I'm not a patient person.

I always thought I was. In fact, I prided myself on being one of the most patient people I knew. Of course, patience is great, if you're in control of everything, and everything goes how you want it, when you want it, as you want it, in the time you want it to.

Funny what happens to patience when you have none of the above !!

And patience, when living on island time, is a must have. Things move at a naturally slower pace down here. It is one of the reasons we escaped the hectic hamster wheel type of life we were living. We wanted slowness and we wanted it now! We wanted lots and lots of slowness. A Whatever, Whenever type of attitude, the Spanish say it so well, mañana man !!

The thing we weren't expecting though is that this slowness we wanted and craved and came looking for, comes with a few side effects we weren't quite anticipating, like the need for patience. You can totally believe in a let-go attitude, until you're the one who needs to let-go, sit back, and relax! (Because you just know that an exercise in patience comes at the worst possible time!)

We've been playing the role of "waiters" this past week. Hanging around watching others leave for destinations unknown, we've been eager to get going ourselves (and why??), but having to wait around for the weather to change. Which happens in a blink of an eye,



and as you can see in the photo above, it's sunny where we are, and yet the foggy looking cloud by the mountains is incoming rain, close the hatches!

We want to head Somewhere Opposite of South-of-Somewhere, (aka North-ish!). And in order for the sail up-island to be pleasant (and sail-able), all that is required is a bit of East and South-East in the winds. Not much to ask, of the Weather Gods, but not an easy weather window to capture these days.

And then one came up, and on our way to position in St-Georges, our trusty and wonderful WaterMaker hit one too many hiccups too for our liking. We decided that it was best get it looked after now and here as Sint-Maarten is a ways away to live without our own water producing abilities, do-able certainly, however...

So we were in the perfect location to have it looked after. A phone call later and X-Marine had us appointed in the very next morning. It got looked at, diagnosed, and we went back 'round the corner to the home that is Mt Hartman Bay. To wait.

Wholesale Yacht Parts looked after ordering the parts almost right away (not without some poking and prodding, mañana man! Once ordered though, they got shipped, and would you believe arrived on overnight delivery (someone in the good ole U.S. of A is on the do-do-do hamster wheel!) the very next day.

And it was all supposed to happen first thing Friday morning, except somehow it didn't. We got Banyan ready to go, bow tarp off, dinghy secured, ready for an hour and a half at sea... and then waited for that phone call from Wholesale Yacht Parts first thing in the morning, as promised. And waited. And waited.

The much-needed pick-up from the Fed-Ex office and delivery to X-Marine didn't happen till way after lunch, (and doesn't that set your gourd on fire?? especially since X-Marine and Fed-Ex are almost, literally, across the street from each other?) and by then it was too late for us to come back up 'round the corner, and the technicians to receive rebuild and install, and it being a weekend coming up, well it'll be a few mañana's later, man. So now we're booked in "first thing Monday morning". Another Mañana, man!



All in all, we got great service, from all concerned. X-Marine is right there ready for us "first thing Monday". Wholesale Yacht Parts is understandably quite busy, but once on the job, sourced the pieces well.

With all this waiting around though we got to stay in the comfort that is currently our Grenadian home for a few more days, swimming, volleyball-ing, doing Yoga, hanging with friends, enjoying, and that's always fun times!

Best of all, we got to go to the Saturday morning market in the City, something we hadn't experienced, yet.



The street vendors packed under the colourful umbrellas of their booths, quite eager for your attention,



and hard-pressed to let you go once they have it. These are master-sellers, but having spent quite some time here now, it's getting easier and easier to manipulate the conversation, walk-away without necessarily buying EVERYthing, and without feeling bad about it.

The rickety stalls so pretty in their colourful arrays of fresh fruits and vegetables. Tomatoes are still hard to find. No Mangoes (yet) although we've seen a few trees bearing fruit that is just starting to ripen. Plenty of juicy paw-paws their insides bursting with flavour (we bought two), gargantuan bright yellow plantain's, soursop's, grapefruits and mandarin oranges and all with plenty of ants crawling around on everything that came from the just freshly picked Grenadian soil.



This is local and organic at its best! The locals so helpful, and with a quick smile they bid you good-morning and explain how to prep or what something is. Like breadnut. A tiny nut like object, that needs peeling of the skin (twice over) and tastes somewhat like our chestnut. That is one of the reasons I am falling in love with this place... such friendliness and wonderful smiles that reach the very corners of everyone's eyes.

There was a cruise ship in town,



and the Cruise Ship Mall was open so we ventured in for a look see just for fun, saddened that the many tourists who come all the way from their home countries are proud to say they visited Grenada and yet so many packed the Subway restaurant, reminiscing of home, without venturing out the door. A whole different feel in here.

Shademan's (aka Patrick) bus was always ready and waiting for us once we were done,



so nicely decorated for the upcoming Christmas season,



and we rocked and rolled our way back home along the bumpy and windy Grenadian Streets, Shademan honking his horn to tell others we were coming 'round the corner, all the while listening to Jingle Bells and Frosty the Snowman (with a decidedly soca-beat) that makes it all so very different and almost surreal.

We came home with way too much food-stuffs (did we forget that people up-island have stores as they need to eat as well?), and with an island that has so many chickens and roosters running wild across the lawns and streets, why-oh-why can we never find any eggs? Anywhere??

And so the lesson in patience was well practiced this time around. What's one more day (or two, or three?) spent waiting (and falling into old habits that bring forth the complaining and frustration and finger tapping).

If there's no eggs to be found anywhere (on the entire island!), then make some bacon tomato sandwiches (on gluten free english muffins), right? If the phone call isn't coming, put the phone away, and do something else as you know deep down inside, it's all like watching a tea kettle come to boil, it seemingly never does.

Spend your precious time that is life doing something, anything, rather that sitting there waiting (and stewing about it!). Venture forth and discover something new and different and exciting in your own backyard if need be. Then all that time spent waiting, will feel instead like you're living, like a day gained with so much more that feeds the soul.