Hanavave, Fatu Iva, Marquises, French Polynesia 24 nov 2011 11:11.11 10S27 138W40

I am thankful that Frank is cooking. Damn it smells good in here. I started rolls early this morning. Logan made Leo’s Mom’s Lemon Meringue Pie (with Marquisian limes – so I guess it’s really Leo’s Mom’s Marquisian-Lime Pie.) Kennan…will be setting the table, I doubt he’ll be putting the forks and knives on the correct side with knife blades in…but I’m supposed to be counting blessings here. This will likely be the best Thanksgiving feast ever on Fatu Iva – maybe the only Thanksgiving. I don’t think many Americans have spent T-day here, since U.S. insurance companies blanket all of FP as a hurricane zone starting November 1 – despite the fact that there has never been a hurricane recorded here – yet there has been one in L.A., go figure.

Wow, Kennan actually just used a sponge on the table before setting it – sorry, that was worth interrupting my train of thought. Definitely the world is looking up.

I’m NOT thankful that Steve Jobs took the soul of my MacBook Pro with him to paradise. It was a slight delayed reaction (maybe he hung out in purgatory for awhile), but yesterday my computer died . Two years in the tropics, was too much for it. We’re finding many of our electronic devices throwing in the towel after two years of abuse in our extreme climes and conditions. My Canon SLR gave me a scare the other day, going dark on a beachcombing walk. After I got it home in the shade, it appeared to be a non-lethal form of heat stroke, and revived once cooled down – I’ve been very careful not to give it large quantities of water too quickly. But the two-year old Macbook is dead. Frank says tropical years are more like double-dog years – still 28 seems young. I’m not taking it well. It’s not like loosing a friend, it’s like loosing a part of your brain. Frank says I should be thankful that it wasn’t me that succumbed to a stroke – just the computer. But it feels like having had a stroke. Part of my brain has died, along with it, school records, writing, some cool recent beachcombing photos (incl. a great shot of a black velvet toddler-size left shoe), and Logan’s recent edited video of reef-fish. Yes I backup, but never enough, and to recover a backup you have to have a functioning computer to recover to. We’re currently about 4 months away from the nearest Apple store.

My family is full of good advice. Logan said, “At least you didn’t loose the photos you’re going to take.” From the mouth of babes…teens… Still, I’m having a hard time coming out of my funk (booooohooooo, sob, sob, hic). So, back to being thankful – right now, I’m thankful for white wine, and the smell of Frank’s cooking, and for this Fatu-Iva view, and for two amazing teens and their handsome dad, cheers, (hic). And yes I’m thankful that it wasn’t me who had the stroke, and that I didn’t loose any of the pictures I’m going to take. Still, it’s not fair that the youngest computer on the boat died. But as my parents always taught me – life’s not fair. And as my kids have taught me, there’s always tomorrow.

xoxomo