Otro Día en "Paradiso" - Another Day in “Paradiso”

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 ...

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 ...