Four beautiful young people who were here from December 17 until this morning, December 29, when they set out again. Left to right in this photo (less focussed than I wish, sorry; it's the camera): Julian Paschen, Teri Stopoulis, Andrew Stopoulis [they're married] and Bryan Johnson. All came from the Seattle area to help at the Sonka House in many ways but mostly by giving presence.
They had been four months in the coming but hopefully will be in Teri's father's town in Massachusetts in a mere 57 hours from their departure on the bus at 7:50 am.
A short list of what they did for the Sonka House itself while they were here:
*rebuilt the clothesline
*rebuilt a door to the hayloft of the carriage house
*cleaned out the hayloft of all manner of thing
*hauled heavy tools to be stored in New Braunfels
*made a small back-yard garden by the Ruth Stout Method
*hauled away a pile of bricks that had been waiting for attention since February 2010
*mowed an acre of winter rye (i.e. the yard) with the old-fashioned rotary mower (no power but the person)
*repaired an old Schwinn bicycle
*pruned drought-stricken trees and bushes including one huge old hackberry
*chipped all pruned wood for mulch
*picked greens from a community garden for our own meals and, even more importantly, to give to those in need in Seguin
*fixed front and back door to close and lock properly
*scoured bathroom fixtures with grout stick so they're shiny white
*made a brick wall around an overflow pipe so that cars wouldn't hit it
*repaired a leaky shower head
*sorted and organized hand tools
*mopped and otherwise cleaned up three rooms flooded -- caused by a main pipe being filled by thirsty oleader roots during the drought
*carried from store, upstairs, then installed a heat/cool window pump in the mauve (once we said "pink") room
*replaced lights on rear license plate of my little truck
*put proper latch on large wash-house door
*put proper plate on wash-house electrical outlet
*put new chain on chain saw
*taught me the names and uses of several tools
*corrected problem with VW brake system that the garage had failed to solve
*...many other things I've failed to remember in the list, like
**attended Christmas Eve services at black historical Wesley-Harper United Methodist church in Seguin
**returned for Christmas Day service
**attended Unitarian Sunday School and regular service in San Marcos the week prior
**helped prepare many meals and washed dishes afterward
**left their bedrooms much cleaner than they found them
**provided good audience for The Georges (from Texas City) at Gruene Hall
**visited friends who served Venezuelan-style tamales and ate them heartily
**ate everything and anything set before them without prejudice and NOT ONCE complained that the meals were vegetarian
**made fresh pots of coffee when the need arose
**praised our locale for its good local beer, Shiner
**took care of me when I got sick
**cleaned the whole house before Christmas
***made Christmas Day itself delightful for me, my sister Bonnye and my friend Danelle in many ways but perhaps especially with long old-time conversation
***spoke of Mark Twain, of Holden Cauldfield, of Doc in Cannery Row,of other books they'd recently read, of the Beat Museum in San Francisco, of the Pacific Trail and the Long Trail, of the places they'd stopped before on the way here....
Hmmm. I could go on.
But now they've have gone on. Andrew's last task was to hang out a load of laundry, and here's a picture of how a young man (they're all 22-23) hangs out laundry on a newly-repaired clothesline in a still-dark chilly morning. The sheets look like angels, I've always thought.
And these angels, not on the line but once again on the road:
Happy Trails into and through all the new years, beginning with 2012!
Postscript, New Year's Eve: I just reached Teri's father by phone. They arrived safely to Massachusetts and were all together at a restaurant. I know they must be exhausted, but they're young and a new year is their's.
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