APRIL 20, 2006

Today I'm tired, my kneww aches and even though I don't like to admitt it, my mom was right. Red heads aren't made for heat.

I felt drained all day in our little room with no ventilation and our oil based paint. Although when I felt sick I would take a few minutes to sit and pray or talk to Ms. Baine about living through Janet, then Ivan, then Emily.

"As the legend goes..." She starts, softly in a voice all Grenadians use. "Janet came and did her damage on the island and then got trapped in one of the houses. Later her lover Ivan came and lifted off all the roofs on the island in pursuit of his love. 10 months later Emily came through after her parents, throwing temper tantrums and breaking all the windows."

Through the stories and oil paint, the waiting two hours for supplies, and feeding fo the huge chicken bones to a tiny emaciated cat then watching her eat it whole the holy spirit was present. Present in the constant wind that arrived with the waves on wednesday and blows the knotted curtains of our apartment windows.

The beauty of the island exists in the life created from death. How appropriate for the week following Easter. All the trees and vegetation were demonlished in the hurricans and yet today we picked fresh limes, papas, mangoes; we ate plantains and plucked peas. We dug our feet into the sand on the beach and ate a meal at a local resturant with gas lanterns and the worshiping stars for light. I chose to be adventerous and I ordered Mahi-Mahi with mango chutney and it tasted delicious.

At the very end of our work day Mr. Ceasar "the poor one" he says this joking so that we know he is not Julias Ceasar, took us to his house on the top of the mountain and we were struck speechless at the site of the island and the ocean and the kytes flying in the holy spirit wind. Then we drove to Fort Frederick to see the view from another location and even at the top of the island we were baptized by the salt crystals from the Atlantic. We felt the Lord and looked down into the living rooms of mansions missing thier roos from Ivan and we enjoyed life.

Tonight before devotions I took fresh picked limes and rolled them under my palms. I cut them in two and felt the sting of the juice in my carpenter wounds then I added pure sugar cane and bottled water and we sat and talked of God and sewing seeds and drank and enjoyed the Lord. Amen.