"El Campo" Memories

Today I went to the country house up on the hills, the place were my inlaws lived for many years. That place from where I've tempted many of you with the pictures of its awesome views. 

Sadly, since the passing of my father in law, and the move of my mother in law to the city, the beautiful gardens no longer thrive. Missing are all the orchids and many other flowers that surrounded the yard. The coofee plants that served as boricua christmas trees, adorned with ripening coffee beans, no longer thrive. Fifteen feet high plantain plants bearing foot long plantain bananas, that looked more like palm trees are no longer cultivated. Nature is working fast at claiming what it is hers. Hornets are building their nests everywhere they find a suitable place, and a bee colony has made it's home inside the walls of the old laundry room.

The trails where we used to escape to become part of nature are no longer passable. You can no longer hear the the roosters sing, neither the hundreds of perickites, lovebirds, cockatiels and parrots they used to grow, that use to fill the air with their songs. Much less heard are the voices of the family chatting and laughing in the kitchen, accompanied by the smell of freshly brewed coffee, and hot pan de agua and sobao (French bread, and lard bread), eaten with lots of butter.

The hammock were we used to escape to sleep off after over indulging on delicious food no longer hangs. The nights sitting on the balcony looking down at Ponce, shivering from the cold breeze, and enjoying the coqui frogs singing after the afternoon rain showers, no longer happen, at least not there.

Without the hands of my late father in law, and his wife who tirelessly worked to keep nature from taking over, the place is not the same. Someone recently broke into the property and stole several copper pipes for the water and the gas system, a problem that abounds on the island thanks to high copper prices paid by metal recyclers. Well, tomorrow I'll be working on the issue as well as ways to protect, water, gas and electrical lines from theft.

  

For about a quarter of a century "la casa de campo" served as a little peace of heaven where friends and family were always welcome, filling our hearts with peace and happiness. This was a place that allowed me to escape the hustle and bustle of the big city to become a jibaro.

Today, even though no one is living the house, it is still a very peaceful and serene place that evoke the memories of past times. Memories of gone by times that will never return. But at least I have those memories, that coupled with the many pictures I took there, will allow me to re-live in my mind those beautiful times.

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The Cane Trick

On our recent flight to Puerto Rico, I discovered that canes can be deceivingly used in order to break some airlines rules. While waiting to board the flight to San Juan, there where an unusually high number of passengers using canes, several of them also needing wheel chair assistance. 

On this flight there where about six or seven persons awaiting wheel chair service. When the gate personnel called on those needing wheel chair assistance, a line quickly formed, some where already sitting on wheel chairs, while others were standing, and pretty much all had canes. The gate staff asked one lady who had arrived on a wheel chair, and was now standing, where was her wheel chair, she replied, "it's over there, I have to get it". Earlier my wife had seen the lady get up from the wheel chair, and walk to a coffee stand, without any problems whatsoever, but she did't think much of it. Now the lady was being boarded early on a wheel chair. On the line we also saw an elderly man, seemingly in his late sixties, waiting, standing up shakily, supported by a cane. I was concerned because the poor man appeared to be about to fall. He was also boarded early in a wheel chair.

Once we arrived at San Juan, and we made it to the baggage area, for some reason there were not as many wheel chairs as we saw during the boarding process. What we did see however, was the same lady that I mentioned before, without a wheel chair standing, waiting for her bags. When the carousel started rolling, the lady grabbed two good size suitcases, and then rolled off with them like nothing. 

We grabbed our luggage and headed down a very long hallway towards the rental car shuttle. We where walking slow, and as we near the exit, around the corner came at a hurriedly pace, the sixty-something old man, pulling two rolling suitcases, with the cane now strapped to the top of one of them. Lucy and I looked at each other and had no remedy but to burst into a loud laughter. 

We had just witnessed two totally unrelated people play the gate staff so that they could  board the plane early. The next time you take a flight, you might want to make sure you have a cane with you, it can open the door to some fringe benefits.