Healthy Island Living: I Love To Ride My . . .

Finally, a reasonable way to commute! When I moved here, I hopped around from place to place, and I finally landed a spot (almost a month later) in a tiny little cube at the top of the tip-toppiest hill on the island (as far as living quarters go). And believe me, it was NICE—huge yard with fruit trees (guava, mango, jack fruit, sugar apple, lime, cherry, coconut and MORE, including mountain apple/Morocco), a vegetable farm (not a small little garden) in the yard that I could pick from (lettuce, celery, bock choy, green onion, basil, other herbs). Phew, I’m getting swept away by the memory of the place.

The reason I brought up my old living quarters is as follows: the hill was so steep and long, that it was only easily accessible by car! No joke! It was about a 1/2 km hike. So a week before I moved to my new living quarters, I bought a bike. And it’s about time! It’s some sort of “Specialized” brand bike, and it works like a charm—too small for it’s previous (male) owner. . . imagine that.

So, I’ve biked for 2 weeks now, and boy does it feel good not to have to drive to work. The silly thing is, I used to live about the same distance (really close) to work, but because of the hill, it was not practical to bike. The drivers are a little crazy here (and it makes me understand why a Jamaican/Caribbean head helps along the bus driver from Harry Potter). I would say it still beats the Midwest, where drivers (likely college kids) would shout at cyclists and try to frighten them (when did that become cool?).

There are soo many benefits to biking, and after a nice refreshing shower/rinse at work, I feel ready for the day! And thus far, I have been getting to work extra early (to account for a shower and some extra time). It sure beats rushing around in the morning.