The Sea is a Salty One

  Recent morning beach walk Playa Punto Pelencho on a recent day here in 'Rainy" or "Green Season" During low tide you can walk right out to that little isle Isla Loros. We're in the ups and downs right now. Big news: The deal fell through. Not on my end. They verbally agreed to a price point, my realtor put the contract together, she signed, I signed and we sent it over to the buyer's agent. Crickets. More crickets. Then the other agent came back with a " the client has chosen not to proceed " just like that! I asked a few whys and the answer is that the new price point was all of the client's money. Le sigh. I didn't want to go up, I wanted to sell it at the original contract, but truthfully it's stupid to risk every penny you have, even on your dream of living on the country club golf course. I get it, I really do because 30 something years ago we had to walk away from a Victorian manse I wanted so badly, but we'd be risking every...

  Hiraeth: A Welsh term, a deep, bittersweet longing or homesickness for a home, place, or time to which you cannot return. The both horrible and interesting thing about dealing with Mom's situation is not the mild depression that comes on days when I'm forced to deal with some mundane detail I don't want to in her care. It's the low-key ever presence sense of missing my own home, both childhood and the Virginia one I lived in for nearly 30 years.  Right now I'm attempting to write a list of everything that I'm taking from the house. We're dickering now, We have a solid offer that looks likely to go through, for the entire place, the lock, the stock and the barrel. I've already taken most of the things I bought, like the sheets and towels I had to buy for Mom's stay in assisted living, and last trip I took the sheets and towels I had to buy to actually live in the home without resorting to shreds of terrycloth and destroyed bedding.  I've combed ...

  Me on the grounds of the Old State Capital in Baton Rouge back in 1982. Young and feckless. Got a solid offer on the Manse of Haunted Dolls. Really want to accept it. Cash in hand in a few weeks. The sticky wicket? The husband, trying to put together counter offers and other just sheer stubbornness. He wants me to counter. I do not! It's a fair offer, it's quick and it's off our hands. We'll be done with Bob, the stupid country club and everything else all lousy about Louisiana, including how sick I get with my asthma every time I slide in there. Stay tuned. There may be big fighting ahead! I tend to trust my instincts more than he and I believe this is more than we really can get. 

  This picture is the day before Costa Rica imposed lock down rules due to Covid in 2020. I remember the security guard made me remove my N95 mask! Spending the day here today. Le sigh! The thing about the banking systems here is sometimes frustrating. If you're Canadian and have access to Scotiabank you have it a tad easier than most expats because you can open a Scotiabank account in Canada and use it here. Same bank. Those of us from the USA don't have it that nice. Why? Couple of things. First, only two banks in this country have anything like the FDIC in the USA - the two government backed ones - Banco Nacional and Banco Costa Rica. The others are not, and that can matter a lot in a place where financial institutions can falter and close with no notice, taking your hard earned dolares with them. BAC is not government-backed, but they are huge, so little chance of losing your money. They are the only one besides Scotiabank or a credit union I might consider. Keep in mind al...

  My life here is very dull, errands, the beach and so on, so let me tell you a tale of old. Something that happened nearby this silly Baton Rouge landmark. Last night the husband and I were talking about Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry's recent invite for the children of Greenland to just visit the Governor's mansion in Baton Rouge. I was laughing over the complete absurdity of the offer with him, and remembering another visit to the Governor's mansion. One not taken by me, but by folks I met at a party in the downtown area. Back around 1980, back in the Stone Ages, I had friends that flipped houses before anyone ever heard the words "Flipper" before. They'd take these old grand dames of a turn of the century homes, buy very cheap, move in and renovate and then turn around and resell. I'd been pressed into service painting more than once. One of their big traditions was a huge party after the renovation although it might have made more sense to hold it pre...