-^-for posterity-^-

i talked about a man a few months a go. he worked in the field behind the wall in plain view from my balcony. he moved dirt and created a small hill and a fish pond. it took him about four months to complete in the heat of the dry season. he worked every day and i watched.

now his work is finished. he has to wait for mother nature to fill his lake up with water. he has planted fruit trees all along the top ridge. where there aren’t fruit trees’s planted rows of corn. the corn is about three inches high and the trees are about a foot tall.

he has changed out of his dirty, peach shorts and into more comfortable clothes now. he walks around his trees prodding the dirt with a stick and smoking a cigarette. one part of his lake has filled in with water and he fenced it off with bamboo and plants. he has filled it with fish. every day he sits out by his fish pond after inspecting his trees. he has a small stool that he sits on and blankly stares at the water. he feeds them and the water bubbles with activity.

this man has changed my life. his quiet labor was christ-like. every once in a while we would catch each other’s glances. i would be standing on my comfortable balcony and he would be trudging through the mud. he didn’t judge me with his eyes. he was observing me like a person watches tv. those glances gave me an incredible sense of peace.

i now watch him and smile. i vicariously enjoy the fruits of his labor.