Bullet points of Barbados

Much of what we need to know, we learned in Kindergarten.

To top up these early ingrained lessons, the things I learned during the course of this trip include the fact:

That in Japan you need a license to drive a jet ski and real men don't where speedos there either.









That One needs to check the forecast of high and low tides before walking the beach in the same way we check the weather network before we drive


That when you take a picture of the sunset you might miss the sunset. 

That some parents still think that water wings are a substitute for parenting at the beach. 


That SPF 60 is just thicker than SPF 30


That Derek works all day in his bathing suit yet has forgotten the beauty of going to the beach. 




That Cindy, Who sells rum punch at the beach knows more about the island than anyone I have met.


That I can learn about blogs, decide to write one, figure out how to do this and start a blog without any help from any of my tech-savvy children.   


That tipping might best be proportional to how badly you wouldn't want to do the thing for which you are tipping


That Facebook has real value for old and young alike once someone shows you how to use it to its full potential


That parents of the many kids with asthma need some help down here. To be continued.


That the pleasure I have derived from 6 beautiful weeks on the beach can be surpassed by my friend being able to walk to Starbucks. 


That despite the miles we can keep in touch beautifully with family and close friends through phone calls, skype, emails, texting, Facebook and blogging but it is not a replacement for good old fashioned face to face gabbing. 


That the standard rum punch ratio ( 1 sour, 2 sweet , 3 strong and 4 weak) has too much sugar and needs nutmeg. 


That even cross culturally people still like to tell me their stories and I still feel privileged to listen.


That jet lag is tough on the young


That chair rental at the beach is someone's livelihood


That beach days with bare bummed children should be cherished. So should snow days with snow pants.


That women over 50 can wear a 2 piece bathing suit if stretch marks can be seen as a sign of life (Shirley Valentine).  Otherwise the best invention to date is the Tankini


That texting costs a huge amount of money no matter what package you get with Telus Mobility


That playing Scrabble may be more fun with a board, but you can't play against your sister in Canada when you are in Barbados.  



That love of dancing on a ship is neither race nor age dependent.



That Pet sitters are highly respected and greatly loved but are grossly under compensated


That I can zoom on my Iphone camera (thanks Terry)



That Bathing suits should Velcro to the skin. 



That 6 weeks in Barbados was a good idea. One of my best. No justification required.


But maybe you won't