Cape Eleuthera, The Bahamas

A school on the island of Eleuthera is trying to lead the Bahamas into energy independence by demonstrating the power of solar energy and wind power. See the wind turbine towering above the building? [2014]

Rock Sound, Eleuthera, The Bahamas

There is astronomical summer and there is meteorological summer. Today is neither. But, it is the real first day of summer: the beginning of the Memorial Day week-end! It's the tomorrow you have been waiting for, and it will last until Labor Day. All you have to do is step across the threshold. [2014]

Rock Sound, Eleuthera, The Bahamas

Pizza and subs have taken over the world. Here in the Bahamas, it might be better to buy them inside and eat them at that table outside (nicely positioned in the shadow of the building). And, if you are feeling generous, you might offer a bite to that dude on the cycle. [2014]

Rock Sound, Eleuthera, The Bahamas

Be bold this year. Take the plunge. Step out on faith. Think: adventure, serendipity, daring. The goal you're aiming for is January 1, 2019. Don't worry. You'll get there, so have some fun and learn something new along the way. Happy New Year! [2014]

Rock Sound, Eleuthera, The Bahamas

You're standing deep underground looking up at the mouth of  a sinkhole. In the Bahamas, these features are known as 'blue holes.' Wherever they occur, they are emblematic of the chemical weathering associated with karst topography. The carbonic acid in rainfall easily dissolves carbonate rocks such as limestone. [2014]

Cape Eleuthera, The Bahamas

It may look like iced tea, but it's really used cooking oil. Cruise liners donate it to the Island School on Eleuthera, which refines it into diesel fuel for its own fleet. In fact, the practice has become common in many cruise ship ports, and it sure beats throwing it overboard. [2014]

Rock Sound, Eleuthera, The Bahamas

From the deep past, a Mozarabic prayer first uttered 1400 years ago:
     "Oh Thou, who art ever the same,
     Grant us so to pass through
     the coming year with faithful hearts,
     that we may be able in all things
     to please Thy loving eyes." [2014]

Wemyss Bight, Eleuthera, The Bahamas

Places preserve their pumps as visual reminders of the past, but rusty mementos like this fail to capture the energy that went into the water economy of human settlements. Muscles were required to suction the water from down below and then to transport it from the well to its destination. What can no picture capture? How heavy water is! [2014]

Wemyss Bight, Eleuthera, The Bahamas

Pacific atolls get all the attention, but the Bahamas are just as vulnerable to global warming. It would not take much sea-level rise to inundate Eleuthera and most of the other 700 islands, espeically considering that 95 percent of them are cays. Cat Island (not here) is the highest in the archipelago, so maybe that is where all Bahamians will eventually live. [2014]

Deep Creek, Eleuthera, The Bahamas

Development has an economic side and a human side. The boys here are working on the human side. They are developing their minds by going to school, and their bodies by going for lunch. Their elders are developing the neighborhood in spurts and starts: Build until the money runs out, then wait until you have enough to continue. [2014]

Wemyss Bight, Eleuthera, The Bahamas

Physical geography: limestone. Biogeography: poinciana tree. Economic geography: fishing buoy. Cultural geography: Caribbean blue. Political geography: politics free! [2014]

Waterford, Eleuthera, The Bahamas

"No man is an island, Entire of itself, Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main." That would mean that every man who thinks he is on an island is really on a peninsula. Here is evidence that the dictum applies to women, too. Donne. [2014]

Waterford, Eleuthera, The Bahamas

Seaside settings succeed when they blend browns, blues, and greens. The principle holds even when the greens have been contributed by an invasive species. The fast-growing, salt-tolerant, and drought-resistant casuarina is an invasive species from the southwest Pacific. Would you prefer a palm? [2014]

Wemyss Bight, Eleuthera, The Bahamas

Someone outght to write a thesis on the geography of shadows. At the micro-scale, they exercise a demi-deterministic influence on daytime, out-of-doors population distribution. Shadows also shelter bats and what they represent:  in this case, rum! [2014]

Deep Creek, Eleuthera, The Bahamas

No Turning Back. It's time to put the old year behind us and make our resolutions for the year ahead. Life's best is still in the making. So, why would you want to turn back? [2014]

Gambier, New Providence, The Bahamas

What color is the sea? What color is the swimwear? What color is the T? Why is everything in the Bahamas so color coordinated? Even the national flag feels the pressure to conform: All its colors are here if you look closely. [2014]

Cape Eleuthera, Eleuthera, The Bahamas

These kayaks don't look at all incongruous in the subtropical waters of Eleuthera. If you know anything about their history, though, they are completely out of place.  They originated thousands of years ago in the subarctic.  Little did the Inuits and Aleuts know they were inventing something that would become so popular in the 21st century. [2014]

Wemyss Bight, Eleuthera, The Bahamas

If you can't go to church, church will come to you. That's the tradition on Eleuthera. Here you see an alter call without the alter, and someone has responded.  Present for the service (from left to right): organist, preacher, soloist, sinner.  Present but not seen: God. [2014]

Cape Eleuthera, Eleuthera, The Bahamas

Do you recognize hydroponics when you see it? It's a technology that might move us all toward sustainable habitation of planet Earth. At Eleuthera's Island School, the central curricular question is: How can we live better in a place? That should be the central question of applied geography, too. [2014]

Rock Sound, Eleuthera, The Bahamas

If it weren't white, it would be right at home in a Warwickshire village. But, where it stands is in the Bahamas: 4,000 miles away from its English roots. St. Luke's is right on the edge of Rock Sound. Its out-sized tower (so Anglican!) had to be tall and strong. Its job was to hoist the cast iron bells high enough to be heard all across town. [2014]