Headin' for the finish line.....

Well, I've been away (as some of you may have noticed...those with keen powers of observation...) for a while. I was trying to get some business drummed up to no avail. So, forget that and lets move on, shall we?
Where to begin...well, I can't catch you up on everything so we'll hit the highlights...John came back in May and I left ( not because he came back..). Went to Portland, from there to istanbul, back to portland and finally returned to Santa Clara. Upon my return, John informed me he couldn't stay here anymore ( not because I came back..). He can't take the heat and humidity. It wears him out so much all he can do is nap. So two weeks later he was gone. I put it out there on Facebook he needed somewhere to stay and-poof! Accomodations were offered, literally, within minutes. Tell me there aren't nice people in the world. So, off he went. Lucky and I have been holding down the proverbial fort ( or in our case, plantation) since then. We will be leaving here on August 21st, flying into Houston where another one of those nice people I previously mentioned will be picking us up and driving us to Portland. I am going to have my buddy Marsial take care of the house and yard while i'm gone, so I was thinking " how long does it take to water the yard?" He could stop by twice a week, open the gate and windows ( he comes by every weekday anyway because he works at my neighbors), let things air out, then stop by on his way home and water for an hour. one day front, one day back. So, how long would that take? I'm out there with the hose and i'm thinking "OK, I don't just stand here with the hose, I put it down, weed a bit, pick up downer palms and throw them over the fence, then move the hose, etc. So i start to do this. My first clue that perhaps i should let it go was when i grabbed the very first palm and got stung by a big 'ol ant. Now, this has happened to me before so i usually do a visual inspection of where Im going to grab ( John would be yelling at me at this point in the story-" why weren't you wearing your gloves?!"). Be that as it may, I got stung and let me tell you, it feels like a red hot needle piercing you. Well, shake it off and move on...After about an hour of weeding ( I use a metal hook attached to a wooden handle for this task), cleaning up palms and watering I think, " Ok, this can get done in an hour..". By now I am pretty darn hot and sweaty anyway and figure its time to stop. Just needed to throw this one last palm over the fence down behind the casita..oh wait- there's one more hanging off that tree...it's a low lying one about waist high and its stubborn. Doesn't come off on the first pull so i plant my feet, turn to the right and pull for all im worth...."Skkrritc" I HEAR my knee say as the palm gives up and I land on my ass. Ok..assessment time..visual check- knee is there, nothing protruding or out of place...can you bend it? "Aaah!" "OK..get up off your ass and get to the house. You're out back where nobody would see you". So, up I go with the aid of the hook, hobble my way to the back porch where my faithful dog has been laying in the shade ( so much for Lassie running for help.."whats that? Timmy's in the well?" or in this case" whats that? Jill's on her ass behind the casita?"). Lucky just about trips me as I tell him" get out of the way I hurt my knee". At last I'm in. Bag of ice, ibuprofen, ace bandage and put it up. About half hour later my neighbor Marcie comes over ( who by the way is the ONLY person who lives nearby). She was a nurse for many years and she tells me sounds/looks like I tore some cartilege. Great. So I stay off of it for the most part for the next 3-4 days. Marcie also tells me there is a place in Dzilam de Bravo ( the next village down and, literally, the end of the road) where I can get physical therapy. Thats like saying there is a place in
Estacada where you can get a heart transplant. However, shes been there and had it done. So, Monday i head on down. Now, according to Marcie, I don't need a referral. Well, this part of the story in not accurate. I do. So the lady informs me there is a doctor in Dzilam I can go see. After asking several people directions, I find it. It's not that it's such a big town, mind you, I just don't understand a lot of what they're telling me so it's sort of like a scavenger hunt. Dzilam de Bravo is known ffor two things- it;'s the burial place of Jean LaFitte the pirate and its full of alcoholics. Its a bit tumble down even by mexico standards...but i digress. So, here I am at the clinic. There are a number of women my age sitting out front. I ask them if they are waiting to see the doctor " No, no. You go ahead' they enthusiastically motion me inside where there are four other folks in chairs. I find a seat and i wait, keeping my eyes open to what this process is. There is no desk or check in point. Soon a woman emerges from down the hall and one of the ladies next to me gets up and goes there. Ok...after a while, a woman with a white top and a stethascope around her neck comes out and gets a little lady with her arm in a sling....after a bit, out comes the lady that went in before her. Ok..we're moving along. But wait, in comes a new player. A young woman with a newspaper and she walks right down the hall. maybe she came for the lady with her arm in a sling...Nobody comes out. Ok...now another newbie comes in, young woman with a baby..and SHE walks down the hall..OK, now I ask the little old lady next to me whats up. She tells me I need to go down the hall.Oh! So I do and sure eneough theres a little room down there with three people in it. The lady yells down top the girl with the baby that I've been sitting there quite a while but i just didn't know the drill ( this is all speculation on my part as I really didnt get most of what was being said) . So the girl with the babt motions that i can go ahead of her. Well, after some more waiting and jockeying around, I finally am seated across from the doctor. Nice looking, clean professionally dressed young man. I ask him if he lives in Dzilam Bravo and he looks at me like Im nuts. He informs me he lives in Mexico City but when he's working here he hs a house in Merida. Still a hell of a commute. Anyway, after we exchange words, pantomime various knee movements and recount the story of the injury, he tells me I need to stay off of it for five days,. As he's writing me a prescription, i gaze around the room. Against the wall is an exam table covered in what reminds me of a once white tablecloth after a Thanksgiving meal and next to it on the floor is a metal bucket that reminds me of something from a civil war hospital tent. i do NOT want to speculate on what is stuck on the outside of said bucket let alone look at what might be inside. The doctor hands me the paer with the prescriptions and informs me its for pain and inflammation. We shake hands and on the way out i'm given my meds. All of this, free of charge. I hobble back out to the truck and carefully stick my straightened leg in, positioning it over the gas pedal. As I drive away, i see the little old lady who gave me the heads up on going down the hall. I stop and ask her if she'd like a ride. She opens the door and gets herself in. Just a couple of gals truckin' along the streets of Dzialm de Bravo we are...after only a few blocks, she tells me this is it and turns to thank me. She also tells me as she's getting out, that she's 83 years old. Spry gal...we exchange " have a good day"s and i head out of town......Since then, I have been off my foot. i ice it twice a day and take the naproxen and wear the ace bandage. its still swollen but its getting better. Im told it will take a long time before it's actually back to normal and that, in fact, I'll be wearing this ace bandage for quite a while...I have also messaged my young doctor friend from home and she did an online quasi diagnosis of a meniscus (sp?) tear- torn cartilege. So, there you have it. I went online and read about it. Evidently as we get older, we can tear it simply by getting up out of a chair wrong! Great..something to look forward too.. So, I had told myself I was going to get out there on my windsurfing board I drug down two years ago and have never used before I left.That wont be happening.....A friend- another one of those nice people- is flying all the way down from Potland for 3 days to bring me a kennel to take Lucky home in. After that, its all about how do i close up this house? Mouse poison for sure or they will eat my cushions and nest in my mattress, talk to Marsial about coming over twice a week..Marcie needs a set of keys, she'll be driving the truck for me once a week. I only have a very small carry on bag to bring home with me which means everything will be left behind. my new sheets that folks lugged down for me, my art on the walls, things Ive acquired or made since I've been here. All the things that make this place so nice. I'll be going back to my old houe but have nothing to put in it. No pots, pans, sheets. But Ive started from scratch before. I have no aversion to Goodwill and I have lots of photos I can get enlarged to fill my walls with. My pal Lynda is giving us our couch back and the rest will come. The most important , irreplacable things are my family, those great friends I have and my memories of this wonderful experience. The house will still be here, and at some point I will make it back. I have another nearly five weeks here to continue to post this blog." As it was in the beginning, so it shall be in the end". From this blogs early beginnings when I was sorting out and getting rid of all my possessions in Portland, to stepping down from my job, along with us on the drive down and our whole time here, thank you faithful followers, for sharing this whole grand experience with me. Stay tuned.....

House for rent......

Tired of dreary weather? Don't want to get sucked into another holiday spend fest?  Well here's your answer- A perfect little retreat  in Santa Clara, Yucatan, Mexico.
 The Yucatan is the safest state in Mexico. The easiest airport to fly in/out of is Merida which was recently voted one of rthe ten safest cities in the world.

This one bedroom charmer has everything from a small pool to a two man kayak. While close to the beach ( across the street) you won't have all the sand to deal with in the house so it's very low maintenance. The most work you will have to do is blow up an air mattress to float around the pool or walk out back to the hammock.

If you want to bring friends or family with you, the guest house in back (casita) can also be rented.
$450.00 a week for the house, an additional $250.00 per week for the casita. Two couples could stay comfortably with privacy. If interested contact me at kahnerts@hotmail.com. I am in the process of listing  on VRBO or Homeaway.....