Saturday we participated in a state wide church service project. We cleaned up at the beaches all over the islands. The kids and I went to Hauula, Shane went to another beach since he is still Bishop. The beaches and parks looked some much better after a couple hundred people fanned through out picking up all the trash, raking up leaves, cutting down over-grown brush. While there the RS president met some homeless people. Shane, at another beach, also encountered homeless people. The other big beach toward Kahuku also has a large homeless population. I naively allowed myself to be blind to something that was right in front of me. We have been collecting a few things for the folks in Hauula. I went shopping at the resale store for some clothes. Two ladies there want jobs but don't have the clothes to even interview, let alone work. Very sad that it's right here, up and close, but I also came to the realization that these folks, aside from living on the beach, aren't really any different than most of us. As I talked to my friend Jodi about it, she laughed as she said "Well, I'm just a few months away from living on the beach!" I doubt that is entirely true but we could all be those people the way things are going right now. Interesting day!
After the service project, since we were dirty, we attacked our own yard. WOW, did it ever need it! I got the front shaped up and presentable again, with the exception of the lilikoi monster that is choking out the plumeria tree. Shane and the boys moved the garden beds out. The bushes along the fence had grown over them and we didn't have access on the ocean side of the beds. Now we get to transfer dirt back into them, re-mix so it's nourishing and get a garden going again. We got lots of garbage out, lots of over growth cut down, lots of stuff done. The yard is shaping up again. Shane and I realized that we've really ignored the yard for a minimum of 2 years, and that the last two to three years are definitely a blur. We've done a lot in the last 2-3 years, some things are winding down now that I've graduated. Shane will hopefully be release as Bishop this summer...that's the logical time frame anyway. It would be best to have a new Bishop in place before the fall semester. Cross your fingers, and more, for us!
Krista had May Day, as you probably saw on Facebook. It's always a lot of fun to watch and work on. The kids can do amazing things. Erin misses participating and for that reason alone would like to go back to school, but I can't do that to her. We're finally in a groove with her schooling! I hope to get great things done over summer with her. Krista will go to summer school for a month and Erin and I will continue working through the summer as well. I'm beginning to see why we were having shorter summers in public schools. I'm not forgetting about the real life lessons that can be learned, but we certainly have to keep up with the academics out here.
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