Dreams are coming true, and wishes fulfilled. There's a little frisson of fear at how fast things are happening, as though I'm being carried along on a rapid current of events I only imagined weeks ago.
The little Mexican Army Corps of Engineers is transforming the entire back of the condo, going considerably beyond the modest original plans, and I only hope the final bill won't send me into shock. But I'm determined to get the exterior done, meeting the initial goal of protecting the condo from rainfall off the roof and from the parking lot, by redirecting it into a channel out to the arroyo. It's a mess right now, but one day all those broken eggs are going to produce a pretty good omelet.
Finishing the interior of the new space (previously a patio that turned into a wading pool when it rained), will be an ongoing project, but an idea is taking shape: a music room, where friends can come and practice. I'm told the structure should offer very good acoustics. For now it could be a storeroom.
Meanwhile, we're having a jam for the 13th, so some of the self-taught guitar players in the area have a chance to learn and share a few new techniques and songs. Response wasn't overwhelming, so instead of renting space for it, we'll use my living room. Kristin's son Tony, who plays at various venues in town, promised to come work with us.
And... a bonus! A novice guitarist named Art invited me to come jam at his house with another friend last Thursday, so I went, full of trepidation that these guys would lose patience with me. But it turned out to be fantastic fun! There were three of us, two singing in harmony, doing all the old moldies from the sixties and seventies: Eagles, James Taylor, Johnny Cash… And we get to do it again next Thursday!
Meanwhile, Diana from the cooking club has been bringing her guitar over twice a week for almost a month now. Like me, she's pretty much self-taught, doesn't get a lot of encouragement at home and finds practice time hard to come by. Unlike me, she's played with other guitarists a lot more, and sounds a lot better. We're working on songs in both English and Spanish, and next Thursday she's coming with me to Art's house so we'll have a foursome. Could be awesome. Or not...
Kristin operates the Canine Center locally known as Wagmore, but she's going to be out of commission for as much as eight weeks after major surgery, so she put out a call for dog-walkers. She takes in boarders, but the majority of the dogs at Wagmore are rescues waiting for adoption, or unadoptables that she has committed to taking care of the rest of their lives. She has a son and daughter and a helper who take shifts at the center, but there are never enough people to adequately exercise the dogs. The ones shown here are a little too young to walk, but they're growing fast.
So I've been doing some dog-walking… I need some exercise too. (Yes, I do have two of my own, and I promise I'm not neglecting them.) The first one they assigned me was a baby mastiff as big as I am! Quite an experience, just having that much dog at the end of the leash, but Ricco turned out to be a pussycat, plodding along at my side or even behind me instead of pulling me off the sidewalk. I'm working on teaching him to sit. Ricco is being boarded, so one day he won't be there anymore and I already know I'll miss him.
Yesterday morning the cooking club celebrated our victory at the Chili Cook-off with a free breakfast at Barracuda Bob's. Then last night the next-door neighbors invited me over for grilled yellow-tail tuna and we had a very pleasant evening getting better acquainted. Their renovation and mine are all part of the flood diversion plan so we've been working together for six weeks, but it was a pleasure to spend some time sharing our stories and ideas.
Temperatures here in San Carlos are now cool in the mornings and evenings, and hot in the afternoons, just the way I like it. Life is sweet.
P.S. Sorry I had to post all the photos at the top, but for some reason today Blogspot wouldn't let me put them elsewhere.)