We had tickets for the 13th, knowing Mariposa had a generator and cistern and that we could live rough and not become a burden we traveled, our baggage included boots and gloves and hammers and nails and rechargeable tools, foiled from checking a chain saw onto flight in the states I found by accident in MoBay the very same model so all of my bars and chains in my luggage worked, my battery powered sawzall was a great tool, in advance we had told friends in the hills to empty our igloos and stock them with ice - as soon as ice became available we would make mad dashes into the hills with a jeep full of ice to re-stock, we had an Caribbean Cruiser and our week was spent going into the hills to help reroof houses and save what of a orchard we could, I became known as SawMon everywhere we went we cleared roads and cut trees out of yards, Niah after sheltering inside the concrete bar in Wavez rebuilt, after helping Pat at the Boat Bar rebuild the decision was made to rebuild everything and the old boat disappeared, the wall at Mom's was under 6 feet of sand and they had to dig back down to the bar, Gino's was the first restaurant re-opened and the owners of Catcha had dinner there and I believe that was where the idea of Ivan's was born, not a leaf on a tree made for no shade to stand or park in it was hot hot hot, I'll always remember bringing a bunch of cell phones back to the room to charge and the incessant ringing as they took power,,,,, but what that trip showed me was the spirit of the Jamaican people,,,, we lost our business we'll build back twice as big, we lost our house we'll build back better,,,,, I remember that the storm combined with the following drought raised the price of tomatoes to unheard of levels the following Feb, the same resulting in all of the leaves on the ground had fires burning in the hills with smoke plumes every few miles the following Feb,,, some trips are different than others, some trips you do not take you give,,,
Originally Posted by Rob
