Tricia made her triumphal return to Kismet early Saturday afternoon (10/30). She’s been gone almost 2 months and it’s really good to have her home again. She flew into Cancun on Thursday, spent 1 night in Playa Del Carmen, took the bus to Corozal and spent the night with Ron, and then they drove back to Hopkins together on Saturday. She brought goodies for everyone too. I got a nice prison outfit, without any identifying labels that will be perfect on those buggy nights. Peter and family got cream rinses, shoe laces (very hard to find here), and other goodies.
My uninvited guest definitely WAS a mouse, was being the operative word. He or she is now in mouse heaven and I’ve blocked the hole in the bottom of the trailer so that I don’t get any guests that I don’t want. I’ve fixed my, and Kismet’s, electrical problems and had my jack handle repaired too so I can raise and lower my trailer again and I’m now in a level house again.
And my tale of woe… I finally lost my awning. Third time opening it here at Kismet was the charm. We had a massive thunderstorm between 4 and 5am on Friday 10/29 and we were hit with a microburst wind (directly downward blowing wind) and the 3 support bars folded and snapped causing it to collapse. I had it tied down very well so it would be ok in normal wind storm but not a microburst. So now, not only don’t I have my palapa overhead, but I have no awning shade either. The good thing is that it didn’t cause any tears in my outside walls. There isn’t any way to have it fixed either because they don’t sell or service RVs here and the import tax on having a new one shipped would be outrageous. I can use a couple of the original awning supports to hang tarps temporarily but I’ll have to have my palapa rebuilt at some point in time for more permanent shade.
I’m looking at this latest setback as just another test of my resolve to live semi-roughly out of the country, where things like repairs we could easily make in the states aren’t as readily available or even possible at all. My take on it is that there is always a work-around, like rebuilding the palapa roof that will serve the same purpose as the awning. As with the 2 blown tires several months ago, I planned for most incidents by having multiple replacement parts, like 2 spare tires for both the jeep and trailer and 6 or 7 heavy duty tarps. It’s all in the planning that you do when you decide to live in a 3rd world country. Contingencies and work-arounds for almost anything that can befall you have to be in your “what do I do if” book that you create for just such emergencies. I did all that pre-planning before I moved and am ready for most anything that can happen short of losing my trailer. I’m not getting too upset by the setbacks. I’d be lying if I said that some of the things that have happened didn’t upset me. I’m still human. But I know that I’m passing the test because things like this, which would have REALLY upset me in my former life, are now just a part of life and I accept them and move on.
Things have gotten back to normal in Hopkins since the storm a few days ago. Most cell (except for Smart which is what I have and is on again off again) and land line telephone service and electric are back to normal. A few roofs, including Peter’s, had minor damage and all have been repaired. The damaged roofs were all tin ones that the wind got under and lifted. Peter also lost 2 trees and a few other people lost some too. But thankfully no homes were blown off their stilts and no flooding in the village and there were no deaths attributed to hurricane anywhere in Belize. God was surely with us. I haven’t been able to resume my early morning canoe fishing though. The surf wasn’t bad during the storm but has been moderately heavy since. So it’s too rough to paddle in. Peter and the boys have had better luck now that the muddy water from the mountains has washed into the lagoon. The fish aren’t so skittish and are finding their way into everyone’s nets. Peter is still netting later than everyone else though and having better luck. Of course the full moon helped too. And we’ll have a ½ moon for another week. So he’s been making pretty good money.
And so, life goes on, without shade for a while, for the Fatboy in Belize… But I’m still happy and loving it! As always, stay well, keep happy, and practice peace. I am!!!
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