Crank Be Gone!

It’s a brand new day and boy I tell ya it’s hard to wake up cranky here. The sun is shining, I made some cash last night, the cutest cable guys ever came to hook up my TV set and the waves are waiting.

I started to feel better yesterday afternoon actually. Got a little aggravated when Joel, my 3:00 english lesson, didn’t show up. But no biggie, I took the opportunity to go see Dahlia, my neighbor, to work on my Spanish instead. However, I got there and Evelyn was home sick from school. So, we ended up doing her English homework together for almost 2 hours. I could’ve used the hours toward Spanish, but I felt revived each time I saw the light in her eyes and the smile on her face when she got the right answer.

Then, I think the crazy afternoon thunderstorm officially washed away the remaining crank. It hadn’t rained here for 3 days. So, it’s not surprising that it was a total shit show when it finally rolled in again. Ay dios mio! Other than the storm I witnessed in Bocas Del Toro I have never seen rain like this. It only lasted for about an hour, but yikes! To add to the intensity you need to picture where I was in this neighbor’s house.

A small place with a tin roof, filled to the brim with stuff and walls, hm walls, made of chain link fencing. Do you have a picture? Does that make sense to you, chain link walls? So, yeah, really there were no walls, rather, the chain link is there to make sure unwanted visitors don’t get in, but it’s not really a wall for privacy or protection.

So, as the truenos boomed and the rayos lit up the sky, I sat in a metal cage just waiting to be shocked. Luckily I didn’t get zapped, but I did snap out of my funk. The sheets of rain washed away my anger, the bolts and jolts woke me up - to the power of mother nature that we should all notice more often and to the realization that weathering the storm, any storm, is better together. My troubles aren’t any more or less than others in this world. I feel for those who have closed themselves off to making new relationships or cultivating old ones with family or friends. I’m not alone, on good or bad days, here or anywhere on this planet. Life can be a wild storm, and sure, I like my alone time, but most things are better together.