Back to the Bahamas – we couldn’t help returning to that beautiful spot. Greeny blue water, blue skies, billowy clouds; fantastic! We spent much of our trip snorkeling and saw many more fish than we did in the spring. Maybe the fish like to summer there as well. There were lion fish, parrot fish, grouper swimming around like crazy. A huge fleet of good sized grouper hung out with us in the grass near the coral reef. We even saw some live coral, which is a good sign for the environment. Here are some watercolors of fish we saw:       (lion fish)    You don’t want to touch the lion fish, as they have venom in their ribbon-like extensions. Neil made sure to warn me not to touch them and I assured him I wasn’t planning on touching anything!! In fact I did make it a point to keep myself from making contact with fish, rocks, grass, etc. I mean, I love nature – but it is definitely love at a distance. Here are some others – the one with the big spot on the back is called a parrot fish…I think…have to check on that. But I loved how it’s spot looked like a big eye in the back of the head of the fish. Good idea for subways, deserted streets at night, alleyways, and I guess, coral rock formations. Also, we saw a VERY BLUE flat fish, don’t know the name…some pinky ones, some little silver agressive ones and some little black agressive ones. Neil was feeding them cracker pieces and one of them bit his finger to get at it. (Again I invoke my non-contact with nature clause…)   Also saw a stingray – actually I saw two of them. They really are very cool looking, sort of suave the way they glide around on the ocean floor. (The rat pack of the sea.) This larger brown and white one I saw on the last morning we went snorkeling. He saw me right after I saw him and basically froze in the grass until Neil and I swam by. The stingray must have the same non-contact with nature clause as I do… I LOVE doing this underwater reportage, but of course there are wonderful views above the surface, such as this touring sailboat that went by in the harbor: It’s called watercolor heaven! There were several artists and craftsman lined up harborside selling small paintings and bags, whatever they made. I’m thinking that this could be my retirement plan – snorkeling in the morning, painting in the afternoon, maybe a rum punch in the evening. Not a bad working day, maybe I won’t wait until retirement! I’ll leave you with one last watercolor – the ferry to paradise island ticket booth.  Although I think we were already there…  Can’t wait to go back again.