For the last month we've been having a bit of a hard time and getting into the Feel of the Up and Coming OMG it's today Holiday Season. It just wasn't somehow happening.

We've found it emotionally hard being so far removed from our kids, our families, and our friends and even though we are surrounded by great friends here, it's somehow, just not the same.



We knew this when we chose to live this life. But somehow Emails on a white screen, messages and chats that blink in and out of WiFi range pending the swinging direction of the boat, and intermittent Skype just somehow don't help to fill that void of not being in the same place at the same time.

Then there's all that cold and snow and ice, sun and blue skies and warm rain and snorkelling and limin on the beach. Coming from the Cold White North (aka Canada), temperatures that typically represent the Holiday Season for us, do not exist down here (thank goodness!) but also have us in some sort of culture shock and not within the realm of Holiday reality, or any Ho-Ho-Ho type of Merriment.

Then there's this cruising lifestyle, which quickly has us not knowing what day of the week, or time of the day it is. We live by the weather, wake up at sunrise and go to bed with sunset. So to one day wake up and realize that it's one week before THE DAY of Christmas had us in shock, despite knowing that we really and truly have had 364 days to plan Santa's arrival.

And without media blasting "The latest and greatest 99 MUST HAVE items", planning to fill Santa's bag of goodies has been a bit tricky!

So we walk about town, noticing the decorations, a miss mash of style, culture, oddity... Frosty the Snowman made an appearance on the sidewalk, but just like him, we're feeling a tad prickly,



and kind of gnarly, like this guy greeting us as we entered the trinket store, the Caribbean version of Dr. Seuss's Green Grinch...



but he IS wearing a festive red hat, notice?

The other day we walked up to the shrine behind the Church. An uphill zig-zag of a climb,



where the Stations of the Cross met us at every cornered point,



and messages in the beautifully planted garden of flowers had us wondering whether we'd been good or bad.



And so we hemmed and hawed and wondered and thought and discussed and pondered. The weather and blowing Christmas Winds foretold their continued plans and we then hatched our plan.

"Christmas in Sainte Anne my dear... " says Dave, "a la French"
"Yeah, but they don't have Cranberry Sauce. Anywhere... " groaned I.

And so to help us feel the reason for the season, we asked friends Izzy and Jeff to dinghy by...

Maybe it was all in that red velvet hat we found got loaned,



and just like that,



Despite a few Bloopers...

"Get your hat outta my face, dear!"



and "Wait, wait... we're not ready" we shouted as we squinted into the glaring sun.



But somehow, somewhere in there the magic started to flow...



our smiles got bigger, our hearts started to grow...



Jingle Bells !!



If we could send you a present today to say Thank You for joining us on our Journey, we would. Instead we are sending you Simple and Heartfelt Blessings. May you have joy, health, happiness and love. Play Safe with a Touch of Adventures.

And although it's been said many times, many ways..., we'll say it again... Merry Christmas !! From our Home to Yours.