It is good to be back home, but I do miss the warmth of the Caribbean Sea. We arrived home from our trip just in time for some of New England's best cold winter rain. We spent a lot of time on the beach. Beach combing in the Caribbean yielded different treasures than our usual beach combing on New England beaches. Instead of the smooth rocks and occasional shellfish we find here at home, on our trip we found a lot of coral and a surprising amount of sea glass. In the photos above you can see some of the coral, plus two stones I covered in crochet (inspired by Margie over at Resurrection Fern). I am really enjoying all that I can do with crochet. It was interesting to fully enclose an object within the stitches. And, I was able to do this crocheting on the airplane. Yes, knitting needles and crochet hooks are allowed again on airplanes.
My husband and I felt a bit odd having a relaxing holiday in such close proximity to Haiti. We are both medically trained. I'm a certified nurse-midwife (CNM) and my husband is a physician. We wondered for a brief time if there was a way my husband, in particular, could go to Haiti to help. But, medical staff has to be integrated into an organization that has an established presence on the ground. It is amazing what these groups can accomplish. My husband once went on a medical trip to Ecuador with a group that performed surgeries on individuals with facial deformities such as cleft lip and palate. All I can say is that we take so much for granted here in the U.S.