Nicaragua Swing

Last night in the Hernandez living room I edited  interview notes that had been typed at breakneck speed in two interviews.

This morning, on the same couch, I edit notes for a third, then  email them to my co-author Donna Biddle.

Marlo looks up from the Excel spreadsheet he is creating and asks, “Want to sit out in the swing? It would be cooler out there.”

I think of the remaining chaos of photos-not-yet organized, the blog not-yet-written—and I hesitate.

Then I remember Steve Holtrop’s words in yesterday’s interview, comparing Nicaragua and North America. He said, “Poverty is something we all have, and it’s not just financial.”

 “What is the poverty of North Americans?” I asked.

He thought for a moment, then answered,  “ I don’t think we North Americans live in the moment. We have goodness and the blessing of the ability to plan and think long-term. And that IS a blessing. But it is also a curse. When in our planning we think so far out that we forget about the people right here and right now, the task and its consequences are a chain.”

A chain.

I set my laptop on the coffee table and head outdoors with Marlo. In the cool breeze we chat, and swing, and sit. We tell each other about yesterday—my interviews, his piano repair. Marlo says he saw Pastor Ricardo and his wife sitting here last evening. That’s why he thought of it.

I tell him that last fall Pastor Hernandez told his congregation that he had not been spending enough time with his wife, and someone else  would be preaching in his place the month of November while they spent more time together.

The two of them  approach, pleased to see us swinging. We talk of this and that.

I could also get used to this.

This, too, is a kind of first-class life.