It's Like This

What’s it like living here in the jungle of Belize? CRAZY

Matt works super hard to keep everything running smoothly. He’s always doing something, and I think he enjoys keeping busy. I know how he feels. I think I mentioned before that there’s never a dull moment.

My daily goals are pretty straightforward: work and Tetra. I also care for Douglas, and share responsibilities for the other animals daily–Jack, Lucy, Sugar, Clive, Lady Baltimore, Jenny, Salbutes, Empanadas, and the other white chicken. Completing these goals has been rather challenging for the past five months, but this week, we hired a nanny/bodyguard/gerker.

Claudio had been working on the house, but they got to a point where they couldn’t use him as often. Matt suggested right away that he watch Tetra for us during the day. She really likes him, so it works out perfectly. I can’t believe how much more productive I am becoming now that we have additional help. I mean, look. I’m writing a blog post! Today, I even had time to do art.

Having help has been a difficult thing for me to adjust to, and I’m certainly still adjusting. However, in just this one week, my quality of life seems to have improved greatly. It’s a huge comfort to know my child is nearby and enjoying herself while I’m working. She’s often in eyesight, and I can look up from my work to see her laughing, walking or talking. She still naps once or twice a day, and Claudio’s been able to help me with that as well. I’m still struggling with getting solids into her. I feel that she needs more of them, but I also feel that this will eventually work itself out. It’s a matter of getting it into a routine, and of being able to offer food every couple of hours. Moving into the house will probably help that quite a bit.

What is the status of the house? Well, it’s not finished. There have been 2 workers on it this week. They’ve been working on the framing. I see today that the frame for the ceiling has begun. I think siding is next, and then flooring. The roof also goes in there somewhere too. I had imagined these to be quick things, but when I saw the slated siding, and considered the unconventional windows we will have, I thought better. Now, I’m hoping it will be done, at least while mom and dad are here.

I honestly did not expect it to take near this long, but I also think that I envisioned a more basic design with simpler material. Matt’s instincts for architecture have always been creative and appreciated, and I’m sure I will appreciate what comes out of this venture.

Tomorrow is Domingo, and I plan to garalo suave. I hope you can take it easy too.

Also, I wrote this on Saturday, but am posting on Tuesday.

I'm still hopeful that you can take it easy, even if it's only Tuesday.

Folks here say it's important to work hard and to take breaks.

Almost Perfect

“Almost perfect” is a phrase my dad uses from time to time. Whenever he’s said this, I’ve written it off as perfect. After all, there is always room for improvement. “Almost perfect” is perfect for now, but maybe not yesterday, perhaps not even tomorrow.

This phrase has been top of mind since it made a debut appearance yesterday in Douglas’ cabana. I had come to the orchard to visit the boys, and after our visit I took TJ up to Doug’s house for a visit. Doug was not living there, but we had recently arranged the sticks and it was almost ready for her to move in.

I set Tetra on the floor, and she began playing independently with a few small sticks that were lying around. I thought it was a good opportunity to sweep, and so I did. When I was done sweeping, she was still occupied, so I decided to stretch.

The following day, Douglas joined us. Tetra and Lucy took a nap while Matt searched for a good data signal.

It was then that I heard the phrase “almost perfect.” As a child, I dreamed of assembling an airport tower that we had lying around in Ava to be a dance space. The tower is still there, and the dream never faded. Sometime in the past couple of years, I had a dream that seemed to be in another world/dimension. I was atop a wooden floor high in the sky. The ground was far, there were no walls. There were two voices of encouragement, telling me to dance, and so I did.

My moment in Doug’s casa brought me back to those dreams. I realized I was living them. I tried to write the file to memory, as I stretched, and watch Tetra explore her environment. “I never pictured this with a charming little daughter in front of me,” I thought. “But, how happy am I that she’s here!”

The house is moving along. The posts for the veranda have been set, and the beams for the 2^nd floor and veranda are being hoisted. We’re eager for it’s completion.

Two of the posts were leaning slightly. Here, they work on putting up the natural stick for the veranda railing, but you can also see the ropes from efforts to move the poles to a more vertical position.

Now, I see a new dream – one that I’ve been painting in my head for a while. I am in the new house – on the deck, or in the big space. Everything we need is within reach. Visitors in the form of guests or friends/family visit occasionally. Tetra has a natural environment to explore and learn from. Matt and I also take advantage of this optimal learning environment. He develops skills to work the land, and continues with his experimental noise. I grow as a professional and as an artist. Douglas is the happiest she’s ever been. Lucy feels friendship and freedom every day, and Jack is loved. And now the chickens have joined in.

Matt is dedicated to his carrots. Today he weeded for an hour.

When Matt and Luciano came home yesterday, he kept telling me about this surprise he had. “Guess! Guess what it is!” he said. “Cake! Cake! It must be Cake!” I declared. “Guess again!”

He brought me up to the rover and told me to look in the passenger window. I peeked in and jumped back in shock. It was a clump of red feathers! “Dead chicken?” I looked again, and actually the rooster and hen were sitting next to each other in opposite directions. The rooster had his wing over the hen. They seemed frightened, and he was protective.

Today is their first day with the rest of the hens. They all seem to be getting along fine. When we move out to the orchard, we’ll bring them all to a new coop under Doug’s casa.

So, it’s all coming together, and I hope it keeps coming.

The guests continue to bring new ideas and company. One of our most recent guests told me about how useful clay was for fighting infection and more. I learned that the darker clay is more for molding and the lighter clay is more medicinal. The white, white clay she said, can be diluted with water 10:1(ish). You can drink the water to cleanse out your digestive system.

The road is dry and bumpy. The weather is overcast and probably in the low-mid 70s. Perhaps 50% humidity.

Well, that’s the news from Honey Camp. You can log on at www.honeycampranch.com

Three Day Delivery

Every day brings a new adventure for those boys. Today, I got to share in the excitement as the lumber was finally delivered to our place.

It all began last weekend, when Matt told the lumber company that the road was very bad. They didn’t trust themselves to deliver the wood, so they returned the delivery fee. It was up to Matt and Luciano to come up with plans A, B and C.

So, they hired a guy with a big British army truck to make the delivery. That afternoon, the Rover followed the army truck down Honey Camp Road. They watched, as about 5 miles into the trip, the truck veered off the road and into soft ground.

This heavy load could not escape it’s fate.

The boys left the truck to find one of the few tractors on Honey Camp, but the driver was too drunk to help. And on their way out of the long road to inquire, they got the Rover stuck! That ensued a whole new train of complications, which they eventually freed themselves of and returned to the truck.

They began unloading the “small stuff” into the Rover and driving it to HCR. They got all the floor delivered that night. It was getting dark, and after many attempts to get out using only 4-wd, the driver decided to stay the night with his truck and the lumber.

The next day, Luciano had found a man in town who had a tractor. The tractor didn’t help and the truck remained grounded.

The driver was spent. He was ready to go home. He and his passenger began unloading lumber. Claudio was left behind to guard it, as Matt and Luciano went into town to borrow Neto’s trailer. With the trailer in tow, they worked all day moving the 2x4s to HCR.

Sometime around midnight (just after they finished moving the 2x4s) the truck driver did get out. I hear that he had to jack up the truck and put stones under the tires.

Earlier that day, Luciano did get ahold of Mr. Bull—another man with a tractor. He was already busy for the day, but said he could be out first thing in the morning to move the remaining lumber to HCR.

Matt woke early the next day. They had left the heaviest and most expensive lumber in the road… and he was hearing things. He jumped into the Rover while it was still dawn (perhaps 5:30) and went to check on the lumber.

After confirming that it was still there, he returned. But it was no wasted trip! Matt collected the rocks from the truck escapade and brought them back to help repair our dead end road. He also dug a trench to drain the water from a small lake at the entrance of our road. And all that before breakfast! After eating, the boys called Mr. Bull, who said he would meet them at the site.

I was left once again with a ton of work to do, and a sweet charming baby. I had been here before—for the last two days, and I wasn’t hopeful.

A couple hours passed when I heard the Rover coming up the road. I braced myself for another tragic detour.

I walked out to the road, and saw not the Rover, but a tractor climbing the horizon!

I was overjoyed. If I wasn’t so busy taking pictures, I would have been dancing.

It took Mr. Bull and his crew of 2; and the Rover, carrying Matt, Luciano and Claudio 3 trips to carry the remaining 8x8 lumber. 

When they were through, it was 11:58am, and I was beside myself. It was one of the greatest mornings ever at Honey Camp Ranch. Mr. Bull is indeed a bull. He’s larger than life and a king upon his throne.

time is never wasted

There's quite a bit to say, so I'll just leave you with some photos and a poem.

Venus and Jupiter are so bright

And when I saw the moon, she was smiling

The waves roll in, or not at all

And the clouds, sometimes trace the skyline

My days are filled with the sounds of life

And the quiet tapping of my keyboard

As I assure myself

Time is never wasted

in a place like Honey Camp