101 Random Remembrances From Childhood

1. Rocks caught in the lawnmower and rock candy

2. George and May

3. The first book I owned: Aladdin and Other Tales from the Arabian Nights

4. Aunt Vivien and Bud and the Indian Reservation

5. Uncle Ozzie drowning

6. My mother singing

7. House fire at 48^th Street

8. Following the fire truck up the hill and the fear I felt when it stopped in front of my house

9. Paper bag Halloween costumes with Jimmy in Hollywood Park Projects

10. Playing in the street with the neighborhood kids

11. Wetting my pants in front of all the kids

12. Lipstick tube hitting me in the face on Christmas morning

13. The IGA at the bottom of the hill

14. Trick or treating

15. Camano Island

16. Crabbing

17. Waterskiing

18. My mother waterskiing

19. Burning my hip on the wood stove

20. Miriam Loucks

21. My love for reading

22. My parents fear during the Cuban Missile Crisis

23. My father’s bar/recreation room

24. My mother and father dancing at their house parties

25. Phil and Phyllis Haskell

26. The string game my parents and their friends played

27. My mother discovering that I was reading Peyton Place

28. Mr. Geyer

29. My dad listening to jazz

30. My dad drinking rum and coke

31. Jimmy spitting in my milk

32. Mr. Mott

33. The day John Kennedy was assassinated

34. Playing in the woods

35. The two story tree house my brother and his friends built

36. Sleeping in the tree house

37. The woods across from my house

38. The creek in the woods

39. The Tarzan swing we used to cross the creek

40. Stump rot fights

41. Following the creek from our neighborhood to the airport

42. Angle Lake

43. Lily pads in Angle Lake and getting caught in them

44. Sneaking out of the house through the basement window

45. My grandpa Ben and the oxygen tank

46. Grandpa Ben unhooking the tank so he could smoke

47. Uncle Darryl and how handsome he was

48. Teresa as my best friend

49. Spending the night at Teresa’s house

50. Going to seminary with Teresa early in the morning

51. Santa Claus in the window of the Fredericks and Nelson in downtown Seattle

52. Driving home from my Grandparents house on Christmas Eve

53. My dad singing We Three Kings

54. The Christmas tree on Christmas morning

55. The magic of snow falling

56. Winning a pink Schwinn bike at an Albertson’s raffle

57. Being left in the woods

58. Riding my bike down 216^th

59. Getting caught stealing Red Hots with Teresa

60. Riding my bike down 216^th with my brother Mark on the handlebars when he put his foot in the spokes and flipped the bike. 

61. Mark breaking his leg and me being scared half to death

62. Des Moines Field House

63. Breaking my toe playing softball in bare feet

64. Winning most Inspirational Player in Basketball

65. Changing elementary schools

66. The green shoes with the hole in them

67. Standing in front of the class at a new school being introduced as Constance while wearing clear plastic rain boots with no shoes

68. Burgundy hip-hugger dress

69. Kirie Peterson

70. Cutting through the pastures walking to school in the rain

71. Trying out for cheerleader…and losing

72. Waterland Festival – every year

73. The birth of Mark

74. The birth of Matthew

75. My mother getting sick

76. Donna Jacobs

77. Lance and Lynn St. Laurent

78. The neighbor who spoke Korean and molested my brother while I was babysitting

79. Linda Jensen

80. My mother calling my name from the deck of our house telling me to come home for dinner

81. Stamping prices on cans of food at Albertson. 

82. Babysitting for Meredith’s twins the summer I was twelve

83. Buying my first pair of contacts with babysitting money and scratching my cornea and not being able to wear them

84. Charlotte wearing wet underpants on her head

85. Listening to Jimmy and the St. Laurent boys through the floor vent in my room while they talked about my how flat my chest was

86. The McMartin boys from next door

87. Des Moines Terrace

88. Teresa and I flirting with Ed Tonseth

89. Learning that Teresa was a lesbian

90. The cool stuff Teresa’s dad brought home from his job as a Purser for PanAm Airlines

91. The smell of fried pork chops

92. Avocado green shag carpet

93. Raking the carpet before my mother came home from work

94. The smells of the Indian bakery

95. Tuffley’s market

96. Spending my lunch money on candy at Tuffley’s – six different packages for a quarter

97. Walking to the corner store on Des Moines Way feeling like Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird

98. The weeping willow tree along the way

99. Des Moines theatre – Saturday movies for 10 cents

100. Eczema covering my hands and arms and the way kids teased me

101. Being a tomboy

And so it goes on September 28, 2012.

More questions than answers...

As the Kittitian and Nevisian people prepare to celebrate Independence Day, I hear corners of conversations on the street, in the bus, and muted in hallways outside of closed office doors; a measured question:  Are we better off today than we were before?

The state of the union then and now; not unlike an issue political pundits are currently debating in the United States as President Obama and Governor Romney continue their campaigns and the 2012 presidential election nears.

I think  people here in the Federation are proud of their heritage, and proud of their country, but  often troubled by the challenges the country faces as it struggles to find its twenty-first century balance.

First and foremost, as in many parts of the world today, is the troublesome economy.  St. Kitts and Nevis is suffering from huge debt.  While policymakers around the world are renewing the debate over government borrowing and spending, St. Kitts and Nevis ranks second in the world with the largest debt to GDP ratio; a primary indicator of a country’s economic health. 

And that unwelcome designation brings with it the potential for huge default.  The question is what can be done?  And that’s when things get sticky and answers become rank with politics.

As an outsider, I think the future for economic stability may lay in the cane fields; rich, fertile land abandoned when a shrinking sugar market forced the closure of the industry and the country re-shifted its economic priority to tourism. 

But it seems there is an aversion to agriculture as a livelihood, in a historical context an aversion I do understand, but from a vantage point of necessity, non-sugar agriculture holds great potential for economic growth.  According to the Ministry of Agriculture, “tremendous opportunities are available for commercial farming as local demands continue to outpace local supply.” 

Too often governments base their budgets on the projected number of cruise ship visits or pending hotel projects that in reality have little direct impact on those citizens struggling to make a living.  But there is a pressing need for the country to feed itself, and if the opportunity for commercial farming is there, it seems like a more independent course from which to build an economic foundation that will lead to a solid and sustainable future.  It takes a lot of hard work and enterprise to be a farmer, but the land is here, the need is here, and fundamentally, farming offers an alternative and the potential for independence.

So the questions I see hovering in a bubble over Mt. Liamigua as the citizens of this proud nation prepare to celebrate the 29^th Anniversary of their Independence are these:  How are we going to answer the awesome development challenge of 2012?  What path will we take to put human needs at the top of the political agenda and build a more prosperous and sustainable future for us all?  And will we, as citizens, avail ourselves to those opportunities already here?

And so it goes on September 18, 2012.

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride..but this one wasn't fun

I smacked the front part of my head on the bus door doing one of the get on/get off the bus routines this morning - unfortunately I had the second row jump seat and had to get up and off whenever someone next to me or behind me wanted to get off - and of course, the person in the jump seat in front of me and next to the door didn't move, expecting me and the exiting passenger to squeeze by him.  Needless to say it had a dizzying effect on my brain, and on the third round of "musical chairs" I whacked my head hard trying to get back on again, knocking me off my feet and onto the ground, wearing a dress no less. I felt light headed and dazed. Not one person offered to help; the man in the front seat still didn't move as I recovered from my fall and tried to get back on the bus, and once I was seated, the trip to town resumed as if I were invisible. I suppose I should be grateful the driver waited for me to recover and get back on the bus.  Real friendly people.

I'm still picking the gravel out of my ass...

I continue my love affair with the papaya, scanning the markets for sightings.  Friday morning I thought I'd hit the papaya jackpot- a vegetable stand on the main road near my village, with three papaws as they're called here, still very green, but with a promise from the merchant that they'd ripen within a few days. I bought all three, took them home and put them in a dark place as she'd told me to do, hoping they'd ripen faster.  It's almost a week later and there isn't even a hint of yellow on any of them.  I was punk'd by the vegetable lady.  She sold me papaws that would never turn yellow; good for soups and stews, but not for breakfast.  So...I gave them to Max this morning; he was delighted.

The electricity has been going out randomly this past week, often several times a day.  For some reason dark seems darker here, the darkest black, uncomfortably so.  I'm grateful to Liz and the hurricane lamps and D batteries she sent when I first arrived.  As long as I can reach one of them, I know the boogey centipedes/lizards/and/or tarantulas won't get me.  I'm much braver in the light.

And so it goes on September 12, 2012,  the day after the 11th anniversary of the worst day.

Profiles in courage..right here in St. Kitts and Nevis

I've spent the last few months interviewing nominees for the second annual Remarkable Teens program - this year expanded to include Nevis - selecting recipients, and gathering information that will help me tell the story of each honoree.  I've finally finished writing the profiles, and as always happens during this process, through telling the stories of these young people, I have come to know courage, commitment, determination and faith that has moved me beyond words.

The generosity of spirit, the personal responsibility, the capacity for connectedness that they not only manifest in their own lives, but invoke in others, inspires me to be a better person.  By choosing what they can do with a positive attitude even in the face of adversity, they have chosen the freedom to own their life;  by choosing meaning and purpose, they have made their young lives matter.

I thought I'd be home in October after a stop in New York to see Sarah, but there's been a new development here. I’ve been asked by the Minister to extend my commitment until after the 25 Most Remarkable Teens in St. Kitts and Nevis program is completed.  The date for the Federal Parliament Presentation is November 21, 2012. Since I’m the program lead they feel my presence is necessary both for the continued training of youth department staff in program operations to ensure sustainability, and for the successful 2012 program implementation. 

 

It's only an extra few weeks, but I know it's disappointing to the girls, especially when I've been gone for so long and the presentation falls on the night before Thanksgiving.  But they have always been supportive and are proud of the work I do; understanding that it matters to the kids here that I follow through too.

 

I'd like to give you a little back story on how this transpired, but  I can't really get into the politicking behind it all, though I can say it's been potentially divisive and definitely influenced my decision to extend.  It will be interesting to see how it plays out, but in the meantime the Peace Corps has approved the extra month and we'll be able to leave St. Kitts and Nevis on a high note which is important to all of us. 

 

For me personally, it was a difficult decision, because I’ve been ready to go home for months now – I miss family, friends, and all things familiar– and I need to find a paying job a.s.a.p., but I also have a lot of time and emotion invested in these kids and the promises I’ve made to them – and if another month here will ensure that those promises are kept, I don’t see that I have any other choice but to stay.

 

There is another interesting twist too:

 

One of the recipients we selected as Scholar Athlete for the 25 Most Remarkable Teens program in 2006 (Tyler Clary) - the first year I started the program in Riverside – won the Gold Medal at the Olympics.  I told the Minister about him – the Minister was actually at the Olympics and remembers seeing Tyler swim.   Anyway, he asked if I could get Tyler to come to St. Kitts – travel and lodging at the Marriott courtesy of the government – to participate in the Federal Parliament presentation on November 21; reading the profile for the 2012 Scholar Athlete from St. Kitts in Parliamentary Chambers.  I contacted Tyler’s mom last week, and she spoke to Tyler and emailed me back that he is very interested in participating.  She said she'd let me know for sure regarding his schedule today or tomorrow.

 

Personally, I think this is so cool, inspiring for the kids here – dream big, work hard, never give up kind of inspiring – great PR for the program and the importance of youth recognition, and a real boost for community buy-in, a valuable component to ensuring long term sustainability.  It really feels like the program's come full circle to represent  the best of what these kinds of efforts can accomplish.

 

This will be the last Thanksgiving away from home – and I will be back for leftovers, which are always best anyway.   

 

And so it goes on September 10, 2012.