Responses to John’s Wednesday blog imply that you like reading the story behind the story, and Courtney’s blog yesterday about Caribbean summers gave me an idea. Back in the day, writing for a fall issue so that people could plan their winter Caribbean getaways meant traveling to the islands in July or August. Mostly it’s true, tropical breezes keep the islands balmy. But I’ve had some unique summer experiences in the Caribbean summer. – Haiti in summer is just plain hot. Most of the trees have been cut down for housing and firewood and it’s parched and buggy. The famous Iron Market in Port-au-Prince features fresh meat. I traveled there once with a group of mostly intrepid, well-traveled journalists, plus one newbie. She was already feeling the heat, being dressed more for yachting in St. Barth’s than stripped down for gritty Haiti, and we weren’t far into the Iron Market when she encountered her first hanging pig’s carcass. Two guys had to carry her out–I’m not kidding. – I remember getting into Tortola in July and it was indeed balmy and breezy, but after a long trip through various connections including San Juan, we couldn’t wait to take showers. Unfortunately all the water is recycled and none of our soap or shampoo showed the least inclination to lather. One got out of the shower feeling exactly as one went in, just wetter. So we took our wet selves to a local store and bought local shampoo that would lather in the extremely hard (I think; it might be extremely soft) water. Mission accomplished. – I landed in Martinique the day before a hurricane. My hotel was mostly unaffected the next day, except for a lack of electricity (but there was no problem about enough breeze!) and the ankle-deep water in the dining room. Most of the roads had washed out, so we dined by candlelight, barefoot, with the candles twinkling off the watery floor. – Mary Hunt, editor, eFlyer