A Tropical Island Kind of Rut: A Journey of Discovery

My Diary: March 19, 2023

Have you ever felt stuck in a rut?

I certainly have, numerous times throughout the years. It’s a reality that for some of us, in the absence of ongoing “new stuff,” we tend to become overwhelmed by what seems like trivial details.

Approaching our second anniversary of Roatan living, I notice there isn’t a whole lot of that new stuff anymore. Our days are becoming more routine and habitual.

And I notice that “stuck in a rut” feeling starting to cover me like an old scratchy burlap bag.

Let’s take a look at my typical days.

As an early riser most of my life, I am usually out of bed with my first cup of coffee around 4:00 AM. Sometimes earlier.

I am trying to stay in bed a little later now. I notice I sometimes drift off to sleep again for 10 minutes. Or, I try to feel content just to lay there and be aware of the early morning nuances. I’m actively trying to wake up more leisurely.

Over the past 30 years, my habit has been to drink that first cup of coffee while my computer boots up.

Currently, an App called OneTab lives on my computer desktop, with 17 tabs I open each morning.

• I look at a weather report
• Monitor our rainfall for the past 24 hours
• Record data from my Fitbit
• Play a game of Wordle
• Review the stats from this Blog, my Medium articles, Instagram, and my YouTube channel
• Spend a little time watching the live African webcam
• Review a spreadsheet that documents everything we are growing on our property, noting actionable items
• Read some inspirational articles
• Record the highlights of what I did the day before
• Make notes of ideas for new articles

I am trying to delay this process for an hour or so. Instead, I want to have that first cup of coffee sitting on the front deck doing nothing but enjoying the early morning stillness.

Some mornings, I head down to walk the beach as the sun rises. There are no people around, and I leave the dogs at home with Mike. It is a meditative, restorative time. If I go all the way to Camp Bay Lodge, I get in a one-mile walk.

I am trying to make this more of a habit.

At 7:00 AM, all hell breaks loose.

Feeding time for one cat and four canines. The dogs all think they must bark, jump around, and get all excited while I dish up their food. Mike and I have developed a good routine to split them up to eat in separate areas so they don’t kill each other. It takes probably 60 seconds for them to inhale their food.

Then we head out to the beach. Rocco wears an e-collar and is off-leash most of the time. Leo and the puppies like to run away, so they are on the leashes all of the time. Usually, I have Stripe, and Mike manages Rocco’s collar control and the leashed Brownie and Leo.

If we encounter people on the beach — there are renters in our neighborhood now, so these encounters are more frequent — Mike leashes Rocco. And then we all step out of the path of the vacationers as they saunter by. That way, no one has to worry about the dogs, especially that big one.

We walk a good half-mile most days. The dogs love to sniff out sand crabs and splash in the surf. All four dogs get a quick shower before heading back upstairs. Drying sea salt and sand makes for itchy dogs otherwise.

After putting away all the dog paraphernalia and getting them fresh water (me), making the bed, and preparing our bedroom for Roomba to run (Mike), we get in the pool. Ahhh.

Even though it is still before 8:00 in the morning, we are feeling the humidity by now. This is a very relaxing time. It is quiet, with just the birds chirping. Our animals have all gone for their morning naps, and we are left to soak and refresh.

Then, it is time to make breakfast (me), wash the dishes, and clean up the kitchen (Mike).

We go our separate ways at that point.

I usually throw a load of laundry in. We have a washing machine, but line-dry everything. I water all the plants I’m growing on the deck, always checking for new growth or dreaded enemies. I might sweep the floors a little at this point. Or not.

And then I write!

I really look forward to this part of my day. Most of my Medium articles consist of entries from my journal spanning the last two years. I find great pleasure in revisiting the initial days of our relocation to Roatan and then refining these pieces before sharing them on Medium. I enjoy writing unrelated essays and submitting them to various Medium publications. Collaborating with editors is a new experience for me. I must admit it is usually quite humbling, yet it proves invaluable for personal growth. After all, isn’t growth an essential part of who we are?

Sometimes, around 10:00 AM, I sit in my recliner like an old lady. I enjoy it. I like to play Woodoku on my phone and read whatever Kindle book holds my bookmark. I’ve been known to drop off into a nap, too. Feels good!

Cooking and baking have hooked me.

I’ve previously mentioned all the vegetable fermentation I’ve been doing, as well as keeping my sourdough starter alive and healthy. At the moment, I have three jars of Kombucha brewing as well as small jars of Jalapenos and carrots fermenting. These all live on the top shelf in the Pantry until they are ready.

I’ve just started making milk kefir. Fermentation is really quick because of the heat. I might have to try a “cold ferment” in the refrigerator. I’m still learning, watching YouTube, and reading articles. My goal is to use the milk kefir every morning for smoothies, blending it with fruit, flax, chia seeds, and honey. A daily hit of all those probiotics can’t be anything but healthful! And look at the nutrients in just one cup of kefir:

• Protein: 9 grams
• Calcium: 24% of the daily value (DV)
• Phosphorus: 20% of the DV
• Vitamin B12: 29% of the DV
• Riboflavin (B2): 25% of the DV
• Magnesium: 7% of the DV
• Vitamin D: 12% of the DV

We don’t buy bread or rolls at the store anymore. I’ve always loved to bake bread, and now I have the time. I make Peasant Bread almost every week and usually make a loaf of bread or rolls with the sourdough starter. Today, I baked a rustic loaf using white and wheat flour. Delicious!

Sometimes, I feel a little artsy.

My order of air-dry clay finally arrived. I know nothing about how to use it, so I did a little experiment. You can see a size comparison with the pen in the below photo. I wanted to learn if the piece of coral would stay put once the clay dried (it did). And I found a dead sandfly on my desk and wanted to mount it for a photo. Look at that!

I plan to make a piece of decor with this air-dry clay supply and inlay sea shells I brought from Florida. Stay tuned.

Driftwood intrigues me. I’ve been painting on some of it when the muse strikes.

There’s a little housecleaning to do, but not much.

We live so simply here that all we really need to do is sweep with the broom. Our bathroom is outside. The shower has a really long sprayer on it, and I use it every couple of days to hose down the toilet, sink, shower, and floor. Everything dries pretty quickly in the hot breeze! Maxine comes once a month or so and gives everything a deeper cleaning.

What’s left?

If it is hot (always), I am in and out of the pool like clockwork. All day. Every day.

The dogs need to be taken out to do their business. They need their water refreshed.

I pay $5 a month for my Body Groove subscription. Ever since the bee sting on my foot, I haven’t been dancing. Going to have to kick-start myself back into that again!

We don’t have the TV on during the day, but I do look at Facebook. I like to see what our family and friends are up to and post something interesting from here.

I’ve been reading a lot of Medium articles online. I feel like a whole new world has been opened up there with meeting writers, observing their styles, and learning about lives from all over the world!

Okay, back to the routine of a regular day.

Around 3:00, I start preparing dinner. I try to get it made as far in advance as possible before the crazy 4:00 PM Animal Feeding.

That is an exact repeat of the morning escapade, including the walk down the beach. There are usually more people around now, so we must be careful. Sometimes, people ask if they can pet our dogs. I just say, “No, they aren’t used to being around people.”

And that is pretty much true. I don’t want the dogs to make friends and start feeling comfortable around outsiders. They serve as our Security Patrol, and it is important they alert us if anybody comes close to our property.

Mike and I always hit the pool after the beach walk. We get cooled down for dinner. While I put the finishing touches on our meal, Mike gets the puppies enclosed in the Pen and then prepares the Hangout for our dinner by pouring our sweet tea and finding “our show” on Netflix. We are currently watching “Outer Banks.”

Our last walk of the day happens between 5:30 and 6:00 PM. Sometimes, we get nice sunset photos.

We usually spend a little time sitting on the Leopold Bench Mike made, watching Rocco run in the surf. The pups and Leo like to dig in the sand. If it is hot, they dig holes that are much cooler for them to lie in.

There are generally some people on the beach, but not in our immediate area. We can see people to the west at the public beach and to the east as there are three rental homes in our neighborhood now.

While Mike gets the dogs settled in for the night, I get a shower. Then, I upload the day’s photos to my computer and post them on YouTube and Instagram. Playing a few hands of Solitaire online is usually the last thing I do before going to bed sometime between 7:00–8:00 PM.

How can I possibly think I am “in a rut”? And yet.

Writing about a typical day has been quite therapeutic.

Clearly, I am not sitting around twiddling my thumbs.

In fact, most days, I run out of time. Frequently, I get the feeling there isn’t enough time to do all the things I want to do once I’ve found them.

What I really want is to do nothing. To enjoy doing nothing. I want to experience “doing nothing.” Is that crazy?

Tell me what you think. Especially those of you who have retired from your careers. I would love to hear how your days go, what you think, and how you feel.

Am I in a rut, or just trying to get used to not working a job?

I live on a tropical island, for crying out loud!