Free Food and a Driveabout - It must be Culebra Wednesday!

Wednesday means getting up at dark thirty to meet with a driving friend, then heading to the Ecological School to line up and wait for the ferry, bearing the truck full of boxes of food for the island population. Volunteer workers gather, the first question asked is "How many families?" There are those who are a family of one, those who take extras for distribution around the island to those without vehicles. These boxes, containing everything from onions, potatoes, meatballs, tomatoes, butter, cheese, and more - and bags (canned goods ranging from pears to tomato sauce, tuna to varieties of beans and more) along with juice and usually some extra surprise, picked up at the old school, are available to all who live here. 

We sort through what we might use and then drop off items that can find a needed use at the Senior Center, where meals are prepared for those who can't cook their own. Most everyone I know does this kind of sharing, some for individuals they know who particularly enjoy some weekly offering, some to family friends with plenty of mouths to feed. No member of the community is going hungry here; it's pretty spectacular and has been going on for months, each box containing something a little different each time, our own surprise box. How long will it last? I have no idea, I only know to be thankful for what is happening now.  

Volunteers up early and smiling while doing the literally heavy lifting.

Thank you, those who week after week show up to help out!

After dropping off food at home and the Center, it's driveabout time. We head down long unvisited roads in the country where ongoing changes are happening or nothing is going on at all, probably looking much the way Culebra looked long before I ever heard about it. There are a lot of stories hidden in the hills and valleys; I know a few but there are so many that remain a mystery. Some of those places are gone forever, but the stories live on and they matter. Poco a poco.

A little rainbow magic over town

From far up a hill

I'm not sure what's going on in the above photo, I only know that beehive boxes and a vine covered shelter, citrus and breadfruit trees with sugar cane in the back are enough to make smiles. Yes, my curiosity is piqued, in the best way!

While it feels much later, having gotten up hours before, all of this is usually done by 9 o'clock at the latest. Heading back past the school, the line is gone, the extra boxes going wherever they go. For some, the day is only starting, for some their work is done for now. Cheers to the volunteers!

If I wrote about all of this earlier, chalk it up to my foggy brain. I'll catch up to myself soon enough.  

Have a warmhearted Wednesday. Do something weightless. 

Country pleasures

Jesse had offered to take me out to the country on his monthly check in on some homes, for the last couple of months, but until yesterday, it hadn't worked out. Little spits of rain in the sunshine of early morning seemed trying for a "not today either" scale, but we decided to push on through and how glad I am that was the decision. The sun stayed out, the hiking was good, the views were amazing. I felt very happy that the dog seemed as wiped out as I was with walking - and we were both grinning.

For those who don't live on small islands (smaller than say, Australia), out in the country means just the same thing as anywhere else, except it's just not that far from town. When I first moved to St. Croix and someone would tell me they lived 'in the country' I wondered where the heck they were talking about. But when my mental parameters of space and time shifted, it was obvious. On Culebra, it is the same. Somewhere around the corner by Las Delicias, it becomes 'the country'. And now, as dear Paul Harvey used to say, you know the rest of the story.

Thanks so much, Jesse!!

music by: Bruce Cockburn (pronounced Co-Burn, if you're asking)