Since the last post Marcus, Gary, our new freind Baily, and I decided to go even further south from fort myers to see what we could find. Baily had been thinking about traveling with Gary and given the option to head south and come back to Fort myers with us before we headed north she decised to give it a try for a few days before decided.
So last thursday the 31st, we began a race. Gary and Marcus against Baily and myself. Who would make it to the southern most point of the continental united states (Key West, FL) first? And by night fall, an overheated car, an alligator or two on the alligator expressway through the everglades, and a number of wonderful people later we found ourselves being picked up by a wonderfully nice lady named Gabrielle. Gabrielle owns an organic farm named Paradice Farms in the last town before you hit the 130 miles of highway one that takes you over the keys into the last "key." And after a 20 minute ride she offered to let us spend the night on the farm and eat of her Organic Vegan Chef's food. And then she even offered to go and pick up Gary and Marcus so they could come too.
We fell asleep to the smell of starfruit and the tour of a young Hari-Krishna man named Billy's voice, telling us about how to use the composting toilet and so forth. And in the morning after eating as much starfruit as possible and spending a few hours tending to the farm with the other volunteers Gabrielle gave us a ride to U.S. Highway 1. And by night fall we were all in Key West fixing our bedding for a long night's sleep on Smarthers Beach.
We spent the day checking out the Island's beautiful water and colorful jellyfish. And then before we were told we had to have a "permit" to play our mondolin and banjo on the street we were playing an old song from our Pete Seeger book called Study War No More. And just as we got to the chorus a group of old men walked up and began singing with us...
"I'm gonna lay down my sword and shield,
Down by the riverside,
Down by the riverside,
Down by the riverside,
I'm gonna lay down my sword and shield,
Down by the riverside,
I Ain't gonna study war no more...."
When it got dark found ourselves in the midst of a large group of different people that considered themselves transients but looked nothing like it. And within a few moments they taught us a song on their Yukelali (I don't know if that's spelled right) and then offered us a place to sleep with them in a house with a pool.
And in the morning we woke up humming
"I've been feeling like a hundered dollar bill these days, these days,
I've been feeling like a hundred dollar bill these days, these days,
I've been *something* and fightin', cursing and writing,
I've been feeling like a hundred dollar bill these days, these days."
By then it was time to leave Key West and we found a ride all the way from Key West to Miami.
Now we're back to Fort Myers and Baily has decided to join us until we get to North Carolina. There she'll most likely stay with a friend for a while and maybe take a bus back home. By friday we'll be in Clearwater with a couple of kids we met in Kansas City.
For now though the most memorable thing we heard in Key West was a man's remarks on giving money. He said,
"The only real vote you've got left is the Dollar Bill. How you spend it, is how you vote."
May the Lord bless all of the people that we've encountered so far and prepare our hearts for the people we will meet. Because among those people we will find Christ and I pray that we might treat him the way he deserves.
May the Lord forgive us for all of the ways that we misrepresent His perfect love and may we continue to have the mindset of less of us and more of Him.
