It just breaks my heart to see the devastation rendered by Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas. The outer Abaco Islands will always hold a special place in my heart.
In 1981 my then girlfriend left to attend Auburn in Alabama. She told me she could never live in Oklahoma. I pretty much thought that was it because I wasn’t moving to Alabama. But she called me during the Christmas break of her freshman year and told me to come visit her at Auburn.
So…I made reservations for four days at a place called Treasure Cay in the outer chain of the Abaco Islands. Back then, there was one hotel and only one restaurant. It was literally like having your own island.
We walked the beaches. We talked…and she came back to live in Oklahoma and almost forty years later we’re still together with one son, six dogs thru the years, the diva Pauli, and a grandson three weeks away from being born in Denver.
Auburn since that trip has been my second favorite school and just this past week-end… I was screaming at the flat screen when they made their improbable comeback against Oregon to kick off the college football season. I was Auburn’s biggest fan in Oklahoma when they made their magical run in March Madness to the Final Four.
That trip in1981 changed my life in the most profound possible way. During the years—we’ve probably been back to the Bahamas maybe six times or so. The people are kind and wonderful and the devastation this storm wreaked upon them is tragic.
I hope the American people do all they can to help the people in the Bahamas.
This video is nothing like what we visited in 1981 back when Treasure Cay was the imagination of the developers.
I had no idea of your connection to the Bahamas. I have never been there but it looked lovely. I doubt Abaco will be the same for a long time…
Actually, Mindy and one of her friends went to Nassau this spring. We went to Treasure Cay in 1981 when the plans for development were in the beginning stages. There was literally one restaurant excluding the hotel’s kitchen. Of course, that restaurant had extremely high prices so we did a bunch of our own cooking.
The isolation of the island is why we booked that trip. The way it had built up before before the hurricane wouldn’t really appeal to me. Too many rich white people bitching about various things. My experience as an HOA vice-president and president has me seeking destinations without other humans.
Other than serving time in prison–I’ve now done two of the most unpleasant things you can do as a human… be an HOA president and be a Little League sports association president.
I connected with my other Golden State friend in Edmond today. He’s pleasantly surprised he has another Klay and Steph fan aboard the Warrior ship in Oklahoma. He’s a Navy guy from California—so being that my father was a Navy guy from California we have that in common.
We both marvel at the current state of the Thunder. He asked, ” Why don’t they fire Billy Donovan at some point?’
I said, ” Because they don’t do things like that in Oklahoma. They made Mary Fallin governor…twice. They wait until they rank dead last in something behind Mississippi then accept being in dead last place behind Mississippi. Last time I looked there wasn’t an NBA franchise in Mississippi primarily because they don’t have oil and gas oligarchs.”
He said, “It just seems so obvious—he’s a college coach somewhat out of his league. Westbrook didn’t even listen to him”
I replied, ” You have to live this to understand it. They’re the only humans on the globe who induce earthquakes upon themselves. It’s an oil and gas thing.”
And in that flash of genius moment I came up with the title of my Thunder book which I’m going to write….Oklahoma Crazy. In reality—I think this is what Sam Anderson wanted to name his book, but he hadn’t lived through this like me so I think he kind of took the easy way out with Boom Town.
I wonder if Trump has come to the reality yet Dorian isn’t going hit Alabama inland.
Sigh.