Trying something new

Hi there! Its been a while, like months and months. In fact- as of today, I only have one more month here in St. Lucia. I have lots of back logged partial posts that I hope to do at some point, but instead of working on them or feeling guilty about them and not posting anything, for this final month I am going to try something new and post a "my day in photos" with the aim of a minimum of 1, and max 5 10 (oops!) photos that capture something about the day I'd like to share. I probably won't make it everyday, but I'll try to do it with some frequency!

Heavy rains in the night flooded my bedroom floor and this bridge on my way to work this morning- look familiar Claire, Meg, Anna or Julianna?

Early morning mist rising over the mountain in the distance

The banana industry continues to plummet in the wake of Hurricane Tomas and a full-on plague of Black Sigatoka fungal disease. This farmer is trying to diversify by planting cacao trees [the short green seedlings in the black pots in the center]  under the bananas and will eventually cut down the bananas once the cacao is established. Its a long term plan/ gamble, because the cacao won't be ready to harvest for 5 years...

Tadpoles in the rain filled tire tracks on the farm road! The frogs were gettin' busy in the rain ;)

I had to hack my way through these giant leafy plants that grew over one of my riparian buffer/erosion survey sites in the last month- the plants were 3-6' tall and everywhere. Luckily very easy to cut down and not sharp unlike some others I have to deal with!

Look in the center of the valley the river I'm monitoring runs through there. Where it meets the sea, you can see a khaki/tan color- that is all the erosion running into the river and being carried as sediment to the mouth of the river and into the Atlantic Ocean from last nights rains. But shhh erosion isn't a problem.....

Elections in St. Lucia take chalking to a whole new level, only with spray paint! The party in power (United Workers Party aka "Flambo" for their flame symbol) has taken it upon themselves to spray paint a mock ballot with a vote cast for Flambo in nearly every intersection on the island. They are as it happens, having a rally on my back porch (well really by the rum shop/bar around the corner, but it sounds like its on my back porch) right now. Sleep is not going to come early tonight!

Really cool caterpillar in my yard...

Maji (my dog) sniffing really cool caterpillar... seconds before getting a bite on the snout- ouch!

Maji trying to figure out what just happened and staying a safe distance from the really cool and feisty caterpillar...

So here goes: