Monkeys and the bliss of floating on air :)

Life has been busy the last few days...

Besides having a team here, I taught Bible study as usual Saturday evening, attended a wedding Sunday morning, taught Bible study Sunday afternoon, drove 2 hours to a memorial service and back again the same night. Yesterday morning I took some local workers to a village 2 hours down the rough road to work on a church in San Benito Poite, and came back again, then took an injured friend back to his village... involving another 2 hour round trip! Whew!

Now on to the title...

Monkeys... since the hurricane in October of 2001, the wildlife has been more scarce due to the deforestation (or would it be dejunglation???) caused by the hurricane. However, animals have been gradually moving back in... we have a roaming jaguar by the center, although I haven't got to see it yet (only hear it...). But, last week, on a trip to a village, we got to see monkeys up in a tree along the road. I have seen them in a wildlife reserve, but not just in the wild. It was pretty neat.

Bliss of floating on air... yesterday I was just a little road weary. All that driving on our famously terrible roads eventually wears on a person. So... when we arrived at my injured friends' home, I stretched out in the hammock for a quick bit of rest. I didn't appreciate hammocks much before I came to Belize, but I have become convinced of the wonderful invention they truly are. Perfect for sleeping at any time, a hammock is most delightful when one is exhausted and achy. When you stretch out across that hammock, and it swings slowly in the breeze... everything seems to just melt away. The noise of chickens, dogs, and children all melt away, and the feeling of being suspended above every thing, including time, slides sweetly over your body. There is nothing quite like it...unless of course you awake from said state of bliss to the sound of fresh corn tortillas being baked! Ahh.... It was a refreshing and much needed moment of rest!