Heavenly. A description of the Sublime and Delightful and Enchanting. Perhaps relating to the sun and stars and celestial bodies. But most definitely experiencing the Divine. Read on if you wonder how we enjoyed A Blessed Day today.
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Anchored in New Bight, the capital of Cat Island, we find ourselves in greenish tinged but clear waters, our anchor well dug in the sandy seabed and barely moving in the calm flatness that boasts a picture perfect day. A day of no wind resulting in not a ripple on the water, the sea meeting the sky somehwere on an endless horizon that is hard to find.
Heavenly.
From our cockpit we are curious about the odd shaped buildings that we can see at the top of Mount Alvernia (or Como Hill), which at 206 feet high, is the tallest peak of all of the Bahamas. The views up there must be Heavenly we think to ourselves.
After breakfast, we packed our runners and lots of water, beached our Dinghy (anchor in the sand to allow for incoming tide) and met up with friends from SV Cool cat, SV Good Hope and SV Two of a Kind.
Dropping our garbage off at the bins handily placed by the Government dock we were ready to go, and right by the road that had us heading up that-a-ways,
stopping to admire signs of Life along the way,
Evidence of some Slash and Burn, a way of farming for the Cat Islander's,
One of the main outgoing crops here is the bark of the Croton Eluteria (Cascarilla). Which had me googling out of curiosity. The pale yellowish brown bark is scented and a tincture made from it which can be used as a tonic and fever reducer. It is also used to flavour the liqueurs Campari and Vermouth.
"Who knew?"
It wasn't long before we reached the bottom of the hill, with the view of the buildings to be seen above us.
We walked past and admired the hand carved stone reliefs depicting the Stations of the Cross.
Then conquered the steep narrow staircase that needed paying attention to as it was still wet from morning dew.
This medieval looking monastery, known as The Hermitage, was carefully and painstakingly created by Architect and Roman Catholic Monsignor John Hawes (or Father Jerome) in 1939. But why was it called "The Hermitage"? We wondered if it had something to do with the fact that he retired up here, to live out the last decade of his life, as a Hermit.
We toured the Abbey/Chapel, the conical bell tower, and living area that were really no bigger than closet sized rooms. Father Jerome, we were told by our friends, was a small man, and we were indeed surprised by how small it all was, right down to the cot that he used as a bed,
quite mesmerized by it all.
Outside, the 360 degree views were beyond Spectacular. We inhaled for a moment the quiet and the peace that surrounded us. Embraced us. Protected us.
A place where time could only be measured by the Shadows of the Sun.
We followed the circular loop through the forest back down to the main road, and headed towards town, past the
heavenly beachfront views,
through the Settlement with the Fish Fry Huts,
and towards the Grocery Store where we were quite impressed with how well stocked all the shelves were. Knowing we had to carry whatever we bought back with us, the decisions on what to buy were easy to make.
Back in town, we shared a lunch plate of Cracked Conch at Hidden Treasures;
one of the Fry Huts. This too was, after a long and hot bout of walking, Deliciously Divine !!
Definitely touched on a piece of Heaven today, somehow confirmed by the Cat Islanders we chatted with along the way, who always end the conversation with "Have a Blessed Day".
And I too wish to end today's blog by wishing you a Blessed Day!