Pills, batteries, wise men and shepherds...

I never thought that the pills would be a problem. You see, I don’t take pills – not really. Some people I know seem to have different pills for every day of the week and every hour of the day. Me? Only one Advil since I arrived in Belize over three months ago, and it was the same in Canada. But now I have to take these anti-malaria pills, two every Sunday. What a problem! Do you think I can remember? It takes at least one email from Pat each week and if she forgets, forget it – I won’t remember. This week she remembered on Monday evening so if I remember, I’ll take the pills with breakfast on Tuesday morning.

And talking about keeping track of the time, my Timex stopped yesterday. I suspected the battery had died so this morning I began to search for a new one. I asked Fr. Dick who said, “Ask at any store”. Any store said, “Flo Johnston carries them”. Miss Flo said, “Yes, I do, but you’ll have to go to the watch man to open the watch, and if he doesn’t have the right battery come back to me”. Turns out the watch man is the barber. I’d walked by his place many times but didn’t even know it was a barbershop let alone a watch repair shop. He’s a very friendly older gentleman and had my Timex running in no time. And now I know where to go for my next haircut.

You may have guessed that there’s not a lot to report from PG right now, and you may be right, but Monday is my day off. Tomorrow I’ll have company as Deacon Tess is coming from Mango Creek for a short visit, mainly to say goodbye to her Punta Gorda friends. She leaves for Canada in early January after a two-year ministry in PG and Mango Creek. Then it will be crunch time as we try to put the finishing touches on The Christmas Story. Not finishing touches like when you touch up the last little blemishes on a work, but finishing touches like you do all you can and then time runs out. People are reminding me that the key word is “improvise”. I think that means that if none of your three Wise Men show up you just narrate that part of the story and pretend you weren’t expecting them. (Today’s picture is of my four prospective shepherd boys.)