Exhausted and going through all the details of re-entry. Laundry is halfway done. Catching up on bills. I had a very nice time as I went on the trip with no expectations except visiting the batik factory as I used to do batik many years ago in Indonesia at the Palace in Jogjakarta taught by Balinese young men--yeah, that was cool.
Everything else on the trip I either joined in or opted out!!
I will sort photos and share a few in the coming week. Thanks for being interested, by the way!
I am on the road once again or I guess I should say plane. The daughter was allowed to select the destination for a family vacation (her one side of the family) and she selected St. Kitts in the Caribbean for a week.
I am finishing packing today and will be on the flight tomorrow. In a grass is always greener virus mode, I really want to stay home and weed and read. See, even those of us who can afford to travel are not always as happy and mellow as you would think! Being a bit jaded on travel is someplace I never thought I would be.
At least I will get to spend some time with the grands who are now slowly moving away from me as they connect daily via phone with near and distant friends.
I am retreating into my world of photographic art. It can be very therapeutic, trust me!
This has been a more difficult year to maintain our yard. We "contracted" with employees from a small landscape firm in the area in the years past. The company used Mexicans, employed for around six months at 6 days a week and with "some" arrangements for health care. They arrived around May and returned in early November. They were EXTREMELY talented in that they helped us fix our lawnmower, repaired the garden gate, identified a gas leak which we missed since we did not weedeat that corner of the house, etc. They were ALWAYS prompt, polite and efficient.
Our "helpers" were a "band of brothers." The family had 8 brothers and each year they were able to send at least 4 of them north to the U.S. for employment. The local U.S. landscape business could not find local folks to do these jobs, clearly.
For the last two years, their arrival became more difficult and they would come later. This year they were not allowed into the U.S. at all. My husband called one of the brothers since we have become friends as well because we have paid for their services for almost a decade. They explained that they could not get work visas, they also tragically lost their older brother to murder from a gang over the winter months. He was shot outside the front door of his home. They had related various tales of the increase in dangerous crime over the years. (If you are a tourist in Mexico, the government may feel it is necessary in some areas to give you a police escort.)
My husband was trying to manage the yard on his own through May and early June of this year until we found a young boy who was saving for college and could help. (Hubby's back has a recent problem.) Why don't we just hire from another landscaping firm you may ask? We did that in years past. The various small firms either quit on us saying the yard was too difficult, or they would not show up on time after rains and grass would get too high to mow before they could reschedule us, or they complained about everything else. They were totally unreliable and perhaps just wanted enough money for drugs or until another job came their way. Living in the countryside is not always easy for finding help. Even after writing this we will research hiring another landscape company next year.
This event in our lives is related to the huge refugee iceberg that is forming across the globe. Closing borders, wars, climate change resulting in famine, climate change increasing diseases, criminal gangs, and overpopulation are taking their toll forcing people to flee for their lives. In 2017 68.5 million refugees were displaced from their homes, their cities, their countries. One person becomes displaced every 2 seconds. The Central African Republic, Central America, Europe, Iraq, South Sudan, Syria, Rohingya, Ukraine, and Yemen are all impacted by the ongoing refugee crisis.
Now it is at our back door where we are housing refugee toddlers and teenagers without a budget, plan, or infrastructure. MAGA
Having fun with photographs:
These flowers last only a few days with the heavy rains and later increasing heat, but I have captured some beauty in my yard and then played with layers and filters.
Now back to house cleaning!
