by Judy Handley | Oct 12, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 285: An Evening with the Concord Yacht Club
Date: Thursday, October 12, 2017
Weather: Partly Cloudy; High 68, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home with Alan and Helaine Kanegsberg, Bow, NH
What a lovely evening I had attending the Concord Yacht Club meeting. We met at the home of my very good friends, Alan and Helaine Kanegsberg, in Bow, New Hampshire. Everyone brought heavy hors d’oeuvres that made a great dinner with no one person having to bear the total responsibility. I don’t get to see these folks very often, but I always enjoy it when I do. We talk about sailing, we talk about life, and tonight I did a lot of talking about the dire situation in Puerto Rico. People read and hear things in the news, but I don’t think they really start to fully understand until they talk with someone who has a friend or family connection there. We have shared news about our children for years. So, when we get together, it is natural to ask how each other’s kids are doing. A couple of people in the group read this blog regularly, so they were aware of how Justin and family are faring in Puerto Rico. During the evening, they shared what they have learned with others who don’t read this blog, and pretty soon everyone was asking what they could do to help. They decided to make a donation from the group allowing me to order the most needed items and send them to Justin to share with the larger community there. I know Mark would feel as grateful as I do that the group stepped forward like this. Thank you, thank you, thank you to the Concord Yacht Club. And thank you to all of the others of you who are sending donations. Justin would want me to remind you that he and his family is doing fine, but that there are so many who are not. It’s hard for me to comprehend how they are really doing ‘fine’ with no electricity, no source of fresh food, no running water, and very few opportunities to communicate. I think saying that they are doing a great job of coping in these conditions is probably a more accurate way to describe it. But they are coping and they are trying to help others do the same. And so many friends have stepped forward to give them a helping hand. With so many disasters coming so fast and furiously this fall, it is very heartening to see how deeply people care about one another.
by Judy Handley | Oct 10, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 283: Meeting a Fascinating Woman
Date: Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Weather: Back to Beautiful Summer Weather; High 80, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
At 11:15 this morning, I was picked up by a fascinating woman I had never met before and she whisked me away in her Mercedes Benz ‘top off’. This is what the Goldpebbles call a convertible with the top down, and it was a great day for a ride with the ‘top off’. It was sunny with a high temperature of 80 degrees. Just wonderful. But back to my new acquaintance. We were introduced to each other in an email by a mutual friend who thought we should meet. Good call, Patsy (the mutual friend). We went to a luncheon meeting of the Wood Hole Woman’s Club which included a climate change presentation by yet another incredible woman. Sue Natali from the Woods Hole Research Center focuses her research on the permafrost in the Arctic and how it relates to climate change. And she does a fantastic job of explaining the importance of this to a lay audience. I won’t divulge the name of my new acquaintance as I didn’t ask her if I could, but what an interesting person. She earned her PhD at the University of Toronto in the early 1960’s in Physics. This came as a shock to me, not because she earned the degree which was record-breaking in itself, but because she doesn’t look like she could possibly be old enough to have done this. She is an active pilot who owns what she refers to as one-and-a-half planes (full ownership of one and joint ownership of the other). I must introduce her to Sam of Windbird the next time he visits here on the Cape. And any woman who got her PhD while I was in high school and still drives around in her convertible with the ‘top off’ is my kind of woman. She listens to my daughter on public radio and invited the two of us for a fly over Cape Cod. Looking forward to that!
Before and after the luncheon, I spent the rest of my day corresponding with people who want to make contributions to Justin and Jo and their wider community. I packaged things that I took to the PO late this afternoon even though I still have no confirmation that anything I have sent has arrived. But I am still hopeful. I’m also overwhelmed with the number of people who want to help-out. Tomorrow I will spend time researching items and prioritizing them the best that I can with the information I have. And on Thursday morning I get ready to leave on a four-day visit in New Hampshire. I’m really looking forward to visiting with good friends.
by Judy Handley | Oct 9, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 282: A Bit of Good News from Justin
Date: Monday, October 9, 2017
Weather: Second Day of Rain and Wind; High 71, Low 65 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
I was on the phone this afternoon when I got the buzz-buzz telling me someone else was calling me. Since I almost never get phone calls during the day, I just figured the person on the other end could leave a message. When I got off the phone, I looked at the number that had called and area code told me it was a Puerto Rican number. I frantically looked for a message and found one. The missed call had been from Justin. I called back and Justin answered. How could this be? He explained that he had purchased a Claro go-phone and was in an area with a signal. Claro is the Puerto Rican cell provider and they have more cell signal than other providers. Hurray! Unfortunately, the call dropped fairly quickly, but then Justin sent a text asking if the text got through. It did. I felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders. Just knowing that Justin and Jo can find a signal and contact me if there is an emergency is such a huge relief.
Now to how to best help Justin and Jo and their neighbors. Justin’s Facebook post that I shared in Sunday night’s log outlines most needs very clearly and includes his address. In addition, when I talked to Justin on Friday night, he said that he knows that one person in Rincon received a package from Amazon that was sent from the US the day after the hurricane. Hopefully this means that packages from Amazon will arrive. If you have Amazon Prime, you can send things to Puerto Rico with no shipping charge. One caution is that items produced in some countries cannot be shipped to Puerto Rico, but Amazon will let you know that when you enter the shipping address. Justin’s address for Amazon:
Justin Handley
100 Carreterra 115, Unit 870
Rincon, Puerto Rico 00677
The address for flat-rate Priority packages sent through the US Postal system:
Justin Handley
PO Box 870
Rincon, Puerto Rico 00677
A few items that Justin did not mention in his Facebook post are Home Depot gift certificates and organic potatoes, especially sweet potatoes, that will be used as seed potatoes to grow more potatoes. There are also items that are specifically needed by Justin and Jo. I won’t list those here, but if you are interested in knowing more, please contact me by email at judithmhandley@gmail.com. If you would prefer to have me order and send things for you, I am glad to do that. Just let me know and we’ll figure out the best way to pay for that.
The most important thing right now is that Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco are doing fine. They are all pirates at heart and don’t mind the temporary (hopefully) absence of running water, electricity, and reliable communication. But people who have never thought about living without these necessities of life are struggling desperately. And the federal response is just not getting through to the people. FEMA is visiting towns to have people fill out forms for assistance, but those same people need food and water and electricity and access to cash, not more forms to fill out. The American citizens of Puerto Rico have been thrown into conditions of a third world country which they were not before the storm. Before Hurricane Maria, the people of Puerto Rico enjoyed the same life style as you and me. Try to imagine that tomorrow morning you wake up with none of the basic necessities of life and with no way to do anything about your situation; no way to buy anything using a credit card and no way to get cash; no way to drive anywhere because there is no fuel; no way to get drinking water except to collect rain water or find a spring. At least that is the way it is in Rincon where Justin and family live and I think it is that way for much of the island. It is truly a desperate situation.
by Judy Handley | Oct 8, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 281: Trust the Wait
Date: Sunday, October 8, 2017
Weather: Rainy and Windy; High 75, Low 64 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
I still don’t know if Justin and Jo received the money that was sent to them Saturday morning via Western Union. Still none of the packages we have sent have arrived. So saying ‘trust the wait’ is difficult. But dear friend, Detta Porat, attended a teacher workshop on Friday about dealing with trauma and she shared what she learned with me. Cassie Yackley, Psy. D., led the workshop. She is committed to understanding and effectively addressing the impact of traumatic/adverse experiences on children, caregivers/families, and systems. So, she should certainly know more than I do about dealing with catastrophic situations. The summary of what she said was that what helps people most survive serious trauma isn’t therapy, as one might suspect. It is the belief in hope. Reading that made me think about Justin and Jo and the way they are trying to spread hope to their children, to their hometown of Rincon, and to the surrounding area, especially hard hit Anasco. To their credit, they innately know what Dr. Yackley has confirmed in her more than 25 years of study. Hope is the key that leads to recovery. The following advice that was shared at the workshop is harder for me to do than the written words imply, but I am trying to subscribe to this.
Trust the wait.
Embrace the uncertainty.
Enjoy the beauty of becoming.
When nothing is certain, anything is possible.
mindsetofgreatness
In a bit of hopeful news, I learned from Mark’s brother Steve in Florida that “The Federal Communications Commission has given Google approval to deploy its Project Loon balloon-based communications system to provide cellular connectivity in hurricane-damaged Puerto Rico.” The FCC chairman said on Saturday that “More than two weeks after Hurricane Maria struck, millions of Puerto Ricans are still without access to much-needed communications services. That’s why we need to take innovative approaches to help restore connectivity on the island. Project Loon is one such approach.” A Google spokesperson expressed appreciation to the FCC and Puerto Rican authorities for their support in this effort and I will most certainly appreciate it if this happens. But the next step is to get wireless companies on board and Google reports that those negotiations are underway. Let’s hope the wireless carriers cooperate. Evidently Facebook is also working on an emergency communications effort through AT&T and T-mobile. I don’t care who does it, I would just be so happy if there was some way to communicate.
Last night I promised to share my ideas for how to best help Justin and Jo and their neighbors in Rincon. But I was too busy today shopping for more specific items that are needed there, and just didn’t have the time to completely organize all of the information. So that will have to wait one more night. In the meantime, let’s all remain hopeful that the positive energy that many of us our sending to the people of Puerto Rico is really going to make a difference. I see evidence that it is already making an impact.
by Judy Handley | Oct 7, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 280: Now Here, Now Gone
Date: Saturday, October 7, 2017
Weather: Foggy Morning, Partly Cloudy Afternoon; High 75, Low 64 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
As I write this log, I can hardly believe I am watching television coverage of yet another hurricane. I can hardly focus on that, however, as I am still reeling from Maria’s devastation. Hearing from Justin and Jo and getting to see Ziggy and Coco on Skype video last night was wonderful. It was just like they were here and they do seem to be doing just fine. But this morning, they were gone just as quickly as they appeared last night. I got a message from Jo at 8:48 this morning while I was at the Rite-Aid trying to send cash to them via Western Union. But any trace of communication that I can find ended before 10 am and Western Union says the money has not yet been picked-up. That could mean nothing as the Western Union where they went to pick up the money in Mayaguez might not have a way to confirm. Still, I worry that they didn’t get the money. On the other hand, as any parent knows, kids usually find a way to contact you when they need money, so hopefully Justin be able to find another way to let me know if they are penniless. It is just so hard to get cash in their hands. I know it must be very frustrating to Justin that he has money in his bank account, but cannot access it. So once again, I wait until I hear from them again. Justin posted on Facebook this morning, so I am going to copy that here. Like Jo’s post last night, this one from Justin gives you a great deal of insight into what life is like for them and those around them in Rincon. I spent my day today ordering and buying additional things they need, and many of you have asked how you can help. Justin and Jo have outlined their ideas on Facebook, but both also gave me specific ideas that I will share in tomorrow night’s log. Que viva Puerto Rico, viva!
Justin Handley’s Facebook Post, Sunday, October 7,2017
So, in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, many of our friends, family, and associates have asked what they can do to help. It has taken us these last weeks just to get our bearings. As the shock wears off and we become comfortable with the new state of life, with no power, no running water, and very sporadic communication of any sort, we are now trying to look towards what we can do to help those that are less fortunate than we are.
Because of tax incentives, this island has its fair share of US internet-based businesses. In the last weeks, we’ve watched as almost all of the people who were here in any capacity like that got up and left. It was disheartening and scary at times as people rushed to leave. We also make our primary income from an online business. At this point, I have no idea how that business is doing, and I can only hope that it will be there when we get through this.
We chose not to leave for many reasons, though. Primarily, this is our home. We. didn’t move here to get a tax incentive for our business. We moved here to put down roots and start a farm that could sustain our family now and hopefully for generations to come. We spent almost two years working through the financial bureaucracy to get to the point where we could finally buy our little 2-acre farm.
And then Maria came and wiped the slates clean here. But we were incredibly lucky. We had the financial resources to buy plywood before the storm and make storm shutters for all of our windows, and our house is in a beautiful little valley that is fairly protected from the wind. While our land was hit hard, and it is going to take months of hard labor just to clear the trash from a shed that was torn apart and all of the trees that are down, our house and family came through the storm unscathed. We lost one chicken and one baby chick. And we took in a baby cat we found a couple of days after the storm that also died. But in general, we are alive, well, and in many ways thriving.
But here is the story of our little island. About 10 miles south of here where the river meets the sea, flooding came from both directions and wiped out a lot of homes and families. I believe (and I say that because there is no news, everything I know is based on rumors) that around 17 people died and there are 28 listed as missing. And that is just right here.
Because all we know about is right here. We have heard rumors, some crazy (armed gas truck hijackers and the head of our local military base scared because they are out of gas) and some calm (if you go far enough south, there are still leaves on the trees and flowers blooming).
I heard a woman today saying that she was trying to get to Utuado, but after KM 30 the road is just… gone. One the interior of the island I believe there are still places people haven’t reached, and haven’t been able to check.
We finally got in touch with a friend from San Juan who said the feeling there is very ‘post-apocalyptic’. People who lived through George 15 years ago used to tell stories about the big storm. Now they just say ‘George was nothing’.
One friend said she saw a palm tree shoot out of the earth into the ocean like it was a rocket. Another said he saw a whole tree levitating about 6 feet off the ground, and then shoot off, after which a cow flew by.
There is no real way to describe what is going on here, as I think a lot of it is emotional – the product of a whole society in a state of shock. But the Puerto Rican people are amazing, putting one foot in front of the other, trying to move forward.
I wish I could say ‘now it is time to rebuild’ but I don’t think we are there yet. I think we are sttill just trying to survive, and we’d like to help people do that. So, here is what we are doing, and what you can do to help.
First of all, unless you can verify that something is happening, don’t give money to big organizations who say they can help. Ask for proof of what is happening. Because right here, right now, there is nothing happening. I met one man from FEMA who came to check the old nuclear power plant to make sure it was OK. I hear rumor that one day a van showed up with food and water, earlier than it was supposed to, gave out a little bit of stuff, and left by the time it was supposed to get here leaving lines of hungry people, some passing out in the heat.
The only person I have personally seen giving any assistance was a local business owner who was out of town when the storm hit and came back in with about 10 suitcases full of supplies like water filters, bug spray, gummy vitamins for kids, diapers, and a couple of satellite phones. No FEMA. No Red Cross (actually, with the internet just now, I did see a post saying they showed up today – unclear on the actual impact). Almost no one official at all – the mayor has closed up shop, the police presence isn’t much different than any other time.
Also, be careful of GoFundMe campaigns. Some of them are legit – for example, the guy who came into town with 10 suitcases I think did it through a GoFundMe campaign. On the other hand, I have heard that a family ran a GoFundMe to help with ‘hurricane recovery’ and then flew out on a private jet.
Maybe things are different in San Juan, it is hard to know. There have been a couple of internet hotspots that have gone up and down, and one day we drove an hour to get to a landline that was working so we could call our Moms. But with gas dwindling and no cash or way to get any, it is hard to go chasing rumors that there might be a phone or internet connection somewhere.
Claro, the local phone company, apparently has restored some cell service, but without cash, there is no way to get gas to go to where you might be able to get a Claro phone. So we are limited in our communication right now. And that means we don’t know much of what is going on beyond what we hear from people who have made calls, or found internet, or had relatives come and find them.
So, we are looking to establish direct and local assistance. Make no mistake – if you follow any of these plans you are only helping a little pocket of the world. As things expand, if there is a lot of support, we will do our best to spread the love. But you can also know that what you give will go to directly improve the quality of life here. There will be no big organizational overhead. You will just be helping real people.
Plan One: Immediately usable supplies. If you want to put together flat rate USPS boxes and ship them to
PO Box 870
(Or, if it won’t go to a PO Box, you can use 100 Carretera 115, Unit 870)
Rincon, PR 00677
We will make sure that the items get distributed. What kind of things? Well – we are going to be working on putting together a very specific list (as a starter, I know of an 85-year-old man who lost everything, including his shoes, who could use a pair of size 10 and a half shoes. Please don’t send them yet, though, because…) but until we can do that, and find a connection, and publish it (remember – this message was written days before we found a connection to post it) everyone can use…
Non-Perishable Food. The healthier the bettter. Meat helps with really hungry people – beef jerky wouldn’t go astray, but again, healthy beef jerky. People who are very hungry DO NOT NEED junk food as the litttle bit of food that they get. Protein bars. Granola. Powdered milk. Things that don’t take cooking – for people who lost it all, that often includes the stove. I can’t even imagine what a normal food shelf in North America looks like right now so you can use your creativity here.
I’m working on the camp stove idea, but I don’t think you can ship gas canisters, and I don’t know where to find them, so until I do, that’s a ‘let’s hold’.
D Batteries. After Irma, there were no more D batteries on the island, and that hasn’t changed – lots of useless flashlights sitting around.
We are also trying to plant as much as possible on our land right now. With many of the big trees down, we suddenly have arable land where it used to be a dark forest. So, organic (ORGANIC) seeds are welcome – if you send us GMO seeds they will be thrown away. Also, we live in the tropics – so nothing that can’t handle the heat. Root vegetables – potatoes, carrots, onions, beets, radish. We are trying with lettuce. Hearty spinach. Tomatoes. Eggplant. Not sure – if you have access to the internet you can find zone based growing charts easier than I can.
If you send seeds, know that you are funding a personal and experimental project. We are hoping to generate more food than it takes to feed us, and if we can, that food will be distributed for free to people in need. This won’t happen for 2 to 3 months, and at this point, we have no idea what life will look like then, and if there will still be a need, etc. so.. Consider this a donation to the future of Finca Maravilla. Although, if we get lots of seeds, we can do starts and start handing out starts the wider community so everyone can plant.
In a more immediate sense – sprouting trays and sprout seeds – the more the better. When there is no refrigeration fresh vegetables can get deprioritized. If we can start sprouting and distributing fresh sprouts to the community, that will give some live/fresh veg that people can work in with the loads of rice and beans that are now being consumed around here.
My wife is going to be doing some workshops with kids, and she is looking for art supplies – crayons, plasticine, beeswax, paper. I know she wrote her own epically long post (in the hot afternoons when it is too stifling to cut back any more fallen wood, we get some good quiet time these days) and if you want her take, it is here…https://www.facebook.com/jujumojo/posts/10155540493821413
Joseph Mueller is putting his tech expertise to work and fixing every generator in a 100-mile radius as far as I can tell. He has a hard time getting parts – keeps a list of needed parts here if you want to send them.https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/3BEZNQP8HRJ5D
If you really want to aid the island, when flights start, come visit us. Bring cash. Go to restaurants. Go to stores. Get massages. Pay for surf lessons. Rent some boards. Help a community that really depends on tourist money get back on its feet. We’d love to see you.
And I almost forgot – here is the obligatory for friends and family … we are fine. We are fine. We are fine. Kids are happy. We are fed. We have a roof. Now let’s try to help everyone else get there as well.
by Judy Handley | Oct 6, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 279: Contact with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco
Date: Friday, October 6, 2017
Weather: Beautiful Day; High 72, Low 64 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
I had contact with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco tonight. Hallelujah! As you will read here, they are doing fine. But earlier today I was getting very worried. I had not heard from Justin since Monday morning. Normally we only talk every couple of weeks, but normally I know I can contact him if-and-when I want. This is not the new norm. Now I just wait until he can find a random way of communicating. So, I have been worried, and when I get worried, I go to the water. It somehow calms me. I spent part of this beautiful, warm sunny afternoon just sitting in the sand on Falmouth Heights Beach. I love the feel of sand between my toes, but as enjoyable as it was, when I got home, I still felt uneasy. I tried going to the gym and then food shopping. It was almost 7:30 when I got home and I hadn’t checked my phone for two hours. When I did, I immediately saw Justin’s message on WhatsApp. Thankfully, I hadn’t missed a call. At 5:30 he sent a message saying they were in Mayaguez for the night. They were going to dinner and he would call me later. Finally, I could relax.
There are only 78 cities in Puerto Rico. And although I am concerned about each and every one of them, I am most concerned about Rincon where Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco live. North of Rincon is Aguada where they used to live and north of that is Aguadilla. South of Rincon is the third largest city in Puerto Rico, Mayaguez. And tonight, it was from Mayaguez that I heard from them. They had checked into a hotel there for the night so that they could make contact with the outside world. We had a Skype video call so we could see each other and they all look great. There were big smiles from Ziggy and Coco which tells me they don’t realize they are in the midst of one of the most challenging humanitarian crises we have ever faced as a nation. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island, really 143 islands. But only the big island and Culebra and Vieques are inhabited full-time. But the problem for Puerto Rico right now is that it is not a country and can’t make its own decisions. It is a territory of the United States and this puts Puerto Rico in a sort of lala land. They can’t really make their own decisions. We have sent help, but many parts of the island are not getting it, even two weeks after the storm. And from what I can tell, it is not always because the roads are blocked. Help is blocked by a bureaucracy that requires people in dire situations to first fill out forms. I will stop here and let the passionate words of my daughter in-law, Jo, tell you their story. As she states, it is long, but it gives you first hand insight into what is happening in the lives of one family in Puerto Rico.
From Jo’s Facebook Page posted Friday Evening from Mayaguez:
This post is so long. I wrote it at home on Tuesday afternoon, waiting for a chance to send it when I found a hotspot… tonight we have internet, so – boom!
No major updates to report from Rincon. Still no sign of any aid, official donations, official representatives of any nature. No news from the rest of the island apart from word of mouth, very little communication – the odd, unreliable wifi hotspot is all – no electricity, no running water and no cell service.
I have very little to say that others have not already said.
I am grateful for our rural haven in the hills, for our peaceable and calm neighbors, for the resilience and grace of my fellow women, men and children here on the island. I am humbled daily and have been brought, literally, to my knees several times during and since Maria: in beseeching prayer, in thankful relief, in grief, and again in prayer – prayers of hope, for courage, and in open surrender.
Many people who have considered the island home for some time have already now left, seeking respite with family, a place to be able to continue their business lives, schools for their kids, the securities afforded by modern industrial civilization. People have been departing however which way they can – military flights, cruise ships, long drawn-out waits for humanitarian flights by air carriers, even private jet…
I imagine that many of these residents will return once the going is a little smoother and what we used to call normal life begins to start up again in whatever form that may be. Many are now stateside raising funds for the island – deep thank you.
I am conscious that if things do not improve there may be another, yet more troubling, exodus of Puerto Ricans; people who are unable to remain at home due to lack, and are forced to migrate to parts of the US in order to find new opportunities by which to feed their families and live their lives. I fear that many will lose their homes. Businesses have been trashed and lost. Homes swept away.
Further economic exodus of Puerto Rican nationals would be a huge loss for the island. For the island to recover, she needs to be able to hold onto her young families, key service workers, small local businesses, graduates, fit and able workers, deep connections…
The worst hit area in the west coast region appears to be dear Añasco. It is a low lying coastal town in the flood plain of a river. 28 people are still unaccounted for. Many more are, tragically, dead. No help has come. Nada. It is an agonizing reality.
Maria has changed everything. We, personally, as a family are well. We are survivors, off-grid hardened, we have each other, our house is in tact. In many ways, I am more at home with this reality than with the strange, suburban soccer mom, hey-let’s-go-to-the-mall side of life that tries to half-smile at me during times of extreme comfort. Although I know that we have escaped lightly compared to so many, and for this I am both grateful and horrified in equal measure. We also have the gift of much responsibility – for our many animals and as caretakers of our land – so we are not idle, and we are connecting to the recovering earth daily, which brings both comfort and joy, as well as easy sleep.
We collect rainwater for drinking, have a small solar battery to charge our phone and provide a light. Night times we use an oil lamp and candles, we have very little gasoline so driving anywhere is to a minimum. We have been eating many bananas and roots from our finca, clearing fallen trees and planting many seeds. We try to keep a very clean and sanitized house, wary of sickness at this time of little or no medical provision, and we are grateful for our store of homemade folk medicines. We have a good water filter and are religious about hand washing and cleaning teeth.
Town can be a wonderful chance to exchange and meet other community members, but can also be a challenge due to hysteria exchange, rising panic, and the rumor mill. Everyone is a little shell shocked still – and many are still frantically calling and trying to get out, which can be an unsettling energy when one is remaining in place for the foreseeable, and trying to carry on, rebuild, renew…
Yesterday was a good day of friends to the house and children playing, laughter and joy, sharing and ease. Then a fifteen year old’s birthday party and more celebration, togetherness and light with dear ones.
Now, today, we recover from the late night (curfew has been pushed back to 9pm so we were out until what felt very LATE indeed for us in recent weeks). We are resting and siesta-ing, staying close to home, carrying out all the usual daily chores and tasks.
Earlier today I told the children how proud I am of them that they were coping so gracefully with all the changes.
‘Well, yes, school is different,’ responded Coco.
‘What else is different?’ I asked.
‘Our garden.’
‘Anything else?’
‘Yes. The whole world,’ she replied.
That’s about the size of it.
They are having fun. In many ways more fun than ever. They are learning more than ever, reading their own books, speaking to one another in Spanish, making projects, building an amazing fort, cutting and storing wood, building a wormery, collecting bugs, keeping field journals, painting, sewing, drawing, walking, biking, potioning.
No one is distracted by phones or to-do lists in the regular vain – although in many ways there is more to do than ever. But the schedule comes from us and from the sun, not imposed from the outside, which is a blessing. There is always time to read that book, look at that picture, examine that bug, climb that tree and have that cuddle. No alarm, no ‘we’re late’, no ‘hurry up’. Life is beautiful.
We are exploring ways that we may be able to share learning experiences, healing and positive growth with the children who will also remain in the area.
Money is tight, or non-existent, and all resources are limited, but children need their communities – as do their families – and need to heal and share their experiences in constructive, playful, and beautiful ways. Working with the young is, as always, an integral part of my reason to be.
As for the few of your many many messages of support, love, concern, offers of help, and refuge in your own homes that I have been able to read, words (for once!) fail me. I feel so lucky to know so many truly wonderful, kind, open and loving people. So many people from so many threads of our lives, people whom we cherish and yearn for and value and respect. It is an illuminating, chastening, sobering, reassuring, and soul enriching feeling to know that there are people such as yourselves not only that one can count on as friends, but to whom one is actually truly held as ‘friend’. I am happy to be your friend! I am happy to still be here, happy to be breathing and loving and working and creating. Happy to know you and to have shared time with you during my life so far. May we share time again in person, by a fireside somewhere, smiling and at ease.
I will soon have a comprehensive list of the needs of local people whose lives were completely washed away by the 6-10ft wall of water that barreled through their homes in Añasco, taking everything they own and many loved ones with it. As soon as I have concrete ways in which you may help these people, I will share.
In the meantime, if you would like to mail anything either to us specifically or for general distribution in the surrounding area, our mailing address is:
PO Box 870, Rincon, PR 00677
We have most of what we need personally. However, any organic seeds suitable for the region would always be welcome, same goes for art supplies, as these are things that we can use to help our community directly.
Already we have starts appearing from what we have planted, but we need to be able to feed as many people as our garden will allow, and to share seed far and widely; so, all the seed stock that you can spare, please send our way.
Same goes for seeds for sprouting – alfalfa, broccoli, sunflower, radish – and sprouting trays… sprouts are a great way that we can share fresh, green food with people very quickly…
Additionally, and for immediate relief, shelf stable food, and adult and children’s underwear, baby diapers of a range of sizes, as well as camping cookware, camp showers, water purification tablets, baby formula, baby bottles, reusable water bottles, personal hygiene products, lightweight towels, are all items that the people of Añasco’s playa community are in desperate need of…
The island is just as beautiful as ever. The waves are tasty, the ocean is clear, turquoise, refreshing, the rivers are full and fresh, and the island’s businesses need to open to serve people. So come! Book your flights, come down, enjoy the slow-paced life, get away from the winter and be a part of the regeneration of Puerto Rico.
Many blessings, much love, and deep gratitude to all of you.
Peace, from Puerto Rico ?? and to the world. ¡Hasta luego! ? ? ?? ?
