dear Nevis,

so it seems you might have been in a bit of a bad mood this month. a lot of grey skies with some pretty cool temper tantrums. that mid-month storm was particularly awesome to wake up to in the middle of the night and i had a blast watching planes land amid all of the lightning. not sure the puppies like the thunder very much, but i’ll bet it’s good “character building”.

and now hurricane season is “officially” over. i’m not sure if Mother Nature has the date marked in her day planner, but i hope the rest of the year is a little less humid and a little more sunny. cheer up, wouldja? people on their snowbird holidays are going to start showing up any day now and you want to be a good sunny Caribbean host.

i’ve had a couple people ask me if i’m still getting up at 4am every day. and the answer is “yes, i’m still mildly insane.” last month i started riding to school earlier too. i am amazed at the temperature difference between 6am (when the sun is barely yawning over your horizon) and 7am (when you’ve tilted enough with the Earth to get us ample vitamin D for the day). it’s likely only a small change in temperature, but those wee degrees seem to really matter when you’re huffing humid air up a hill into the warm wind.

my landlady kindly delivered a most wonderful set of patio furniture early in the month and i’ve got a new favourite hobby: watching the clouds float by and the planes bounce in while drinking my morning coffee. or studying. or wrasslin’ with the pups. or basking in the sunset. or listening to the rain drum on the porch roof. i don’t have a TV and wouldn’t want to change the channel out my front door for anything else in the world right now! this 180o+ view of ocean and sky is better than the highest-definition plasma screen money can buy.

this month i also got a bicycle helmet from my boyfriend back home who is worried about your crazy drivers. every day i pair it with the flashy-fancy reflective neon sash that he sent in a previous care package and feel safe with a capital “S”. one of the professors on campus said that your Newcastle police officers have noticed me whizzing by every day and congratulate me on my safety-ness. i pass along all of the credit to the people that take better care of (and worry more about) me than i do. so glad i have such a wonderful boyfriend to watch out for my irresponsible butt.

you’re a great island for cycling, Nevis. i am actually sort of looking forward to doing the whole circuit some day. maybe over Christmas holidays. the only question is: do i attempt it before or after doing the Mount Nevis summit?

well, i better sign off. stay outta trouble and pass along my hugs and hellos to the family.

bring on November… may the wind always help me uphill and the puppies continue to remain flea-free.