Who else? No time to be bored. No hours spent scanning the
horizon for rescue. Never hungry. With Martha extracting palm
oil from the trees, creating confections with coconuts and
mangoes and then, of course, fashioning festive bowls out of the
coconut shells for tasty seaweed soup flavored with wild ginger,
garnished with crushed peony petals. We would dine on poulet
sauvage and sauces of scavenged eggs served on palm leaf plates.
We would be more than hunters and gatherers. We would be
decorators! A shanty out of driftwood and beach debris is just
that--a shanty. With Martha's skills we would have a shady
retreat, a loggia, sheltered by a trellis of vines and creeping
hibiscus, carpeted with fragrant grass woven mats.
And baskets! With all those grasses, reeds and vines we would
really keep busy. Martha not only would inspire me to learn
basket-making but to fill them with treasures. Sea turtle eggs
colored and decorated with dyes from crushed saffron seeds,
agenta from berries, greens from ferns. Coasters made of
braided mosses and reeds. Necklaces of polished stones. Napkin
rings from shells.
On that day when we are sighted by a passing ship and rescued we
would have gifts for everyone and, more important, proof that we
didn't spend any idle time in self-pity.
And I would hope to have a hand in Martha's next book project:
"Island Makeover--101 Ways."
