It's becoming home to me

I was blessed this afternoon with a long run along the beach just as the sun started to set. It's hammerton wind season in Sierra Leone which means the desert winds blow in and blanket the sky with clouds. It feels a little like the summer in the Okanagan (British Columbia) during that really hot and dry summer when there were huge forest fires. The sun is blocked but the air stays thick and is filled with dry dust.

Running on the beach has become my new favourite activity. It seems to be the only activity I can do without wanting to pass out from heat exhaustion by the end (due to the cool breeze off the water). Today was especially good because unlike most days, I had some company...unexpected, but welcomed nevertheless! A group of really young boys were running to warm up for their soccer match and as they started to pass me, I speed up. Once they realized that I was challenging them, they continued to go faster, always looking back to see how close I was. We all ended up sprinting down the beach, me and a group of 10 young Sierra Leonean boys! We passed the 50 or so fisherman, all doing a double take as we flew by! I was in heaven....it was so much fun! We all quickly slowed down and to my delight, they all stayed next to me, jogging in silence with the occassional giggle from either me or one of the guys. It was so much fun. I ended up turning around and leaving them to continue, but as I did, the smallest one stopped and shouted..."See you again tomorrow?" Wouldn't that be nice.

Oh Freetown.

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