Day 2. The Sound of Silence.

The sky is on fire at sunrise. It’s a red sky in the morning, with not a shepherd in sight. Silence spreads across Cayman Kai. We haven’t seen a soul since we went into isolation.

D and I read the news in peace, with the teens already into the groove of waking later than us. Making the most of all this free time, we choose to do a longer than usual yoga session on the deck. It is going well, until we attempt a new position, not normally required in the shorter session, and D is exhaling expletives. Whilst recovering in Sivasana, (the pose where we collapse onto our backs in exhaustion,) we hear A calling out and running towards the beach. I’ve heard of a ‘drive-by’ as the thing friends do to show solidarity to friends in quarantine. A’s friend is doing a drive-by on her jet-ski. Only in Cayman. She circles in front of our beach, stirring up waves, calling out excitedly. A is equally animated, she hasn’t seen her friend for 3 months. They can’t have an in-person conversation until our isolation is over, but this visual contact is delightful enough.

There is a knock at the front door. It is a delivery of A’s medication from the pharmacy in town. Followed by another drop off, this time from Amber, the friendly barista at Espresso coffee shop down the road. She has delivered Christmas spiced coffee and still warm chocolate croissants.  “It’s like Christmas Day!” says A, as she squirrels away the delivered goods.

Then, silence again. Even our neighbours are away. Then we hear a neighbouring hedge trimmer start up. Upon further inspection, the hedge trimming is being done by some men, to our own front hedge…and yet, we don’t have a gardening service! Perhaps these green-fingered vigilantes attend to neglected gardens around the island, saving Cayman, one yard at a time. I explain to the men that there is misunderstanding, and I didn’t book their services. Never mind that we are under quarantine, and we’ll get fined if these men set a foot on our property. They go, embarrassed, leaving all the tree and leaf trimmings on the road.

On the subject of trees, the teens had planned to decorate the big Christmas tree today. But now they both say they are too busy. It’s amazing how time consuming it can be doing nothing at all.

”Don’t be disappointed.” says D. “The problem is that you think those kids are still this big,” ( he holds his hand at his waist level, ) “..and they think they are this big.” ( he lifts his hand above his head.) “You’ve just got to let them be.”

I decide to spend the rest of the day tidying up the garden. It’s amazingly relaxing, tending to plants, even in the tropics. I burn all the trimmings on a bonfire, on the beach, which smells pleasantly sweet and smoky. The fire rapidly reduces to glowing embers. 

“Who wants to roast marshmallows?” I ask. 

Silence.