I'll keep the Blog going for a while, but in the meantime...

Home at Last!

It’s high time I let my reading public (did I almost say "adoring fans"?) know that I arrived safely home last Friday. The four flights between Belize City went without a hitch. It’s been quite cold here since I arrived but I don’t notice it any more than any other winter. No culture shock either as I slip easily into our northern consumer life style. There is, however, some emotional vulnerability as I discovered in church on Sunday morning, getting quite emotional about worshipping among so many friends here while having left so many friends there.

There’s a lot to keep me busy here. Some of you will know that a month or so before I left for home there was a power surge that knocked out some of our electronic stuff, including the emergency back up pump. Naturally this was followed by a power outage which turned off the main sump pump – ergo a flood in our basement. The insurance should look after repairing most of the damage to walls and floor but can’t do much about lost books and my stamp collection.

One nice thing about returning to Canada is that I’m again able to use Skype to make telephone calls over the Internet (VoIP) at a low cost. Belize won’t allow its use for calls originating there but I can call Belize from here.

It’s difficult not knowing how things are going at St. Joseph’s. I don’t want to keep phoning, or even emailing, to find out so I just hope and pray that my departure may be just what was needed to inspire those left behind to new heights.

On the Way

Two pleasantly uneventful flights from BZE to MIA to MCO have brought me half way home. As I write this, I am happily ensconced in unit 9301 at Silver Lake Resort, Kissimmee, a suburb of Orlando. When I left Belize it was experiencing an unusually long period of miserable weather; when I arrived in Orlando it was delightful, as usual.

I will be thinking of my Belizean friends a lot as I try to review the past sixteen months for my Canadian friends. I’ve left many good friends behind and won’t be surprised if I find myself in their beautiful country again sometime. Among the parting gifts I received are a carved barracuda, a patchwork quilt and a communion plaque made of Belizean woods.

They Kneeled and Worshipped

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Coming Home

Stage One of the descent (perhaps ascent, cartographically) is complete as I drove the van (Echo) from Punta Gorda to Belize City yesterday. There was a little send-off gathering at St. Joseph’s on Tuesday, all the last minute things were completed on Wednesday, and I slipped off before breakfast on Thursday. Two of the local pastors who live along the highway had arranged to feed me, pray with me and love me on my way – a fine sendoff.

The drive was relaxing as I stopped here and there for pictures (above and below), arriving in mid-afternoon at the home of fellow Canadian, Robert Lyon, who will be hosting me until Stage Two next Friday, the flight to Orlando. While here I expect to “veg” mostly with one or two touristy trips – an extended winding down.

I will be checking emails regularly, so feel free…