photos:

Lady in yard working and flowers fallen from a blooming cashew tree . ( not cashew nut variety ) .

Lady in cantina in Linden .

Eugene interviewing Union Steward of bauxite Plant in Linden .

Down a rugged , deep old alley a brother and sister are headed to buy something . Brother holds her hand and she hold the money .

I went 65 miles with Eugene to Linden, a bauxite town of 25,000. It was a beautiful bus ride from hell. It was so crowed that I was half way there before my butt touched the seat. Linden is bauxite mining. Although 80% of the workers have been laid off in the last 20 years the horn still blows across the city at 5;30 a.m. every morning to tell the last 500 employees to get out of bed and get ready for work . We interviewed the union steward for channel 2 news. Eugene passed me off as a states reporter. I played the part with zeal. Eugene was born and raised here and had not been back in many years. Everywhere we went it was people excited to see him . I mean records were broke. Remember these are friendly people. That evening we boarded the bus early to get window seats. A small wiry statured native Indian got on the bus with us and we talked about the slavery period in Guyana. He never said a word other than to answer our questions. When he spoke you clearly saw the pride he had in himself and the friendliness . He told us he now lived in Georgetown with wife and 3 children . He was working cutting forest in the interior. I think it was the macari tribe. The british tried to enslave the ameroindians and could not do it so they used them for guides. I talked with him about his family and kidded Eugene that Eugene was so big and the Indian was so small yet the british could not conquer this small man . The Indian glowed. Imagine the most peaceful warrior. I gave him a big fat sweet apple and he did not eat it which means he is taking it home to his family . I quietly sat by him till he got off the bus . When he left he gave Eugene and I the biggest handshake and smile I have seen in Guyana. We had recognized what made him a man and he was so proud. Eugene said years ago he wrote a column for the Indians. The problem they had was how they were treated by their invaders. The indigenous people took care of each other . If a Indian went to town and got drunk he got his boots stole and left on the street . The Indians had no concept of this . They took care of each other and everyone who came into their village… I have trouble imagining a Indian tribe so socially correct and still cannot be enslaved by the British empire. Euegene tells me of a town on the north west coast of 5000 that is almost as accepting as the marcari. A town so accepting and content that it is like a soft flute being played. Something I cannot stress enough is we are talking almost abject poverty. Was it ponce de Leon who searched for the fountain of Youth . I feel like I see gold everywhere and am being told by the locals I cannot image the mountain of it over the hill. Yet they have no concept of it . They are fascinated by paper money .

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Fate
I have a saying if you sit in a chair fate will come to you . If you get up and run it will toss you in the air. It is so hard to allow fate to guide you . We fight fate and thus never get it positive benefits. Living fate is realizing there is no bad. Living fate is taking what looks like bad and making it wonderful. Every moment of our lives we have this choice. If there is any bad in this world it is our own paths of being fearful of fate and not having the courage to make it wonderful. Of course I was afraid to come to Guyana by myself.. I have struggled hard for weeks to follow fate wisely and with some safety. I give you my word these are possibly the best human on earth hidden in 3rd world apparel. I am close to leaving this country with a reputation of being as human as they are. Obama would make me ambassador in a heartbeat . There is a catch , I cannot leave. Sure I am going to Galveston . Yet will only count the hours to get back . I shaken hands to start a business in ‘gayana. It will be the most rewarding wonderful business opportunity I have ever imagined and I have a awesome imagination .. Stay tuned.

Eden
Riddles. The answers are always so easy , yet elusive. How do you get to heaven ? You must be humble. You must be willing to walk a long accepting and understanding path . You must be color blind. You must be able to see through poverty . You must be willing to face trails and tribulations. I have a friend who is a birder. A few years ago he contemplated being a south american bird guide. I now need a south american bird guide. What perks can I offer to get him here. I can tell him of area where there is the most diversity of magnificent birds per acre in the world. He already knows that . I can offer him a living doing him something he loves in the interior of a jungle. He would consider that . What if I assured him that his office and field was in the garden of eden . Villages where my casa su casa is of the purest humblest meaning on earth. Where every adult absolutely glows and I mean glows when they speak of their children . People who are more proud of their bow or their truck patch of vegetables that you cannot top their story no matter how big your gun or farm . A society who could grasp the understanding of how the first cell phone they see works easier than understanding the concept and need for our prison systems`. A place where the dictionary has only a smile and contentment for the word expression . As I searched for these areas I was told of festivals where towns took turns inviting neighbor towns to their villages to treat them to everything in the village , yes including sex, and the next year it was the other villages turn to host. A place where wars were fought by bumping into each other without weapons. So my friend would you consider birding in Eden?
blessed mmfg