By day four it was a joke between myself and Laurie.
Laurie: “Are you taking pictures of me?”
Me: “Only your shoulder. If you were to pose elegantly I would get one of you”.
Laurie: “What time will we finish today?”.
Me: “What time do you need us to be finished?”
Laurie: “There is foot washing at church tonight so I must be ready”.
We had almost been in the USVI a month and were just finishing the first study area. It was also the week before Easter. People were getting a bit nervous the closer we got to the Holiday. Holidays in the islands always need a bit of padding on either side – I think this one was turning into the four days of easter. Maybe five. Apparently it is a big deal to go camping also on the beach.
Also the idea of foot washing had me curious. I heard people calling it “Maundy Thursday“. So I asked Laurie what denomination he belonged to and he answered “Church of God.” Being a Chattanooga Native I immediately had to ask “So Have you been to Cleveland TN?”. Cleveland is home of the Church of God headquarters.
Laurie: “No No but I do want to go. We send people to the meeting every year and I haven’t gotten to go…yet”.
Maps are important. Location is everything.
Me: “Laurie do you know where Chattanooga is located? I’m 30 miles from Cleveland”.
He threw down all the bags and hugged me. “God has brought you to the Islands I AM SOOOO HAPPY”.
We finished up that day early and everyone left. We heard the final word of “please don’t work tomorrow”. Except we had one more street to do and that was done quickly and early enough no one noticed as we drove down the street. I think our quickest addressed street was on Good Friday.
It hasn’t quite been a year but I do miss the insanity of the islands.