Well...thank you everybody. Haven't been on in a couple of days and then I see this. Nice.
Not sure how to respond but I'll start with this: Van and BP, thanks for having my back. Macy - thanks for being real. Fatty - god dude. You and your comments I just dismiss, especially after speaking to a few folks in Negril. "Cub reporter" my ass, you know nothing about me or the people I live with and near. The rest of you, well...I don't even know where to begin.
I'm tired of defending where I stay and what I do. I live in a yard during the winter in Jamaica. Period. That's what all my "yard mates" call it since all of them live there all year 'round. I'm the only "transient" there. Its not a "tourist" yard - my house seldom gets rented out by anyone else and it certainly is not advertised. I don't know what else to say. I had no water like the rest of my neighborhood this winter, and my other yard mates who live in the "compound" as someone so nicely put it STILL have no water. We have a pool, yes, WE HAVE AN EFFIN POOL and thank god we do because it did come in handy to flush the FRIGGIN TOILET. I've posted pix of my house and my yard there because I'm proud of its beauty and I feel blessed to spend 3 months out of every year there. But I'm not a hotel person, especially for three months, the finances just don't work out that way. I love my privacy, I love my JAMAICAN neighborhood and I love being OUT OF THE MIX.
Jitterbug - I'm not sure what you mean by "figured out" - did Theresa or Christine tell you where I lived? Or did you just go yard to yard, seeing if you could figure it out...cause if that's what you did, you know...you still might be wrong. But that's totally BESIDES the point.
That all said....I have to share that I am literally SHAKING right now. I buried my friend Brenda just yesterday morning and I'm a hot mess. I came back to the board for the first time since she died on Friday morning to smile...well, that's out the friggin window. If you have a problem with me, with the way I choose to live my life, spend my time be it in Bodega (Where I have a quite the awesome yard as well) I'm so sorry. In the end we have a very limited time on this planet and Jitterbug, whatever is bothering you, whatever your "need" was to "peak" at my yard (especially since I've posted so many pix of this) to invade other people's privacy (there are five homes in that yard, four of which are occupied all year, 24/7)and then your need to post what I see clearly to be a mean spirited thread - I am reminded that life is short and you need to get over it. Embrace what YOU have. Relish in the time YOU are spending in what might be your favorite place. Smell the roses. Cause you never know if you will have that opportunity again. Brenda came to Negril in January, as she's done for the past 8 years, emaciated having lost 80 pounds in the previous 8 months to Pancreatic Cancer - and she was the most alive, joyful and celebratory of her time with her boyfriend, with us, with our friends in Negril - she had no idea if it would be her last time there and she enjoyed it as though it might. As it turned out, it was. Once of her great joys was sitting on my back patio, feet up on the sea wall and watching the sun set. Big smile on her face. THAT'S how I remember my sweet Brenda. There in Negril, in my "yard" at my house, taking it all in.
So in the end, this thread is plain old SILLY and MEANINGLESS. Everyone is entitled to their opinion including mean old bully "Fatty" and I'm good with that. I'm good with everything because I have breath and I am blessed. And most of you are too - if you will just take a minute and PAY ATTENTION to that.
I leave you with this...one of my very first blog posts...
http://westcountywestend.com/2010/10/17/don%E2%80%99t-ever-tell-people-how-lucky-you-are/