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A North Americans Perfect Day
~ by Barry Nelson, Home
Owner,
Casa La Puerta in Vieques
What constitutes a perfect day in Vieques? Perhaps its the spectacular
sunrise, the first smell of the jasmine in the morning, the mixture of
clouds and sun, the water sparkling at the end of the day, or running
into old friends when least expected. A perfect day is something to
relish and certainly nothing to be taken for granted.
Recently, I myself had what comes as close to a perfect day as I ever
had in Vieques. Im a fairly uptight person with high expectations, a
get things done mentality and to make matters worse I grew up in the
impatient capital of the world, N.Y.C. The concept of Island Time is a
distant apparition, a concept to strive for, but not yet achieved. When
Im told to slow down, this is Vieques I tend to look at people with a
glazed look and say, O.K. Ill try.
Even though I know that its a good thing to do, slowing down my
internal clock is definitely going to take some doing.
So my perfect day had nothing to do with the natural beauty of Vieques
or seeing friends. Unfortunately for me it had to do with my lust for
getting things done and keeping my internal clock running at full speed.
Its warped, unhealthy and at times downright embarrassing. Whether we
are in Vieques or Vermont (where I live most of the year) we have all
had the frustrating experience of waiting for builders, plumbers,
electricians to come and fix something. Sometimes they come on time,
sometimes they are late and sometimes they dont come at all. We often
do not understand that there are times when our urgency means nothing to
others. So what if my water doesnt work. Who am I anyway?
So on this special day I had four different appointments lined up since
I was in Vieques for less than a week. I figured that if two out of four
showed up Id be doing well. I tend to assume that when someone is five
minutes late they are going to be a no-show. What a ridiculous
assumption. Believe me its hard to live like this. Appointment one
shows up ten minutes late and I breathe a deep sigh of relief.
Appointment two shows up on time and Im ecstatic, this is too good to
be true. Appointment three comes while appointment two is still here and
now Im really flying. I need to sit down and take a deep breath. When
appointment four shows up to fix my water its a slam dunk. Im ready
for the N.B.A. And thats it. Its time for the beach.
