The Sound of Sunshine ….. Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head

If this blog had a music score for this past week, it would alternate between The Sound of Sunshine by Michael Franti & Spearhead and Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head by BJ Thomas, if I were the musical director. I love the Michael Franti number, upbeat and “islandy.” And you can’t beat the old Raindrops from the 1970’s. It’s a jaunty little rain song to keep our spirits up during the downpours and the drizzles. In the 9 days that we have been in the Bahamas, 3 have had enough sunshine to count as a good Bahamian day!

Finally, finally, we went to the beach here on Elbow Cay and went swimming and snorkeling. That was Day 8. Imagine that.

"Church Beach", as we call it - walk down the path next to the St. James Methodist Church and there you are. This is what we have been yearning to see! — “Church Beach”, as we call it – Walk down the path next to the St. James Methodist Church and there you are. This is what we have been yearning to see!

What can I say? Been waiting for this sight. Foot prints in the sand next to the gorgeous blues of the water and sky.

A nice walk on the beach turned into a decent day of beach combing. I had forgotten to bring a plastic baggie along to collect our finds, 🙁 so I sacrificed my new hat. Priorities!

My hat filled with the finds. I’m inspecting the treasures.

Top picture is the sea glass that is too raw. Al returns it to the ocean to be "cooked" longer. Bottom picture - The Keepers! Some nice sea glass and a lovely sunrise tellurian shell, along with some pottery pieces. — Top picture is the sea glass that is too raw. Al returns it to the ocean to be “cooked” longer.
Bottom picture – The Keepers! Some nice sea glass and a lovely sunrise tellerin shell, along with some pottery pieces.

Al, my own Neptune, coming out of the sea.

But, as we all know around here these days, into each life a little rain must fall. A little is ok, but day after day???? There was a torrential downpour this morning.

Look at this rain! A least it only lasted for a short time.

There is a benefit to the rain, what one might call the silver lining. Our water tanks are still full and we haven’t filled them at a dock since Florida on November 30th. Remember how Al was playing around with his sunshade one the bow to turn it into a rain collecting system??

Left Picture - See the water streaming into the bucket under the sunshade? Right Picture - Two buckets of water on each side, port and starboard = 4 buckets of water = 14 gallons in 20 minutes. Free. — Left Picture – See the water streaming into the bucket under the sunshade?
Right Picture – Two buckets of water on each side, port and starboard = 4 buckets of water = 14 gallons in 20 minutes. Free. We couldn’t use the hose system to add the water directly into the tanks because the tanks are too full!

Al pours the buckets into the water tank opening on the deck. See how clear the water is?? — Al pours the buckets into the water tank opening on the deck just to top them off. The buckets then refill with more rain water. See how clear the water is??

After the rains, we could almost see clearly……. NO, not quite. The morning was overcast and heavy feeling with the damp air. So what did we do? Brought the bikes to shore. We will leave them locked to the fence at the dock, along with other folks bikes so that Al doesn’t have to go through the process of getting them from the flybridge to the dinghy to shore over and over every time we want to bike.

Our bikes hanging out with the other cruisers's bikes at the dock. — Our bikes hanging out with the other cruisers’s bikes at the dock.

People post these signs for their hometown with the distance along the road Colorful. There seems to be many more than there were 2 years ago. We found a few from Connecticut.

A view of the Atlantic Ocean form the road to Abaco Inn. — A view of the Atlantic Ocean from the road to Abaco Inn.

A short story about ice cream in Hope Town and while cruising in the Bahamas — Simply put, ice cream is a luxury. If you know Al, you know he loves his ice cream. The “Sugar Shack” in town was Al’s most favorite spot to hang out. Don’t look in the bars for him, go to the ice cream shops!

The "Sugar Shack" in town - Al's most favorite spot for the ice cream. We were very sad to hear that a fire has closed it. You can see some of the fire damage. — We were very sad to hear that a fire has closed The Sugar Shack. You can see some of the fire damage. We hear there are no plans to fix it back up. What a loss!

We heard a rumor that there was ice cream outside of town on the way to White Sound (different White Sound than the one on Green Turtle Cay). As we rode our bikes we kept sharp eyes out for any sign of an ice cream shop. Lo and behold, we saw the sign for “Sweet Shop” and the words ICE CREAM.

Amanda in the Sweet Shop. Amanda and her husband just opened this shop 3 weeks ago. It’s pretty far out of town so we hope they get enough business. Not everyone is willing to travel far and wide for ice cream, like Al is.

By the afternoon, the sun was shining in a blue sky, with only some clouds. would this be partly sunny instead of partly cloudy?? — By later in the afternoon, the sun was shining in a blue sky, with only some clouds. Would this be partly sunny instead of partly cloudy??

Let’s face it, you need some sun and you need some rain in your life. They both fill a need. It’s all good!

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