Possum Phil
We learned a little bit more about Phil, the local that we are selling our car to, who is apparently a bit of a West Coast legend. Known as Possum Phil (we haven’t asked why yet), he has been riding his bike around the West Coast over the last 15 years and our buddy Brendan was surprised to hear he is actually buying a car. We went to Phil’s house last night to make plans for transferring ownership because, as he has no phone, we couldn’t just call him up. He invited us in and we chatted about business for a few minutes before he busted out his entire collection of jade, mostly pieces that he has found along the beaches around Punakaiki. He also took a jade carving class a few years back and decided to focus his final project on Native Americans. So, he has a handful of pieces that are carved profiles of legendary Native Americans . . . they are actually really good. Needless to say he was really excited when we told him we lived in Wyoming and he immediately asked if we see many Indians where we live . . . well that led into another big discussion. In the end he forced two small pieces of jade into our hands, finally convincing us to accept them by telling us it would bring good luck to him to give them away. We will be spending next Monday with Phil to drive down to Greymouth to transfer the car, get groceries, and, as he requested, give him some driving lessons. He is so genuine and modest that you wouldn’t guess he is so legendary. I can’t wait to spend more time with our new friend, Possum Phil.