Tales from Paradise: Things Have a Way of Working Out

Good Morning, our house has been having work done and I have been busy. Living in Paradise has two sides to the coin, one is obvious, blue skies, sun overhead shining down soaking you with warmth and joy, the other is, heat, mosquitos, ocean squalls that come down in torrents making everything musty. Things that happen when torrents of rain fall in blinding sheets, are that the electric company has to come and work on the power line, shutting off the power for an entire day.

Yesterday was one of those days that the power was off all day until 3 pm. I had planned my whole day because it was the day before my husband David would come from Chicago, which is today. More about that later.

Yesterday I woke up at 5.30 am and it was still dark outside, so I read another novel in bed and waited for sunrise. When the sun came up, I put on shorts, made an espresso (yes, espresso is Paradise too), and planned my day. I had to get some potting soil, a pretty pot of flowers to put on the table under the new Palapas, and had thought of how to have a little table on the upper terraza so that we could drink coffee at sunrise, gaze at the lagoon and watch all the migrating storks and flamingos coming up north from South America. I was going to do some baking early so that I would prepare treats for David's arrival, then shower, get dressed and go out and do all my errands.

Such is the 'best-laid plans that go awry'. Yesterday, just as I finished listing David for today's flight and emailed him, the power went out! The silence was all over the neighborhood, there were no more sounds of electric drills from the construction across the canal, no shower, no doing errands because the car is always in the garage and now I couldn't open the garage door.

Hmm, so I used the striker to light the stove, heated a slice of pound cake for my breakfast because it was easy, and re-grouped. I needed to go to the butcher, for chicken and beef and pork, so that I could make dinners for us. Here in Paradise, everyone bikes to work or to the store and some bike along the highway to the closest town about a 20-minute bike ride away. I usually bike to the 'Barrio' (the neighborhood stores), and so I put some ice in a cold container in the basket of my bike, took it through the courtyard, which was tricky trying to get my handlebars out through the gates, and off I went. First I went to the 'pollo' store to get cut up chicken and got there in time before they were sold out. Then to the butchers for 'beefsteak' and adobo pork. All went in my cold container in my bike basket, and home I went.

Still no electricity, so I put my purchases in the fridge, taking care not to have the door open because things spoil quickly in this climate. Baking was out, no jumping in the shower still, and no driving the car to go to buy potting soil and pretty flowers, I just settled down with my Kindle and enjoyed my novel. It is the fun part of being in Paradise.

At 3 pm, glory-be, the power came back on! I only had an hour to go shopping, so I jumped in the car, drove to the gardening market and got my soil and pretty flowers in a cute pot to grace the table for David's delight. Then I went down the highway a bit to the open market for pots. I had bought pots to transplant the 'babies' from one of my palms that had been pot-bound. This is on the upper terraza and we have some great-looking iron chairs there, but we needed a little table. So I decided to get a tall pot for the base and put a big saucer on top for the table. Ah, success! I found the perfect combination, the pot is about 3 feet high and is narrow at the square base, with a wide square at the top, giving it a very 'chic' look. The saucer has a 24-inch diameter. What a great little table it turned out to be. That is after I wrestled it up the spiral staircase which is very narrow, sweating and cursing, banging my knuckles on the stairs, with sweat dripping into my eyes! Oh, but how cute, just the thing and then I was ready for David's arrival.

I took a dip in the pool, fixed an icy Paloma and smiled to myself that I was indeed in Paradise.

Now back to today, David's journey. In previous tales, I've explained that since I used to be a flight attendant and 'early-outed', I left with 8 North American tickets and 1 International ticket, for each of us per year. So that's why we can afford to travel so much. The price is right on the tickets, but they are stand-by. Usually, we travel together, but this time, David was traveling here by himself. I had made his reservation and sent him his information so he'd have it in hand, then yesterday checked him in for today's flight and saw that the flight was full. I told him to call me this morning at 4.30 so that I could be online on UAL reservations and see what his chances for getting on the flight were. He had to get up at 2.00 am in order to get ready and be at the airport for his 5.15 am departure. I woke up at 2 am sharp, as though an alarm woke me. I wanted to sleep, but no, so I read my novel until he called me at 4.30 when he was at the gate standing by. He was number 8 on the list, and the flight was full in both cabins. 'Hope springs eternal' I told him as he was nervous and slightly snappish over the phone. I did my best to soothe him and told him not to worry, all would be as it should be. Then we hung up and I started watching the stand-by list, as it was 4.50, then 5.00, then 5.10, and the miracle of miracles, he got a seat assignment! Whew! Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you as I murmured to myself, and heard the cocks beginning to crow in the 'Barrio'.

Here in Paradise, things have a way of working out, maybe not how you plan them, but they work out anyway.

Wherever you are, I hope that things work out for you too. That the sun kisses your face, that you experience all the good, life offers you in Peace, Prosperity, and Joy.