What Heat Wave?  Bookmark and Share   Evening was still very
hot. Friends had told us not to miss the unique monastery on Cat
Island, and my wife, Carol, seemed eager and able. But as we
traipsed the beachfront in the sun, I was waiting for my life to
flash before my eyes. Going out in the noonday sun has never
seemed wise, and going out at 1800 was not looking a lot better.
Sun-blocked and water-bottled, trekking toward the top, no sea
breeze, no sundowner, one Topsider after the other, I wondered
not only if I was going to make it, but if we hadn't made a huge
mistake by cruising the Bahamas in summer.  Where was this site,
this secret treasure? Why had fellow cruisers been so
enthusiastic? Father Jerome came to Cat Island (elevation 206
feet, highest in the Bahamas) to build his "gift to God" before
World War II. He had no helpers. All on his own he hewed,
carried, and fitted stones atop the saddle of Mt. Alvernia. At
last I saw it, blue and white like a postcard from Mykonos, off
in the distance—way off i