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STAGE III Closing the Circle the Return Crossing 1998 continued Here, as was the case later on, when I worked on the beach or on the sidewalk, I would quickly attract the attention of small nearly feral boys --- and if it took two hours to get the watercolor finished, I found that they were silent and attentive the entire time. We enjoyed a stunning New Year's Eve in Mindelo harbor. In a place so poor that produce stands might have on offer a mere ten shrivelled green peppers, and where one could buy a single egg without inviting comment, the celebrations were spread out over three days and were rich and wonderful. We ate a shared sailor's meal and then at midnight the waters and sands and roadways filled up with shouting cheering and singing people, and the sound celebration lasted a half an hour. At 2 am my husband fell in with about half of our number and they rowed in to town - not to reappear until mid morning. The music was still going - and what music. We met Cesaria Evora in her home, and later on, in the small cafes and bars it was clear from fellow musicians that her lilting phrasing and strong voice are representative. By early February we were hallway through our longest leg - the 3800 miles between Cpae Verdes and the first of our Caribbean islands, St Lucia. It took three weeks for us ( Mindelo to Castries). No watercolors got done underway - our heads snapped back and forth from the roll of the boat up and down the huge seas, and we could hardly eat, much less paint. I usually read a lot of books out loud on passages, and this time was no exception. Somehow, the color and light of St Lucia was different enough that I felt I was learning to paint again. Palm trees and bamboo puzzled me, but a few out of the fifty came out. The entire sojourn in the Caribbean seemed one of wanting to move on, and not finding much to savor.

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