We’ve had a couple of busy weeks, with many friends coming down for vacations, our housewarming party, and a lot of brush fires. Barbara’s birthday was the 14th of February, so Tom got to work in the shop and created a dinosaur for her as a birthday present. We got a surprisingly large response to our housewarming party invitations, so for a while we were greeting incoming friends almost every day.

 

The day of the party itself was interesting. We had arranged drivers to bring everyone up to the house by 3:00, but at about 1:00 a huge brushfire topped the hill behind us and started down towards us. We called the fire brigade and then got on the phone to delay the party until 4:00 to give them a chance to get the fire under control and the smoke to clear. That worked pretty well, until the fire started back up in the middle of the party. The firemen came back, ultimately making three visits. The party was a great success in spite of the fires, with our American and Jamaican friends really getting a chance to talk in an informal setting. The food was great and everyone had a wonderful time.

 

The fires continued for three more days, and large areas around us are now blackened. This is not unusual in the dry season, but this was more fire than we had seen in several years. Both before and after the party we had lots of opportunities to visit with our friends both at the house and down on the beach in Negril. Everyone had a great time and are already planning their visits for next winter!