WARM!

MOVED SOUTH 2011

 

With each year our move south becomes more routine.  In about a week or less we are settled in physically and psychologically as well.  This year we came down a bit earlier than previously.  But the weather in Ohio was already taking on its usual grey drabness and it was time to go.  As one of our friends, WC, remarked, when the leaves had changed colors and were falling off the trees she knew we would soon be going south.  And the more we spend time here fewer things seem unusual to us.  The hibiscus, iguanas, Coronas, etc. are just all part of the background scenery.  So those of you up north may be reading more about ordinary things in Mrs. T's newsletters.

You probably noted that there wasn't any reporting during October.   R was still in recovery from her September show at ZAAP.  We had several social obligations and of course we were busy packing.  (We don't bring much down these days actually; everything we need is already in the condo.)  But here is a short report on our first few days.

 

Well here we are, safe in our southern home.  The flights were not too bad.  I was x-rayed because of my bionic knee.  (She always is despite having a card –dt)  And one bag did not make our flight but arrived and was delivered the next day.

It is very hot here – about 90F (31C) – every day.  Dan loves it and sits under the palapa reading.  (R does her own heavy reading; eyes shut. –dt)   But I feel it.  It drains me.  Fortunately I can jump in the pool and cool off.  (She doesn't jump in the fish pond behind the Philo house! –dt)   And it is only two short blocks to the ocean.  AH!  The ocean.  It is for me, dare I say, pacific.  Some conquistador got the name right as far as I am concerned.  Currently the Bay, our small section of the Pacific, and even a bit further out is quite warm and I can just float in it like the swimming pool.

Actually it has been too pacific.  I tried to boogie board, but the waves were not good enough.  My SCUBA guys told me to try later in the afternoon.  It was great to see all the guys again and I had two super dives this past week.  I saw lots of neat fish, eels, and rays.  One thing I had never seen before was an angel ray.  They have two rounded wings sort of like butterflies. They are two to three feet across and their stingers are only three or four inches long.  There were lots of them just resting on the bottom of the ocean floor.  (Mrs.T was actually out in the ocean at Las Marietas.  –dt)   If you dug carefully under each wing you could lift them up and they would just lay on your hands until you put them back down.  WOW!

 

I set a new personal record of staying down 52 minutes on one tank.  The record was especially noteworthy because it was my first time out for the season.  But Alex, my weekly dive master, does not breathe at all.  I think he is part Selkie (A merman; see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selkie -dt)   Alex has big brown eyes and a mustache.  He is a little tubby.  (Sorry Alex.)  (I think I need to keep a closer eye on Mrs.T  -dt)

 

I was doing fairly well with Spanish but not so well with metric.  Fortunately Mathman has been able to keep me straight.  Recently he stopped me from buying 3 pounds of cheese when I wanted to buy 1 pound.  Between the two of us we do rather well.

 

Dan found a very large toad or frog in the condo pool bano.  And of course we have lots of kissing geckos.  They are called that because they make little smoochie sounds to each other and of course to me.  Did you know they can walk upside down on our ceiling?

 

As our condo is sometimes rented while we are gone, when we return we are never quite sure what we will come back to.  Things occasionally are missing or are rearranged.  We have generally been rather lucky and nothing important has disappeared or been broken.  Dan was a bit upset to find that we were missing about a dozen plastic ice cream and yogurt containers which we used to store leftovers.  Who could possibly want them?  And why did they leave the lids?  As we had mysteriously acquired a very nice Pyrex baking dish, I thought it was a good trade.  Dan hypothesized that the plastic containers were probably used as molds for a sand castle.  "At least they could have washed them and brought them back," he grumbled.  I valiantly offered to eat a whole lot of ice cream right away to get replacements.  For some reason this offer did not receive the appreciation it deserves.

Just a few pictures:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157628119946654/

 

Hope all of you are doing well.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com