Grateful

It's a great day. The sky is blue; we had a hearty thunderstorm last night which my tomato plants loved, and a young family of deer crossed the newly mowed meadow when I awoke and first looked out this morning. Yesterday, the electrician arrived, as promised (THAT now is terrific on this island, where everyone is on EdiSLOW time)...so now little Rosy has instant hot water from the Marey tankless hot water heater, which is an amazing little gadget. Hot water! How we take things for granted. This is part of the great lessons of living really simply right now. This experiment is about lightening my energy use, about getting back to a more basic was of looking at the world.

I met a woman, over the next door neighbor's fence, yesterday, too. She is from the Black community and her name was well known, but I had never met her. She is interested in preserving the culture of this island and participates in many of the community forums dedicated to that end. I love the neighborhood of cousins here. There is so much to learn about community.

And, sweet Charlie from the hardware store arrived under darkening skies, on his way home from work, to put together my large black rolling 'cart' for the new mower. What a sweet guy. The thunderstorm proceeded to completely soak us both even under my covered little awning storage 'carport', but after an hour my new cart is ready to roll today. We talked about his new chickens (they arrived he said one day old by mail order) and his children and wife, who also works at the hardware store. What a treat to meet someone smart, reliable and good natured, even as the skies thundered and the lightening flashed.

So this is a great day. Think I will pull the food processor from the shed and make some pimento cheese. To be at the place for creating (food comes just before art, yay) is a good sign. Perhaps the issues of basic survival are nearly complete. To get the washing machine into the shed (the plumber comes next) will make life lots easier (than hooking up the machine each time I need to run it now in the yard!) Besides the visual assault of having the blue tarp covered washer in the yard.... for someone who thrives on beauty, my own little space is yet to be landscaped. That will make me happier yet.

I feel blessed and challenged and grateful. Oh, and the dog's mosquito repellent arrived in the mail yesterday, too. Clean dishes, a hot bath and a happy pup. All is well.