Yellow Plum

For the last five days and nights I have been in heaven. No, I am not in Maine or Tuscany. I am in Jamaica staying at Yellow Plum, Liz and Giuliano's magical bungalow up in the cool hills of Round Hill overlooking the ocean and Treasure Beach. Working together they have built a truly heavenly sanctuary suffused with love and good feeling. I am so happy and honored to be here with them. . . and Rocco and Pella too. I love sitting on the veranda watching the sky change and the clouds move over the Pedrp Plains below. I love perambulating around the property hearing the birds sing, seeing all the amazing trees, feeding the donkeys. I am so proud of what they have created here.

One morning Liz and I woke up early before the sun got too fierce for exercise and took a long walk up and down and around the hills. Another morning we planted vegetables and flowers in the kitchen garden and more trees and bushes around the lawn and driveway. The soles of my feet are stained red from the rich soil characteristic of this region of Jamaica.

How is it possible, I ask myself, to be so happy and yet so sad at the same time? Yesterday was Liz's 30th birthday and we celebrated with a special dinner on the veranda with good friends. Giuliano in a true labor of love made, completely from scratch, amazing pumpkin ravioli and that was only one course of our delicious dinner! I was so happy to be able to be here in this magical place to celebrate my daughter's birthday and so sad that Steve wasn't experiencing it with me. I could just picture him parked on a chair on the veranda declaring over and over again, "This is so beautiful! I'm never leaving this spot.". I guess I have to kvell for the two of us.