Raining cats and parrots

The days seem longer here, although I am aware of all the things that fill my brain with such intensity that allow me to get lost in the span of an hour, only to snap out of it and wonder where in the hell am I. This is the first day I have had to sit and try and to make some sense of all that has happened in the last month. I wished I could rewind the tape and examine it more closely. But I know at this point in the game, looking back does no good. It can be a challenging task to not look back, for everything in front of me is so foreign and unknown. I think at this point, I need to introduce the cast of characters making this happen. My Business partner and good friend, Shannon Hooks (referred to as Hooks from here on out for obvious reasons) and I are doing this whole deal. Hooks is keeping his job in the states and will travel here on his off time. On a prior trip to Belize, we met Rachael Lebeter, who was previously a history teacher from Australia. However, now she is going to be a managing partner with us at Gaviota. We Met Rachael on a boat leaving Tobacco Caye, she is going to be a key player in making this all happen. Rachael left today to go back to Australia to be with family and friends before we start this undertaking.

I ended up buying an Isuzu Trooper. Its old and fragile, not much to pick from down here unless you want to drop some coins, and, you always get what you pay for, especially here. In fact, often times you get far less that what you pay for. The second day I had the truck, Rachael and I were on our way to Dangriga and the truck broke down. But, what kept it all in a good place, or good as could be, I broke down in front of the mechanics house. Also, anyone will tell you, getting parts for cars in Belize is hard and takes a long time. That was my biggest fear when this happened, that it would be weeks before ole blue would run again. And I had so many things to get done that would require a vehicle. But the Universe took care of me, I called the man I bought it from and within an hour he had the parts flown into Dangriga and we were all set. Rented a little truck until the trooper is ready. This consisted of handing a guy $200.00 and he handed me his keys...and we were on our way. This morning Rachael had to be at the bus station at 6:00 AM, it was raining cats and parrots and the road was flooding, we barely made it, but we did. I dropped her off and was headed back to Hopkins. About two miles out of town, I hear that lovely sound of a flat tire and think surely, this isn't happening. But it did. So, in the pouring rain, I get out and start changing the tire of someones car I didn't even know. As I'm almost finished, I look back to see the Bus that Rachael is on and as it goes by, it hits a puddle and drowns me. I just sat down in the road, in the rain, in this strange beautiful country and laughed at the sky........

"from the late eighteenth century onwards, it is no longer from the practice of community but being from a wanderer that the instinct of fellow-feeling is derived. Thus an essential isolation and silence and loneliness become the carriers of nature and community against the rigors, the cold abstinence, the selfish case of ordinary society"

Raymond Williams, the Century and the City

Journeys are the true catalyst for deep thought. Few things in this world are more conducive to internal conversations than that of placing yourself in a far away place, where you are familiar with nothing, not even yourself. There is a quaint correlation between what is now before my eyes and the thoughts I am able to have in my head. Thinking improves when parts of my mind are given other task, such as listening to music, or planning the things I will soon create. These things distract that practical part of my mind which is inclined to shut down when it notices something difficult emerging like a monster from the sea. But...I can do this....I am.