WRITTEN by JOHN MORRIS
And Roatan’s reef is getting healthier
A few weeks ago, I posted the following on my Facebook page:
Here is a philosophical question for my fellow residents of Roatan…
If you were forced to move elsewhere, where would you go? Just pretend that the world is your oyster.
The answers varied and aside from the expected jokesters, the winners were Spain and the colonial city of Antigua, Guatemala. Interesting.
The funny thing was… hardly anyone picked another island. Perhaps it is the culture of these two destinations that attracts dreamers.
I know that my non-Roatan resident readers are thinking, “Are you crazy? You already live in paradise!”
Yes, but maybe there is something or someplace better. Or maybe not.
Since Friday, Roatan has been under a State of Emergency lockdown and all residents and stranded tourists must stay at home or at their resort. Grocery stores and pharmacies are making deliveries, but that’s about it.
Of course, most of the tourists are anxious to return home but with a closed airport and only a few “rescue” flights, complicated logistics make it not so easy.
So we are stuck with breezy, 82-degree weather under brilliant sunshine. Beaches are beautiful and deserted, and marine ecosystems are enjoying a much-deserved respite.
There are no confirmed cases of coronavirus on the island as yet, and our mayor Jerry Hynds, Deputy Ron McNab, and Governor Dino Silvestri are setting a containment standard that the rest of the world should follow.
It may be impossible to keep this island virus-free, but we sure are trying.
Every afternoon, Mr. Silvestri takes time to update us and answer our questions via Facebook Live. And get this, he does it twice… first in Spanish and then followed in English. He even asks for our suggestions on difficult decisions.
After all, this is unprecedented at least in our lifetimes.
As many of you know, my wife Barbara is Italian with a large family in the Lombardy region. What is happening daily in Italy is breaking our hearts. So far, the family is okay, but again, that can change.
Now the key thing they are doing is the same as here. Stay home. Unfortunately, not all Italians are complying so the virus continues to spread. They are family-oriented, passionate people where extended families still live together, old and young.
See the pattern?
We are told to wash our hands and keep social distance. In my opinion this is not enough. Only isolation will work. Sadly, some countries are lagging far behind.
The world really is changing. Even the French are being somewhat cooperative!
The saying, the grass is always greener on the other side, comes from the poetry of Ovid (c. 43 b.c.–a.d. c.18) when he wrote in Latin: Fertilior seges est alenis semper in agris, meaning the harvest is always more fruitful in another man’s fields.
The truth is folks, it’s rarely true. And certainly not for me.
I choose to stay home… and that home is Roatan because the greenest grass is right here.
This Week’s Related Links:
Roatan – West Bay Beach HD March 2020 – Courtesy of Mr. Pasquale Paonessa
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