Favorite Fourth and Favorite Expressions

This is the best fourth of July ever! No frightened animals, no M80s, no fireworks, nothing. It is a pleasant surprise in the land of surprises where every holiday is celebrated and celebrated and celebrated. So what do Puerto Ricans do on the fourth? Go to "la playa" (the beach) of course. Jeff and I went diving at the "almond wall" in Corseca, Rincon last night. We were there at around 5 pm and it had been raining. When we went to park there were a gillion cars driving stuff in and out. People were claiming their spots on the night of the 3rd so they could enjoy family and swimming and sunshine on the fourth! There were tents, BBQs, bags of food, kayaks, umbrellas, ice chests etc. and loads of people out swimming. The coveted spots are under the few trees or close to the entrance for easy loading purposes. We did our dive and it was pretty murky. After 75 minutes we came in and in 6 feet of water thought we heard a jet ski over us. We hugged the bottom and surfaced along shore amidst legs and arms of nighttime swimmers! The sun set and we headed home while everyone else headed to the tents. Expressions: I've never been one to really appreciate "expressions" much. The only expression that made me smile was from a good friend in Washington, Ron Hammond. When something was REALLY intriguing or had a useful feature he would say it was "the bees knees." I don't know what that means, but I still see his eyes twinkle and the light bulb in his head blinking when I hear it!

Here in Puerto Rico we have picked up a few interesting expressions that make us smile or think in some way. Part of the interest is the question of whether this is really an expression or just a mis-communication. What ever it is we enjoy them. Whenever I talk to anyone about gardening they grab a piece of something and say, "cut it, stick it in." (which works by the way) When talking about plans for the yard: "you can't eat flowers." People here are practical. When we dive at the cuevas (caves) there are times when it is scary or difficult to get back through the reef because the tunnels have "rip-your-mask-off current" in them. Sometimes the thought of entering the little hole just creeps people out and they go up. Well a friend told us of someone who did just that - came up and tried to cross the top of the reef in bad conditions instead of going through the tunnels. When they rounded up with their friend they found that he had "left his eggs on the beach." At another dive site one of the owners of the property comes out and for $3 will watch your car (a useful thing at night in the middle of nowhere). One time our friend David came for a dive and this guy was having delusions or something and roped David and his friend into hauling large rocks around and putting them in a special place. This guy was "not quite right in his ceiling." (a useful expression and one of my favorites - that and the turtle reference). So that's it for the fourth. 11 pm and still quiet except for the orchestra of a billion bugs harmonizing!