Life in a New Place

The sad good-byes are over and almost a week has passed since I flew away from my home of eight years.  "How are you adjusting?" people ask.  I'm not.... yet.  Right now, other than hanging my clothes in the closet and putting the suitcases away, it feels like a normal summer.  I usually fly back to visit my family and friends.  So far it all feels quite normal.

That said, there are few things going on that are not normal.  First of all I unpacked nearly everything I own and am still working to make places for all of it.  Then I purchased several sweaters, very warm sweaters.  I have not made quite as much effort to meet friends and see people.  I have all year for that.  

Today I stopped at a mattress store to look at the mattresses.  I had no intentions of paying for delivery or hauling one home in my little car so I made it clear that I was just checking to see what they had to offer. The salesman told me, "It doesn't make any sense to go in and out of stores and not buy anything."  I decided there must be better bargains elsewhere that he is afraid I will find.  I plan to find them.

And here are a few pictures that I've taken since I returned.  

 We took Grandpa and Grandma to visit "the store".

 Just documenting how high the corn is for a friend that wondered.

 Roasting "bread on a stick"

I enjoyed hanging out with friends this weekend.  I'm grateful to have friends that have welcomed me back each summer.  Now I'm looking forward to seeing them a bit more than a few weekends a year.

Only 2 more days

As I come down to the last several days, I am coming to realize a few things about good-byes.  First of all when you need to say good-bye to everyone that feels important to you, you will probably miss someone.  It actually has little to do with how much they mean to you but more to do with figuring out when you are seeing them for the last time.  Also, when you live somewhere for 8 years, there are a lot of people to bid farewell and they don't all come looking for you and you don't have time to look for all of them. Unfortunately.  There is no way to make every single moment feel as special as it seems it should feel.

As I mentioned before I have been on a mad chase to capture as much of my life here on pictures as possible. Here are a few favorites...

 My plate of oildown at the farewell party Ms. Annie hosted for me.  I didn't take many pictures that night but it was a truly special night.

 One last trip to Vendomme.  I was disappointed to not see all the children.

 She was 2 when I moved here.

 Town

 Saying good-bye to Selena...

and Zoe.

Tears come in the weird times right now but not when I would have expected them.  So many changes about to happen.

How Do You Say Good-Bye?

I'm going to miss the adults.  I will miss the youth.  I will miss the older children that have changed from babies into pre-teens while I watched. It will be hard to leave the people who have become some of the closest friends I've ever had.  Still, I know I can come back in a year or 2 or even 10 and they will smile and say my name.  We will be able to sit down and catch up on the time missed.  Even though life has gone on and many things have changed, our friendship will still be there. 

It's the littlest children that will be hardest to leave.  Today when I pass them, they call out my name.  They want me to stop and hold them or invite them over to play with my toys.  When I come back the next time, they won't look the same.  They probably won't remember my name.  They might even run away when they see me coming.  I want to see them grow up, but a few pictures may be as much as I will see.

I pray that someone else will take the time to pick them up, invite them over, and show them the right way to go.  I pray that they will grow up to make right choices and live lives that honor the Lord.

A Day's Journey

As a reward activity for the community youth who have been faithfully attending church services, youth night, and Bible studies, we took an island tour.
Our first stop - Concord Falls.

Then we piled back in the bus and drove the rest of the way to the top of the island.  Our next stop was Carib's Leap.  At least one of the youth claimed to have never been there before.

We made a quick unscheduled stop by the Sulfur Springs where we were met by a massage lady who wanted to give us a tour.  I assured her that we just wanted to take a quick peek at the springs.  She did not demand any money, but followed us around nonetheless, explaining the mineral benefits of each hole.  There may be some benefit for skin, but I'm quite certain that the part about each hole having different mineral benefits was a figment of her imagination.  If anyone wants a scummy mineral bath, go the Sulfur Springs in River Sallee, Grenada.

Then we were off to Levera Beach.

A quick stop by Levera Pond.

Lunch Break at Bathway Beach.  What a gorgeous sunny day!

I wish I knew more about this place.  I think it was nice once upon a time.

Leaving behind a favorite spot.

One last stop.  Time for a group photo.  The group minus the photographer (who volunteered in order to not be in the picture) and one guy who preferred to take a 5 minute nap in the bus(isn't that the main point of driving around the island for 6 hours?).

The majority of the captions ended up on top of the pictures rather than below.  Hopefully it was not too confusing.