Following a recent request that made me realize I should have hand-outs available for the house, I made a simple poster in English to leave at some hotels where would-be buyers visit. A Spanish version will be coming shortly.
Since there is a new downloading plug-in on this blog it seemed a good time to play with it for the first time.
The single-page pdf suitable for printing or showing on a computer screen is in my DOWNLOAD FILE.
Google Earth came along — even for Macs — along with the Map It version and I played with it. Fun. But only recently have I realized that it could be used, as it improves, to go aerial shooting without the plane and altitude.
I love planes and altitude and had been doing some aerial photography in a pal’s plane when jobs came along to pay our way. But my heart attack put an end to any altitude and would probably balk at aerobatics for fun. And fun they were.
So I finally began to explore Google Earth as a means to recover some of the beauty and fun of aerial photography. No camera. No plane. No wind in my face. No rolls to catch a straight-down shot. No gravity with which to fight. Less fun but pictures nonetheless.
The days here should be lazy and free, swinging hammocks and tropical drinks. Here, on the edge of the jungle, a toucan flew by me yesterday as I swam. Never had I seen one here but, now that I began reading about them, they are the national bird of Belize and Belize is 20 minutes from here, perhaps 25 miles. The bird doesn’t have to go through the hassles of the Belizean border inspection and cross-examination.
The toucan had a less colorful beak but it is hard to not notice that beak preceding the bird itself. Parrots often flap by squawking as they go. I am not a birder and know nothing of them. They are, instead, friends and dwellers in this harsh land.
Creature comforts elude me. The house is beautiful, the lagoon a spectacular view but the furnishings sparse, the windows bare. It has been a difficult year and many things suffered, wore out. As I plan for some move when the house is sold I begin to think about making a more elegant nest more suitable for the 21st century.
This house has a terrazzo tile, flecks of stone embedded in a tile-like surface. In Mèrida the homes often have beautiful (or fascinatingly ugly) tile floors in the Colonial tradition. Mexican colors and Moorish design swirl together.
Rugs here are area rugs. Carpeting would just give the lizards, the geckos more places to play and hide.
Shopping on the ‘Net has been fascinating me. My life here seems to have been put on hold so I can look at pictures of apartments I could rent in Miami if I was there and houses in Mèrida if I was there. Now I have begun to look at furnishings, lights, designs so I can make up a dream life and furnish it well.
Retail shopping for larger items like rugs over the ‘Net is new. For someone far away from home it is a strange but tempting thing. The rug dealer, Superior Rugs.com, offers some amazingly traditional designs in silk with a 15 year guarantee and free shipping. On-line businesses can also be judged on their web site. This one has great pictures of the rugs — large, sharp, clear, lighted. It helps.
I began a little blog off to the side a bit, back on Blogger, about the process of preparing the house for sale and the emotional twists of the decision.
Today yet another would-be tenant appeared. She seemed to be appropriate although I still prefer my privacy. However, I slipped getting out of the pool today and thought about the fact that, living alone, it could be a good portion of time before anyone came to my rescue. There are limitations to life alone in the torrid zone.
There are also contemporary rugs available like this one:
