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Kass, the boys and I had a great time yesterday on the water off Provo. We took a boat from Turtle Cove to the great reef. The fish were abundant and colorful, as the pictures show. We also dove for conch (which we then ate raw and fresh!) and visited one of the most gorgeous beaches I have ever seen.
Conch are interesting little animals. I can't say I love the taste (not bad, but not in love with the taste). They spend their first 8 years growing this massive shell that has come to symbolize all things caribbean. They then have their shell bashed in and eaten.
The creature itself is a really ugly thing. One leg. Two tiny eyes. And a hunk of soft flesh. Think giant oyster and stone crab mate and deliver inside a nuclear reactor.
Stay tuned for Episode 3 of the video series, which will feature this trip.
I've let it known how I feel about Sen. Joe Robinette Biden. He's very smart and very political. Come on ... he's only been trying to get into the White House for 20 years!!! The American public has voted him off the island again and again.
While I don't know him well, Sen. Biden is the only candidate I've spent more than 5 minutes with. As part of my last stint at Northwestern's Medill Journalism School in the summer of 1996, I covered Washington for the Delaware State News. Delaware is a small state and its congressional delegation is even smaller -- two senators (Biden and Bill Roth, who is now dead) and one congressman (Michael Castle, who is also a former governor of the state, all very incestuous). So in addition to learning a little more than I needed to about chicken farming, I got to know Sen. Biden.
So I wake up today in Turks and Caicos and read about Biden's dead-cat bounce. And the more I read and the more I think about Sen. Biden's singular focus on becoming vice president (and ultimately president), the more I feel that Biden will cost Obama the race.
Why? Two major reasons.
First, he has a ton of baggage. The baggage hasn't come out to date because he wasn't a real contender and he wasn't fully vetted by the press. But it will. This baggage won't be real substantive stuff. But it will be enough to distract people and keep the focus away from Obama.
Second, and most importantly, Obama's pick was a political pick made for political reasons. Problem is ... This goes against everything that Obama has projected to date. He's running as the anti-politician, the new-age politician, the breath-of-fresh-air politician. Obama's choice should have reflected this. He should have picked someone exciting, not a washed up, uber aggressive, Washington insider who has been trying to walk into the front door of the White House for two decades.
Having said all of this, I'm going to do whatever I can to get Obama elected. He's the best of two not-ideal candidates. I like his message. I'm not clear about how he would govern, how he would handle the economy and international relations. But we need new blood in the White House and I can't imagine voting for someone who doesn't even USE a computer.
Love this picture from this afternoon. Enjoy!
Everyday while we've been in Turks we've taken Vivi to the beach. Vivi's first reaction to sand was fear and loathing. We have slowly evolved to peaceful coexistence. So, yes, I may be stretching the truth a little in the headline. But as these pictures show, Vivi has come to terms with her fear of the sand.
Another amazing day in paradise. Enjoy! Hard to believe we've been down here for 8 days already. Time flies when it's this nice out.
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