What is a favorite memory?

I’d have to say my favorite memory was in 1982 during a day hike in the Quill (a dormant volcano) on tiny island of St. Eustaitius in the Caribbean Netherlands. The Island is 8 sq. miles. There wasn’t much to do on the island if you didn’t like nature. So exploring the sites meant getting dirty and living a bit dangerously. We had to start early morning before the temperature grew hot. As we hiked up the steep mountain there were a few sights I will never forget. I saw a school of monarch butterflies fly past us as we moved between the trees on a narrow foot path. There must have been at least two hundred of them. As we rested on a log, I saw a bright green inch worm for the first time and let it move along the palm of my hand. The assent was very steep. As we descended into the mouth of the volcano it was a humid rain forest with fruit trees and other foliage like massive elephant ear plants that were lush and beautiful flowers. I picked two small banana trees that were about two feet tall to plant by my sisters cabin. When I went back to visit 6 months later they were full grown trees with fruit! My sister lived there for two years and I’m sorry I only visited twice. Each time was a totally new adventure. The night sky with the clusters of stars that seemed like you could reach out and touch, the rough sea that lit up at night as the waves hit the shore. (on the rough side of the island) The calm clear warm water on the calm side of the island with visible fish swimming near your feet. Riding a horse in the ocean for the first time. Snorkeling alongside barracuda to take a peak at a sleeping nurse shark. Flying fish that seemed to jump right out of the water as the small tour boat took us around. Digging for blue beads that slaves used to buy their freedom. (I never found any but someone gave me some) I later met a farmer (2014) when I was volunteering at a nearby farm a few years ago who told me she was once was a cook on a cruse ship that toured the islands. She never left the ship but heard about the island from the crew. Something she now regrets. I gave her a few blue beads that she was very grateful to receive. She told me that I would not be as thrilled to see the island today due to commercialism. I’m glad I got to see the tiny island when it was in a more natural state.