44. Trailer Day

Monday, 11/19/12

Today was Trailer Day—a day Brother Juan has been looking forward to for months!

Juan is a man of ideas. He could fill a book with ideas to improve Familia Feliz. He has been wanting to restore a trailer to use for utility purposes and to improve our organic recycling program (a.k.a.-we would use the trailer to take inorganic waste away from our trash pit so the organic waste could decompose). He needed resources for the trailer and my family, knowing Juan’s pure intentions, obliged instantly. Last week we finally got the new tires and supplies to put the trailer together. The wheels and paint are a mess however…that is what we focused on today.

We first had to remove the tires from the rims. Easier said than done when the tires are rusted to the rims. We tried normal and creative approaches to succeed, but all failed. We rigged crowbars to take off the tire, but needed more weight to remove the oxidized wheels. I had a rare “light bulb” moment…use the truck. Juan loved the idea, got the pickup truck, and ran over the tires to remove them. It worked. We felt like geniuses.

Can´t wait to see how these old things look when we are done with them!

Inventive, eh? But standing on it wasn´t enough. So...

We added a two-ton truck to the mix!

 We discovered that the wheels are a mess, though. Rusted, filthy, and ugly. The new tires would not adhere to the old rims in this shape. We needed to buy sand paper, inflators, and paint. Therefore, I took Juan into town to get them. We ended up eating a lot, and relaxing a bit from this morning’s trials. I even set him up with a Facebook account and showed him how to access his e-mail. He’s stoked! We eventually bought the parts and returned in time for dinner.

We were caught snoozing away!

After supper I was exhausted. I was reading a Ben Carson book in bed when my little Juan jumped on me. He cuddled right with me and tried to read too. He’s smart, but can’t quite handle a book written by a medical doctor yet. He chatted for a while, and then I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. He didn’t know. I went through the list: mechanic, teacher, nurse, plumber, grass mower, diaper changer (these got him giggling), but when I got to pastor he abruptly sat up straighter and answered in Spanish, “Yes, to care for His sheep!” It was so matter of factly, yet reminded me of a wise, old man by how he said it. I do ponder on what he’ll be twenty years from now.

Therefore, I played him and me some soothing music and we fell asleep at 7 p.m. I then woke up 2 hours later and dragged him into his own bed. Him wanting to spend time with me like that made me one happy dude.

**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**