Category Archives: House

Everything Must Go!

Everything must go!

We have slowed up a bit on the sale of our stuff front, after we sold some major items like Britton’s Corvette, Stratocaster, Amp, some small furniture pieces and plants but we are realizing that we still have a lot of stuff that will need to be sorted through, sold and/or given away before we leave. In short, in order for us to go, everything else must too! We need to get with the program and get rid of some stuff!

Here are just a handful of the wide range of remaining items we will need to part with:

Framed Metallica MM Poster Treadmill Side Table Loveseat Entertainment Stand Futon Jewelry Armoire to side Living Room Stuff Coffee Table    IMG_2871Seltzer in box with chargers

We sort of pride ourselves on not having that much stuff, but when it comes down to it, we actually have a lot! Way more than we thought. We have so much still to get through. If you know of anyone looking to buy anything, let us know. Or if you’re a friend or really in need, we might just give it to you. Seriously. We have a lot of stuff and we need to pare this down. Or maybe we could trade for a Home Depot gift card or something (I have a strong feeling that we will be at Home Depot in Mayaguez a lot when we first move!). Make us an offer. Leave us a message here or email us.

We are planning on having a neighborhood garage sale in July. Hopefully we can unload a lot of this then or before! We are nearing the 100 day countdown and we need to get our butts in motion! Puerto Rico here we come!

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Just Like the Goats

When we stayed with Awilda at the property we nearly bought in the rural jungle near Lares, Puerto Rico, we learned quite a lot from her. About her philosophy and attitude towards life. About how she ran her finca. About her goats. We still often think about her and the inherent wisdom that comes from living as a partner with nature for most of her life. One of her pearls of wisdom we still often quote was that we humans are “just like the goats”.

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Me and a goat on a rope in Lares

This was specifically in response to how she had helped her daughter through the labor and birth of her grandchildren without any doctor or medical help of any kind. We sort of just stood back, awed by this woman. “Just like the goats” she had said. As if we were actually the crazy ones to think we needed all the fancy tools of modern society.

As we thought about it more, it is really pretty true. We humans are a lot like goats. We give birth. We raise our young. We eat and rest and play, and need a social structure, just like the goats.

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Feeding a baby goat out of a bottle

We also have built a huge infrastructure that makes us THINK that we are not like the goats. We use examples of how we wouldn’t have survived without the system, how the system is a net, how technological advancement helps us out in situations where things might go wrong. How we have much larger brains than other animals. How we can do some amazing things unlike other animals. All of these are true. I am quite certain that without the medical system, 5 days after I was born, I would have soon died. As many goats have died. And yet, at its core, we are still animals just like the goats. Living, fragile creatures that need a community to survive.

Sometimes when we think about our move to Puerto Rico we feel a little over our head, out of water, leaving our known infrastructure for the unknown and we get scared. When we are scared we have a tendency toward trying to find some protection. In the modern world these are things like money, insurance, technology, schooling, advanced tools, experts, security systems. Helpful, sometimes, but all made-up human contrivances that make us think we are separate from nature.

estrella-awilda-and-britton
Estrella, Awilda and Britton in Lares. They have shown us that if they can do it, we can too!

Underneath it all we are just like the goats. We will figure out how to survive using the tools that are available to us. We’ve been to Puerto Rico many times. People live just fine. They don’t need nearly as much “cargo” and contrivances as we have just to survive the harsh Colorado landscape. It is warm all the time. There is food and medicine dripping off the plants and swimming in the ocean. It rains nearly every day.

If Awilda in her 60s, her stepmother in her 80s and her goats can survive in the jungle mountains of Puerto Rico, we should be just fine in Rincón. We just may need to toughen up a little. And maybe get a goat or two.

We really are just like the goats. And goats don’t need much. It will be nice to try a life that is closer to that more basic, natural existence. We are just like the goats, but with bigger brains. And sometimes those brains do us more harm than good.

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Clearing Space and Filling It

These next few months will be all about clearing out our space in order to move into a new one (even more than we have in previous purges). And I don’t just mean physically, but also figuratively. Physically we have to sell, give away, donate, pack or toss almost all of our belongings. But as we do this, we are also figuratively making space for new things to move into it.

I think we all know the feeling of clearing off a table only for more things -keys, coins, papers, etc- to “magically” creep onto it again. We have to constantly keep a check on our space to make sure it holds what we want it to. In the same way, we must do that with our lives and what we bring in it: people, money, jobs, hobbies, our thoughts, our dreams, our purpose! Nothing stays a void very long. We are constantly filling and refilling. Creating and re-creating.

Often our physical artifacts are representations of our thought realm. When we aren’t careful and selective, it can be become cluttered -a mess. We must be careful what we bring into our lives- our home, our mind, our body – so that it will be a true reflection of what you want to see, to be.

And so in this way, it has been a real re-awakening to what is important to us, especially when we got new carpet and had to move everything that had been in every room. Most of our “stuff” really is just stuff. They are representations of things that were once important to us, and some of what still is. But most of it is not necessary in our transition to what we really want, and where we really want to be: which is 3000 miles away on four jungled acres in a tucked away surf town on a Caribbean isle.

I think we are coming close to a point where we will be looking more at what we want/need to take with us instead of what needs to be discarded. For instance, this is the list of things we will take so far:

Kumquat and Mexicola
The two plants I’d like to take

Clothing– we will need a little clothing to get us started. And most of my jewelry because it is small, easy to take and a lot have meaning (like our wedding rings for example).
Sentimental items– some physical photographs/albums, journals, small gifts, small wall decor items
Computer/lap top– for our music, files, blog, and digital photos
Paperwork-like licenses, titles, taxes, identification
Kitty- We have chosen to take Kitty. It will be a mini-adventure for sure to take our cat with us. And through his eyes we will see our reactions somewhat mirrored
A couple of houseplants– I would like to take our Mexicola avocado plant that I grew from seed and a kumquat tree.
Bikes -We are not sure on this one. I love my beach cruiser and it would be perfect in Rincon, but is it worth shipping? Same thing with Britton’s mtn bike. It is old but reliable.
Guitar/bass- We will probably be using a lot more acoustic instruments like bongo drums and acoustic guitars, but this perhaps will be a sentimental item for BK to bring. He is selling his amp, however, which will literally clear a lot of space.

Marshall Vintage
Amp for sale!

I think these are good representations for what we are bringing into this new space that we will be creating. Our knowledge, history and experiences. Responsibility. Living things. Love. Music. Hobbies and interests. Health.

In 7 short months, we will be walking into a new space and filling it with the building blocks of a new, exciting adventure. And we are thrilled!

Rincon House Fish Eye
Thanks to Linda for capturing this fish-eye picture of our place in Rincon!

 

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Never Let Your Fear Decide Your Fate

Going out on a limb. Taking a risk. Trying something new. Following your calling.

They all sound so romantic when you read about someone else doing it. When it is you, it takes a lot more guts. Britton and I really have a good life here in Colorado. We have relatively high paying and highly esteemed careers, we have a house, car, extra houses, extra cars, friends, family. We have time on our hands. We are fairly healthy, happy and numbingly comfortable.

So why leave it? Some people have asked, or rather, told us. Why leave a good thing? And logically, I really don’t know. I mean we have everything “they” tell you we should aspire to have. Everything the school system and the government and our parents and everyone with a stake in “us” turning out to be productive people said we should try to be. And we have. We are!

And yet.

And yet there is something that pulls me -us- out of the comfortable. That says that excitement will not be found in doing the usual. That growth and adventure do not lie in the routine. That there is more to life than being a cog in that same system that had a hand in making us one. But it is oh, so hard to let go once “you have it made”. Or at least it is for us.

We have some idea what our life will look like when we move to our property in Rincon, Puerto Rico. But not a whole lot. Anything is possible. It is much less predicable. Here in Greeley, on the other hand, I know exactly what to expect more or less. Little things change, but for the most part, life will go on exactly as it did last year and the year(s) before that and so on.

And so.

And so there is something inside of me that says: “There is more out there in the world for you to uncover. You have played this game, you have passed this level. You are ready for a new adventure.You have even set yourself up so that it is very unlikely to fail at the next game. Why are you scared?!”

This is a part of my lesson that I must do to learn: To never let my fear decide my fate.

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