Back to the Beach

I am sleeping. Finally. I feel rested and I go to bed not worried about anything. There are geckos crawling around the walls but I don’t worry about them crawling on me. In fact, yesterday I opened the window in our bedroom to get a little breeze going through and a gecko crawled out of the window. I was telling Jack that and I said to him, “I hope he crawls back inside”. Jack was laughing at the irony of that statement. Geckos are good to have inside your house here. They eat all of the bugs and are very non scary. I had read that if there aren’t any geckos in the house to catch some and let them go inside.
I have had to sleep with earplugs here as well. The first night Jack and I were lying awake in bed listening to the sounds. It’s so loud with everything awake at night. There are tons of frogs but they make a weird sound that is really loud. I can’t identify anything by their sounds but every sound is so different and loud. So, I pulled out the earplugs last night and man do those things work. Deb and Patty, I’m sorry I ever gave you a hard time for wearing ear plugs. All in fun.
Yesterday, the girls and I finally ventured out to the beach. It’s been so nice hanging out at the house, plus the weather has been icky so staying home was easy. At the casita it was kind of a bummer being hunkered down when it rained. Not really a bummer but it was super loud because of the metal roof, damp and dark and usually the TV. reception would go out as well as the power. So, we would all hang around and I’d read a book or something. Here, if it rains, as long as it isn’t lightning out we can swim, and it’s bright and we can play pool or foosball. It’s nice. I’m glad we have a dog, Julietta, to dote on. I do miss Bob (the cat we named that looks like our cat Buster), and OC (the ocelot) and the spider that I would feed. It’s definitely a trade off. I’m so glad we had that experience first.
We got to the beach yesterday thinking we would have a little bit before the rains came. Well, it cleared up and turned out to be a beautiful day. Jack had to ride to the lot to hire a back hoe so we were on our own. We boogie boarded and swam all afternoon. The ocean was warm and clean and calm. The tide was going out and it was so beautiful being there. The walk to the ocean now is closer so it is more of a hassle to ride the bikes and park them at Las Olas where I would be worried they would be ripped off. It’s fun to walk and now we cross that long wooden bridge through the mangroves. It puts us right out in front of ‘dead tree’ where we like to sit so it’s very convenient. Lola’s s is no more for us which is nice. I like not having my bike down there to deal with.
The power was off for the entire day yesterday. It went off at 8:30 and returned at 3. It changes things when there is no power. I can’t believe how often it happens. It’s just a regular thing here.
Dinner was excellent last night. I got to cook my beans in a pressure cooker. It didn’t take me 2 days to cook them. No soaking overnight, no boiling for 2 hours. What a concept. I had never used a pressure cooker before and being that we don’t have internet I couldn’t get online to Google ‘pressure cookers’ so I was winging it. They turned out perfecto and it only took about ½ hour. I didn't realize I shouldn't take the little thingy off of the top of the pressure valve and I did. DO NOT DO THAT!! Just sayin'. Liz also has a rice cooker and I used that and made rice. Living at 10,600 feet above sea level it literally takes about an hour to cook rice and boiling water takes a lot longer too. Here at sea level I love the fact that things cook. It’s wonderful.
Jan and Angie, if you are reading this, you are both extremely lucky to have a pool. Every time I go for a swim, which is a lot during the day, I think of the convenience you both have in the summer of cooling off. What a great feeling it is to take a dip and relax and cool off. Don’t ever take it for granted. If we ever do get a place built here a pool will be a must.
Life is grand. The day looks nice so far. Jack is meeting with some people at the lot today so he needs to ride out of here this afternoon. I hope for his sake the weather stays nice.