Mike and I are having a relaxing and beautiful vacation in St. Maarten. We arrived on 8/26 and are here for two weeks. Our first week was filled with reacquainting ourselves to the island, both the Dutch and French sides. We have enjoyed seeing friends who are usually here when we are and meeting some new friends.

Our spacious condo affords us many luxuries, including a hot tub on the deck, a jacuzzi in the master bathroom, and a large kitchen, that we use only for making coffee and tea! While there are many luxuries, including two unused bedrooms and bathrooms, we have found some things lacking. One of those is the absence of measuring cups and spoons, which are needed for making tea. I brought a teaspoon, thankfully, but it never occurred to me to bring a measuring cup. There is an 8-cup glass measuring cup, but I “need” a 1/3 cup measuring cup for measuring the 2/3 cups of sugar for my tea. There is none! I thought about buying one but decided to “rough it!” It has been easy to use the 8-cup measuring cup for measuring my 6 cups of water for my tea. I have used a coffee mug and guessed at how much is 2/3 cup, and found that it is a close enough measure for my sugar.

We are also lacking a tea towel. There are paper towels and a dishcloth, and I have made do with those. I am careful about paper towel usage from an environmental standpoint, so I prefer a cloth dish towel for drying my hands and other items, but again, I have made do.

I am reminded of how many cloth dish towels I have at home and will make a list and bring one next year, along with a plastic 2/3 cup measuring cup, and a teaspoon. My wants/needs really are simple, but tea and coffee are wants that I consider needs. While I have made do without the measuring cup, it is easy enough to pack, and makes my tea easier to make, and provides the exact measurement of sugar to tea.  

When we travel, I am always surprised at the lack of “stuff” cluttering the spaces. That is true here. The rooms are large and appear even larger than they are without all of the knick-knacks that cover our surfaces at home. I do miss family photos, but I can honestly say that I don’t miss anything else.

As usual, I brought entirely too many clothes. I have not repeated wearing any clothing items yet and may not. Nor will I wear everything that I brought. We have a washer and dryer, which I knew we would have. While I considered bringing clothes for one week and wearing them the second week after laundering them, I did not do that. But although I have seen several things I might like to purchase, I know that I have too many clothes here and at home, so I will not purchase any more.  

I am saddened by the death of Jimmy Buffet. As I have watched news clips of him singing in various venues, I have thought about the fact that he did not take anything with him when he died. He undoubtedly had many material possessions, but none of them went with him. That should be a lesson for me.

One of the highlights of this first week has been meeting and getting to know two lovely ladies, Betty and Joan, neighbors and friends in the same condo complex in New Jersey. Betty is the owner of a timeshare week at our same property, and she brought Joan to St. Maarten as a birthday gift. On October 7^th, Joan will be 90 years young! I was shocked to hear of Joan’s age, for I would have thought she was closer to 80 years of age than 90. I am reminded of Uncle Barry, who passed away at not quite 91 years of age in the summer of 2021. Joan has the same zest for life that Uncle Barry had. Uncle Barry used to say, “Keep going as long as you can!” I think these two lovely ladies, Betty and Joan, are doing just that.

May Mike and I enjoy life long into our later years. Life is our greatest gift, never to be taken for granted.