God Save America

God save America, land that I love 

Stand beside her, and guide her 

Through the night, with the light from above 

From the mountains, to the prairies 

To the oceans, white with foam

God  save America, my earthly home 

God bless America, my home sweet home 

*

O beautiful for spacious skies, 

For amber waves of grain

For purple mountain majesties, 

Above the fruited plain

America, America, 

God shed His grace on thee, 

And crown thy good with brotherhood 

From sea to shining sea! 

O beautiful the pilgrim feet 

Whose stern impassion'd stress

A thoroughfare for freedom beat 

Across the wilderness 

America, America, 

God mend thine ev'ry flaw, 

Confirm thy soul in self-control,

Thy liberty in law

O beautiful for heroes prov'd

In liberating strife, 

Who more than self their country loved, 

And mercy more than life

America, America, 

May God thy gold refine 

Till all success be nobleness,

And ev'ry gain divine

O beautiful for patriot dream 

That sees beyond the years 

Thine alabaster cities gleam 

Undimmed by human tears 

America, America, 

God shed his grace on thee, 

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea

*

My country, 'tis of thee

Sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing; 

Land where my fathers died, 

Land of the pilgrims' pride, 

From every mountainside let freedom ring! 

My native country, thee, 

Land of the noble free, thy name I love; 

I love thy rocks and rills

Thy woods and templed hills; 

My heart with rapture thrills, like that above

Let music swell the breeze, 

And ring from all the trees, sweet freedom's song; 

Let mortal tongues awake; 

Let all that breathe partake; 

Let rocks their silence break, the sound prolong 

Our fathers' God, to thee, 

Author of liberty, to thee we sing; 

Long may our land be bright

With freedom's holy light; 

Protect us by thy might, great God, our King 

*

 Oh say can you see by the dawn's early light 

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? 

Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight 

O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? 

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, 

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. 

Oh say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen, through the mists of the deep, 

Where the foe's haughty host, in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam, of the morning's first beam,

In full glory reflected now shines in the stream: 

'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave 

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band, who so vauntingly swore 

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion, 

A home and a country should leave us no more! 

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution. 

No refuge could save the hireling and slave 

From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave: 

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave 

O'er the land of the free and the home of the  brave! 

Oh thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved home and the war's desolation! 

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. 

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, 

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust." 

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave 

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! 

Fall in Kodiak...

As I drove to work this morning around 9:00 AM, the sun was shining its golden light on the browning mountains. (You know, the kind of light that you usually see around 7:00 AM in Florida?) Fall is definitely here, and the sun is going down earlier (8pm) and rising later. It's so weird - like the sun is sleeping in!

There's a definite chill in the air... the temperature has been ranging from 40-50º F... brrr! (That will be a lot colder next week when I resume riding my bike to work, which I'll probably do until the roads start to get icy; then it's back to walking!) So far the cold weather doesn't phase me. We'll see if I change my tune after about 8 or 9 months of cold... Hah!

Every morning I've been opening all the windows to let the shelter air out. (It gets bleached down in the early morning hours, so it's nice to let the bleach-y vapors clear) This morning I could see my breath as I sat at my desk! It was pretty funny. I closed my window shortly after that.

For those of you who don't know, I am working at the Brother Francis Shelter. It's a homeless shelter, but I am working in the area of homeless prevention. I interview people who are at risk for becoming homeless because of financial crisis, and submit an application for financial assistance to the director. I also compile shelter information for grant reports, and handle most administrative tasks for the shelter. Wee! And that is what I do in a nutshell.

I hope this Fall finds you and your family happy and healthy!
Love,
Noelle+Jaime

Bears! Oh my!

Tonight, after a nice pizza dinner, Gary, my mom, Jaime, Bitsy and I all piled into the Element to go "bear watching." Now, we've been bear watching quite a few times this Summer, and in June Jaime spotted a bear up on the side of a mountain, quite far away. But tonight...

Gary had heard there were bear sightings the past two nights out by the Russian River, so that's the way we headed. (Apparently a few other people heard about it too, because almost everywhere we went there were about 5 cars, all there for the same reason!) We drove just outside of town, and stopped when we saw the caravan of cars parked and people standing at a distance from a riverbank. For there, about 40 yards off, was a young "tween" bear, jumping after salmon with the vibrance and clumsiness of inexperience! It was great. He didn't even notice the 15 people staring at him - and the little boy throwing rocks toward the water - while he caught a fish and took a bite, then jumped back in the shallow water to grab another course for his supper. (See pic, below)

That was so exciting to watch. Jaime and I also went further down the river (far away from the bear) to watch the salmon run. Another first for me! Groups of grey-colored salmon just seemed to hover, swimming in place like they were waiting for a light to turn green! (Or maybe they knew there was a bear up ahead, and were waiting for his belly to get full) A light rain was falling as we saw one particularly determined salmon jump and fight up a small creek and into the main part of the river!

Satisfied but seeking further adventure anyway, we all carried on, traveling further down the road. We drove around a slightly more rural neighborhood, about which Jaime noted, "if you buy a house here, you get the bears for free!" But we didn't see any Kodiak Brown Bears there. So we started to head back to town. And then I saw them... out of the corner of my eye, something was splashing and jumping around in a little part of the river that no passers by had noticed - more bears! I was excited and didn't want to freak out the driver (Gary) by sounding panicked, but I managed to say "Baggins... Shire..." (Just kidding! That's not what I said.) I really said "Turn around! I think I saw two bears playing in the river back there!" So Gary wheeled the car around and we slowly started back towards the spot where I had seen them.

There they were! Two - no, three - fairly large bears, having a ball getting their long-awaited (and very late) salmon feast! One young & foolish (i.e., more dangerous) bear was only about 20 feet away from us, but was down an incline off the road. My mom crept out of the car with her camera, and I followed suit. I felt like a National Geographic photographer, getting close to the action. And then, very aware of us, it stood up to smell our scent on the air (bears eyes aren't that great, so they stand up to get a better whiff), and I couldn't help but wonder if it could cover those 20 feet faster than my mom & I could cover the 5 feet back to the car!

Thankfully, the bear was more distracted by all the fish swimming around it than by two funny smelling humans! My camera settings were all wrong, but I had to take pictures as quickly as I could in this possibly once-in-a-lifetime photo op! And of course, once another car saw us parked at this "unknown" spot, they whipped out their cameras and got out of their car, followed by another car. But the bears were getting nervous at this point, so they all ran off. But we were the first ones there! It was so awesome to see these powerful and beautiful creatures in their natural habitat!

(Actually, it looks in the picture like there were 4 bears - see the dark blobs in the background?- but I only noticed 3 at the time. Hmm...)

And that's what we did for fun on this rainy Friday night in Kodiak. :)

Island Living 1: Lost in the St. John Brush!

The challenges of "island living" are more evident after spending much more than just a 2-week vacation on the islands of St. John and Kodiak. Though different, the lifestyles of these two islands taught me a thing or two about life and living itself.

Jaime and I had a great time with Emily and Nate (Jaime's sister & bro-in-law) in St. John! The first 2 weeks especially were our "vacation" time! We all stayed at the "Jungalow" (Bungalow in the Jungle) together. (Em and Nate even let us sleep in their bed!)

The jungalow is a building the landlord lived in while her house was being built. Many people still live in their "cottage," and put their house building on hold because of the high costs involved. (Think 2-3x what it takes to build a house in Florida!) The jungalow, in this case, is rented out by the homeowner to make additional income, which surely helps when a head of broccoli is about $7, and a quart of Ben & Jerry's is $8! So we stayed in the plywood/screen structure with a tin roof. Though it was somewhat open to the elements, the jungalow had a sense of comfort about it.

It was nestled deep in the valley of Fish Bay, and there always seemed to be a cool breeze blowing. We went to sleep much earlier, since it got dark pretty early and there weren't as many distractions to take up our time. Some rainy nights the air got pretty cold, but we just pulled the cotton blankets over our heads! It felt like we were the lost boys in Neverland! I miss the sounds of trees dancing in the wind, and hermit crabs crawling to find dinner on the forest floor.

Jaime could not wait to grow veggies and herbs, and he planted garlic, basil, onions, lettuce, and peas! I busied myself one afternoon by building a little "fairy house teepee" out of things I found on the ground. It looked pretty neat when it was done!

One Sunday after church, we stopped by the grocery store and started to drive up "Jacob's Ladder," which is a very steep hill that requires hitting the gas and sometimes a wing and a prayer to get up. Well, we started to go, but never made it up the hill that day! The little car died trying to get up the hill, but luckily the mechanic shop was right next to the hill! Out we went, and ended up calling a taxi to come take us - and our groceries - home. It was at that point when we had to get really creative with transportation! Emily drove a work truck, and sometimes if it was on her way she would drop us off at work around 6a.m. (3 1/2 hours early. It was worth it, getting up that early, just to know we had a ride!) When we got jobs at "Big Planet," the surf shop in town, we would get there super early and just sleep on a picnic table bench at the park across the street! Once a park ranger stopped by and asked us a few questions, to make sure we hadn't spent the night there. It was humbling, too, hitch-hiking to work quite a few times. (It's actually very common and safe for people to "hitch" in St. John. Most people have "been there"!) I've never felt quite as grateful as I did when I saw someone's brake lights come on for us! We rode in the back of cars, jeeps, trucks... it was an interesting experience!

The first time I hitched, I was by myself, and walked quite a long way towards town before someone stopped. This fancy SUV pulled over, and half of me wasn't sure if it was for me, while the other half didn't want it to be! The driver finally rolled his window down and said, "Hey there, were you begging a ride?" I reluctantly said "rrrr, um, yes..." and got in. Boy that A/C felt great, let me tell you! He was very nice, and we had just enough conversation to keep it from being too awkward. The other time I had to hitch by myself, a work truck picked me up and this guy was in the back. I knew I would be okay, but he kept staring at my chest! This was incredibly annoying, but I pretended not to notice. In broken English, he asked me if I had a boyfriend, and I told him yes, definitely! After a few minutes of riding along, I was "finally" able to tap the side of the truck so the driver could let me jump out! Oh yeah. That was also the day I had gotten lost in the brush...

Here's the story: I was by myself one Friday, and didn't feel like hitch-hiking. I knew that Nate had walked home from work many times through "the gut" of Fish Bay, and that the school was very close to his work. So, in what is now not thought of as my greatest moment of genius, I decided to try to find the gut myself, and walk through it to the school. I strapped on my backpack, which held my lunch, my waters, my notebook and my pride, and started walking in the direction of the gut. Or what I thought was the direction of the gut. I learned a lot about the topography of St. John that day, for instance, did you know that brush gets thicker and tougher as you get higher? Well, I didn't, so I walked up a pretty steep hill ("Nothing compared to walking out of Fish Bay to hitch-hike," I thought.) and made my way through the trees and large rocks. But as I went along, the "brush" which seemed so friendly at first became a little thorny. I knew that there was "catch-and-keep" (a thorny vine which catches onto skin or cloth and "keeps it" when you walk away), but had no idea of what awaited me if I kept going. And the further I went, the less I wanted to go back, because that would mean retracing the difficult steps I had just taken. Stubbornness made me go on. I felt a sharp sting in my arm, and saw "the culprit" go by. My backpack had brushed against a beehive, and when I looked back I thanked God I hadn't really bothered it. There was a whole hive of bees just beside where I had walked!

So the unfriendly brush became thicker, and thorns and varieties of cactus started to appear. I had jeans on, thank goodness, but only a t-shirt on top, so my arms were getting a bit scratched up. I kept hearing cars go by, so I was sure that when I got "over the hill" I would find at least the road out of fish bay. (But here is another lesson: even on a small island, mountains are very deceiving. What looks like "grass" from far away, can actually be the thickest brush! And, what sounds like it's coming from one direction may very well be coming from somewhere else entirely.) Well, grass I knew there wasn't, but after going up the hill I knew that I had to get over it. And to my dismay, there was no road when I reached the top. Only more thorns, aloe-like cactus, cactus vines, and more cactus. I was pretty nervous at this point, and knew that I wouldn't be making it to my study hall. I just wanted to find a road. It turned out that the safest way for me to go was over the aloe-like cactus brush.

When I got through that, the mountain curved down steeply, and I had to actually slide under the brush to go anywhere. I held onto tree branches as I slid downwards, hoping that I didn't fall. You might imagine that I was discouraged by this time. I was broken. I knew it was my stubbornness that got me into this situation, and only God could get me out! There weren't any houses in sight and I didn't know where I was. I did NOT want to be there when it got dark that evening! With hours of daylight left but nowhere to go, I just started to call out. "Help," quietly at first, but the vulnerability of that humble word hit me, and I started to cry. "HELP! Please! I don't know where I am! Help!" I said between sobs. "God, please help me. HELP!" It was after a few long minutes of calling out that I actually heard someone reply. It was a man's voice, and he said "Stay there! We'll help you down." Oh sweet relief! And humility. I tried to pull myself together, and started scooting down toward the voice. I was so happy to see a friendly face! In fable-like manner, my savior held out his hand to help me climb down the rest of the way. "Where did you come from?" he asked. "Fish Bay," I answered. "Where are we?" "Fish Bay." (Yes, all that effort and I hadn't even left Fish Bay!) As it turns out, Will (hero of the day) and his friend had also been trying to find the gut, but they got turned around too, and found me on their way back to where they started. Even more amazing was the fact that Will was the boyfriend of Angela, my manager at the surf store! He kindly gave me a ride up to the school where I profusely apologized and explained my absence. And, sweaty, scratched up, and a lot less stubborn, I started walking toward town to work the closing shift at the surf shop.

And that is how I learned never to go hiking in a strange place without a guide, and also that if I do, I should bring a map, compass, satellite phone and very large machete.

Teddy L Patisserie (or, how chocolate croissants changed my life)

You know, I just get kind of T.O.'d when nobody has a web site for the BEST pastries in the WORLD: Teddy L, a chain of stores (or patisseries, en frances) which manufactures, no - conjurs, the most magical, melt-in-your-mouth flaky croissants and then fill them with Belgian chocolate, or whatever other filling of wonderfulness that you desire. I can seriously eat about 5 of these at one sitting, but only in Belgium, where walking is the only mode of transportation (if you're going to be scarfing magical pastries by the truckload).

And, in honor of this most excellent pastry shop, and the good friends who introduced Jaime and me to this temptation that cannot be fulfilled unless we fly back over the pond, Mimi & Luis, I am placing a tidbit about its magnificence online, and borrowing a picture from a willing web site.

Thank you, Belgium, and Mimi & Luis, for your pastries.

April Sunshine & A Day at the Beach

This is pretty much straight from my "journal," in case you were wondering.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

At 9:21a.m., I left Jaime at Mongoose Junction in Cruz Bay ("Mongoose" is the shopping center where we work - we are also subbing at Gifft Hill School, a local middle/high school); he was headed for Big Planet (the surf store that has been filling up our hours down here as of late! We are both thankful just to have jobs!), and I was headed for Salomon's Beach (V.I. Nat'l Park). I had taken a 2-hour nap when we were (thankfully!) dropped off by Nate at 6:30 this morning. Otherwise, we would've had a mountainous "2-hour hike" into town! So, well rested and ready for a "lone adventure," I set off for Lind Trail. Before I reached the trail, I saw a baby mongoose scamper across the road; he glanced at me curiously, before darting into the brush. Apparently a donkey had been on the trail earlier, because he left a "present" in the pathway.
I hiked the rocky yet not too steep trail for a few minutes, until my jaunt turned from a nature walk into a Disney-esque, guided tour; there, between me and where the trail forked off, stood 10 tourists and their guide, clad in garb suitable for touristy nature walks. I stood awkwardly behind this group, waiting for them to move on, when I looked down beside me and spied a couple of small lizards mating on a rock! ("Awkward!") The poor little lizards and I just hung in the background as the guide spoke about the Christmas cactus, and how the bloom upside-down looks like a manger with a star above it. He also mentioned that the official bird of St. John is nicknamed the Sugar bird, which happened to be tweeting in a nearby tree. Then, the lizards ran away, and I had nowhere to run as the tour guide explained, in a slight southern accent, how when they entered the next part of the trail, it would be like "walking into a perfume bottle," because of some fragrant, teeny white flowers... then, they began to move on and I could stop avoiding eye contact as I waited for a "green light."
Thankfully, the "white-socked" tourist party moved right, and my "black argyle-socked" one-woman party moved in the opposite direction. I captured a few pictures along my pleasant hike, and enjoyed the shade from overhanging branches. It's warm, and I'm already sweating from the hike and the heat. I stopped to look at some tiny white flowers that resemble what the tour guide had described; two large, june-bug-ish bugs buzzed around happily, while a black bird that sounded like a car alarm whooped overhead.
The trail split off again to the left after about 20 minutes of wandering, and before too long I could trade my tennies for some flops, and claim my spot on this gorgeous, "secret spot" beach. From where I lay, I can see St. Thomas, the edge of Caneel Bay, and I think Jost Van Dyke in the distance. The water is calm and warm, and the sand soft and only somewhat grainy. I snorkel a little without my fins, and see anemonies, tropical fish in yellows and blues, mustard-yellow brain coral and fans in shades of eggplant purple. When I thought I spotted a small barracuda, I decided it was time my "sparkly" (i.e., ring) and I went back to shore, before my finger became some fish's lunch (ha ha).
The shore was so delightful, though, I couldn't resist lounging on my bright green sarong in the sun for a while, wearing my big hat and reading Robinson Crusoe. Today I don't have to be at work until 4, so I can really enjoy this perfect beach day. This is going to be an interesting afternoon; in a series of firsts, this will be the first time I take a shower with a gallon jug. It's totally worth it, though, to spend a few hours at this peaceful beach. (Other recent firsts? First time hitch-hiking to work, first time teaching at a school, etc.) Roosters keep crowing in the background randomly.
A couple who had "dominated" the entrance for a while is now pulling away in their dinghy. (NOTE: You can only get to Salomon's by foot or boat.) Reminds me of another boat I saw earlier, which the driver steered directly toward the rocks before proceeding to start the engine. The boat made a loud noise as it was introduced to a large rock, and the driver sheepishly tried to back the dinghy up... it was pretty funny! He finally got his possibly embarrassed family away from the beach, and in the right direction. But now? The beach is almost entirely mine. I'm glad not all the most beautiful places left in the world aren't owned by the rich. (Thank goodness for National Parks in that respect.)
I love the way the wind blows through the rigging of a nearby sailboat, making a ghostly "whooing" sound, like some maritime mystery. The small waves look like layers of sea green glass, lapping over one another in the most soothing way. (AMAZING "water colors" here - the blues and greens and aquamarines are awesome. Hey, I just made a rhyme.)
Hee hee... a little boy was snorkeling nearby a little while ago, and he was singing a little song in his snorkle! He didn't know anyone could hear him, so the song was one of sheer childhood contentment; just enjoying his day. It was cute. I snorkeled the same area, and there aren't rocks in this spot, only wavy sand, pale blue water and little silver fish as big as your pinky, schooling in the safe, warm shallows. Sigh... it was a nice day! Oh, and on my way back to town, I saw a donkey (possible "the donkey"?), and giggled to myself, because the fellow in front of me was so scared as he passed the grey "beast" - he was almost hugging the other side of the trail from where the donkey lazily stood! Well, I stayed on the opposite side too, but at least I said "Hello, donkey" as I walked by.

Not Goodbye, Just TTFN

Howdy, Friends,
We are off on our great 2008 adventure! From St. John (USVI) to Alaska, we're ready for a change! We are glad for a few days off in between our former corporate jobs and our future St. John jobs. After that we'll be house-sitting and working away at - who knows what! That's kind of exciting.

Thanks for your prayers as we pursue what we were made to do!
With Love,

Jaime+Noelle