US tourists

Yesterday was Art's birthday, so today we decided to go to town and have an early dinner.  It's so hot right now that it was great to get into our air conditioned truck and just do something!  I have to say that the observation I'm about to make has been bothering me for quite some time.   We headed for one of our favorite places, Ko Ox Han Ah (Known to all of us as Hannah's).  There was a large group of young folks there who appeared to be either American or Canadian.  Altho' we were all there for some time and they all had to pass us as they left, not a one made eye contact or offered a smile.
 
I realize that we're both much older than most of the folks that we meet, so probably aren't on many folks' radar, but as we see Belizeans, we exchange smiles and usually some form of hello.  Over and over I find that when walking near U. S. tourists of almost any age, they look past or thru us and walk on.  I don't want anything from any of them, but this lack of friendliness and courtesy makes me sad.  I would love to be of help if needed, but feel that as "old" folks we're totally disregarded.  

I know I keep repeating this, but if we do sell here, I will truly miss the courtesy, kindness and genuine smiles of Belizeans.  So many want to be like Americans, but I pray that our lack of courtesy doesn't rub off on them.  
Blessings,

No sale, darn!

We're let down, but are pulling up our socks and continuing on.  We've been in negotiations with some folks who seemed a perfect fit for the farm.  With our one bedroom/one bath in the house, two bedrooms/one bath in the guest house and then the unfinished Mennonite house at the entrance and leaving the property turn key, we were excited about the prospect of going back to Oregon and spending time with family.  In the end, we couldn't agree on terms, so are starting over.  I'm sorry for them as they seem to think that building is going to be a breeze.  After all we've been thru and the ugly stories others have related, I can assure them it's not, but to each his own.  Anyway, we're still here, enjoying the beauty and comfort on our hill.  

Improved road

Nothing much going on right now at the farm.  Weather is great.  Cloudy, occasional light, very short rain.  This is a prelude to the hot, dry season ahead.  Just wanted to post a photo of a piece of the road improvement.  Doesn't look spectacular, unless you've spent time in Belize and have driven some of our roads.  Folks are calling it our "highway."  Wish all the roads were this solid.

You can see the improvements at the top.  The road is about 1/4 mile and took a lot of gravel and work.  We're just enjoying being able to go up and down with relative ease. 

Road, again!

The road up our hill has been a problem for several years, but this rainy season was the final straw.  We found ourselves virtually trapped up here and when we did go down, the huge ruts along with the mountain of black muck the was pushed up in the middle, were destroying the bottom of our truck.  We quit trying to use the old Trooper as the 4 wheel drive went out on it.  We've tried to keep our Toyota truck from becoming a "Belize" truck, but the elements seem to be winning.  We were able to get up and down most of the time, but no one else could or would even attempt it.  We finally cried "uncle" and decided it was cheaper to fix the road than repair the truck

We attempted to contact Victor, who put in the top part of our road when we built.  It turned out that he was spending the rainy season in California, so we contacted Henry, who was doing work for several friends and he agreed to help us.  Normally, it's best to wait until things dry out before attempting to repair a road, but our dilemma  needed drastic attention. 

It's extremely frustrating that there are other families on this road, but no one will contribute, but they keep trying to drive in the goo and succeed in making it totally impassable.  A neighbor has sold a lot and contracted to build an upscale house on it, but has been waiting for dry weather to do anything about the mess.  Her crew just spin their wheels and dig huge trenches.  Ok, ENOUGH!  I know that the neighborhood will think that we're rich Americans because we are spending to get this fixed, but that has to be their problem.  Little do they know that this is the last of our little fund.  Priorities.

Henry decided to put some material he's digging from a hill in Santa Elena.  It's huge rocks with a minimum of dirt.  He's using a backhoe to dig out the black goo and dumping the rock on the road.  It's not pretty like some folks like, where they put down white rocks that look nice, but when the rains hit, they become buried in the mud.  We were impressed by his diligence by using the backhoe, instead of a grader, he was able to continually pile the rocks on the roadbed, rather than having them pushed to the side with a grader.  

After he had dumped 4 loads of rock and leveled it out, I had an irate call from the woman at the bottom of the hill.  Her boys had buried the front end of her big Ford diesel truck in the new road.  She was adamant that everything we did was horrible.  I finally went down in the pickup and saw what had happened.  These young fellows don't have a clue how to drive and he'd tried to drive thru a pile of the black goo and had buried the front end with the back up in the air.  I had a tow chain and pulled him out, telling him that he's much better off sticking to the new rock.  Duh!  A couple of days later I got a call from her, thanking me for pulling them out and telling me that the new road was looking great.  Wow!

Anyway, Henry took about a week to slowly dump 14 loads of rock at 14 years per load.  We had to call a halt to the work as the funds were running out, but boy did we get a lot for our money.  He had to put most of the work at the bottom of the hill, but was able to address the couple of muddy spots up closer to the farm.  Hopefully, before the next rainy season we can get Henry back up to do a little more work, but we now have one of the best local roads in the country.  Anyone should be able to get up without four-wheel drive and Henry was able to bring up a full load of chippings which we'll use to build walkable paths around the house.  

It doesn't seem right that this track up to our place is a 60' government road, but they don't do anything, even to the main roads.  It's all political here.  When an election is coming, they tell the folks that they'll fix the roads if they win.  Hah!  Then nothing substantial happens.  They might bring a grader in and then drop a few loads of marl on the road, but the first rain brings back all the potholes.  Our road, with it's solid base of large rocks, should stay passable during the worst of the rains. 

Not much happening at the farm

I've been pretty quiet for a couple of reasons.  The first is that we've had rain almost constantly for over three months.  Coupled with unusually cold temperatures has made it really miserable.  Every year since we moved here, when the cool weather hits, I dig our warmer clothes out of the suitcase where they reside, under our bed most of the year.  We'd wear them for a few days and then I had to wash and pack them up again.  WELL, this year I've been wearing fleece vests and a jacket and a neck scarf for nearly three months.  When it rains here it doesn't usually mess around, It rains a lot and the ground literally gets like a sponge.  We step outside and the mush comes up to our ankles.  Once again, our road is a slippery, slide of  black goo.  It seems there's little we can do except read and pray that it lets up soon.

The second reason is that I've been under the weather with a really sore back and neck.  I had numb fingers and generally felt crumby.  What else to do when stuck up here but look on the internet for a diagnosis.  Dumb!  I really scared myself with everything from heart trouble to MS.  I've been so healthy all of my life, so had difficulty fathoming being ill.  I finally got my self to the Dr. and found that I'm so very lucky to be my age and have a very strong heart and lungs.  It's just an accumulation of not enough exercise and taking care of myself.  I went to a massage therapist who helped some, but then my sciatic acted up.  This has been a very painful, relentless problem, but I have been so lucky to find the most wonderful lady in Benque who does chiropractic massage.  Wow, what a blessing.  She trained as a chiropractor in Guatemala and has certificates in several different techniques as well. I have to thank dear Dona Alicia for relieving my sciatic distress and helping me to walk comfortably again. 

Happy Holidays in Belize

This is the time of the year that I miss the US.  Living in the northwest, we often had snow for Christmas.  For the last ten years we lived in our beautiful log home in the mountains.  Art, as a professional Santa, would be gone from before Thanksgiving until the day after Christmas.  He'd try to leave Christmas morning to get home the next day.  It was about and 18 hour drive from Santa Monica to Central Oregon.  Anyway, I had a lovely time decorating our home both inside and outside.  I love the lights. 

When we came to Belize, we realized that, living off-grid, electricity would be at a premium, so we left all our decorations in storage at our son's house.  Oh how I miss them - the decorations and the family.  Christmas here is almost a non-event.  I guess in town some folks decorate, but here in the village and out where we are, it's just the same as every other day.  I know within their homes they make their special foods (boyos out of pigs heads or chicken with the bones and all.  Sorry, but ick).  Some of the Adventists even work on Christmas day. 

The thing that I find truly confusing and upsetting is that they play extremely loud music that has nothing to do with Christmas and shoot off fireworks for EVERY holiday.  We are so lucky to live a little more remotely so we're not impacted by all the noise.  Our friends, Diane and David haven't been able to sleep for several nights and weren't able to hear the dialogue on their TV during the New Year's programming due to the noise.  They live in the village and are both nervous wrecks right now.  They've lived here for several years, but now regret building near the river with locals around them because of the lack of consideration by the villagers.  This is definitely a recurring theme throughout the country from what I hear. 

Oh well, we're still blessed to have been together, in relatively good health to celebrate Christmas with friends and to face another new year.  I pray it's a wonderful year for all of us.  Blessings

Bailey's escape

Since we're not doing any building, our lives seem to center on the weather and our road, and the dogs.  With two growing pups it's easy to overlook some of Bailey's signals.  Being an Akita, he's quiet, but extremely opinionated.  We were disappointed, but not surprised that he hasn't been thrilled with the addition of two energetic pups to the family.  He's never aggressive with them, but doesn't tolerate their attentions. 

When we came to Belize, over four years ago, we drove from Oregon to Bullet Tree in our Toyota Tundra.  Bailey was in heaven and loved every minute of the trip.  We bo't this truck specifically so he'd have a comfortable ride.  Now, four years later, we rarely have occasion to take any of the dogs in the truck.  Well, Bailey never forgets and boy did he make it plain.  All of the dogs needed their rabies shots and a general checkup, so we started by loading the pups in the truck and taking them to see Dr. Isabelle and her wonderful interns.  They're so caring and thorough.  Afterwards we stopped to see Peggy at her restaurant and the pups layed down next to us just to show that Irish Setters can have manners.  The next day we loaded Bailey in and repeated our trip.  It's always interesting to see the affect our 135# boy has on others.  He's so quiet, but huge. 

OK, so we've done our best to make things equal, right?  Wrong.  We put the fence collars on the pups first thing each day, but Bailey rarely goes off the veranda unless we take him down with a leash for a walk so we don't usually put the collar on him.  A couple of days after our vet trip, Bailey wandered down off the veranda,  stopped by the truck, looked up at us and calmly walked up the driveway, thru the gate and headed down the road.  It was so obvious that he was mad at us about letting the pups in HIS truck.  If he could talk in human words, he'd have been swearing big time.  Art headed after him, calling his name and I tried to head him off.  Two points.  1 - When he doesn't want to come, Bailey is deaf and just keeps going.  2- Art and I are neither young or very athletic, so our dashing is more of a pathetic toddle, so we didn't stand a chance of catching him.  He veered off down a track thru a neighboring plot.  I went back and got the old Trooper and followed him, worried both about him and Art's stamina. 

Our property is surrounded by bush and this area is owned by a man from El Salvador who doesn't speak English and we don't speak Spanish.  There had also been some problem between this fellow and another neighbor over land rights, so I was intimidated when he approached the Trooper with his machete.  I did my best to try to indicate that we were just trying to find our dog.  Thankfully, just then, Art came out of the bush and Bailey appeared several feet away.  I hoped that this gentleman got the picture.  Darn Bailey, he just looked over his shoulder at us and went back into the bush.   Besides all the critters that are in the bush who can do you harm, Bailey had on his regular collar, which can catch on every vine and bush.  We were so upset, but had no choice but to return home and hope that he'd find his way back.  It was getting dark, so I made food noises (dropping kibble into his metal dish) and eventually he strolled back in and came up the stairs.  I guess he showed us. 

Now, if he's near the truck and the pups come close, he sits by the door, as if to say, it's mine and you're not going. 

Irish Setters

When we decided to get the Setter pups, we heard comments about them being dumb (how wrong that is) and extremely hyper.  Well that one could apply to Shannon at times.  She's small and thin, no matter how much food she eats, and has lots of energy.  Rusty is much more laid back.  It's been such a blessing to have the fence as they can race around the yard, playing together, burning off some excess energy.  They've picked up on some many things that we say and continually surprise us with their responsiveness.  They both just want to please.  Shannon's one trait that is annoying is that she gets so excited to see someone (anyone) that she jumps up on them.  We're working on breaking her of it, but will take time.  They so much want to give and receive love that they can be annoying, in that they both vie for attention.  Firmness is working to get them to sit and with two hands, they each get a good scratching.  Works for me! 

We're so pleased that we decided to bring these guys into our family.  I can't say that Bailey would agree to that, but he does find his own space and tolerates them, but that's an Akita for you.  I just want to go on record that these Setters, besides being absolutely gorgeous, are smart, loving companions. 

Happy Birthday babies

Our beautiful pups turned one year old today.  What a blessing (and maybe a tiny curse) they've both been.  They make me laugh and occasionally want to scream, but their beauty and generous affection has brought so much joy.  I've just been watching them tear around the yard, playing chase.  We've never regretted getting two pups as they play together and keep each other company.  They both love Bailey, but he doesn't really return the feeling.

We finally got them their rabies shots and they're both healthy.  Shannon weighs 44 lbs and Rusty weighs 60 lbs.

The only treat I gave them was a small bag of Cheetos, which they really love.  After all, can't they have junk food just this once.  How often does a guy turn one.  Anyway, Happy Birthday babies and keep those hugs coming.  We love you.

Three on a clothespin

What a glorious day we're having today.  It rained last night, but today it's in the high 80's with a few clouds and just light breezes.  I'm being a total sloth and loving it.  I've been intrigued by the appearance of tiny hummingbird nests attached to clothespins on our veranda.  They seemed incomplete and I finally took them down.  A few days ago a new nest appeared on the next line.  It's not much bigger than a large egg and beautifully made.  They always seem to include bits of lichen and are beautiful works of art.  

Today, as I sat reading on our porch swing, I caught a glimpse of a hummingbird flying to the nest.  Wow, this one was the real thing.  It took me a long time, trying to stay out of the way, but watching the nest to see that there appeared to be two tiny babies in the nest.  I wish I could get higher to see down into the nest, but am thrilled with the gift I've been given of seeing these tiny beings.  

I hope I'll be able to catch more views of this wonderful little family before the babies leave the nest.  

I feel so fortunate to sit at my computer and watch a little yellow warbler, hear a red-headed woodpecker and in the distance the howler monkeys are letting us know we'll probably get more rain.  This truly is a paradise.  Blessings!

Rainy season

It's been raining almost continually for three days.  It's hard to complain as this is the rainy season.  We haven't been down the hill today, but this once again makes me really glad to not live by the river.  It had dropped a little, but all this rain is bringing it back up again.  It's hard to imagine that some local folks take canoes across to get home.  There was one fatality in Succotz of an older fellow trying to cross to his farm.  The water is really roaring.  I've traveled to town several times lately and haven't had any problems with our hill.  I have to thank both the truck and the Trooper and their four wheel drives.  In order to make it past the couple of muddy spots I just put the peddle to the metal and zip up the road.  I'm sure if I drove slower it would just dig in and we'd be stuck.  Anyway, no problems.

We've been thrilled with the new fence for the dogs.  Bailey isn't testing it much as he's never like the rain and definitely doesn't like to get his feet wet.  I think he's also leery of the fence.  We take his special collar off and Art walks him across the fence at the driveway, reassuring him all the time that "it's ok" and they take their walk.   Bailey is so smart, he get's it.  The pups do too as they will follow to a point and then turn around and come back.  I especially liked this Sport Dog system as the collar takes a 9-volt battery, but it's in a sealed, waterproof box. Given our climate and this rainy season, that was a huge selling point.  This particular collar gives us the ability to set each independently.   We also bo't a surge protector.  I questioned our electrician about that and he highly recommended it.  We get so many storms passing by and we want to be sure that the collars aren't affected.  He told me that if you can hear the thunder, there's a chance of a power surge that would affect the transmitter and then the collars.  We don't get that many storms that actually affect us, but we have lots of storms that pass by on their way to Guatemala. 

For today we're fine.  I ran the generator for an hour this morning and we'll probably have to run it for a bit this evening too as it's very gloomy and we're not taking in many rays.  As long as we have gasoline, it's not a huge hardship.  I can faintly hear a neighbor who doesn't have the batteries and his generator is running all the time.  I'd hate to live with that constant noise.  

Today is my brother's birthday and it was lovely to be able to call him.  It still is exciting to me to be so far away but be able to stay in touch.  We both have November birthdays and are astonished that we've reached this stage.  We're both so thankful that we're reasonably healthy and feel blessed. 

Hundred year rain every five years?

Before we moved here full-time we planned to visit the end of October, five years ago.  We had to reschedule our plane tickets because so much of Belize was flooded, including the bridge over Roaring Creek.  There is one spot on Paslow Falls Rd that was also under water for a short time.  Well, here we go again.  We haven't had flooding here in Bullet Tree Village, but much of the savannah area along the coast is suffering.  I also just heard from some folks in Succotz that the lower bridge there is under water.  I was also told that a man drowned after losing control of his kayak. 

I am so happy that I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get any laundry dry, so on Monday I took our laundry to town to have Sylvi wash & dry it.  Also took advantage of the trip to stock up on some groceries and gas for the generator.  We're now happy to be sitting on top of our hill, away from all that water.  Riverfront property doesn't look so appealing now. 

The Mopan is running fast, high and very brown.  Looks like the chocolate river in the Willie Wonka movie.  Lots of debris, but, so far Paslow Falls Rd is fine.  One blessing we can be thankful for is that both Paslow Falls Rd and our road up the hill have a rock base.  They might be rough, but are nearly always passable with 4 wheel drive.  Have been down in both the truck & the old Trooper and both did fine.  I just don't dawdle, but put the peddle to the metal and climb up our hill. 

The forecast is for continued rain all week.  We'll be fine but I pray that the rest of the country gets some relief.  Even if the rains subside here in Belize, we have to be concerned about the rains in Guatemala.  There has been so much deforestation in the Peten and that's where most of the Mopans flow originates.  The Mopan starts in Guatemala, crosses into Belize at Benque, past Succotz, to Bullet Tree and then joins with the Macal at Santa Familia to become the Belize River. 

The little ferries at Central Farm and Xunantunich aren't running and the low bridges across the Belize River are under water.  That leaves the only access to Spanish Lookout via the "back way" which is thru Bullet Tree.  The stream of huge trucks lumbering thru the village is upsetting as much of the road is dirt and the heavy traffic is causing major damage as well as being extremely noisy.  

This is indeed the jungle and we need the rain to maintain the green, but enough already.