We dropped off our son, Andre, and his wife, Tanya off at the airport in St Croix then raced back to Lady Valkyrie to sail for St. Thomas. After eight days of being idle, I was anxious to be moving again. We were also trying to get to St Thomas ahead of the heavy weather. Our plan for settling in St Croix was adjusted after the position in Christiansted was filled and Ouida was offered a working interview in Charlotte-Amalie. The Cuazans love to point out their lifestyle is more relaxed than the other islands. My Rasta barber says St Croix is like one popcorn kernel. There is just PoP while St Thomas has POP POP POP... The slower lifestyle is what drew us to St Croix, but we were always flexible as long as the temperature in our new home never dipped below 60 degrees.
St Thomas has some huge advantages. It is right in the island chain and only a half hour from St. John. Not much further and you hit the next island. It's not far from Puerto Rico either. St Croix is much more isolated with a seven hour sail separating it from any other island. The far greater amount of tourists allows for more job opportunities including working as a Master. Master is the correct term although most people say Captain. Ouida and I have our USCG Master license which is a step above Captain. St Thomas seems to make a lot more sense for those reasons.
I mentioned my Rasta barber. I love contrasts in life. Here's a man who never cuts his own hair making a living at cutting other peoples hair. When I asked why a man with hair like his became a barber, he said for the same reason Korean men do manicures and nail painting for women or why bald men become barbers for that matter. He had a point. I was reminded of another of my favorite ironies. An acquaintance of mine was born with three of her fingers much
smaller than the others. She has worked many years in jewelry stores where people are frequently looking at her hands as she displays rings. I just find the psychology of if all interesting.
The implication of a barber is that my long hair is now gone. Yes, it is all gone! I asked him the aforementioned potentially offensive question shortly AFTER I saw a huge chunk of hair fall to my lap. I knew I was in for the shortest haircut in 30 years and figured there was no harm in satisfying my curiosity at that point. I had gone to an elderly barber earlier in the day who had done a good job with cutting my hair, but I couldn't get him to cut it short enough. I was going to meet senior officers in my new military unit and I wanted to make a good first impression. So I paid for two haircuts in the same day. I paid $37 total with tips for a bad haircut. I would have considered giving the Rasta barber a second chance after my hair grows back, but the $20 he charged for a bad haircut was too much. One of the huge challenges of moving is finding a good barber. Hopefully, St Thomas will be provide better luck. Although, I won't be looking for a barber for a long while with this basic training hair cut.
I'm glad we went to St Croix even if it turns out it was only a detour. We had said all along that St Croix was our destination and we made it. We've just gone a little further now. We had a great time with our son and daughter-in-law on the beaches and at the ocean side board walk restaurants. Saying ocean side and boardwalk may sound redundant, but I spent time on the boardwalk in Kandahar, Afghanistan. There were no sources of water for hundreds of miles unless you count the "Pooh Pond" a quarter mile away with its fragrance of septic waste filling the air as you ordered a hamburger.
Life has gotten much better!
