Living On Island Time

Yes, been there, done that, and bought the t-shirt - yep, that's my shirt.

Things move slowly in the Caribbean and no one really notices the time. As we all know, Mother Nature is a great daily clock, and we use her for that, but she is not a reliable calendar. Living on a Caribbean island - now in Grenada, West Indies - we quickly learned to guess the time and weather forecast by looking up. The location and darkness of clouds tells us whether a short rain burst is going to bring us some nice cool refreshing air, or perhaps bless another part of the island.

When a cool morning breeze whispers in through the window screens and lifts the curtains, it gently reminds us that it's time to have our morning bathroom break. And, the amount of sunlight on our curtains will give me the tell-tale signs of when it's time to get up to make coffee, and also when Cyndi rolls over and snoozes for another hour or two.

So, nature serves us well for the time of day. After all, as expat retirees, we rarely have to be anywhere at a certain time. It becomes easy to guess the time of day within a half hour or so by the sun's location, or by how shadows are cast by the palm trees on the beach. I have a watch but will only wear it when we leave the island to go north to the land of hurry / scurry and stress.

We are very glad to be here... and besides, all we really need to know is whether it's day time or night time. Our tummies will let us know when it's time to find a nice snack.

For our friends, time is also a relative concept and we have sometimes found ourselves engaging in a second or third beer, or several umbrella drinks before they arrive at the beach bar. No problem.

We have to admit that telling the day of the month, and month of the year, is more challenging. Every day is the same as the last and it could be any day in December or May. There really is no difference. Watching a hockey game from time to time helps us to know approximately what portion of the year we are in, as we know there is no hockey on TV after June. But, knowing the day of the week is almost impossible, especially for those of us of with additional years to our experience. But then, we just don't care. One clue is when I am asked to prepare a nice egg dish of some sort for breakfast, along with hollandaise sauce. OK, it's gotta be part of a weekend.

In Canada it was easy to know when it was a weekday or weekend from listening to the noises outside. We always knew when the garbage trucks would come by and recycling was the day after. The condo would have the landscape maintenance people on another day. The mail man would come by during the week but not on a Sunday. Yes there were clues. But here on the island we have no idea when the garbage is picked up as our apartment is off the main road a bit, and we don't get any mail. All we hear are the sounds of tropical birds chirping away in the morning hours, doves cooing, the occasional rooster, and distant neighbourhood dogs who want their breakfast too.

Our routine breakfast chat will help us to decide what we will do for the day, and that involves some head scratching for determining the day of week. If we have an appointment, like a haircut, we have to add it to the wall calendar. Then we have to gaze at it for a bit while sipping on coffee. The actual date is usually determined after turning on our computers. That just might be the most complex thinking that do in the mornings.

Some mornings we realize it's time to go shopping for rum punch fixings or some sort of fresh fish or veges. That routine outing will involve some preparation for making sure we have our wallets, sunglasses, reusable shopping bags, keys, sensible walking shoes, and have applied sunscreen where needed (usually everywhere as we don't wear a lot of clothes). Remembering to bring the shopping list along is also helpful and time-saving. Shopping trips are usually perfectly timed such that our groceries get to where they belong in the cupboards, and lunch has been enjoyed and completed just in time for Cyndi to announce that she will be taking a nap. As we have learned, nap time is mandatory, daily, happens on schedule, and yes, clocks can be adjusted accordingly.

Sometime in the afternoon, we walk to the beach to enjoy our daily swim or snorkel session. And five o-clock is, well... you know... five o'clock somewhere. Things do move slowly here (this is a photo of the southern tip of Grenada called Lance aux Epines) but it seems there is always fun to be had or a party to join somewhere. You can't really ask for anything more than the sound of birds in the morning, and lazy evenings on the beach with steel pan music and great food fueled by local beer or local rum. Yep, slow, but no stress, no deadlines, no pressure. And, because it's slow, we take daily walks everywhere to get exercise while we explore, we go swimming as often as we can, and we cook fresh foods every day from scratch... but, it seems we never have much free time...

We have finally figured out that time is just a concept to be learned, and then forgotten until needed. Time to us is not a dictator. “Island Time” is a real thing, and we enjoy it. When the sun rises, a new day begins. When it sets, we enjoy the colours. It’s really that simple. That realization can change your entire life. It has for us.

And, it's not just for those of us who live here. We love watching tourists as they adjust during their short stay. You can see a physical change in them as they take their watches off, leave the phones and i-pads in the hotel room, and forget about their previous notions of where they are “supposed to be.” Stress lines seem to fade away from their faces and are replaced by fresh new smiles.

Nobody ever said, “I really wish I didn't spend that time relaxing on the beach.” ... except of course for those lazy people who forgot to put on sunscreen... just saying... it’s the tropics people and the sun here is very hot... If your skin hasn’t seen sunlight in a while, please make sure you protect it so we don't have to mistake you for crispy bacon after day one on the beach... I digress...

We are quite sure that no one regrets the time they have spend enjoying life, and, surprise, the world will still keep spinning if they don't do that. You can’t make it spin any faster, so why not sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride - we are. We don’t regret any of it.