6.02.2007

Collecting Scraps

By nature, travelling tends to rearrange or completely change the rythem and flow of ones life. And while the traveller may not waunder simply for a change of sceneray or pace these two companions most certianly will be altered.

My coming to Orcas has introduced me, once agian, to the early morning hours. I wake at 6 a.m. to be ready for work by 6:55. I still walk or ride a bike just like i did in Seattle, although the roads and people are different than those of the city.

I am now the proud caretaker of a 10x30 plot of earth in the local P-Patch. I am also becoming fast friends with the director of this particular P-Patch, a gracious and energetic woman of 79 years old named Shirley.

On the job i work with some of the finest woodworkers on the West coast but you would never know it by talking with them. I learn about each mans skill only from the work they leave behind and the stories and boastings of other men. The houses they build are not ones that bespeak of haughtiness or haste. They are some of the most naturally beautiful dwellings I've ever gazed upon.

As for me i collect what little scraps are leftover and place them into black trash bags to be used later as kindling to heat homes during the wet winter months.

When the work for the day comes to an end i sometimes hike, read a book (Arabian Nights), or walk a few short paces down to the beach to watch the sunset beyond the Strait of Juan De Fuca.

I am working on buying a smaller camera and hope to have some pictures to go along with my words sometime in the near future. The move from Seattle to Orcas Island only afforded me the "bare neccesties", and a Canon 20D with two lenses was not bare enough.

Communication will be sparse as i am "Mac-less" and can only check my email at the local library. If you would like to send a letter my way fell free to email me asking for the mailing address and i will send it your way.

I have to go now as a book, a beer, and the beach all vie for my company. Ciao.

1 Comments:

Blogger Carlene said...

Sounds peaceful, and a perfect retreat from the 21st century crashing down around us. Almost an antidote!

2:00 PM  

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