December 2024 – Goping With the Flow
Hello Healthy, Happy People!
We finally managed to get off the farm for a bit of a rest.
If you can call it that.
As I speak Phil is on a ladder
20 plus feet in the air painting!!
To him this is relaxing……
Go figure.
It must be because of all the energy he has
from eating our organic Alfalfa and Olive Leaf everyday.
Going with the Flow, literally!
So things are a little disruptive you say!
First of all,
for us the moment we left Canadian soil
Canada Post goes on strike!!
Just a little disruptive you might say
since the majority of our products are delivered
to you, our wonderful customers
via the Canadian and Us Postal services.
We appreciate your patience.
FYI~ If you are wanting to purchase product,
please call Lori on our toll free number 1-877-682-1188
and she will let you know the options available.
Back to disruptive.
So our flight is delayed due to Tropical Storm Sara.
Which “stalled” over Belize!
That means more rain than you can imagine.
The pilot finally decides he is going to give it a go.
We have an uneventful flight, YEAH!
Phil (who is also a pilot)
notes as we are landing that the pilot
had the brakes on and the spoilers up
as soon as we touched down
as there was so much water on the runway
that Phil figures the pilot was concerned
about hydroplaning.
We had been receiving text messages
from friends in Belize
telling us to be sure to buy food as soon as we arrived because bridges and roads were flooding.
Thankfully our friend that was picking us up
was able to get us some sourdough bread
and locally grown peanut butter.
We figured we could live on that
with our organic Alfalfa and Olive Leaf
if need be for a few days.
It was an unsettling 1.5 hour drive in the dark.
We narrowly missed running over what appeared to be a drunk man staggering around
in the middle of the road.
But we made it and everyone was safe!
So the next day we get up early to go see
the extent of the flooding in our little community.
The picture above shows you what we found.
To give you some perspective,
the Belize River “usually” flows behind those houses,
on the other side of the trees.
With about a 6 to 8 foot embankment.
I am standing on a road that is flooded and the 3 homes are submerged in at least 6 feet of water.
They are all on stilts,
as it is known that flooding happens there.
I do not comprehend why anyone wants to build
in a flood plain, but they do.
Our little single story house is about a block and a half away from where the highest ever flooding has happened.
I just want to share a bit more perspective with you, especially about going with the flow……
No body was freaking out!
They were just going with the flow, literally.
Especially the locals.
There were even guys on watercraft whizzing through the water in peoples yards!
Lots of kayaks and canoes showed up too!
It is all just part of the rainy season in Belize.
Neighbors were helping neighbors to move cars etc.
to higher ground and life just went on as usual.
So, us newbies decided that we would venture into town to buy some fruit and veggies.
We knew there was one bridge that we had to cross
but it was usually about
25 to 30 feet above water level.
When we crossed the bridge the water level looked to be
about 10 feet below the bridge.
No problem we thought.
We go to the Farmers’ Market
and everyone is tearing their booths down
(we saw 10 guys load a commercial fridge unit
full of food onto a rickety trailer)
to move to higher ground
because they said the water is still rising.
News to us.
Again, so ignorant of the situation….
We decide to go to a local grocery store
to get our produce,
and then go to the restaurant next door
and have lunch.
So an hour and a half goes by.
We head home.
We cross the same bridge and now the water is only about 5 feet below the bridge!
We make it home just fine.
But it just kept raining and raining
and that night the bridge we had crossed
just a few hours earlier
was under 6 to 10 feet of water!!!
And stayed that way for about 5 days!!
So the moral of the story…
in one way ignorance is bliss.
Yet I feel that we ventured out
and didn’t realize the risk
because everyone was so chill,
just literally going with the flow!
You do what you have to do and carry on.
We saw no drama at all attached to the event.
Inconvenience yes, disruption yes,
yet life just goes on.
I feel we have become so spoiled in North America
with having what we want, when we want it,
for as long as we want it,
that we have no real concept of that which
can truly be disruptive, dangerous
or even life threatening.
People just help each other.
They don’t need to know your name
or where you are from.
You are a human or an animal,
if you need help, they help.
Makes me wonder why Belize is called
a third world country,
or at best a developing country
when you are trying to be nice.
But folks that aren’t consumed with “stuff”
just seem to have less attachment to stuff
and more care and compassion
for their fellow human beings.
What a great example the people here have been to us.
Truly helps us to put life into perspective
and allow us to live our lives
by going with the flow!
Just so you know,
when the rains stopped
the water around those houses in the picture
went down significantly in less than 12 hours
and they were completely out of the water
in about 36 hours.
Just amazing to have experienced this in person!
Healthy, Happy Days to You!