The winter circle....

The second half of our first day with Brad and Becky was spent on La Plata. I mean...can you imagine going to Vieques and not seeing La Plata and the gallery? We sure can't. It's also a great place to just sit and digest our excursion with Jorge. We were able to introduce Brad and Becky to Judy and Andre and in the process the four of us were invited to Sun Bay to listen to Robert give a talk about the winter constellations in  the night sky.

and of course I had to balance a few pieces....

The girls had time to enjoy what is our favorite spot on Vieques. 

While Brad and I split the atom over a few cold Medallas. 

We ended up closing the beach down that evening. The four of us out in the surf taking in how beautiful the sunset was.  Brad and Becky were all smiles.

We were told by Andre that Bananas has a fantastic happy hour, with $4 fish tacos and $4 margarittas. Our plan was to head down into Esperanza and give it a try and the over to Sun Bay @ 7pm to be entertained by Robert. As we were pulling out we ran into our old friend Officer Sanchez. In the waning light, we got caught up on what was happening in his life and the island.  

So it was off to Bananas. Bananas has changed owners recently and I believe has a new chef. The offerings are different and they now have a finer dining area upstairs, separate from the more relaxed downstairs.  I have to say I was impressed. The food, the service, the fantastic mango habanero sauce (handmade each day) is to die for. 

As the four of us were sitting there Andre looked at Judy and said "the sun sets in 10 minutes." So the 6 of us got up, still not having finished our drinks or dinner and walked across the Malecon to witness the ending of the day. There were a number of people doing the same thing and even as we were walking out of the restaurant Andre grabbed another couple to witness what so  many of us never see nor take the time to appreciate in our daily lives.  As has been the custom since I've know Judy and Andre, just at the point when the very last of the sun dips under the horizon they chant "Ohmmm....Ohmmmm...Ohmmmm....Ohmmmm. 

I remember the first time I experienced this ritual of theirs. I was, as I believe many people are, a little embarrassed and confused and reluctant to join in. As the years have passed and over countless sunsets in Vieques with these two, it has become a part of us. 

We returned to Bananas and finished our meal and then it was off to Sun Bay. We sat up about mid way down on the beach. Actually not far at all off the beach, so the waves were crashing right near us. We all sat in our beach chairs in a circle around Robert. There must have been 20 or 30 of us. This was a sort of impromptu lecture that Robert was giving. We had not been on island to catch the one about the moon he had given last week.  I have had the pleasure of having dinner with Robert at Judy and Andre's a few years ago. On that evening we delved into the night sky and how the "Epic of Gilgamesh relates to the Zodiac. Anyway...with laser pointer in hand and an utterly amazing depth of knowledge, Robert took us through the winter night sky. Telling stories about each of the constellations from many different cultural perspectives. Explaining why each story had evolved and how many had borrowed from each other.  At the end of the lecture Lorrie and I were able to identify the winter circle, from it's cornerstone Orion to the great dog Canis Major with it's diamond collar and back through Orion's belt to the bull Taurus with his great red eye,  on to the Pleiades,  down to Auriga the chariot (which the one of the horns of Taurus connects to), further around to the twins Gemini (one mortal and one immortal),  and finally to Canis minor. Lorrie and I just don't get to experience something like this very often in our lives. It was a beautiful ending to a wonder day.

:-)