
Sunny Afternoon in the Cloudforest – May 26, 2016
Thank you, everyone, for your concern not only for those affected by the earthquake, but also for my friend Julie, who is fighting cancer. I am watching over their property here in Ecuador’s cloud forest until it sells.
I hope to visit Jama soon, which will be heart wrenching yet necessary to move forward. It will help to see the damage, visit with loved ones who continue to endure the stress, find out what people need most – and how to help – plus learn what hotels, restaurants might be open. One friend shared details about the community of Jama:
“You will not recognize Jama. Almost every building is marked as being necessary to be torn down. Doctors Without Borders have donated what looked like hundreds of tents in Matal. However still many people live under makeshift plastic.”
She mentioned other groups/businesses that are helping, but I will wait to share those details after learning more and having photos to pair with the stories. There are surely many beautiful untold stories worthy of a larger audience.

Idyllic Jama – from 2012
The soundtrack in my head this week is Jack Johnson’s song, “The News.” He sings, “Why don’t the newscasters cry when they sing about people who die. The least they can be decent enough to put just a tear in their eye…”
Linda from The Task at Hand provided a slice of humor between her words of concern last week. In her comment about last week’s strong earthquakes, she added, “What amazes me is that I hadn’t heard one word about this on the “news.” Everything here was related to the loss of the Egyptair plane, or the interminable, ghastly, insufferable presidential campaign. (Hmmmm… I think my opinions are showing. Remember when we used to worry if our slips were showing?)” Continue reading