrived at A Thousand Steps, which is right beside Radio Nederlands.  A Thousand Steps is actually only 70 steps, but I’d say that with 70 pounds of gear on my back or more, it is a bit of a workout.

Entry was not too difficult, although there were a few waves coming ashore from the storm.  I found that the underwater scenery was more lush than Klein Bonaire.  My guess is that not a lot of divers dive the north coast as it is a long drive.

I spotted some type of WORM coming out from under a rock that was about three inches across.  I could only see about three feet of it up until it disappeared under the rock.  I didn’t get a good photo, unfortunately.

We exited the water, took our gear up the stairs, and decided to go to Rincon to breathe off a bit of the nitrogen.  We had previously calculated our residual nitrogen time for both of these dives.  The third dive of the day would be to 50 feet and be 40 minutes long, and the fourth dive could be also to 50 feet but only for 32 minutes. We needed about an hour and a half to off-gas.

Once in the car, we decided to drive straight to the Bopec Terminal.  I wanted to know if I could come back and get a tour.  We stopped at the gate, and a very friendly man came out and offered us all the information we wanted.  However, they do not offer tours of the oil facility.

Apparently, the oil is now shipped from Venezuelain super tankers, and then transferred to smaller vessels for distribution around the Caribbean and up to the U.S.

Then we went up the road to Goto Lake, or Goto Meer, as they say here, and got some nice photos from the Lookout area.  I believe it was a kibra hacha tree with the yellow blossoms that was growing in the parking lot.  We then carried on up to Rincon where we found an ice cream shop and got a bit of ice cream.  While eating the ice cream, I wanted to get to know some of the locals, so we walked over to a bar on the other corner where they were playing dominoes on the deck.  We walked up and greeted them, and one of the fellows got up and brought two chairs over for us.  So we sat on the chairs, eating our ice cream cones, and chatting with the old fellows playing dominoes.  They were quite friendly.  Actually, it was three old gentlemen and a lady.  The lady never said a word, but just concentrated on her game.

We then drove back past Goto Lake to where you turn left by Karpata to go back to a dive site about three dive sites down called Bloodlet. Unfortunately, we ran into a DO NOT ENTER sign.  Apparently, the tourist road is one way.

FOURTH DIVE – “KARPATA”

I decided that we would dive right there at the Karpata Dive Site, which is the northernmost dive site before you get to Washington Park.

It was only down about a dozen steps, but the entry was just a pile of rock coral.  Getting in wasn’t too bad, although you had to be careful with your footing, and there were waves coming ashore.

This dive was even better than the one at A Thousand Steps.  I let Roy lead, and we only went 30 feet deep as this was actually our fourth dive, and he wanted to be extra safe.  We ended up only going about 39 minutes at 30 feet, where we could have probably stayed a bit longer.  I was able to get some good shots of a TRIGGER FISH. On exiting I had to struggle in the surf and got knocked down a couple of time. I now had a couple of scratches thanks to Ernesto.

We then returned through Rincon, and down the road that goes past Fontaine.  On the east coast, I spotted some large wind turbines.  I’ll have to go visit them later, as apparently they are supplying a fair bit of power to the island.  I dropped off Roy, and then headed home for a shower, and to rinse off my gear.

After I was changed, I drove down town and had a lovely fish dinner at one of the seaside restaurants close to the pier.

Four dives is actually a new record for me.  I must say, this was probably my best day here yet.  I’m now feeling very comfortable with all my gear, and can focus on the beauty that surrounds me.

This morning I was able to sit down with the staff and establish the goals for my time here on Bonaire. Without getting into details, my first priority is to launch the twrbonaire.com website. I will also be doing some marketing and communications projects, but more about that later.

In the afternoon, I was able to finally launch a temporary website, and start to play with the settings. I’ll be sharing the URL once we’ve done a bit more work on it. After planning this for months, It was very exciting to  be able to edit the actual website.

The template is a proprietary platform built and hosted by The A Group. Strictly speaking, we don’t have full control of the hosting package or much of the back end, so it can easily be maintained by the staff on the ground here. Although there is no email account associated with our website, people can still contact us by filling out an online form. All tech support goes through the TWR Cary office. The best thing is that it is browser based, so it does not require any software to update. Plus, it is a fairly robust package that seems capable of handling all of our needs at present. So we have a GO!

I spent Friday afternoon reading the manual for the website, and playing with each item. One page was for listing our ministry partners. The problem was that they were from Venezuela, and their website was in Spanish. So I copied their info into translate.google.com and got the translation for our website. First time I’ve done that.
While I was sitting downstairs in the lobby reading the manual on my iPad, a lady walked in and asked if there was a package for her. It turned out that this was the lady I was waiting for! Chris Dicks had given me a package of dress material that I carried down in my suitcase. So that connection worked out well.

When I got home, I decided to take some photos of my guest house, as people have been asking. This is just another example of how much the Lord has blessed me down here. The guest house is very well maintained, and has A/C for the bedroom, which  has been a life saver. There are even four dogs that I am babysitting for the director, Joe Barker. All I have to do is feed them twice a day. But since I am an animal lover, it is nice to receive the tail-wagging welcome when I get home.

The best part about my accommodations is the location. It is directly across the road from the Dive Flamingo Resort where they have an excellent dive shop. There is a secondary tank pickup locker that is three hundred yards from my door. It is accessible with a door code 24/7. How perfect is that?

Now a couple of comments about how this tropical environment has affected my health. When I first arrived, my body had to adjust to the heat. It is about 85 degrees Fahrenheit all the time, and humid. Normally the trade winds compensate, but they have not been consistent. But, within two days, I had adjusted. I just drink lots of water.

Back in Canada, I had been having trouble with a constant cough. I just seemed to always  be coughing to clear my throat. I now think it may be the smog or an allergy in Canada (Kitchener, Ontario). I haven’t had to cough since I arrived here! Even my eyes that used to water all the time (allergies?) are fine down here. So just one more blessing.

Friday night I was invited over to the Pedersens’ place for pizza and a movie. They live in the former Roswells’ house in the Belnam area near the transmitter site. Dave and I have been connecting about my iPad issues all week, so we’ve gotten to know each other fairly well. They have been on Bonaire for about nine months. They have three children, two dogs and two cats. Interestingly, Dave is a ham radio enthusiast, just like Chuck Roswell used to be.

I must say, their kids are adorable.  It was really great getting to interact with each of them and see all the distict personalities.

The kids are all home schooled, and you can tell by their positive attitudes. Unlike so many North American children, they are not jaded and withdrawn into their own little world of cell phones and earbuds. Their youngest daughter runs around giving everyone hugs without any fear. It was very refreshing to be in such a loving atmosphere.

The evening proceeded with a movie from Netflix, and, of course, home-made pizza. Dave also showed me his “man cave” where his ham radio is set up. I must say, I have never met a gadget man quite as skillful as Dave. He even installed AirDisplay for my iPad, which allowed me to display my diving photos on the big-screen TV directly from my iPad without any wires attached. Cool!

As I drove home, I reflected on how wonderful the universal welcome is that the body of Christ affords.