Souvenir Photo Studio, by Al Bourassa: Thursday September 10, 2015 Loving Cuenca

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Thursday September 10, 2015

After fighting to repair a toilet leak all day yesterday, and finally calling in a plumber, I slept in until almost 10. It does the body good to recharge the batteries occasionally.

The blue skies and sun are back and what is there not to like about this forecast..??..

It is the consistent great weather here, along with the safety, cost of living, and other quality of life factors that keep us in this beautiful city.

I went for a quick walk to get a haircut (inexplicably closed, maybe holidays?), had a quick lunch for $2. A horribly matted street dog was being fed with scraps by the kind restaurant owner.

As I stepped outside again into the sunshine I started to take stock of how really lucky I am to be here. I love my neighbourhood which is clean, safe, handy, full of amenities and stocked with very friendly and congenial people (all Ecuadorians). My neighbors of 4 years are all very protective of me and I appreciate them greatly.

I have a lovely house on a newly paved street (also newly named) and have the Rio Tomebamba behind me, a park in all 4 directions, and lots of green space. Up the hill, I have the Monay Mall for 90% of my shopping, and at the end of my street is the Hospital IESS. I have 4 bus lines on the next street and a taxi stand 2 blocks away, east and west. The Autopista is very close by for quick getaways.

The walking path is directly in front of my house with lots of great trees for shade, privacy, and to shelter my beloved hummingbirds. I see that I have 4 or 5 Sparkling Violetears and 2 Giant Hummingbirds competing at my feeders now.

I often think of moving to a bigger, more central place, but one look at my home tells me that I love my solid home. It has what I want and need for now, and I would be hard-pressed to find another that could provide the same.

I saw a home for sale a couple of blocks away and asked to see it. They are asking $95,000 for it and it really made me appreciate my house even more. It was OK, but cramped, with bad cupboards, an awful kitchen and zero privacy.

I am busy making room for Cristina's return, which I am looking forward to happily but apprehensively, as this means a big adjustment again after 2 years of being alone. At my age, finding someone so compatible, and that makes me laugh all the time is not something that I was expecting to happen. Like the movie Jerry Maguire scene about "you complete me", this is how I feel with her. After my trip to Colombia, I realized how lucky I am to have such a sweet person touch my life, and how foolish I would be to let her leave it. Luckily, she agrees.

Even though she speaks zero English and my Spanish is on an enforced learning curve, we manage to communicate somehow. We may be poor, but we will work hard to be happy. Tonight we will go out on Toxic with the biker gang and have another nice tour.

So, life is good!

I hope you enjoy the photos. That was the day's excitement, Cheers, Al