It's My Birthday

23 May 2010

I am spending my 56^th birthday at the Driftwood Resort  in Malindi, Kenya.  This is a coast town about 2 hours north of Mombasa.  We are here in the off season.  It is winter.  It is sunny and in the 80’s and very humid but it is winter because it rains off and on all the time.

After breakfast in the open air dining room I went for a fast walk on the beach.  There are no other tourists so the only folks I passed are local.  Everyone is polite and eager to sell me something- wood carvings, scarves, jewelry, stone carvings, fish, squid, sandals.  They all know we are Teri and Jack and we are staying at the Driftwood.  Words spreads fast.  They also know it is better to wait for Jack since he is a soft touch and he doesn’t walk as fast.

This morning I was walking for the exercise.  I do feel guilty walking past these folks.  I walk because I eat too much.  They walk because they have nothing to eat unless they make a sale.  I do not beleive this is the way God intended the world to be.  there is so much here that does not make sense to me and there is so much that makes sense but i do not like it.  There is also much I love.

But for tonight I will just sit in the open air bar sipping a Kenyan beer, looking at the Indian Ocean, giving thanks to God and to Eli Lily for all my blessings.