I took a quick boat trip across the strip of water that separates Parem island from Fefan. It was raining, but that wasn’t much of an impediment. The rain only effects daily business if it’s a torrential downpour. We dropped off our passengers and then leisurely motored around the channel between the two islands. My host brother BJ had a line with a couple lures hanging out the back of the boat to see if we could snag some fish. I sat on the front of the fiberglass boat and stretched myself over the prow. I was enjoying watching the clouds disperse and the sun burn its way through the grayness. You can see the horizon in all directions on the open ocean, so weather patterns unfold right before your eyes. As I was relaxing at the front of the boat imagining myself floating in the world of clouds above, the other guy at the back of the boat suddenly stood up. He put his sandals on his hands, casually said, “kene nomw” and then leaped off the moving motor boat. We were at least a mile from land, but apparently he felt like swimming. No land, no plan, no people, no worries. The carefree life of an islander. We sped away and watched as he turned into a little dot bobbing towards the shore on this peaceful rainy afternoon.
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