After Richard

Things sure could have been a lot worse. We've spent most of Tuesday & Wednesday cleaning up debris. First on the list was getting the gutters cleaned out. Rene had done it about two weeks ago, but now the roof was almost solid bits and pieces. During the storm the water poured over the gutters, dumping water everywhere. Since we collect the water from the roofs for our cistern so it's really important that we keep them clean.

We both worked in the yard, cutting up downed trees and limbs, raking and piling.
Barely made a dent Tues., but Wed we got help from a neighbor and got most of the larger pieces picked up. Rene was working on his other job, but will be here Thurs. & Fri and will have to work cleaning the perimeter fences. That will be a huge job.

The picture of a pile of debris isn't very impressive, but when you see that we are making about two dozen similar piles, it mounts up to a lot of work. Art's shoulder and my back keep trying to remind us that there are younger bodies out there who should be doing some of this work. The thing is, it's our yard and our budget and we enjoy knowing that each thing we do hopefully makes our little place better.

We've checked up on all our friends here and blessedly, we all came out about the same. Lots of trees down, but no damage to houses or other buildings. It's amazing that there was no loss of life in Belize due to Richard. Lots of property damage tho' and I hate to think about how devastating the loss will be to the citrus industry. They did a flyover and most of the trees are still standing,but the oranges and grapefruit are on the ground. Just a couple of weeks away from harvest. I understand that there will probably be government help for the growers, but I feel for the workers who were looking forward to finally having work. There's almost no work here in the little jewel and now Richard has destroyed an important lifeline for so many.

Once again, we're so greatful that, when a hurricane finally did hit Belize straight on, that it was Richard.

Hurricane Richard

For the first time since Hurricane Hattie in 1961, Belize was in the direct path of a hurricane. Richard made landfall from Belize City on the north to the Toledo District on the south. It kept heading due west, on to the Cayo District. Bullet Tree Falls Village is about 3 miles NW of San Ignacio in Cayo.

We spent the late afternoon with several friends at the home of a lovely couple who are new friends. Doris is German and Walter is Austrian. Besides being about the nicest people you'd ever want to meet, she's an incredible cook. They invited several couples over as a thank you for making them welcome to the community. I won't even try to describe the food, but she must have cooked for a week. Everything from a German beef stew, ham, vegetable casseroles, fruit salad and the most incredible homemade cheesecake. Yum! Anyway, we all had a delightful time, but the rains were starting and we knew that Richard was coming our way, so we headed for home. As we came down Paslow Falls Rd., we passed a street light (there are only two)the light went out and homes were dark. The electricity ends about a half mile before our road heads up the hill. It was a slippery drive up, but we made it fine.

We don't have real windows in our houses, only screens. We closed most of the shutters, just leaving a couple open to the back. We moved the truck into the middle of the drive so that if a tree went down it wouldn't be hit. We then settled down to watch a couple of videos. The beauty of being off-grid is that we can stay functional when the infrastructure is hit. Of course, that's only as long as our system isn't hit too.

Having lived at the Oregon coast, where the winds are cold and can really slam hard, we went to bed and slept soundly. Yesterday morning we woke to quite a sight. We were very fortunate to not suffer any damage to our buildings, but boy did the trees get pruned. We lost quite a few and have branches EVERYWHERE.

We walked down the road and there were several trees across. One was a huge Gumbalimba that was actually uprooted. We loaded our little chainsaw and some other tools into the truck and went to work. One blessing is that the Gumbalimba is very soft and cuts easily. At one spot it had a diameter of at least 2'. That sweet little Stihl handled the job just fine. I must admit the job just about did us in tho'. It's hard to admit that we have limitations. We got the trees cut up and moved, but both of us have strained muscles.

We had a phone call from our friend Diane, who said that some fellows came by from the "government" and were cutting trees for folks who needed assistance. Such timing. We had cut the trees that were the immediate problem, but there was a tree over the road leading to our neighbors place. A truckload of about 8 guys came up and made short work of that tree. They were having a good time, laughing and working. Turns out they're from the village, just helping out.

Today we're heading out to see what damage there was to the cleared property. When Rene comes next we'll have him take care of the property line fence.

We're so fortunate that the hurricane that finally decided to hit little Belize head on, was just a category one. We're also extremely pleased with the design of our buildings and where we chose to place them. Our little place and this old couple fared just fine. And Bailey too!

Bat

Since we haven't had company, we don't use our guest house. We occasionally use the bathroom when the need arises. Lately, we've been sharing it with this little guy. It's so small that I first tho't it was a moth. We appreciate bats for their insatiable appetites for mosquitoes. They can regularly eat twice their body weight in the bugs every day. I hate to shut this little fellow out, but hope it stays nearby. Since there is so much vegetation around we didn't think that there would be a lack of places for them to reside, but may decide to build a couple of bat houses to ensure that they hang around.

I was surprised when I got this one in my viewfinder to see how little it's face is. It looks like a little fox. But check out those arms. Hope it keeps munching away in our vicinity.

Relaxing

Ok, even tho' I've mentioned that we're not young kids, I had to giggle at my mention of Wilt Chamberlain as a hint. I have to admit that I'm not a basketball fan, so don't know the names of many players. If we want to watch a good game, we'd prefer to catch a girls high school game. Now that's competition. Anyway, decided I need to include a photo of the two of us, enjoying our little piece of the world. One blessing is that we've discovered where to buy COFFEE BEANS! Yum.

View from our veranda

I had hoped that when we moved from the really cold winter climate that I'd finally be cured of my bronchitis spells, but they followed me. I've actually been surprised to hear how many folks have sinus and breathing problems. I guess it's because the air is humid and heavy. Anyway, for whatever reason, I'm having a case of the punies. Not much energy so I'm sitting on our back veranda, drinking tea with honey and just enjoying the view. It's so peaceful, with small, unseen birds flitting around in the trees and just a gentle breeze keeping it from being too hot. I'm not very good at just sitting without reading or doing something, but today I'm really savoring the view. The pictures don't begin to do it justice, but I want to share anyway.

Below the guest house we're clearing the bush from about a 1/2 acre, in the same way as this view. We all call it our "park". When it's finished, I'll try to post photos of it too. I love the trees, so we're just chopping the bush. Peace, dear friends.

yellowjaw

Today was busy, as usual. We ran errands in town, one of which was to once again take a weedeater in for repairs. When we got home we both headed outside to work. It was such a lovely day for working. Not hot, just fleecy clouds. This is perfect weather.

We're slowly clearing the bush under the trees below the guest house. Rene is using his machete to clear the bush and I'm using a pitchfork to rake the debris. The bush is a haven for scorpions, in the rotting wood, and snakes. Today, Rene bro't us a female yellowjaw that was lurking in a pile of debris. He had nicked her when he was chopping. He wanted us to see what one looks like before he killed her. She was about 2 1/2' long. I asked how he could tell that it was a female and he noted that this one had a fairly long, thin tail. A male has a shorter, wider tail. I hope I never get close enough to take note of the difference.

Rene is incredible in the bush as he spent nearly 25 years traversing the country, in charge of survey crews. He is so tuned to all the movements, that he seems to see everything. He warned me today to please stay out of the uncleared, low bush. I tend to forget the dangers and plunge ahead. Wearing gloves & boots can't protect me from all the creatures.

Bailey and I seem to be cut from the same cloth. We can't let him loose because he doesn't recognize the dangers. He proved it yesterday when I put him in the yard on his cable. He was jumping around, trying to get at something unseen and barking gently. When I got closer I saw a huge tarantula skittering away. Bailey just wanted to play with it. Oh joy, a new fuzzy toy. Bless his little Japanese/Gringo heart. He catches frogs and just puts his nose on them and then watches them hop off. Coming from the mountains of Central Oregon where we don't have poisonous bugs or snakes (the rattlers are at lower levels), we tend to just blunder our way around.

Anyway, thanks to Rene, we are getting an exciting education in the realities of the jungle. When we finish clearing the bush in the back, I'll try to get a couple of photos.

Lonesome

I've tried to not be negative in my entries. We really do love our place and are so happy that we made this move. We've worked hard to build and create a place where we can be comfortable and where family and friends can too. It's been a labor of love and joy. The idea of moving to the jungle and living off-grid, where we aren't hostage to an unreliable infrastructure has really been satisfying. I'm still not going to tell our ages, but I'm sure we're older than most folks who have made a similar move. We just feel that you're never too old to dream and accomplish.

One thing that we've found here, and I'm sure it's probably the same in most of Central America, if not the world, is that folks move here for lots of different reasons. Many from the US are frustrated with the government and have very negative attitudes. Some are literally running away from legal problems and lots just want to hide. We're here mostly for economic reasons. We haven't been able to sell our house in Oregon and we can't afford to live there on our retirement income. We can afford to live in Belize, even with our current repair expenses. This is a very sad commentary on the current economy. The recent census reports from both the US and Belize found the widest gap possibly ever, between the haves and the have-nots. I doubt that there's much of a middle class left. We do have a very small circle of wonderful friends here who share some of our interests and concerns.

Our problem is that, we knew that we'd miss our family, but had hopes that they could come down and we could manage to go up there periodically. The reality is that the economy has stripped all of us out of any expendable income. We're all just struggling to survive. We miss so much being even a little involved with our grandchildren's lives. They're growing up so fast. Our daughter's two boys, Quiet Max, our oldest will turn 15 the end of this month. He's a sophomore in high school and loves his classes, especially algebra. Tyler, 13 is in the 8th grade and is our talker. He's finally having a good time in school and can't decide whether he wants to go out for the school play or basketball. We're hoping for the play as he isn't exactly a Wilt Chamberlain. He has enthusiasm tho', so will put his all into whichever he chooses. We've lived near them their whole lives, so our move has been difficult for all of us.

Our son has three children. They live about 5 hours away from us, in Washinton State. Rex is 14 and is a terrific student. He's so smart,loves to read and has such abilities. Hope he taps into them. Charlie, 12 is definitely his own person. He's taking Judo and loves it. None of them communicate much, but he wrote that he broke his collarbone, but no information. Kids! Then there's our beautiful Jessie May. She's 7 (or is it 8? I'm sorry Jessie, you're growing up so fast). There's no question that she's a girl. She loves pink and is so bright and loving. Our son just remarried to a wonderful lady. We're so happy for them, but sad that we don't get to be involved in their lives even a little bit.

Then there's my wonderful brother & sister-in-law. I miss his creativity and sharing our life experiences. His lovely wife, Jan is such a blessing in all our lives. They've been so supportive, even about our crazy move. They never fail to keep touch via phone or email.

The crux of all this is that, if we could sell this place, we'd move back. The separation is just too difficult. We do enjoy and appreciate our Belizean neighbors, but, no matter what, there'll always be an unfillable gap because we're Gringos. Our experiences are so totally different. I'll always be "Miss Gale", which makes me slightly uncomfortable. I know it's similar to using Mrs. but still makes me feel different.

Because of our financial worries, we've put both places up for sale hoping that one will sell soon. Then we'll be able to figure out where our future lies. For now,we're loving our place and continuing to maintain and improve it as we can.

Never quit dreaming.

What else? More rain

This may sound boring, but is the reality that we deal with here in the jungle. We've just experienced about a week of almost steady rain. We'd get a little letup, which would make me excited that we could finally get something done and then it would start up again. The gods of thunder were sure working overtime. We could tell that Guatemala was getting more than it's share of rain, which for us, means that the Mopan River would overflow. The road from Bullet Tree Village towards our place is Paslow Falls Rd. It's about 2 miles to where we turn up the hill. About half way there's a spot where the river is right beside the road. Monday it spilled over for a while. With all this rain, we hesitate driving down our road as it's muddy and slippery, so I walked down the hill and back to the spot where the road floods. By the time I got there, I was really sweaty and tired and the river had receded, so no flood. So much for photos of our dilemma.

We just had a few light showers last evening and this am we woke up to sunshine. Wanted to give the road a chance to firm up a little and then were going to head down to visit some friends and do a little shopping. Just about ready to leave when it DUMPED rain again. We're up on top of a hill, so the flooding doesn't affect us except for our ability to drive up our hill. Frustrating, but not a threat to our place. I just have a severe case of cabin fever. It's only been three days, but there's something about knowing that you CAN'T go down, that makes me obsess about wanting to go down.

An aside to all this is that we can practically watch the vegetation grow. We're going to have to beat it back again. The weedeater and Rene's machete are going to be very busy.

These photos don't begin to show the power of our flooding river, but they're the best my limited photo prowess can produce. The photo of the road with puddles is where about 4 hours earlier, the water was up to your knees. This was confirmed by our neighbor who had to keep her little boy home from school because they couldn't get to the village.

The photo of a track up the hill is exactly that. It's about 1/4 of a mile of mud, up the hill to our place.

Apple bananas - Yum

Yes they're called apple bananas by the local folks. I'm sure they have an official name, but who cares. All I know is that they're 100 times better than any banana that you'll find in a US grocery store. They're only about 4" long with a slightly tart taste. After you've tried these, all other bananas are just sweet, with little real flavor.

About three years ago, Rene bro't us a few plants and put them behind the house and fairly near the road. He told me that that was the best soil for them. We now have robust plants and more bananas than we can possibly eat.

These photos show a new bunch starting from the bloom, which is that strange long purple thing. You can see the bunch starting above it. I'm sure that most folks know that bananas grow "up" as you can see in the closeup of a bunch. In the photo of the plants themselves you might be able to see three bunches, very close to cutting. Then you see the bunch sitting on our veranda. Rene cut it about four days ago and they were all very green. They actually turned yellow yesterday. Yes, it happens that fast. Once they turn, they ripen really fast. Because these are so yummy and small, we each eat about three each time, but you do get a little tired of them after about three days of eating as many as you can. By then they're starting to approach overripe and you have to fight off the bugs. I suspect that most of the ones ripening now (there are 8 bunches right now) will go to friends, altho' most folks have their own.

An interesting thing about these plants is that they're much like raspberries. The fruit grows on an old stalk. The stalks look a lot like a tree, but they're not. One bunch grows on each stalk, so they cut the stalk off at about 4'to collect the bunch. The plants are constantly putting out new shoots which will then grow more fruit. You can also dig up the small new shoots and transplant for more bananas (which you'll have to try to give away).

horse

Woke up this am to Bailey's frantic barking. Could tell it was a dog or something in the yard. He rarely barks, so always means something. We've had to encourage him to bark at folks coming up the road. Don't want them to realize that he's actually a sweetheart. But at 120# he's intimidating until you know him. Anyway, this am it was a darned horse wandering thru my devastated garden. We finally have our whole perimeter fenced with the driveway the only entrance. Of course the poor thing found that. The horses here are very sad. Most folks can't afford supplemental feed and probably wouldn't care anyway. Animals subsist solely on the grass. Most of the horses owned by the local people have bad backs and are skin and bones. They ride or pack them anyway. This horse was an older, rangy. bay that has been wandering the area for a few days. I almost think someone just let it loose in the hopes that it would be taken in by someone else. Horses and dogs are only kept here for their usefulness. Most don't seem to acknowledge the companionship and love you get back from these loving creatures.

Anyway, we made an effort to catch the horse, but he wouldn't let us anywhere near, so we guided him to the gateway and off he went down the hill. I would love to have a horse or two again, but not ready to take on the added expense and responsibility. I hate it that age is guiding me to eliminate some experiences in my life, but have to be practical once in a while. Bailey's probably as close as we'll get to a horse in our lives. He's almost as big as some of the miniature horses we used to own, but his manners are much better and he's easier to take in the car. LOL!

comments

I love comments. So much fun to exchange ideas and to know that there are folks out there interested in our little piece of the world.

Batfish just shared the idea of supplementing our solar with wind. Right now seems like a good idea as it's been heavy overcast for three days, lots of rain and very little solar collection. Thank goodness for the generator. A neat side affect of the wind is that it's pruning the dead cohune fronds and other branches. We'll have tidying up to do when this settles down, but so glad for the pruning help.

Anyway, we've tho't about wind power, but right now we don't have the funds for any more improvements. If we did we'd probably start by putting up at least two more 165 watt solar panels. Even tho' we are on a hill, we monitored the wind and it's very sporadic so not sure if it would warrant the investment. A couple of gallons of gas and we're charged back up, so doing fine, as long as things don't break!

I have read about so many innovations they're making with solar and wind. A friend told us about an article he read about a small turbine wind generator that was very cheap. Maybe something like that will be in our future.

Right now my name has more than one meaning (or maybe it's all the same. lol)

Love to all, Gale

Rain - again!

This probably seems like a repetitious subject, but right now, it's what's on our minds. Tropical storm Lisa is showing off by dumping heavy and nearly constant rain on little Belize and much of Central America. It's ugly to check out the satellite photos and see that huge orange weather system heading right for us.

I've lived in the northwest most of my life, so am used to rain, but this is totally different. It can be calm and then you can hear the rain coming, sounding like a freight train in the distance, heading right for you. Then boom, it's dumping. Yesterday it was clouding with periodic rain, all day, so our solar intake was minimal. We had to run the generator for nearly 2 hours last evening and expect to do the same until this weather lets up. The forecast is for this to continue until next Tuesday. Ick! Cisterns overflowing and laundry piling up.

Actually, the laundry is piling up because my Belize washing machine (made in China) which is only about 9 mos. old, gave up the ghost. We tried to get it fixed in Spanish Lookout, where we bo't it, but problem beyond their capabilities. After three trips back and forth, we went to San Ignacio yesterday and bo't a new Dae Woo yesterday. Can you believe that a South Korean brand is top of the line here. I just want clean clothes.

Can't really blame all our troubles on living in Belize. My Dell computer has met the same fate as my washing machine. I should probably write a whole posting on that mess. Anyway, between Best Buy and Dell, my computer died at 9 mos. and there's not help there for us. The SOB's finally won and I've given up!

Anyway, dear whoever's out there, all is not gloom and doom. This icky weather is making me face spare time and I'm tired of reading the same books over again, so will try to do some sketching. My cup is still half full (but with this rain it's going to be running over and down the hill).