It seems that everyone here has a very different mentality when it comes to work. I have yet to meet someone who has a nine to five job that gives them forty hours of work in five days. Most people in fact have multiple jobs, all the while spending lots of time with their families. It seems that the population is pretty split; there are the older folks whose kids are mostly grown and out of the house and then there is the younger generation who are just starting out their families.
So far I have been a plumber, electrician, mechanic, window washer, and for about two hours I was cleaning houses. There has been a lot of interest in my finish carpentry skills and I just dropped a chunk of change on black Friday to get all the tools I need, so hopefully something will come of that. This week I have a lot of landscaping work, which should be fun. The hard part is that there is a lot of driving involved, at least thirty minutes each way, but if there was anywhere to have to commute the big island is the place to be. The 20 minute drive to my landscaping job is breathtaking. It is winter here as well, and even though there is no snow and cold, there are still signs to tell us that it is winter. The signs here are far more delightful, at least for me. First there is the winter swells, waves get huge in the wintertime, so big that they close down beaches and don’t allow people to surf or swim. Another is that the whales are returning. It seems mystical that these mammals of prehistoric size are swimming just a few miles from us off the coast. I have seen a couple already, but my first was the most amazing. I was driving home from a window washing job and looked over at the sun starting to go down over the ocean when I saw this spout of water shoot up out of the ocean six or seven feet high, and then again, and again. I couldn’t believe it I wanted to turn to someone in the car and shout, but I was all alone, I even looked in the review mirror and in front of me to see if I could signal another car to see what I was seeing, but I was all alone in the car and on the road. It was as if this whale had appeared just for me. It got me thinking about the experiences I have had on this island. I have seen and been so many different places thanks to the type of people that we are meeting on this island, and I realized that anything is possible. I don’t need a lot of money, or a fantastic career to be able to experience the amazing things that this island has to offer… it is available to everyone. Not to mention that even the wealthy folks that live here are very down to earth. They shop in the same grocery stores and farmer’s markets that we do and go to the same community events. We have met many new friends who have large pieces of land, and we have gone to their homes for dinner and to see what they are doing. Yurts, solar panels, windmills, huge gardens, mac-nut farms, outdoor showers… the majority of people we meet here are living unique and exciting lives. The fact all this is available to us, it is really exciting, I have never felt like so much was at my fingertips ready to grab.
Yesterday we went to church with some friends that we are going to work on their land in trade for a place to stay, there are some awesome details surrounding that but that I think is for another post. Anyway it was an old Baptist church that I think it’s maximum capacity is maybe 75, that might be standing room only. There were around 30 adults and 20 children. After worship all the kids are invited to the front where they have a little Sunday school lesson while everyone in the church sits and listens, then the kids go outside and play while the pastor delivers the sermon. Did I mention that everyone is barefoot in shorts and t-shirts? We were lucky enough to hit the last Sunday of the month and it was the Sunday that they had potluck so we got to fellowship over food, which is always awesome. To top it all off a tall elderly Scottish man in the circle with all of us holding hands blessed the food. It has to be the most unique church service that I have ever attended and I loved it. The whole morning I was reminded over and over the simplicity of who God is...Love. My kids were so loved and my family was so welcomed. I was nearly brought to tears more than once in the morning, thank you God, I am so loved.
- Johnny
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