I got my PhD that year. When I graduated and came up for air after 5 years of working non-stop, I thought I would spend time with extended family I hadn’t seen in so long. And then I encountered monsters like the guy in this article, instead. I’m almost over my heartbreak. Can’t ever go home again.

And me? I moved back to Oklahoma for undergrad years. Talk about culture shock! Me and Oklahoma never did mesh well. I got a BS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in Stillwater and went to Texas right after graduating.

We moved off the boat to a house that was zoned commercial so that my dad could headquarter his business Paradise Construction Co. out of the house in St. Croix. Then he landed jobs in St. Thomas and St. John and was gone most of my last year living at home. Later my parents moved to St. Thomas.

Teddy likely was taken to see Salt River because that is the site of Columbus’s landing in 1493 when he discovered the island. I lived there too, on a sailboat named Bon Amie intermittently between 10-13 years old.

It wasn’t a big house. 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a big kitchen, and a living room. Maybe 1200 square feet. And there was no ocean view. It was on Centerline Road (aka Queen Mary Highway) in the center of the island on the West end, in Estate Whim which had been one of the largest sugar plantations.

The Landing of Colonel Theodore Roosevelt in St. Croix ~ 1916 - 🌺 Virgin Islands History Theodore Roosevelt tours Salt River in St. Croix, Danish West Indies! 🌴

Teddy Roosevelt stayed in my teenage homeI in St. Croix. The plaque above my front door said he visited in 1916. The image of it will be forever etched in my mind. I was looking for details of this visit and ChatGPT said it never happened. Luckily, I found this:

valeriesims.com/blog/the-lan...

Ugh. New realities. The world really could be so much better.

I can’t believe this is America 🥺

My husband’s office space is getting a make over. This new rug is the first step and I am in love with Alice in Wonderland feel. Work hard, also never take yourself too seriously. If you do, you sorta miss the point of life.

I literally watched people living on the street, move into the apartments that my father built. We helped them file paperwork in government offices to get to live there.

I was a white girl in the Projects, and I was never afraid to be there at any time of day.

I was a white girl in the projects at midnight, even though I didn’t live there. We worked without being paid, because government leaders screwed us all. We worked at all hours of the day, because we knew we were providing homes for people that needed them.

Yet we all had the same needs.

I don’t understand what all the money in the world can buy someone if they destroy the communities they live in, too. We are all connected. If you hurt people, life’s mirror will make you hurt, too. When you love people, they will love you back.

We weren’t rich, yet we had things average Americans didn’t. It was a mixed bag. We went months without money. We lived without electricity for months after each hurricane. We were members of that community. We got through hard times by working together. We were all different from each other.

And yeah, I’ve also been accused of being the rich white guy who profited from building black communities. Let me tell you, the government was mostly months late with paying and made my father sign off on 20-30% of his funds. He needed the money to buy supplies to stay on time or be fined every day.

Why am I different from most Oklahomans? Because I spent time in the Projects at the other end of town from this pier while my dad built them. I learned that negative generalizations of people can make you miss out on beautiful souls. A smile and listening ear can give the strength to hold on.

A typical Saturday would be swimming all day here, and then cheeseburgers at Wendy’s that was across from the pier. French fries dipped in chocolate frosty was the best!!! Try it!!!

Today’s run. I am recovering from a virus of some sort and have not been running for a few days. I’m still not completely well and I could only run for 15 minutes, instead of my usual 30 minutes. Oh well. I am working on consistency as much as improving speed. Tomorrow is another day.

Frederiksted, St. Croix, USVI 🇻🇮

Iwo Jima on my pier is surreal. As a teenager, I would race down the length of the pier and fly off the end into the water. Then I would race my friends up the ladder of the small, taller pier at the end and plunge into the water again. I would lie to my parents and say I never got in the water.

Texas just got even more stupid. We voted for Prop 12 that gives the most evil governor in US history control of our state courts.

Yes, Texas has gerrymandering. What I want to know is, will the governor own our judges?? Tell me the result of Proposition 12!

Election day in America - even though we’re not voting for president, everyone is edgy and moody because we know its a big day in the US

We don’t have kings. Elections matter. Local positions are powerful in democracies.

This is the goal. No more new educated, trained experts that get in the way of personal agendas. As soon as we acknowledge the problem, we can take action to fix it. This does NOT have to be the future.

Yona and Baloo say “Happy Halloween!”

#skypets #minischnauzer #minipoodle

Maintaining consistency. Cooler weather is welcome.🤗

This happened right after trump took office. This is when we lost freedom of speech. I saw the emails from NIH canceling grants. Meanwhile, I listened to unaffected scientists deny that it was happening. I still wonder if we’re on the same page yet…

Blah, blah, blah… I really don’t care if its true or not. I’m sick of russians going unchallenged. There will come a tipping point where peace won’t be on the table for merely going home.

When I was 8, I learned how to say” I love you” in 20 different languages. I knew I couldn’t learn all the language of the world, and this is the one thing I wanted to be able to say when I met people from different places.

Yona and Kat 💞

#skypet #poodle

Venezuela Cuts Gas Ties and Declares Trinidad’s Prime Minister Persona Non Grata After U.S. Warship Docking Trinidadian Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has been declared persona non grata in Venezuela, ...

Ugh 😣

viconsortium.com/vi-caribbean...