Whenever it is a damp drizzly November in my soul . . .

1. On the beach - Virgin Gorda - BVI, 2. Spiegel Grove - barracuda, 3. PA262767.jpg, 4. PA272978.jpg, 5. bvi-sara-05-343, 6. bvi-sara-05-066, 7. bvi-sara-05-408, 8. bvi-sara-05-107, 9. bvi-sara-05-274, 10. bvi-sara-05-375, 11. School of Creole Wrass, 12. Virgin Gorda, 13. the Baths, Virgin Gorda, 14. Snorkeling at "The Baths" Virgin Gorda, 15. The Baths in Virgin Gorda 1, 16. the baths, virgin gorda, british virgin islands, 17. Virgin Gorda, 18. rock formations - the baths at virgin gorda, 19. LITTLE DIX BAY, VIRGIN GORDA, 20. THE BATHS, VIRGIN GORDA, CARIBBEAN, 21. VIRGIN GORDA, B.V.I, CARIBBEAN, 22. Virgin Gorda 022, 23. Virgin Gorda - British Virgin Islands, 24. Virgin Gorda - The Baths, 25. US Virgin Islands

I want to bail out and go to the British Virgin Islands. Specifically The Bitter End Yacht Club or Little Dix Bay. This is entirely my mother's fault. My dad is perfectly happy on a sailboat eating who knows what or in a bird blind counting cranes. My mom likes resorts that used to belong to the Rockefellers. As a result of early and frequent exposure, I also like these sorts of places. Add in warm, still, tropical waters, sea turtles, barracudas, colorful fish, giant boulders - well, I am in love with the BVIs. Oh, and everyone runs around speaking with British accents and high tea is served every afternoon at four. Mmm, scones and Earl Grey. And there is a pristine reef in about five feet of water right off the crescent white sand beach at Little Dix. And the BEYC has a whale skeleton on their beach. And I adore barracudas - they're pretty much the kitty cats of the sea. Really curious and fun. I follow them around when I go snorkeling or diving, and they wander close to see what on earth I am and whether I have anything edible about my person, such as a hardboiled egg.

So, as we transition into that in-between season where the leaves have transitioned from gold and orange to brown, the wind howls, the sun sets at 4:30, and yet impossibly it has yet to snow and the resorts only have two lifts apiece open - I miss the Caribbean. The swift approach of the due dates for papers and projects in school is not helping my mental state. Nor did sitting in the DMV for an hour today to get a replacement license. Don't lose your wallet.

And here's the full text of the quotation. What author and which novel, my dears?

“Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off--then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.”