Starting from Scratch

The past few days have been hard, yet good honest work.  I never imagined my life to be like this or to enjoy it as much as I have.

After I first met Isaiah, I told Styles (that runs the campsite grounds) that I had no money and had been staying in their camp illegally. This was not easy for me. I prefer to be reticent and cagey. Also, Styles has never been very friendly towards me for some reason. He didn’t make this task any easier. He asked where I was staying now, which did not go over well. The conversation ended quickly with I had a week to come up with the money.  He was like a loan shark.

Mervin returned and I told him the entire story, too. Though his response was positive, this was not easy for me to tell, either. I am not sure why, except that it was so traumatic for me. He thought it was pretty cool about the dolphins and recalls the other dolphin-rescue story in Brewer’s Bay. He said that he would go around the bay (over the next week) to look for my boat. He did not say one way or another about Isaiah.

Isaiah put me to work right away. It was probably the size of a large garden, but by the amount of work I did, it felt like a farm. He had me pull all the weeds, which was no easy task. I also had to gather rocks that created rows of sugar cane on his hill. I liked being amongst plants and life that nourishes us. I also have a sweet tooth!

What I liked most was starting over from scratch!  After the peril of my boating accident was left behind me and I had way to sustain myself, I found profound joy in having no belongings! I know I wanted to live off the land, but I never planned to have no possessions at all. It wasn’t what I planned, but what freedom! The possibilities appeared endless. What will I acquire first? What is the most important item I want? The last time I was starting from scratch was when I was an infant and now I am doing it with the choice of an adult. It was profound and thought provoking.

I thought intensely on the subject while I worked. The work felt good. I liked getting my hands dirty, covered in earth. How long had it been since my hands were in the mud like this? It was a big week for me! It was like being reborn after my near death experience.