Moving … and helping a friend

This is going to be a busy week as I finish packing up boxes and move myself into a slightly different place which will actually be closer to the part-time job, and has the environment I need for a more peaceful existence.

I won't go into the details, but sometimes the energy of a place can affect too many aspects of one's life to be enjoyable. When we are younger we seek out places where we can bounce about and have others with similar energies. But there is a reason why senior homes and assisted living are not necessarily bad.

That is NOT where I am heading yet, but I do want people around me who have a sense of their direction and balance and I found a location and a nice little home that I hope is going to fulfill my expectations, not far from where I have been living.

A brand new kitchen and a nicer view...

The outbuilding to the right is the studio…can be heated.

Best of all, it has a brand new kitchen, space for a dining room table and room in the back for a studio where I can have all my art activities. I am truly excited and by this time next week have the intention to be settled.

Another delightful aspect is the closeness to a park so I can go walking or biking without fearing for my life on the roads.

One of my Intender buddies is also looking to move things around in her life and she has a practically brand new camper in Yuma, AZ that she would like to sell.
It is one that has a queen bed, bath, and a nice kitchen with pop-outs for the living and dining area.

If you are looking for something like that as a winter retreat, contact me and I will forward the photos to you.

We've had a mild winter, according to the locals, but this place also has a pellet stove, which will help with heating should winter get nastier between now and April, and certainly will be more economical.

Work continues to challenge me and time will tell whether or not this racehorse can make it around the track.

So, dear readers, wherever you are in the world, I hold the intention that your life is coming together in this new year of 2014 and you are being inspired and excited by what is coming for you. And the weather isn't too cold….

Planes, Trains and Automobiles....

The Cathedral de Immaculata Concepcion in Barichara.

I am finally back in the U.S., thanks in part to the 'benedicion' of Sra. Helena in Barichara, Santander, I feel certain. A trip that usually takes about 32 hours to complete, took me considerably longer and with significantly more expense than was expected. The reason? The national strike in Colombia... created by the unhappy campesinos (farmers) who are being undermined by their government's agreement to Fair Trade with the U.S.

A view from the Mirador area of Barichara, during a last
walk with my pal, Isabel. The clouds seemed to be as heavy
as my heart about leaving.

A coffee farmer or grower of onions, potatoes, etc. in Colombia cannot count on their government to ensure they will make a profit or a living wage when free trade allows for cheaper products to be imported from the U.S., undermining their efforts to sell well in the marketplace. This is the essence of the conflict. The farmers want subsidies or some kind of assurance they can sell their goods for what it cost them to produce them and have something left over for their families. It doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

Looming thunderstorms and late afternoon setting sun
created this wonderful contrast as seen from my apartment
in Barichara, a few days before leaving.

But the strike closed the main road to Bogota, making it impossible for me to get there, unless I was willing to ride as far as Tunja (about halfway) and then get off the bus and drag my suitcases (there were plenty of them!) about 7 kilometers in the hopes of finding another bus on the other side. Oh, and the 'war zone' of strikers had to be traversed as well - unhappy and resentful men who probably would assume it was a 'rich gringa' passing by them with all her luggage. Does this sound like a safe way to get to my destination?

Milk being delivered in Barichara.

So, I opted to catch the 5 a.m. bus to Bucaramanga from Barichara, almost three hours in the opposite direction, where it was possible to arrange a flight to Bogota, although many hours were spent waiting. leaving my bags in a secured storage unit at the bus station) into town and met up with a buddy from Barichara who took me to the virtual library near the Justice Center. There were even books from the U.S. and we spent some time looking at photos of places he was going to see when he visited in September.

Flowers still covered with the rain from the night before.

And I had to sacrifice my ticket for the bus to Bogota because the company had closed its service desk, knowing no one could travel. Once in Bucaramanga, I caught a taxi to meet up with my friend, Andres, who was also going to be flying to Bogota.

We had a nice walk about the area where he was staying, including a delightful lunch in the huge mall - Thank you, Andres!

Another time I would like to spend a few days in this city because there is much to see and it also has a long history in the growth of Colombia.

The virtual library in Bucaramanga and buddy, Andres,
crossing the street ahead of me.

 

In Bucaramanga travel was not restricted by the strike,
but there were a lot of sympathetic events and messages.

My ceramics professor, Jaime, and my buddy, Andres in
Bucaramanga. We were just walking back from the library
and saw Jaime who also lives in Barichara... small small world!

Usually I would catch the bus in San Gil (the nearest city to Barichara) timed to arrive at the bus terminal a few hours before my flight was scheduled. Then I would catch a taxi, arrive at the terminal and proceed to the JetBlue service desk, get my boarding pass, clear Immigration and be on my way. No need for a hotel room (sleeping on the bus wasn't ideal, but affordable).

Sunset view from the Nuevo Dorado hotel in Bogota.

This time, once I arrived in Bogota on Tuesday afternoon, I was still many hours too early for my flight on Wednesday morning. Camping at the airport might have been fine when I was 25 or 30, but not at my senior age, already tired from a day of traveling that started around 4 a.m. So I entrusted myself to the porter (and God's protection) to find someone with a hotel that would offer security and proximity to the airport. (Helena's benedicion was hard at work now...) A man was presented who offered a room in a clean and close small hotel called the Nuevo Dorado with a promise to provide taxi service back to the airport in the morning.

Hotel room showing twin beds, and there was another
room with a double. WiFi was free and everything was
very clean and proper. 10 minutes from the airport!

It actually was all that was promised, including a nice little restaurant with a very large dinner meal for less than $10 USD. The room ($160,000 COPs = $84 USD more or less) I was given could have slept four people easily and thus would have been wonderfully affordable for each person, but the greatest delight was that the shower had warm (not hot) water, much appreciated after the day's travel. It had a nice view of the streets below and I watched the sunset at 6 p.m. Sleep was elusive as the hotel is newly decorated with a lot of tile which caused the noise to reverberate down the halls to my door. Again, thanks to God and the alert night desk man, I had a call in for wake-up because my alarm failed me!! I scrambled out and down two flights of stairs (Did I mention there was no elevator?) and the desk clerk helped me get the luggage down the last flight of stairs to the taxi which was indeed on time.

I fell asleep remembering a nice walk to Steve's with tea,
laughter and a lovely sunset over the Andes.

Breathing heavily from the 8,000+ feet of altitude and a mouth as dry as burnt toast, we arrived at the other new El Dorado (airport) on schedule. Bags offloaded, porter found, I scurried like a cockroach under siege to the JetBlue desk, eager to leave the conflicts of Colombia behind me. The agent said, "We have no record of you on this flight." I showed her the confirmation code, and she kept saying, "I don't care if you have a confirmation code, you are not on this flight." She was about to tell me to move on, call the people in the U.S. and get it straightened out, and then come back when I said, "Do you still have a seat on this flight?"

This time the sunset was fused with delicate pinks.

She did and I purchased ANOTHER ticket. I know what it is like to try and talk to someone from another country and I knew the cost of my international phone bill could equal the cost of a seat. Screw it. Pay it and get out and solve it on the other side, I thought.

Taxiway in Bogota as we were departing. The new airport
is a pleasing improvement from the old one.

It wasn't until the plane was on the runway about to lift off that I finally was able to relax because I felt in my heart of hearts that the situation with the farmers was not going to be easily resolved and could escalate. (UPDATE 9/8/13: The situation is still volatile with the police sometimes creating more of a problem than a solution as in a recent report of tear gas and bombs being used on the protestors near Cauica, SW of Bogota.)

Last bit of sunlight reflected off a cloud somewhere over
the middle of the U.S. as I was flying westward.

Colombia is still a wonderful country filled with terrific people, but in all honesty I would have to say that the leadership lacks foresight and a true understanding of what negotiation is supposed to be. So, until the situation is stabilized, I will not be returning and cannot recommend traveling as a tourist to anyone at this time. It is unfortunate that the U.S. State Department makes no mention of this unrest in their Travel Advisories because it really does affect travel throughout the country.

First, Last and Best

Dee was quick to remind me when she
dug out this photo that the doll in my
hands was hers... laughing, of course!
(I'm on the left and she's always right!)

Last weekend I spent two days and nights with my First Best Friend, Deanna (now known as Dee), and it was a wonderful reunion! We talked and talked and talked and laughed and laughed. It was a delight after nearly XX years (a lot of them!) to find out we STILL like the same things, read the same kinds of books, laugh at the same kinds of jokes.

She was all ready for me, sharing the high school yearbook, photos of the last class reunions, commentary about the people there and missing, summarizing all the years that had passed since I'd been there or even in the vicinity, had a couple of town history books to help me get more caught up, lots and lots of photos of family and stories to go along and then there were the 'inside jokes' we still shared... and yes, Dee, I did give up my role as the Lone Ranger once in awhile so you could be him and I could be Tonto!!! But probably not enough and for that I do apologize, belatedly.

Sadly too many of our classmates have died, some younger than others. And it was a reminder to me that it is time to prepare my Last Will and Testament because I don't want my children to have to sort out things and have to pay to do it. And it is only with an old friend that you can discuss these sorts of subjects without resistance and with plenty of humor.

The Port Orange lighthouse is now a
national historic landmark, but two little
old ladies did not climb to the top to see the view.

Reminders of the little ways we had affected each other's lives as children (because we have known each other since we were five years old) were discussed and evaluated along with all the changes the world has gone through since "the good old days."

Dee had a passel of kids and now has loads of grandchildren and even a couple of Great grands... I showed her past photos of my family and recent shots of everyone and we shared grandmotherly stories, something I never imagined could be so much fun to do with someone who has known you for-evah!

I'm still on the left and Dee is STILL
right... in our late 40's?

Once, while I was living in St. Augustine and Dee and Kevin were headed south, they stopped by and we had a brief catch-up, but a lot got missed in that short pass-by. Here's a mid-life shot of the two of us.

As we sat on a beach bench seat, on the coast north of the Kennedy Space Center, we found out that we had been looking for each other off and on between the birthing and raising of children and jobs and husbands and finally it was the death of her beloved Kevin that got us together again when I stumbled on his obituary in a New Hampshire paper.

We are still friends after all these years and I am so glad we
reconnected! More fun to come!

"But I had been looking for you long before that happened," Dee said, wanting me to know that she was still my 'bestest friend' and she is... because who else would keep searching for someone who had basically fallen off the face of the earth relative to their life? The same one who saved me from a gang of girls who decided to kidnap me and tie me up in the woods and then walk away, leaving me unable to move or get loose as the sun set on a wintry afternoon. Yes, this really happened as I was leaving a Girl Scout meeting to walk home and it was Dee who found me, untied me and went home with me.

In so many ways, she is not only my First Best Friend but she is certainly my Last Best Friend, too. And we don't get to have too many of those, do we?

A remarkable bird!

I wish I could tell you the name of this bird, but I have been unable to
get it identified. It makes a 'chuck-chuck' noise, no chirping or singing,
and as you can see it is eating a very large grasshopper or cicada.

This bird was seen regularly in my yard up until a few days ago. I can only assume it has moved on to other areas, perhaps after having cleaned out all the cicadas from my backyard. It was large. Easily measured eight inches from top of its head to the end of its body, before including the tail.

I miss hearing it's 'chuck-chuck' call from the trees nearby. Perhaps it is a female and is nesting after gorging on grasshoppers. What I'm hoping for is that someone reading this blog will be able to find out more about it and give me a name for it. But isn't it a lovely creature?

Don't call geese silly...

Here you can see a paired Canadian Goose couple pecking away in a lot which is being considered for development. They were right next door to the Goodwill store and adjacent to where I get mail.

As they are probably on their way back to Canada, I saw nothing "silly" about their stopover point. In fact, I was impressed that they stopped together. Did you know they can reach up to 60 mph during their flights, and can reach an altitude of 8,000 feet? They can fly at night, and can fly for up to 16 hours in a stretch. I can't go that long without stopping.

And here is the latest update in the garden department. The lilacs are blooming, but I cannot get a decent picture of them because of the recent, and daily, cloudy and rainy days. But I did get this awesome shot of the rhodedendron next door with the bees doing their thing inside - can you see it?

I dedicate this flower to a friend who lives far away in Florida, because I moved west from her to be with my other best friend, Jey-hu.

So the "theme" for today seems to be about being 'connected' like the geese are, and my father used to say, "Friends of a feather flock together..." so to all my readers who are either are, or are becoming my friends, welcome to the flock - and remember to stay in touch!

My dearest friend...

You are my dearest friend,

the one I turn to - until the end.

We sit and talk, or maybe not,

you seem to know my every thought.

A hurt, a pain, you never say,

"Oh, are you OK?"

You just hold me, and in that caring

remind me just how dear our sharing

makes each day.

I can only hope I am returning each favor.

At sunset tonight I found this couple and then wrote this short poem to memorialize the photo and the very special friendship I have with Jey-hu. (Copyright 2009)