Morning again? Oh, NO!!!

Morning again? Oh, NO!!!
Originally uploaded by Suzie Rozie.

At least some of us think "Oh, NO!" is the most normal response at the start of the morning. Others of us take advantage of the freshness of the new day, before everything gets so busy and hectic, and we venture out into the streets to see what's going on.

Usually, Donna and I walk down and around the lanes and head toward the water around 6:00 a.m. We walk along the road at the shoreline, and then come home another way. But early morning is no deterrent to the big buses that carry people all over the island, and the risk of becoming just a greasy spot in the road takes a little bit of joy out of these otherwise wonderful walks. The buses zoom along the road and stop for nothing. As I get used to these buses again, I remind myself that this is not California, where any pedestrian has some sort of primary right-of-way on the road.

So instead of making our loop today, Donna suggested we stop when we reach the water and then come back the way we came. That was a perfect opportunity for me to suggest that we sit and take some photos. (I posted only a couple with this blog. The rest are on Flickr.)


Searching for sea urchins
Originally uploaded by Suzie Rozie.

Even at this early part of the day, people are out. Just as in the states, we will see a few runners, and there are always a few searching for sea urchins at the shoreline here. They collect these and then later in the day, they will extract and drink the juices, taking advantage of the nutritional qualities the urchin provides. Although Wikipedia mentions the aphrodisiac properties attributed to sea urchins, these little critters are also thought to be a good source of iodine, helping to prevent goiters.

I remember goiters being fairly commonplace in the States when I was growing up, but as iodinized salt became more and more common - in fact, it's standard now, these disfiguring growths became less common. Probably most of our younger people in the states have never seen a goiter.

As you can see in the picture above, the skies were heavily overcast this morning, and we expected a duluge of rain. But it didn't happen today - at least not yet. The sun is out bright (and very hot!). It will be a good afternoon to sit and knit, chat with everyone, and just enjoy being here.