Ok. Quiet now and don't wake me up. On this site where the boys are standing will rise my backpackers lodge. The front as you can see overlooks the ocean from a distance. It will be a 5 bedroom house with a wrap around wooden deck. Half will be covered and half will be left open so guests can laze around and get darker than me...if they want to. The back deck will be facing the lush green hills and looking down the slope to the dry creek below. All the bedrooms will be upstairs because the whole downstairs will occupy the spacious kitchen with Viking appliances and subzero refrigeration. And a living room resembling a library...meaning, it will be filled with books wall to wall. On the east side of the property is almost 2 acres which I will use for a plant nursery and chicken enclosure, yes, for the chickens. Below where the boys are standing I've already planted several fruit trees and bananas, but it's not enough. I intend for guests and visitors to freely roam the property enjoying the plants and maybe help gather the chicken eggs. I am not calling this place a hostel, a pension house or simply a lodge, but a "backpackers lodge" because I have an affinity for backpackers for the same reason I have a secret fascination towards vagabonds. Don't ask my why. But then again, who needs a reason? I am just dreaming.

I am taking a break from farming and from beating up on the boys. I am bored of the redundancy and monotony of my routine, so I signed up for eHarmony. I do this every 2 years or so--not for any other reason but so I can say "yes, I am dating" when someone asks me if I am. And also because I enjoy waking up each day, playing mind games. Or whatever they call that thing that men and women do in a relationship.

A friend told me that he read a survey showing that 35% of the men who subscribe to online dating are already married. And that's supposed to be news? "Aren't you concerned about the high percentage and the possibility of getting duped"? Why? At my age, I'm more concerned about constipation happening more regularly than being regular. And, oh well, since we're talking about my age, I might as well let you in on a secret. I'm in the dating scene again,  because at 55 and having a crisis, I'm really needing a Harley and they don't normally come by itself. The photos I'm looking at have their owners on them. So now, it's just a matter of shopping and choosing because a lot of them looks beat up, while there are some that I feel I could really take home. And lovingly park them in my bedroom.

href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiivTZi6GQhYnFkIRfVgewe2_9uZ1dgPEeALAvUJnxFsC9KySrLOcpC4QpS9B_DwovUyVZaYeNDHpFL91jZF5hKjHCOEvcTuZHAmQssG_iiaSTMPHvFtLZcxhAXXnr1ucCuVAme/s1600/IMG_3499.JPG" imageanchor="1"> Before you report me for child abuse/labor, let me tell you what the boys are doing. The bananas they're carrying on their head are for them to eat, while Kevin with that sack on his shoulder is going to make a few pesos for his share when he sells the coconuts. Gilbert's sack contains the bolo and the pick for the coconut. Actually, there are 12 sacks of coconuts that the boys have already taken to town to sell.

We harvest coconuts every 2-3 months and the boys do the picking and the drying. They get 50% of the sale and they do whatever they want to do with their share....and my 50%? it goes to their living expenses. In other words, I get nothing. BUT....they're now slowly able to make money on their own and in 6 months or so, when I can get one part of the land prepared  for raising free range chicken, it will be another source of income for them. Until I can wean them off from depending on me.

All of my contemporaries have never seen Julius Caesar or even Abraham Lincoln, and yet, they believe without a doubt that these 2 existed and did what they did. But when it comes to Jesus Christ--the man who split history in 2 (BC/AD) they'd brush him off as a fairy tale....even with historical and archaeological evidence. And when I quote his sayings or talks about Him, they'd brush me off as a "fanatic". What the......?

I used to be strongly convinced that I was climbing the right ladder, after all, haven't we heard so often "there's more than one way to get to heaven"? But when I found out that my ladder was leaning against the wrong wall, I slowly came back down and rechecked my facts. No, there's only one way. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me."  I also found that books can give you information, but if you want  transformation, only the bible can fill that prescription.  I love reading memoirs  of famous living people and biographies of the famous or infamous dead ones, but I like Jesus Christ "biblia" the most, because I believe that after I am done here on earth, He's the only one who can get me advanced reservations to the smoking or non-smoking section seat in eternity. And of course, I'm saying this because I believe in eternity. But if you're not on the same page with me, then all I've said above is just hogwash.

I'm back home here in the city. I was at the farm over the weekend and here's some pictures. Loading the boys for a ride.

I took the boys to look for some rare or endangered species of plant that might be growing in my land. I am just learning to familiarize myself of the "ancient" plants my dad used to grow. And we sure did find one.

Here's my all time favorite--breadfruit. I could hardly find them in the city grocery but I have 1 big tree on my land with all these rootlings. I'm learning how to propagate them. Early morning. Sermon and ovaltine.

I'm hardly impressed by anything anymore. Although I would like to meet a man who is good looking inside out, financially secure and with his personal life in order....and yet, unimpressed and undeterred by it all, still choose to love God with all of his heart and mind. You know what I mean? The kind who enjoys all that luxury in life as a bonus, but knows without a doubt that it is just being lent to him. And that it will all need to be accounted for when he stand before his Maker.

Ok, how did I get in this reflective mood. It's because of this Singleness Awareness day, aka, Valentines day. I don't subscribe to it, even when I had a man because I'm a firm believer that love is not celebrated one day a year, but each day of the year. And sad to say, a lot of single people get so bummed out at Valentines. I was talking to a friend yesterday and he was rehashing the bad part of his relationship before it finally ended. Assuming that everything  he told me is true, I would say that his ex-girlfriend  had all the attributes of a dog, except loyalty.

It's Valentines night, do you know where your sweetheart is? Well, if you're sad about being alone this Valentines day, just remember that no one loves you the rest of the year either. Or you have a man but counting pennies.

Ok. If you've been following my blog you must by now know how my mind works-- even a so-called obsession I could barely sustain. But I'm glad to report that farming still gives me the pitter-patter, because I just love the fact that I could drop seeds on the ground and it dies and lives-- to  produce something. Something edible or something to feed the eyes. I am particularly proud of this because this is nurtured by the boys. This is called bitter melon.

I teach them the importance of insects and bees to have a balanced ecology. I tell them that flowers and vegetables need the same nurturing.

Kevin just could not be bothered with plants, so I put him to do the manly thing. I built them a new kitchen and serves as our rest area.

Here's what I mean about pitter-patter. Cassava, a lowly root crop can be made into so many different snacks. Instead of potato latkes?

There are days when I just get overwhelmed by the feeling of missing my Chatter so much, but when I get in that mood, I divert my energy to planting. And it helps. A bit. Well, I can't have it all, can I?

I don't want to farm FOR A LIVING, because I grew up farming and it's a hard life. I want to farm because of the joy of seeing God's miracle of life, watching something grow ---without having to send them to school. I eat them or sell them with no fear of going to jail.

What I REALLY WANT TO DO before I move in with Jesus is to build on top of the hill on my land a backpackers hostel, employ my street kids to run it while I simply sit and sip my coffee (or cognac) looking at the ocean, and listen to grungy looking travellers but rich with stories brought in from all over the world. This would be an ideal. A dream come true, but then again as what Kant said: Give a man everything, and in that moment everything will not be everything.

I'm glad I don't have the money to "just do whatever I want" or I'd be cursed with a boring life. At least now I can enlarge or reduce my dream because as we all know, life imagined is better than life lived. Ok, I'm trying hard here to convince myself that my life is not boring. I don't see it working.

I have an open door policy with these street boys: You freely come and you freely leave, but remember, it's not a revolving door. And there are guidelines and rules you have to follow while you're living with me.

1.Whether you like it or not, I live on the premise that there is a God, therefore we live by His guidelines here in this house. 

2. Since your parents failed you and you didn't have a normal functioning family, we're going to try and mimic a normal family setting.
3. Respect each other and respect other people and their property.

4. Personal hygiene is important.

5. He who will not work, will not eat.

6. And when you start to have feelings for the opposite sex---THINK with your head and make sure you don't create another street kid.

Last month at Christmas I brought the boys back here to the city. After 5 days, one of the 3 didn't come home from what was supposed to be a visit to his sister. After 3 days, I went to find him and of course, he was back under the bridge sniffing rugby. We talked and I asked him to come home. He said he will not go back to the island until he finds his dad. I said, fine, come back when you're ready. It's been almost 2 months and he's still out there with the other street kids. Here is JR, the youngest of them, he enjoys his goat and loves to find forage for the goat. I do the best I can and I just prepare myself for the day that they'd finally leave for good.