That Illusive Green Flash
Sep 30th 2007ChloeFrom the Innkeeper & Good Fun & Miscellaneous
When you run a Bed and Breakfast, carving out time for your personal R&R can be a challenge. But again this year I have made my escape! I am in Islamorada on holiday with friends Joy and Patrick .
We’re staying at the paradise home of our friends George and Louise, who have headed to Alberta in search of ducks and geese.
In my younger days I spent much of my time on a sail boat in the tropics, mainly the Caribbean. In these latitudes every day is special and the best part of the day is the sunset.
Folks stop whatever they are doing and make a toast to the sunset. We gathered at various tiki bars, boats and docks and wagered as to exactly when that great orange orb would sink below the horizon.
One skipper reckoned that each finger held at length in front of your eyes was fifteen minutes. I never won that bet, so I often paid for the drinks.
But every day I stopped and settled in to look for that Green Flash. Those who have seen it say it happens just as the sun slips into the horizon, and for a brief second a flash of green appears.
I chased the Green Flash as far south as Martinique and Guadeloupe and back up to Green Turtle Cay. I never saw it. I did dance in a rainbow. And here I am again in the Keys looking for that same Green Flash. I know it is real. (For all those who don’t know, "Cay" is pronounced "Key" in the islands.)
Other folks are looking too. Jimmy Buffett must believe it; he writes about the Green Flash in his adaptation of Don’t Stop the Carnival:
"For all the lost chances
And all the lost dances
For strange circumstances
And island hoodoo
Green Flash at Sunset
Young love recaptured
Just an illusion?
What if it were be true?"
Chloe…and I think it’s true.
This summer has been tough on me with this fur coat and my advancing years. I haven’t done much except lounge about in the shade of the bushes and under the house. 
