26 November 2009

After collecting most of our traps (we left ten traps in the field at two different locations with trail cameras) at 10:00 am, we spent the next few hours enjoying the warm waters of the Caribbean and searching for Chaney at the water's edge. Chaney is small fragments of pottery from the Danish ear (1800s and 1900s) that can be found around the plantation houses and along the shore. The word chaney is apparently derived from the word change as these pottery shards were once carried in the pockets of little boys who used them for trading. Chaney now finds it's way into expensive jewelry sold by artisans in Christiansted. It is currently legal to bring Chaney home from St. Croix, but most shells must remain on the island. The Chaney I have found is white on one side with a blue pattern on the other, although I have seen pictures of red, green, and black patterns (c.f., http://bonnieluria.wordpress.com/2008/07/). At first glance each fragment appears to be one of millions of pieces of shells intermixed with the green and brown sea glass. However, with practice one can readily discern the pottery fragments from Mother Nature's treasures.

At 2:30 pm we went to Mike and Maggie Evans' house for Thanksgiving dinner. The spread was familiar and delicious - roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, homemade cranberry sauce, carrots and broccoli. However, the warm humid air was new for me. This is the first time in 54 years that I have had a Thanksgiving feast in a tropical environment. I knew many of the guests as they are currently or have been previous guests at Cottages By The Sea. Jonathan enjoyed the iguana, red-footed tortoises, dogs, cats, lovebirds, and African Grey Parrot that populate up Mike and Maggie's extended family. I counted 15 dogs and I have been told there are as many as 20 cats staying there at various times - all abandoned and rescued by Maggie and Mike.