Strange Days and Orchids
Well, it's been a strange week or two. I've lost days to this silly ankle thing. Took off the boot at a week to start doing physical therapy movements, made it two days and now the boot is back on and I'm down to two pain pills. It's healing so slowly this time. Have to do a medical follow up this week.
Several days ago we went to a party for a lady we know who is throwing in the towel and going home to the U.S.A. Katie was trying to do that thing that is impossible here on the Gold Coast -- live as a gringo without a steady monthly income. Even a social security pension will not cut it here. It's expensive, but likely not as expensive as life in the U.S.A. is getting lately. Read that there has been a 40% jump in the price of vegetables and fruits last month. Deporting the folks that do all the grunt work there was one very bad idea mixed with those insano tariffs. We have high tariffs here and it inhibits the amounts of essentials people like Katie buys.
Example: I needed a California King sized mattress pad. Could not find one locally, or even in San Jose. Priced it at Amazon. It was cheap, like fifty, sixty dollars. Import taxes and fees were a solid hundred fifty dollars on top of that. I waited and bought one in the States and brought it in my luggage. Matruska doll luggage. Going to the States you have a suitcase inside of a suitcase so you can bring things back.
While I'm sorry to see Katie go at least I'll not have to be hit up for money by her. Again, don't move here without a remote job, or a way to make money. It just never works out right.
I am trying to reach out to my son now. His favorite YouTuber died, a guy that went by the name "King CobraJFS" He's not the only one. Over the last two days I have had so many folks I know either reach out to me trying to make sense of it all, or saying something about the passing of Josh. He was only 34 years old, and he struggled with mental health and substances. The few times I saw Josh when my son was watching him I remember thinking he wasn't long for this world. Sad. It's a hard hit when you're young and suddenly you realize others in your own age group have passed and it dawns on you that you aren't getting any special pass from death.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
One of the good things that happened out of bad is that when I came back here from being away so long I came back to oodles of dead houseplants. I was upset over a few of them like my bonzai tree and the wild orchids my son gave me. He'd been gifted them at the organic farm he visited here and I was given strict instructions to water them daily. I watered even the deadest looking plants without much hope any of them would come back, but the wild orchids did! They are growing gangbusters! Guanacaste here has rainy and dry seasons. It makes sense that they would come back because there's no way they are getting watered every day during dry season!
I've replaced most of the plants that died, with the exception of my bonzai. That has to wait until I go back to San Jose.
Even with the ankle, goodbyes and death life is good!
Next week prepping for visitors. Pura Vida!
Comments