Snap Thoughts

Greetings Family,

Ugh. I had an accident and the heat is still unbearable and almost 90 days now without rain. So how am I? Pretty good. Not bad. I can’t complain. But actually, everything is about the same.

The accident? Well, I can laugh about it now. At 5:00 AM, Victoria and I walked to the end of our street to deposit our trash bag into the neighborhood dumpster. There was a total power blackout, but we had our rechargeable LED flashlight with us. 

On the return trip back to the apartment I heard a couple of dogs behind us. I am not afraid because dogs don’t seem to ever bite me, but Victoria is very afraid and has been bitten by a street dog.

As I turned around to shine the light on the dogs, in the blackness of the pre-dawn light, I stepped off the edge of the pavement and right into a depression along the edge of the road. Boom! I went down like I had been shot. There was no stumbling or an opportunity to remain upright. 

The worst part is that my old arthritic joints prevent me from standing without some form of assistance once I am on the ground. 

Victoria ran back to the house to retrieve my hiking stick because I thought it might provide me with enough leverage to get back onto my feet. As she ran past a small neighborhood store she asked the owner if he could go down the street and keep me safe until she returned. 

Many people here don’t maintain their cars, trucks or motorbikes, so those vehicles are regularly traversing the roadways without headlights. Victoria didn’t want me to get run over by vehicle. The store owner came and he stood next to me. He wanted to try and help me up, but I told him I was too heavy and he might injure himself. Victoria returned and I attempted to stand using the hiking stick, but I was only able to make up to one knee.

I needed a chair placed in front of me so I could utilize my upper body strength to assist me in standing upright again. The store owner sent his son back to their store to retrieve a chair. Success! I used every ounce of strength to push myself up; so much so, I pulled a ligament in my chest. It is healing, but still sore. And my knees were bloodied, but healed now after one week.

Now feeling blessed to have good neighbors willing to help.

Please keep praying for rain here in the Philippines. People are suffering. Farmers are losing their crops. And pray that this unbearable heat will end. Running our air conditioner more hours has resulted in an astronomical electric bill. This month our electric bill was PHP3500 more than our rent. Unbelievable. Due to recent rate increases many people have not been able to pay their electric bills; hence, their electric service has been disconnected.

It’s bad…really bad. 

We need your prayers.

Thank you for reading and following.

Until next time…stay safe, stay focused, stay informed.

Peace.