Jimspeak

Mother Nature makes quite the mistress. My thanks go to Her for the compassion and tenderness shown me today.

The sun seared my skin thru my clothes and sucked away an excessive amount of moisture from my pores, and found its way thru my Chinese straw hat and flushing my face with heat. As I lifted the 6- 20-pound (a guess) metal construction bar in preparation of another strike against the sunken rocks, muscles all over my body flexed and screamed in protest. Five hours into a day of digging holes for future coffee tree saplings. Not so much digging as beating at the ground with a pickaxe and an oversized crowbar to dislodge the multitude of rocks hidden beneath the covering of weeds. My back screamed, shoulders howled, arms cussed and neck grimaced. Tired, dehydrated, and hungry, I forced myself to ignore aching muscles and a stabbing headache. Too tired to think reasonably, one line from a song ran on a closed loop through my mind, never venturing beyond the same words (“…I think I’ll have myself a beer…”).

Consumed with my work and physical ailments, it took me several minutes to notice that gray clouds had appeared and blocked the sun’s rays. I paused and looked up, shouting out a ‘thank you’ to my benefactor. And returned to work.

Drip…drip…drip. Drops of warm rain began to fall: soaking the knee-high weeds, bouncing off the brim of my hat, and assuaging my overheated body. A smile began to creep across my face. Pausing in my work I leaned upon the pickaxe and turned my face skyward. Small, light raindrops intermittently alighted upon my face. My smile grew. They appeared to be raindrops but were actually tiny kisses brushing across my face: nose, forehead, cheeks…and lips.

I began to contemplate calling it a day 20 minutes early though I knew it wasn’t raining hard enough to justify stopping. The crowbar resumed its jackhammer motion.

Minutes later, the intensity of the rain increased. There was no unpleasantness, and no sudden urge to dash to cover. I grabbed my gear and began ambling towards the house, a huge grin now adorning my face. The farm truck received the pickaxe and crowbar, my body continuing the trek to the house with hat in hand and gloves off.

I stopped. And looked up again. The kisses were more fervent and more frequent than before.

Standing in the rain, the world silent and far away, Mother Nature bestowed Her grace upon me. Each drop that fell upon me washed away a little of the pain from the day. Each drop that fell upon me washed away traces of the agony in my mind. Leaving me refreshed, recharged, and more resolute about my life.

These islands are magical. Twice they’ve changed my life.

And they say that the third time’s the charm….let’s get it started.