Friday, March 30, 2007

Hamacas mean STOP

I think this is my most favorite spot in the whole house. As I look back at one of the first posts on this blog, I realize how much our atrium and verandah have evolved....and how much I have evolved in the process. Evidently my friend thinks so, too. "You look so different!" she said when she saw me. "A whole new you!"

We've got our first houseguests from Orange County, Cynthia and Jerry. Cynthia and I talked Tuesday night before we were to pick them up Wednesday. "You were really wound tight," I said to her when we saw each other face to face. "Tight?" she said, "Tight!!! That was me relaxed! I was finally relaxed. You have no idea! That was me RELAXED!!!!"


OK. I believe that. Good start. I'm hearing echoes of my own voice just a short while ago.

Cynthia has a full time high pressure job selling long distance truck space, plus she does pet sitting for a whole raft of clients, PLUS she's got wonderful, patient Jerry waiting to marry her when she has a space on her calendar. (She's got that scheduled for next December). Cynthia makes Teresa look like a lazy lay-about. Teresa loved it here, "But," she said, "I'd be bored. This place is for retired people. I don't know what you DO all day."

Well, as a friend pointed out when we were instant messaging yesterday (I had mentioned that I thought Jerry and Cynthia had already gone just about everywhere there was to go, and done just about everything there was to do around here -- on foot, twice), Mexico isn't what you DO, it's what you BE. I may need to inscribe that into the concrete walls of our guestroom.

I find myself mentally getting defensive and verbally self-justifying. After almost a decade of racking up over 100,000 miles a year on American Airlines and moving through life with a cell phone attached to one ear, and the past year divesting ourselves of about three-fourths of our worldly possessions, establishing a new home, dealing with some major transitions for Mom and Dad, a few personal health crises thrown in, as well as adjusting to new neighbors, environment and culture....I honestly don't want to DO anything for a while.

Right now the high season is shutting down. During April we'll see most of our neighbors headed north. We've got a little social whirl going on with goodbye get togethers and such. It's not exactly a social whirl -- more like a gentle eddy. We'll be sorry to see them go, but I'm looking forward to seeing just how slow things can get. I've been saving up a few projects for doing while holed up in an air conditioned room out of the sun.

But most of all I plan on following the directions that come with each hammock our friend Hala at Hamaca Maya sells: "Swing. Sleep. Repeat." Let's see if Cynthia can get the hang of that.

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