Collecting shells at Cap Juluca

Last night I swore I was going to get up in time to have breakfast with the rest of the band. I didn’t make it. By the time I got down there, everyone else had already eaten and left. But T-Bone, who had been wandering along the beach collecting shells, came over to keep me company.

When the waitress came over I told her I’d have a pot of coffee and that T-Bone and I were splitting an order of bacon. The waitress laughed, knowing that T-Bone is a vegan. “Give me an extra large order and put it right between the two of us so she can have all she wants,” I said.

T-Bone gave me the sort of placid look you’d expect to get from Buddha if you asked him how long he’d been sitting under that tree but she didn’t say anything.

While we were waiting for our bacon, she showed me what she’d been collecting on the beach. Most of it was brain coral. I told her it was probably illegal to take shells or coral out of Anguilla and if they caught her she’d get a huge fine. She thought I was joking.

“No, really,” I told her. “I’m not sure about the shells but for sure with the coral. That’s a real no-no pretty much everywhere in the world.” Then I told her a story about taking a couple of lava rocks from Kauai once and how it almost ruined my life. “I definitely wouldn’t take any coral from Anguilla.”

Still, you could see that T-Bone didn’t really believe me. So when our waitress brought out our bacon, I asked her if she knew whether it was illegal or not to take shells and coral off the island.

“Yes, sir,” she said. “It’s illegal and it’s just plain bad juju.”

T-Bone looked at me and raised her eyebrows.

“There you go,” I said. “You don’t want to take a luggage full of bad juju home with you, do you?”

“I guess not,” she said. I smiled and offered her some bacon. She declined. Then she went back to the beach and threw the coral in to the surf. But I noticed she held on to the shells. Maybe she just needs to think about it.