Puerto Rico Rocks

It's drizzling here in Puerto Rico. Cheryl and Gisah are off to the market for food as we prepare to hunker down in our beach shack for New Years eve instead of venturing out into the night. For the past several nights we've heard load announcements from cars driving along the beach, invitations to one night club or another, Spanish words blasting out along with the bump, bump, bump of salsa music. Yes, it sounds like fun but we are staying indoors tonight, I guess, because we are getting old. And also now we have David and Gisah's daughter, Tizita, with us, and she is a delight.

Today we visited the forts of old San Juan and walked through the city, which is very hilly and beautiful, with many views of the ocean--a very old city as well. Classical architecture and long, narrow streets and more colors than I could have imagined. And in much of the town are residential homes, several stories tall and with as many ornate balconies facing the street, either in iron or wood. Very tall ceilings, too, because we have been peeking in whenever we get a chance.

And as for landscaping, I've seen so many ideas that I'd like to incorporate into our yard, but so much more is possible here, because of all the hills, than is practical in our flat back yard. Even so, having this break gives me a chance to relax and get recharged. The big yard project begins when we return.

More later.

A Basket for That

Cheryl has a thing for baskets: wicker, cloth, wire, plastic, metal, it doesn't matter. Maybe she had an especially nice Easter once. Who knows, but we have a hundred baskets in the house.

I, too, have some baskets, but out in the garage where baskets are intended to live, baskets for tools, for electrical stuff, for plumbing stuff, for nails and screws, and mostly because I hate to throw things away.

The flush mechanism on our toilet broke during the Christmas party on Saturday, and I had to make a quick fix with some wire.

And when I went to make the permanent fix last night and my plumbing basket in the garage had just what I needed--a complete new handle assembly. Yes, that was very cool, though Cheryl was not at all impressed.

Later, on TV, as if it knew my future plans and wanted to raise the bar, a pagoda appeared. A beautiful pagoda, much nicer than the one I had in mind (to create in the back yard).

But this pagoda might well be out of my class, beyond my capability, outside my comfort zone, above my artistic ability, cooler than I will ever be, especially someone who takes so much pleasure in fixing a toilet.

And yet, what is accomplished by setting a low bar? I think I can do it...