Friday, March 26, 2004
Woke at 6:30 am and went out to the front porch to read from the Sacred Romance. Bob was there and we also made small talk. Eric’s worship thought for the day focused on the idea that if we know to do right and don’t do it, it is sin. Breakfast arrived on foot in a carpet bag today. Out of that bag came scrambled eggs/peppers, oatmeal/tapioca, bread and peanut butter. We were good to go.
The plan was to tear into our project until 10 am and then take off a little time to visit Susan Hendrickson. Susan is the Patron Saint of the Island and has been quite generous with the school project. Her home is a beautiful, open Tahitian-style home that abounds with artifacts from her world archeological digs. She is a very personable, down-to-earth celebrity and loves animals. She had a fawn and grown deer that sleep on her bed and 8-10 dogs that patrol the compound. Susan is best known for her discovery of the world’s most complete T-Rex dinosaur found in South Dakota in 1990.
At 10 am Rigo joined us to make the now famous truck ride to the Mangrove Bight dock. Marcella met us to ferry our crew to Susan’s Casa Grande. In about 10 minutes we were maneuvering our boat up to a beautiful boat house and dock. After tying our dory to the mooring posts, we hopped on to the dock and followed Bob up the steep, winding concrete walkway. Bob’s knees were hurting and he was trying to stifle the pain and look strong. The path was reminiscent of Bush Gardens and led us higher and higher past fan palms, hibiscus and dense foliage. The barking of an army of dogs announced our arrival near the top. She greeted us warmly, offered soda pops, and then led us to her bedroom to show us her fawn, who slept on the headboard of her bed. A large female deer came in later and sniffed around as we talked and photographed. The fawn loved to lick people’s faces and nursed on a bottle of formula.
Susan talked about her work, the school project, and about her passion to prevent grasping developers from turning the island into a tourist resort. They were trying to use government development funds for personal gain. She took us to her work room to autograph some books and pictures of her and T-Rex. Just as she was beginning to sign, the phone rang. It was the Minister of Tourism talking about the planned resort development. She spoke with him at length while Bob checked his watch—knowing how much we yet had to complete. He asked us what to do and finally decided to write her a note that we had to leave. He held up the note to her and she very strongly directed for him to sit down and be patient. There are only two things that can make Senor Bob sit down—Susan’s direction and his bad knees. Eventually the phone conversation came to an end and Susan continued where she left off with her tales about development. One of her concerns was the cutting of vegetation through her personal property. We finally excused ourselves to leave this beautiful oasis of peace and quiet to meet a lunch engagement at Marcella's home.
Back on the job site Jim and I finished up the computer tables, rebuilt some bookcases and installed them in the computer room. Craig, our 4-wheeling taxi driver, picked us up for a trip to Marcella and Lorna’s for supper. Pastor Johnson, Craig and his nephew also joined us for the meal. Eric and Bob showered at their house while Dale went to visit Consuelo. Craig picked up Dale on the road as we headed back to Mitch for a good night’s sleep. Our days are full of work, fun, and plenty of adventure, definitely different from the usual routine.