May 13, 2012
Today is Mothers Day and I want to start by saying happy Mother’s Day
to moms everywhere. This is a special day for you because you make
every day special for your families.
This was a great week to be in Saint Lucia. Without knowing it I
landed here in the middle of the Saint Lucia Jazz Festival. I didn’t
even know it was happening but happening it has been doing. It has
been a great week of music here in this island paradise. The line-up
of stars has been a great one. Since April 30th the island has been
celebrating the music of Toni Braxton, Fay Ann Lyons, Bunji Garlin
and even Dianna Ross but my favorite of the bunch Ziggy Marley
performed the other night. I have enjoyed the week of music and all
of the celebrations that surround this huge event on the small
tropical island. The festival ends here today though I won’t be
going, but It has been a great experience and a real celebration.
My time here has been spent dodging rain showers, walking and biking
the roads that network the many small towns, villages and farms on
this island together like a spider’s web. I have spent time on the
beaches north, south, east and west on this gem of an island and it is
difficult to claim a favorite. Once you move away from the cruise
ship ports you find the real Saint Lucia experience. One day, when
you come here, allow enough time to see the real island. Meet the
people and experience the culture that has grown here through hundreds
of years on this small mountainous island. Granted the “mountains
would be considered more like hills in parts of the world, but when
you find yourself a couple of hours down a trail, alone with nothing
but the birds singing as you walk aimlessly you will realize that
these are mountains enough to find yourself and discover a portion of
nature that few seldom see.
During this entire visit, the island has been under the threat of
rain, but that hasn’t dampened my visit to this paradise. It has
probably made it more wonderful. I have been able to meet people in
small villages whom I would have n ever met, as they offered me
shelter and a meal when the showers were at times torrential. But,
between the showers I walked in the tropical sun and enjoyed the
humidity that wraps you like “warm velvet”. Those are not my words,
but the person who originally said them, and I can’t remember who it
was, was absolutely right. There is a comfort in the warmth that
surrounds you here.
I know I am bound to leave this paradise and move on to another port
and another island, but memories that I have made here, like those on
so many other islands, will stay with me as long as I am graced by
this life I live. My thoughts today have taken me to thousands of
miles north of here and my childhood. I think of how the wanderlust
that was a part of my mother’s unfulfilled dreams has been a huge part
of my drive to see and live as much of life as I can. Thanks to my
mom, and my dad too for that matter, it is from them that I learned to
live with a purpose and enjoy every day for the special value it has.
A good friend of mine once said that this life is not a dress
rehearsal and he was right. It is important to understand the time we
have is limited. The people we meet should be cherished as friends
and, everyplace we travel is a paradise to someone. My paradise
happens to fall in the islands, but from time to time, I have also
found paradise in the mountains of Tennessee and Idaho and Nevada and
even on the streets of San Francisco and New Orleans. I try to make
the best of wherever I am and find wisdom in the people I come in
contact with.
Last week I was interviewed by Dennis King at WBWC in Cleveland, Ohio
and I really enjoyed talking with a kindred spirit. They have made me
think a lot about how special my life really is. I have done a lot of
thinking during my walks and my meditation on the beaches. I have
thought about my earliest wanderings and decided that in the next few
weeks I will share my first solo adventure. It was a trip to New
Orleans. I hitch hiked there and stayed for a couple of days all
alone in a city that is as full of mystery and adventure as any in the
western hemisphere. Anyway, I intend to share that journey with you
in upcoming blogs.
As I said earlier, I am bound to keep traveling and soon I will be
leaving this paradise for another one. I am trying to decide whether
to head north to Martinique or Southwest to Barbados. Bridgetown is
calling me but so is Fort-de-France. I know I will be traveling
soon, but for now, I am enjoying this paradise, right here, right now.
William Fair Roberts…on island time in paradise
When I awoke this morning the 
