It's a beautiful day here at the Village, tucked in between Buckskin and Copper Mountains. It's sunny, warm, and the people are happy. However, despite all that, there is an air of sadness, at least to my day, that is noticeable as well.
One thing that has been difficult to get used to living in the Village is having to constantly say "goodbye".
This past month, I've gotten to be good friends with a guy I wrote about in an earlier post, Gus (John) Olson, a chef who works in a soup kitchen in Spokane. He was here for a month in the kitchen, teaching me tips about cooking and baking that I probably never would have learned otherwise. We had some great chats on the Ark about life and religion and Holden and he was a great person to get to know, especially in my first month here.
Today, on the 10:45am bus, John left the Village, to go back to Spokane and his kitchen. He and I had worked many of the same shifts in the kitchen, so we'd gotten to know a bit about each other, and it's going to be different not having him in the kitchen, his culinary expertise, or his constant uplifting words - "you're doing a great job!", or "you've got this" to all of us kitchen colleagues.
Saying "goodbye" is something that happens daily here. A few days ago we said goodbye to the Holden Village high school teacher, his wife, and kids. Before that were numerous kitchen staff, as well as a human resource manager. It's weird, because you get to know them just a little bit, have good conversations with them, and then they are gone, either momentarily, or for a long time, or possibly never to be seen again. It's definitely made me realize that God puts each one of these people who come into the Village into our lives for a reason, and it makes me appreciate our connections even more.
Anyway. Enough about that. Today's my Sunday, and I'm going to get a good book and sit on my porch swing and read. It's beautiful out. :)
From the Village,
Dean
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