Life after Mango picking

Many of you will have just come through the season of harvest. Thanksgiving, pumpkin picking and carving, apple picking, corn mazes. The usual fantastic photo opps for parents and fun for everyone. This has always been my favourite time of year and something I loved sharing with the kids. So none of you will be surprised when I tell you that I went seeking some sort of pick your own activity to fill the void in my life! To my great delight, a few months ago one of my new friends shared about his yearly Mango picking practice and I was hooked. Admittedly I jumped to a romantacized vision of this activity where my happy children and I plucked luscious, sweet smelling Mangoes while posing for adorable, scrapbook worthy, photos.
As the day approached, I was giddy with excitement. Someone mentioned something about being careful of sap burns and I smiled cluelessly. I also knew that my Canadian friend Kristin was allergic to Mango sap and had an unfortunate reaction to it the first time she went picking which is how I landed the job of catching Mangos for her husband Scott. In preparation for the day, I was to bring lots of water for drinking and washing sap off, long sleeves and gloves if I had them (which I didn't...at least no long sleeves that weren't also very hot to wear), and Scott would bring the ladder. Hmmm....a ladder....so much for photos of the kids plucking Mangos...oh well, the excitement was still overwhelming.

We drove out and parked on a cul de sac near the public bike paths that are all over Townsville. We unloaded the kids, the coolers, buckets, some gear and the ladder and cajouled the children into making the trek to the perfect tree. Scott had had his eye on this tree, and while the lower fruit had been picked, there was still lots at the top. The kids were still excited and willing at this point. Now Mango trees are much larger than apple trees and Scott gave me the option of picking or catching. I chose picking and climbed the ladder. No magoes here, would have to climb higher. Oh, and the tree was filled with green ants, an Australian gem that love to bite--hard. Climbed a bit higher, still no Mangoes. Once it became evident that I was going to have to shimmy out accross branches that were significantly high, while being eaten by green ants I wimped out. I was also increasingly aware that if my kids decided to take off I would be much too high to climb down to stop them. So I decided to be the catcher.

Now ripe mangoes are fairly soft and squishy, but mangoes aren't usually picked ripe because we have to compete with the fruit bats. Unripe mangoes are much closer to rocks in my oppinion. So Scott would pick, aim, and drop. I wish I'd had a catcher's mitt! While it only took one catch to realize this exercise would leave my hands severely bruised, my need to be tough drove me forward! I think I partially dislocated my ring finger at the knuckle somewhere within the first 20 catches. I realized it was more than just bruised as the afternoon progressed and the back of my hand swelled up and turned purple rather than the palm where I was catching. Anway, the ones I managed to catch cleanly went into one cooler, the once that bounced a little went into another. Then, occassionally Scott would tell us to get out from under the tree and he would shake branches that weren't big enough for him to climb out on. It was like a Mango scramble and my 3 yr old would yell 'Mango, mango, mango' as we would gather up the felled mangoes. The kids helped by sorting mangoes into the right coolers (called 'eskys' here) and generally running around. When they got bored Kristin and her daughter Maia entertained them with candy and running races.

In the end is was a wonderful day. We gathered over 300 mangoes for eating and freezing and while it was a much longer undertaking than I'd imagined, there was sweet satisfaction as I proudly brought home my bags of mangoes. I was tired, bruised and exceptionally content. Given the mangoes weren't ripe yet I didn't get to eat one yet, but I could hardly wait!

The next morning things started to go downhill. I woke up to a very swollen hand and some patches of red bumps on my fingers which later spread up my arms and chunks of my legs. And it was all very itchy. By Sunday I was covered in blistering sores that look just like a poison ivy reaction...these were Mango Sap burns apparently. By Monday I could no longer touch my fingers to each other because of the blisters and I knew it was time to head to the Doctor. Waited forever and had to pay for a very quick appointment to be told to take antihistamines and use calamine lotion, but that it shouldn't spread any more and if it did I should come back. The next morning I had many more blotchy read places and a rash that was now all over my neck, ears, torso, arms and legs. 6 hours in the ER got me 2 sets of pills, s2 creams and the likely diagnoses that I was allergic to Mango sap on top of the burns. And I wasn't allowed to eat any mango. Again, start getting better or come back. With my husband in the middle of studying for Med School exams, friends came over to help out with the kids and help cook as trying to do the usual things led to popped blisters which oozed and bled down my fingers. Not to mention I wasn't sleeping at all because of how itchy I was and that I was now crash weaning my 16 month old because of the meds I was on. By Saturday my eyes started swelling shut, and when I went in this time they said the next course of action would be to take me off all the meds in case I was allergic to one of them. Fantastic.

So here I am, two weeks post-mango encounter. I am still very itchy, but I can touch my fingers together again and I feel exceptionally blessed to have a chunk of friends who love me enough to play with my kids in the rain, do my my dishes, help with meals and generally love me even when I look like I am one afflicted by the plague of boils. I am also thankful for my mango picking trip. I didn't know at the time, but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Oh, and apparently mango sap and poison ivy are very closely related. Who would have thought?

Some adventures and some thoughts

The boys each take a turn holding a baby crocodile.

Our first professional rugby game! An exciting family adventure with the Townsville Cowboys losing by just one point in overtime. A sad loss but an exhilerating game to watch...well for me...I'm not sure my little girl always agreed!

We absolutely love that our city's pro-sports field is called 'Dairy Farmers Stadium'. Not only is it a fun contrast to the stadiums named after large corporations back home, it really does give you all some insight as to where we live.

Okay, so I decided to post this picture that my oldest took, even though I couldn't even look at this bottle of pulled teeth in real life as it made my stomach turn. This was part of the tour we took of the YWAM medical ship which does medical outreach trips to Papua New Guinea. As part of the outreach, the ship is equipped with a room that has two dentist's chairs where they do dental work that doesn't require follow up and eye surgery such as cataract removal. This jar was the jar of extractions from one of their tours. We are praying about the possibility of my husband joining one of the tours in the next few years as Townsville will be their 'home base' and the same is true for us for now.

So, we have had a few notworthy excursions in the last week or so. One of them being our trip to see the Cowboys play. I am working hard at figuring out the difference between Rugby League and Rugby Union as that is a big deal here. Back home, what I played was rugby union. I'm not even sure that we have rugby league in Canada. Union is 'classic' rugby. League seems to have a few rule changes in the interests in picking up the pace a bit for spectators. For those who have some idea of the sport, league has no line outs (uses a scrum down instead), doesn't have much in the way of rucks and mauls but instead if you take the ball into contact and maintain posession through the innitial contact you retain and recycle it by rolling it between your legs behind you. Then you get 5 attempts to score (somewhat like a down in football without the lame break for a huddle...er...I mean, appropriate strategizing time). League also only has 13 on the field rather than 15 and have dropped the two flanker positions. It moves a bit more quickly and I think I would have enjoyed playing this version in my younger, faster days.

As for attending the game, we are exceptionally impressed with how very affordable it is, comparable to a varsity football match, and that you are allowed to bring in your own food as long as it doesn't have commercial markings (that might compete with corporate sponsors). We chose to get the general admission where we got to sit on the grass hill right behind one of the endzones. This was a popular spot for families as toddlers get in for free and on the hill you can spread out a blanket and let them wander a little without bothering anyone. I love that the team jerseys have numbers but no last names--as if it really is a team sport and not about individual superstars. Player salaries are much lower than any pro sports figures in Canada or the States, still an awfully good wage for getting to play rugby for your job, but nobody could pay off a small countries debt with their salary. Stadium food is even affordable and some of the booths are set up by community groups who are invited to use the venue to raise funds through food sales. Oh, and did I mention the free parking a little piece away with complimentary shuttle buses? Yes, it seems like in this region they actually would like fans, with ordinary incomes and maybe even students, to ATTEND the game. All in all, we are dealing relatively well with our shift from NHL and NBA entertainment to NRL...though my husband is still attached to the former sports via internet.

Yes, and the burgandy hat from my last blog, being worn by my younger son is for something that is HUGE here in Queensland called State of Origin. Each year a 3 game tournament is set up with the games played throughout the regular season by the best 2 states in the league that year; usually New South Wales and Queensland. The state a player is eligible to play for is determined by the State in which they made their professional debut. A little complicated, but given that Queensland keeps winning, and that everyone in town seems to wear maroon on game days, we figured we better figure it out if we were going to fit in. Yes, I am loving the rugby.

We also took another trip to the billabong sanctuary (with our season's pass) and the boys managed to hold a baby crocodile. It made for a great photo, though in all honesty they were still more excited about the swimming pool!

On a completely different front, we have checked out the local YWAM ministry in a couple of ways. Firstly, they hold a community bbq every wednesday night. The first time we went the boys managed to meet up with another set of brothers and had a blast running around for awhile. It also was nice for me as the YWAM folks are very friendly and have a camp flavour about them that I love. So we went back the next week and will likely go again, continue to get to know some neat folks in ministry and enjoy the fun and community of it.

As I introduced in the picture of the jar of teeth, we also got to tour around a ship that has been converted for medical outreach. The goal of the project is to bring youth and medical professionals into Papua New Guinea to care for those in desperate need. The ship reminds me a little of camp with very limited space for staff to live in and a room that reminds me of the staff lounge. There is then a tiny kitchen and dining room that seats 25. There is a also a room with two dentist chairs for dental work and optometry care, as well as being equipped as a dental room would be. My oldest took a lot of pictures in the room and was particularly impressed with the very large toothbruth they use for teaching kids how to brush. The focus of the tour is to participate in working toward the 8 key millenium development goals www.un.org/milleniumgoals/ . It is something we are praying about my husband getting involved with, as he has medical skills to offer.

The piece of information that has lingered longest with me is that 1 in 7 births results in maternal death, usually due to a lack of clean instruments and environment. Two of my dearest friends just celebrated the birth of their daughter, my brother and his wife are expecting their first in August and we spend a great deal more time talking about names and nursery colours then whether these women so dear to me will make it through. Having been through the experience three times myself, I know that in Canada, as long as you have a little prenatal care, they can predict and avoid almost any complication. And even if you have no prenatal care, no midwife or ob, and no money, you can walk into a hospital in labour and a trained professional will deliver your baby in a sterile environment. Not to mention they won't let you out without a car seat that meets standard. And, if you are in desperate need of help they will ensure you are connected to have shelter, clothing and food. I readily admit, most of us are concerned with whether we will be able to follow our birth plan and if we've chosen a photo friendly first outfit for our new little one; whether we will be able to breastfeed and how we will ever get enough sleep. And there are lots of serious and challenging moments that we may face within the childbirth/postpartum experience which I don't want to minimize, but perspective wise, it makes me thankful that these are the things we get to worry about, and even in the really tough moments, there is a lot of support and help available if we seek it out.

Then I got to thinking, if one of these women I love so much were going to have to face childbirth alone, no support, no hospital, nothing, how quickly I would use any resources I had to get to them. I would buy a book or google how to deliver that baby safely. If I knew they needed me, I would find a way, because I love them.

When we toured the boat, the guide held up a small bag of simple items, a clean plastic sheet, a piece of sterile string, plastic gloves and a new, sterile razor blade...the cost of this bag was 3$. And it would save both a mother and a child. My oldest and I talked about this over lunch and realized that we could save 4 lives for the cost of the lunch we were eating. Though I recognize that cost doesn't include actually getting the kit from me to the pregnant woman. So this wasn't all that new to me. I've heard stats before and seen birthing kits before. But this time, I kept seeing my friends face and her new little baby and my sister in law's face, now with just 6ish weeks to go. And I am so thankful for what we have, and I'm asking God how I can care more about women like my friends and family, who live somewhere else.

Last summer my friend Lance shared at Family Camp about some of the conditions in the world and how we could respond to them. There were 4 steps he suggested that I continue to use as a way to process overwhelming information about a hurting world. 1. Be aware--(learn what I can) 2. Care--(refuse to dismiss what I hear) 3. Pray--engage my faith and spiritual practice with my head and what I learn 4. Do what you can--in some cases this simply takes me back to 3 and ends there, particularly given how much is heart wrenching in the world. In other cases this may be where I become moved to action, hopefully in response to the conversation I had in step 3.

I guess I invite you to take this 4 step approach too when you hear about pain and suffering in our world.

I am deeply thankful for the gift of infant and maternal health in Canada (and Australia), and in particular for one beautiful new baby girl I can't wait to meet, and one soon to be born baby that I can't wait to meet. And I pray that my heart would be as moved for the mothers around the world who don't yet have names to me.