LA CASA MORADO

Our house is a very, very, very nice house…..the barn swallow babies are finally peeping out over the top of the nest on our apartment terrace & the parents are working hard to keep them fed.

Time marches on.  Our trip is closing in on its final days.  Perhaps the babies will fly away the same time we do.  This trip, more than any I’ve experienced, has been a lesson in letting go of expectations, following the bouncing ball wherever it leads.  The carefully laid out calendar met major changes-often cancellations-every day we experienced injury or illness.  When I finally began to feel better I started reworking the calendar to accomplish all the “prep work” we’d planned to do in this month.  Then Ben got sick.  Regroup again.

At 8:45am this past Wednesday I decided my first step was to look at all the Facebook groups here in Ajijic that post places for rent.  I came across a purple-yes, folks, this is Mexico after all!-house that was not to be available for several more weeks.  Ah ha!  Sent a Facebook message-no response.  That afternoon Ben did the same search & said, Come look at this purple house.  He’s already started a dialogue with the owner.  We called Rhonda right away & agreed to see the place @ 5 that day.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Bob & Rhonda Houck are delightful.  They’re from TX but have lived in many places, & like so many folks here, have had many interesting jobs & experiences.  After 3 years in the mountainside house they’ve decided to check the next item on their bucket list-living at the beach.  The landlord is Roberto Perez, a smart, hardworking Mexican who looks you square in the eye & speaks excellent English.  We struck the deal with a firm handshake & a promise to return the next day with cash in hand, ready to sign a lease to begin November 1st.  The Houcks have gone way beyond the call of duty to assist, inform & welcome us.  Everything fell into place & the hesitation we had after discussing it with a local friend (“That’s a lot of $ to give someone you don’t know!”) fell away as we got to know them better.  They invited us back on Friday to pick out what furniture we might like to buy from them, giving us reasonable prices with no pressure & plenty of time to decide.  Large houseplants included.

Next Tuesday we will seal the deal, hand over the last bit of money (including paying the current housekeeper Chayo to be there throughout November), & consider ourselves blessed.  Quite blessed.  As with so many things during this venture into Mexico, doors have opened, lights have shined & people have stepped up to show us the way.  We have friends here now & a lovely house to come home to, at least for a year.  La vida es buena!  Life is good!