Carlson's Caribbean Adventure

Different is the best word I can think of to describe this Thanksgiving. Now, I don't mean different in a bad way, but when I think back on past Thanksgivings, this one was quite different. I grew up spending Thanksgiving in beautiful New England surrounded by family and delicious food, breathing in the cool crisp air, playing football (sometimes in the snow), and shooting some guns. Some years we would even go Black Friday shopping. Then I went off to college in Florida, and Thanksgiving was different with the air not so cool. I spent it with only my sister one year, then only Luke and friends for the next three years. Last year, I was back in New Hampshire on break from teaching, and spent one more Thanksgiving with my family and Luke. It was just perfect, complete with some Black Friday shopping with my sister and brother in law. Fast forward to this year. This year was almost completely different. My last name is different this year,  for one thing, and as it was our first m...

What many of you know as Hurricane Matthew was only Tropical Storm Matthew to us, thankfully! Our island is very hilly, so usually storms don't do too much damage, but it is always wise to be prepared. We were told that the water supply would be shut off, so we filled every water bottle and pot we had with water. Luke's classes for the next day were cancelled, so while I was looking forward to having him home, I was dreading the possible effects of the storm. It rained through the night, but it didn't seem very bad. Apparently Luke's classes had been rescheduled, even though they had been canceled. Unfortunately for Luke, the email informing him wasn't sent until it was too late for him to catch the bus. Thankfully, his classes are recorded, so from home he was able to watch both classes he missed. The storm was still over us, so everyone was asked to be inside by 2pm. It rained harder that evening and the wind was fairly strong. Luke's classes were ...