This week I am far from home, but perhaps I'm not. I know the concept of seven degrees of separation and sometimes it feels less than that.

After my arrival on St. Croix, two days after Category 3 Hurricane Omar twisted, turned and tore through the Island, which left many of us powerless, but within a few days our power was restored and I became curious and researched Omar and stumbled upon Leslie Cramer's online column for the San Francisco Examiner and read her post,"Hurricane Omar and Australian Shiraz."

I live in San Francisco and this piqued my curiosity, as she writes for a San Francisco publication and lives here on St. Croix. I felt compelled to contact Leslie and we agreed to meet to talk about writing, wine and Omar.

On this October night at Chenay Bay we sit looking out into the still Caribbean night, reggae music plays in the background, and we share a bottle of Sonoma Cutrer Chardonnay.

I always ask where people are born. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised that like me, Leslie is a New Jersey native, but that she's from Bay Head, the seaside town my family spent many summers. This makes me pause. We discover we both worked at Dorcas, the ice cream parlor, but not the same summer. We both rode our bikes at midnight with our friends and knocked on the back door of the bakery to purchase glazed doughnuts moments after they were baked. The bakers seemed happy to see us. Bruce Springsteen had just released,"Greetings from Asbury Park", which was ten miles North of us, and we were all, "Blinded by the Light." Although, Leslie and I didn't know each other, now, thirty-five years later, we discover we know many of the same people.

I inquire about Leslie's route from New Jersey to St. Croix. Like many of us, these paths are often circuitous. In the 1970's Leslie began selling wine while living in Arizona. In the 1980's she was living on St. Thomas when Category 5, Hurricane Hugo blew through with severe damage and devastation. In 1992, Leslie made St. Croix her home. She approached the Daily News and developed her own wine column. And today she writes for the Examiner, which I learn is not strictly a San Francisco publication, but an online national publication, and Leslie is known as the, "Wine Wizardess."

Advice for young women who desire a career in the wine industry?

"Start in the chain stores. That's the easy way, and it's not intimidating."

Joys of the business? We both take a sip of the buttery wine.

"Salute Sister."

I tend to drink primarily California Chardonnay's. Leslie urges me to keep an open mind.

"Try a Montrachet or a Meursault."

She offers an explanation.

"I'm a white burgundy girl. I like a big, brassy, nosey wine."

Now, I want to know about Omar. I was on St. Croix in 1995 for both Hurricane Luis, and then Hurricane Marilyn, so I know a little about the fear, anxiety and obsession with the Weather Channel.

The sounds of a hurricane can terrify.

“We heard the loud thumping of coconuts on our galvanized roof, tree branches being split in half, screeching metal sounds and then there was the wind. The howling of the wind was like a loud whoosh thru a tunnel. Those sounds lasted for three hours.”

Leslie reflects,

“In the morning, power poles were down; my washing machine was in my yard, on its side, wires were everywhere like spaghetti. Trees snapped like toothpicks, and our mango tree..... And when I saw my neighbors, we were all still in shock, but sometimes you just laugh to release emotion. You have to find a little light-heartedness everywhere you go.”

Nearly two weeks without power and dining on canned string beans, I ask Leslie what life lessons emerge from a hurricane?

“Chill out. Take life at a slower pace, don’t be too serious. Smile and drink more good wine.”

NEXT WEEK: I RETURN TO MY HOOD; "YES WE CAN."

Posted on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 06:51AM by Grace Cunnane | Post a Comment