Buttons, Widgets, Logos and Sunsets

Another strange post, I am sure I can hear the comment..... It is, actually. I have been trying for weeks to get either a widget, a logo or a button on this blog. No such luck! I am so technologically challenged that no amount of instruction did the trick. At times I thought it was not important. I already have listed all my favorite sites, had joined every group that might help me get the word about my blog out there.....Still, it kept nagging me. Why can't I do this?

I am determined, if nothing else. Trying was frustrating and exasperating, following instructions and not getting results was the worst. SO...I finally gave in and asked my son. Bliss! all was well and I can look at my blog and see results!!! My friends would be so impressed....I know I am.

Now, what does all this has to do with sunsets? Everything! If I would still be living in Curaçao, every time I got in a tizzy about the buttons, widgets or logos, I would have gone for a walk at sunset. This soothing ritual always worked for me. I would have called my friend Kathy, picked her up and go walking. We would have gone up the small hill at Jan Thiel and reaching the top I would have looked upon the blue Caribbean. My worries would have melted away, right there.

Let me tell you about sunsets in Curaçao. I now that this Nature's show happens every where and every where people brag about them; but when the sun goes down in the Tropics something magical happens. It is like sensual dance across the sky. Then, you need to see these ones: there most be a thousand different kinds of sunsets that happen on this island and all are glorious! The amount of colors that appear, the play they make with the clouds, the dry heat, the sea and even the wind, make these displays truly unique! My love for sunsets is well known amongst my friends and I have made them admirers too!

So when I have one of these days, in this case weeks...., I miss sunsets more than ever. I know, you would say that I have just to step outside on my little island here in Miami and see the sunset....NEEE!!! We don't face West....so I can see some colors behind the concrete jungle that is Brickell Avenue, but not a complete picture. Sunsets in Curaçao are the thing and I am planning to go enjoy them again.

On a lighter note.....

My friend Prati is such a great help!! She advices, comments and tags my blog in hers!! I appreciate it so much...Now I am working on my first tag! and you guessed it....it will be Prati's blog!!!

I met Prati through Monica Pradhan's forum. Like Ruth, she has become a friend and a supporter and I enjoy her writing enormously. She and her husband are so talented; free spirits, artistic, warm and helpful. Prati works with a company that is developing new shows for Indian TV, she is also a fashion blogger...with a most fantastic format: street fashion, the people that attract her attention when she walks along the crowded streets of Mumbai. Her husband Tarun just got an Award from the UN for a game he developed about female infanticide..... a man after my own heart!!!

So when you are out there in the blogosphere, do take the time to check her blog:

Shotcouture - Street Fashion

Tourism Development......

How much of a good thing is this? Our lovely island has become a strong competitor in the tourism market...and that is great as long as the natural beauty of the place is preserved. That is exactly what the tourists will come out to see.....the responsible tourists that also want to preserve the Earth for future generations....NOT the ones that want a Disney-World view of a beach vacation, artificial in every way and not at all what the island is all about.

Unfortunately, the lure of money has made politicians and developers around the world new strange bed-fellows. Right now, there is a proposal in Curaçao to turn over the Jan Thiel Wildlife Conservation Area into a tourism development area!!! WHAT!!! whose brilliant idea was that? and why is there not a bigger outcry on the island? I heard about it through my son, who got a message from a friend through Facebook.......These young people are the future and they take this responsibility seriously, so there is a petition going around. I plan to sign it!!!

One of the beauties of this island is the unspoiled landscape and the wildlife, the way you can walk around and admire a land that hasn't changed much in years. Do they want to convert this into an artificial environment, where everything is made today and there is no historical monuments or natural sites anymore? I feel so sad! It will be like any other Caribbean island....competing for tourism money without regard for what that can do to our island.

All of you that have followed my blog know of my love for the island and its beauty. If you want, you can help. Sign the petition and safe a piece of Paradise!!!

read and sign

Curaçao.......

It's been a while since my ramblings have taken me back to the island...it's time, I think. Camille, my daughter was here for a few days. She lives in London, so we were so excited about this visit! She was to attend a wedding in the Bahamas with her boyfriend and then come over to be with us for a few days. We were counting on the weather.....Miami had other plans.

It rained and there was thunder and lightning and there was not enough time to see everyone or visit with friends.....which takes me to Curaçao. When either of my children visited the island, it seemed that we had time for so much. Get togethers, visits with friends, out to lunch and out to dinner, drinks on Thursdays, beach on weekends, how did we do all that?

Simple. The lifestyle is so laid-back and relaxed. There is no place too far, no hours on highways crawling with cars, no downpours at all hours, no waiting for everything you need to do. There is no rush or missed opportunities. You can be spontaneous, plan a picnic, a beach day, a dinner party or to have friends over for drinks from one day to the next! Planning doesn't take so much effort and everyone is always game for anything that includes a celebration of any sort.

Here, just the logistics of getting your friends to agree to anything, is daunting. There are the jobs, the chores, the grandchildren to babysit. Then there is the fact that not all of them can come on a given day. Then the execution of your plans: go to the market (here you can find anything, it's true!) where you can waste a fair amount of time, go back home and prepare all the fare to be offered and get yourself ready to entertain. Your friends will arrive at your home...and you'll be exhausted! I am surprised anyone gets anything done here! I am also surprised people are not in a constant bad mood.

Miami has a lot to offer and it's a place where many people are very happy, I'm sure. For others, and I know some of them, things are too hectic, to impersonal, too stressful, So, YES, take me back to the island. I need to relax, enjoy the beach and the sunsets, see my friends, play bridge, have a drink on a Thursday, make a surprised visit to anyone.....recharge my batteries. I am again counting on a visit...soon!