There is great truth in the saying "You can sail; or you can have a schedule; but you can't have both".
We have now decided to stay in Bimini for Christmas. Yesterday would have been a window to head north to West End, Grand Bahama, but we could not have made it any farther than that with an approaching cold front. Since West End would definitely have been more expensive and probably not as interesting, we have decided to stay in Bimini for Christmas.
This is our third Christmas on the boat and each has been unique. The first was in Everglades City in the Ten Thousand Islands; there we really enjoyed the service at the community church. The second was at Shroud Cay in the Exuma Land Park; there we were virtually alone at a deserted island. This year looks like it will be Bimini; probably attending services at the Methodist church and maybe catching Junkanoo.
What stays the same, however, is the meaning of Christmas and a few traditions that we carry on. First we always try to remember that it is about Christ's birth and its significance to those of us who are followers of Christ.
Our traditions are simple. Instead of a tree, we have a small artificial wreath which we decorate with a select set of decorations; the criteria in the selection were: small, non-fragile, and of special significance. In spite of a good bath when our water heater leaked last year, our decorations have generally fared pretty well.
We will have a traditional Christmas Eve meal that I have fond memories of as a child. Pierogi and sauerkraut with mushrooms and barley are the foundations of a traditional Slovak meatless Christmas Eve dinner. We always try to provision for this meal before we leave the states.
One of the things we would like to catch here in Bimini is the Christmas Junkanoo celebration. However, this is not a rigorously planned event, but will probably occur somewhere in the early morning hours of Boxing Day (day after Christmas). This will involve the 'band' of drums, percussion instruments, and horns that we saw at the tree lighting ceremony. In Nassau it is scheduled to start at 2AM, but word is that it will be around 4-5 AM here. In case you think it impressive that the Bahamians are up that early, we think that they may be that they have not yet gone to bed. We, on the other hand, will catch some sleep and try to get up for the festivities.
Future plans are to probably head north on Friday and continuing over to Green Turtle over the weekend. The weather will probably have little gradient wind, but will be squally.
Have a blessed Christmas!
Tom & Joyce
Docked at Weech's Bimini Dock
Bimini, Bahamas
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