Park Clean Up: Paying it Forward

Playgrounds are few and far between in these parts, and our girls love them. So when we find one with nice equipment it's kind of like the play-time jackpot. While beaches and the ocean are lovely and standard fun for our girls, going to a park is a nice break from the sandy mess that always ensues after a beach day. And when beaches aren't an option, getting off the boat at least once a day is a must for the ever-important "energy burn".

Last week in Road Town we headed to a park that we've been to before. It's got a nice variety of gear, soft astro-turf covering the ground and we can generally let the girls loose to climb, swing and slide at their leisure. We made our way through the bustling downtown area, wearing all the girls - winding our way through the narrow roads, past the colorful shop windows and finally to our destination.

But this time, the park looked a little different than the last time we were here. This time it was covered - and I mean covered - in trash.

"What the heck?" I muttered to Scott as we walked through the park entrance, my face puckered in disgust.

It literally looked as if someone took a huge garbage bag of cups, straws, plastic cutlery, chicken bones, soda cans, take out containers and bottles and literally emptied it out all over the park. On purpose.

It was disgusting.

"This is so bad it almost looks like a joke" I said to Scott in disbelief. I have seen a lot of trash in these islands because, sadly, environmental education has a long way to come down here, but the sheer amount of condensed litter in this one little park really took the cake. I couldn't believe my eyes.

Garbage was literally everywhere. Everywhere. And no dice throwing it all away in the existing garbage cans (points for having them!) because they were completely overflowing.

"I wish we had a garbage bag" I said to Scott, shaking my head. He wholeheartedly agreed. But we didn't, so we did our best to ignore the filth and tried to make the best of it, making sure none of it found it's way into the mouths of the twins as they explored. The icing on the cake came when I had to dress the wound of a local boy who sliced his bare foot open on a shard of glass.

I mean, come on.

The next day we returned to the park and while we were hopeful that maybe just maybe someone came back and cleaned up the mess, we brought with us a garbage bag.

No one had cleaned up the mess.

So we did.

Forty-five minutes later the park was more or less litter-less and our girls were free to play in a clean environment. I knew that tidying up the park would make me feel better (for better or worse, I am a bit of a neat freak in case you hadn't picked up on that), but I was shocked at how totally gratified I felt. Looking at our giant garbage bag full of trash and then looking at the beautiful, clean playground, gave me a tremendous feeling of accomplishment.

Because, duh, doing good things for no other reason than to do good things feels...well...good.

There is truly something wonderful about taking a little ownership of something and making it beautiful again. Because (and sorry to get all Pollyanna here), we are kind of all in this together.

It was also a fantastic teachable moment for our girls.

Of course our efforts did little to dent what is clearly a much bigger, underlying issue. Our clean up was a temporary fix and we knew it. We returned to the park the next day only to find more trash strewn about. I can't say I was surprised, but it was a bummer.

"Who trashes this park like this?" I asked the old man who runs the little snack shack on the premises.

"You are the ones who cleaned it up yesterday?" he asked lifting his chin inquisitively. We replied that, yes, it was us. "It's the school children," he started with a solemn shake of his head, "...they come here for lunch and then just leave it a mess." He continued sweeping his stoop and shaking his head. I asked for another garbage bag and he gave me one. I collected some more trash, futile as it was. Because the fact of the matter was that no matter how many times we cleaned up this park, it was going to get trashed over and over again.

But...

BUT...

We returned again the next day and (in the words of those catchy internet articles)...you won't believe what happened next...

When I let Haven out of her carrier to stretch her legs and run around, she walked right over to an empty plastic water bottle and picked up. She looked at us, looked at the bottle, smiled her Haven-bright smile and waddled right over to the garbage can and threw it in. I swear to God. Right into the trash bin. Scott and I could not believe our eyes. Then, she strutted over to a paper bag, picked it up and threw it in the garbage. Then a bottle cap. Then another soda can. Each time she came across a stray piece of garbage, she picked it up and threw it away.

Scott and I were totally gobsmacked. And incredibly proud.

If there was ever any doubt that kids learn directly from watching their parents and/or caretakers, this trumps it. I have never been so awed in my life. I know it doesn't sound like much, but seeing her do that - totally unprovoked and at just over one year old, mind you - (we have video to prove it, sadly internet bandwidth tells me it will take 20 hours to upload) was truly a magical parenting moment for me. One that I will never forget.

And it made that seemingly futile effort of cleaning up that park totally worth it.

Because sometimes, just sometimes, it's nice to be reminded that we as parents are doing something right every once and a while.

It also drove home a meaningful lesson for me:

While we might not be able to change current behavior, we can influence future behavior and there is tremendous power and beauty in that.

It's an important reminder.

So pick up that stray soda can and throw it out. Help that old women out of her car. Give that man the extra dime he needs to make his purchase. Assist that fellow shopper bag her groceries. Help that struggling boater tie up his dock lines. Hold the door. Say hello. Always remember "please" and "thank you". Smile.

And watch with joy as your children pay it forward.

Because no good deed goes undone, and in one way or another, it will come back to you. Karma is a beautiful thing.

The mess. The photos don't really do it justice, but you get the idea.

Our family, taking matters into our own hands!

All better! Isn't it lovely?

We didn't dare leave our garbage bag behind, took it with us to dispose of in a dumpster.

Here's Haven the following day throwing out garbage totally unprovoked and on her own volition. She is one.

And here's Isla doing the same. Proud mama right here!

The Sailor’s Code

How many times have you passed a stranded motorist on the highway?  Turned a blind eye to the neighbor who’s basement flooded?  Watched in stillness as the elevator door closed on a very winded, very pregnant woman at the airport as she ran to catch her connection and yelled "Pleeeease hooooolllld" (yes, over one year later this still irks me.  I mean, really people!?)  Most of us have done one or all of these things.  Life is a little different than it was in the days when Lassie roamed free; we don’t know our neighbors, kids bring guns to school with the intention of using them, and highways are the (real or imagined) prowling ground of serial killers and psychopaths.  Between all the crazies and our love of litigation, we’re all a little more guarded these days.

I’ve touched on it many times before, but life afloat is different in this regard.  Out here, it’s a cardinal sin to ignore a fellow boater in need.  No matter how inconvenient/risky/annoying it might be, when another cruiser is in trouble, it’s usually up to other cruisers to come together and help them out.  There are countless examples of this – and every single sailor you will ever meet will have their own stories to share.  There are so many inspiring tales of heroism at sea; one of the best – no doubt – is detailed in the incredible book Close to the Wind which is the harrowing account of a rescue at sea during the 1996 Vendee Globe Race in which one solo sailor, Pete Goss, risked his own life by turning his boat into hurricane-force headwinds to rescue fellow single hander Raphael Dinelli.  Of course not all instances of help on the high seas are of the life and death variety; sometimes it's just catching a line at the dock, a spare part gifted, a radio relay, or elbow grease.  Regardless, every single day there are examples, large and small, of boaters helping boaters – oftentimes strangers – because we all know that one day, it will be us that needs that hand.  And this, my friends, is the sailor's code:  if you can help, you do.

The other night as we came back dinner and we saw a boat in a bit of a pickle and seemingly tangled witha another boat.  There were a few dinghies around clearly trying to help, but whatever problem was occurring was not under control.  Scott dropped Isla and I off on the boat and headed over to see if he could lend a hand.  Turns out, the boat had gone aground and then drifted back on to another boat's mooring line which, in turn, tangled around the keel and prop putting these two boats in a Chinese fingercuffs type of situation.  Considering the wind was gusting up to 30 knots and these boats were making contact, this was not a good place to be.  Scott and some other boaters worked for the next hour to free the two boats and after a little leverage and some strategic fender placement - the boats were free and Scott was enjoying a nice bottle of Tuscan wine with the Italian couple on board.

Of course there are many examples of good samaritanship on land but, unfortunately, I believe it's the exception and not the rule these days.  People are a little bit lazy, a little bit leery and AAA exists for a reason.   On a boat, however, we all know we're a mere ring-ding away from disaster and it's nice to know that there is still a place in this world where a helping hand will almost always be extended when needed.  At sea it is most certainly prudent to be self-reliant but the fact remains that none of us would be afloat if not for a little help from our friends.

Help Another - Help Yourself

"It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself." 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Back in July, when we first arrived in Grenada, Scott and I were looking for a way to give back to the wonderful community here.  We had time, we had resources and we wanted to do something good - no matter how small.  

We found the Queen Elizabeth home for Children and instantly were impressed by their mission, and their cause.  They were grateful for our offer to help and have treated me like a member of their family since day one.  I immediately turned to my extremely large (and incredibly generous) extended family (my father is one of twelve) and raised a whopping $3,000.00 in donations among them.  To say the QEHC was grateful would be a tremendous understatement.

Their needs are great - they have just made an addition to the home and hope to finish the last phase so they can accomodate another 30 children.  They need furniture; desks, beds, tables, chairs as well as second-hand computers for their learning center.  In addition to these tangible goods - they need money.     They need money to pay the salaries of the workers, they need money for student uniforms, for food, and for the day-to-day operation of the home.  If you or someone you know would like to help with any of the above, please email me at windtraveler09(at)gmail.com.

If you would like to donate money, for the next 2 weeks (until October 26th) I will be accepting donations on behalf of the home from our Paypal account.  Any donations that come in between now and then will go directly to the Queen Elizabeth home in the form of a check written by yours truly.  Just click the "donate" button on the right hand side of this page and enter the amount you would like to give.  Easy peasy.  Or, if you don't feel comfortable with that - you can send a check payable to the "Queen Elizabeth Home" to this address: 

Queen Elizabeth Home for Children  

PO Box 1127

St. Georges, Grenada, WI.

These swings need fixin!

I also need to give a shout-out to some great people who have also contributed to this cause.  First - a big thank you to Alex over at Surf Tidal Wave Media for offering his web design expertise, pro-bono, to help the Queen Elizabeth home update their website.  A heartfelt thank you is also due to our friends, Mike and Rebecca, of Zero To Cruising fame who donated two of their spare halyards (and made a radio announcement on our behalf collecting two more, making that four in total) to fix the children's derelict swingsets.  It's amazing what impact tiny gestures can have on the life of a child! Of course, I must also thank my family (you know who you are!!) for their generous donations - you kindness is felt in the hearts of children thousands of miles away!

How far that little candle throws his beams!  So shines a good deed in a weary world.

~ William Shakespeare

Love,

Brittany & Scott

PS.  The Queen Elizabeth Home also has a Facebook Page!  Be sure to stop by and "like" them!

Think Different

In honor of the world losing a true visionary and one of the world's biggest dreamers the other day, I thought I would pay homage to the memory of Steve Jobs by sharing just one of his brilliant ideas.  I hope it inspires you as much as it inspires me.

Think different and live different, today and every day.

Love,

Brittany & Scott

Tiny Acts of Kindness

An act of goodness is of itself an act of happiness. No reward coming after the event can compare with the sweet reward that went with it. - Maurice Maeterlinck

Yesterday, I had a friend coming over for lunch (a really sweet Peace Corps volunteer who found our blog looking for a vegetarian callaloo soup recipe - but that's another story!).  I started cooking, when I suddenly realized that I didn't have the onion I needed to make my meal.  Shoot! It was threatening rain, my guest was due in 25 minutes and I didn't have time to run over to the grocery store.  Hmmm....what to do?  I decided I would try my luck at the harbor restaurant and see if I could buy an onion from them.  I scurried over there with my wallet and when I arrived I was greeted by the head chef, who I later learned was called Richard.

"Hi, I am so sorry to bother..." I began.

"No, no!!!" he interrupted with a big smile, "No bother at all sister!!"

"Oh, okay...thank you.  I was just wondering, if - by any chance at all - you might have an onion to spare?  I have started cooking and didn't realize I had run out, and if I could just buy one off you I would really appreciate it."

"No, no, " he started, waving his hands, "...you don't need to buy the onion!  We have no price for it...No problem, I have an onion to spare for you!" he gave me one last big smile before disappearing in the kitchen and when he came back, he had a little bag with not one, but three onions in it.

That little exchange made my day.

Truth be told, Grenada is full of people like that.  Scott and I have met so many locals who have been willing to go above and beyond for us - just because.  They don't ask for anything in return, they're not trying to swindle us, they are just happy to help.

When we first arrived here, Scott and I made the acquaintance of a rasta man named Ashley.  Ashley works around the harbor, asking if he can help with any projects, offering his services to boaters and from the very first time I met him I knew he was good.   He stops by our boat every couple of days to see if we need anything; always offering to clean our waterline or remind us that the bottom of our dinghy is due for a scrub.  Last week he came by just to say hello.  After chatting a bit I noticed he smelled so fragrant and lovely.

 "Ashley - you smell so nice!!  What is it you are wearing?" I asked him with a smile.

Nearly blushing, he replied, "You like it?  It's an oil."

"Well, you smell wonderful!" I told him.

And the next morning, there was a little knock on the boat, and when I came up he extended his palm and in it was a small vile of essential oil. "For you" he said.  He asked for nothing in return and said it was a gift for his friend, me.  This is a man who probably doesn't have money to spare and he could have just skipped it - but he didn't.  He knew I liked it and wanted me to have some for myself.  I gave him a big hug in return.  Because sometimes, a big hug is all people want!

It's no question that this world is a crazy, cruel place full of conflict and turmoil; but there are so many wonderful people out there - like Richard and Ashley - who are just friendly, kind people happy to help others.  Every day, there are people out there in the world doing nothing but spreading a little goodness around and that is beautiful.

Love,

Brittany & Scott

Happy Saturday

Being on land has it's perks!! One of them is visiting with these beautiful creatures...

Scott's mom volunteers at the wonderful Charity Hill Ranch which specializes in therapeutic riding for those who are physically, mentally or emotionally impaired.  It's really an incredible idea and anyone who has spent any length of time with horses can attest to their magic.

Growing up the daughter of an Englishwoman means horses were a part of my life early on.  I think they are magnificent creatures...the dolphins of land, if you will.

Ironically enough, sailboats have always reminded me of thoroughbreds...so streamlined, pretty and strong.  When a boat's bow is plowing through the waves I am always reminded of a beautiful racehorse in a rhythmic gallop.  Both move so naturally and effortlessly through their environments...

Anyway, happy Saturday!

Love,

Brittany & Scott

It's Time to Give Back

If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another.

- Dalai Lama

Long ago, when Scott and I were dreaming and scheming about this trip, we said that one of the things we would like to do would be to give back.  Because we have been moving so much this hasn't really been possible - but not anymore!  Now that we are going to call Grenada "home" for the next six months or so we have some time to pay it forward, as it were.

We have been incredibly lucky and fortunate throughout this trip - so many people have contributed to our cause, given us encouragement, kind words, inspiring emails...we have been kept out of harms way and been awed by outpouring of support from our fans and followers.  I have always, always believed that we are given two hands for a reason; one to help ourselves and the other to help another.  It is what we human beings crave; connection, companionship, compassion, community...love.

We chose the Queen Elizabeth Home for Children as our cause.  Not only do Scott and I love children - but I think there is nothing more devastating than a child to grow up feeling unwanted and unloved.  Children are so beautiful, innocent and so easily broken.  Far too many children are born into this world without a fighting chance - and it is organizations like the Queen Elizabeth Home for Children (QEHC) that really make a difference.  It's cliche but it is so true, children really are our future.

We visited the QEHC the other day and they were so grateful for our presence and support.  We were given a tour of their grounds and met with the lovely and regal Marion G. Pierre.  Marion is a force to be reckoned with.  Born in Grenada, she spent most of her life in the USA.  After graduating from Columbia University she went on to an illustrious marketing career with Chase bank and other firms where she climbed the corporate ladder.  She can name-drop with the best of them; her good friends range from international ambassadors to high profile business owners - her peers are all movers and shakers.  When she talks, you listen.  She is highly educated, incredibly well traveled and - most important - has a heart of gold.  When she moved back to Grenada about 8 years ago she became the Executive Trustee of the QEHC and has never looked back...

The home, right now, is undergoing a major expansion project that included more bathrooms, a new therapy room, a large play pavilion and more.  Because of the construction they can only hold 18 children but once completed they hope to house more.  Despite this - they are in dire need of funds.  Not only will Scott and I be donating our time to the home in the form of tutoring, playing with and reading to the children - we will be doing some fundraising for them as well.

The children of the home range in age between 2 and 10.  All are victims of some sort of abuse (sexual and physical) and have been removed from their homes by child protective services.  To hear some of these children's stories is not only heartbreaking but sickening and a powerful reminder of how wicked humans can be.  Our species has the ability to do so much good - and yet we are also capable of the most incredible evil.  The mind boggles.

Anyway - we had a wonderful afternoon meeting the children and playing with them for a bit before heading back to the boat.  My mind is overflowing with ideas on how we can help raise money and support and we are so excited to be able to give back.


This is just the beginning...

Love,
Brittany & Scott

For the Greater Good...

Being good is commendable, but only when it is combined with doing good is it useful.
~Author Unknown
When we started planning our adventure, Scott and I decided that we wanted to sail "for a cause". While we like the idea of having a really fun super-extended vacation we really like the idea of helping someone or something along the way. The only problem is - what, who, and how?

There are so many causes, people and organizations to fight for in today's world. We got to talking about this over Dairy Queen Blizzards and, thanks to the art of the brainstorm (and, perhaps, the Blizzard?), an idea was born! We loosely determined that we would like our "cause" to be human in nature (as opposed to, say, environmental) and that we would like to help children specifically (they are, after all, our future).

Once we decided on those two critical pieces of the puzzle I recalled how I volunteered for an orphanage in Africa for a few weeks, a heart-wrenching and eye-opening experience to say the least. "What about orphans?" I wondered aloud...Orphaned children are everywhere - especially in developing countries - and their needs are great. Scott was on board! So, now that we have the "who" and the "what" - we just have to figure out "how"...stay tuned, this is only the beginning...

Peace,

Brittany & Scott