Thought It Was Going to Get Ugly

Yesterday, Sr. Pat and I encountered a young man in the narrow space between our house and the “Artists’ Shop” next door.  He was shirtless, very skinny and had a very large machete in his hand-at least a foot long. Just as I’m thinking, “This could get ugly,” Sr. Pat starts interrogating him rather vigorously.  Finally, it was determined that he was just digging a hole for “toilet” purposes and, indeed, he had started the hole. It turns out that he is one of the artists who come to the shop and work on various handcrafted items. We  also have locally made baskets, embroidered napkins, bags, shirts and cards.  We then try to sell these items to visiting volunteers and anybody else who drops by.  We also send some to parishes etc. for distribution in the states.  So, if anybody is having a craft sale or other function where handcrafts might be sold, let me know.  I can send photos of the merchandise.

By the way, the reason we were in that area was because Sr. Pat thought she smelled smoke and was a bit panicked about a fire. So, we were wandering around looking for the source of the smoke. It seems they had a fire once in the area just outside our wall.  It took everybody in the house, plus a bunch of kids from the school next door to put it out with a bucket brigade.  It’s not like you can call the fire department. She said it was pretty scary and I don’t think there’s much that scares this woman!