September 2022 was a bit stressful because of Hurricane Fiona. It was nothing compared to Maria, but still affected us. We lost power for about 2 weeks and had to cancel little Aeden’s birthday party. Septembers are always an emotionally powerful time! We moved to Puerto Rico one September long ago too!
Rainbow from above
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February used to be my least favorite month of the year when we lived in Colorado. It was so cold and there were no real festivities to brighten spirits. On the other hand, here in Puerto Rico, it is one of my favorites. The humidity drops and it is so pleasant to be outside working in the gardens.
We also had a visit from Britton’s sister Torrie and her friend so we did some touristy things with them including going to one of our favorite spots in Aguadilla: Borinquen Beach and the area around there (Lighthouse Ruins, Wilderness, etc). We also ran into a wild pig that started out friendly but got pretty aggressive and actually attacked and hurt another tourist pretty bad later on. We also stopped by the drum circle that meets up each first Friday of the month.
We also took a boat trip to La Parguera in Lajas where we rented our own boat and went to some of the lesser known keys. It was a lot of fun until I had a freak accident climbing a mangrove tree. Of all the crazy things I do, I didn’t think I would break my arm climbing a tree 3 feet above water. My arm was wrapped around the back side of the branch and when I tried to catch myself midfall I heard a crack. I really hoped it was just the tree creaking and not me. We went on with the day and even though I was in pain, I just tried to convince myself it was a sprain. The next day we went to the emergency room in Rincon and with an Xray I found out it was indeed broken. I was bummed and had to be in a two different casts for a total of 6 weeks.
Because of my injury we couldn’t go out and do as many adventurous things, so we stayed a little closer to home for a while. We did visit the new trail they opened at Tres Palmas Reserve as well as the celebration at Almendros Beach where the pool was stopped from being built.
We took a fun trip to Hatillo and the Gran Parque del Norte! Lots of great photo ops!
Otherwise, during the month of February we enjoyed our time on the farm and with friends.
One of my favorite flowers! Carolina or Shaving Brush flower -Pseudobombax
Excursion to Wilderness/Pena Blanca in Aguadilla
We continue to update our life mostly on Youtube and Instagram now, but I figured I would put together a long post of the last 3 or 4 months or so. I have peppered in some of the videos here, but check out the channel for lots more! Life has been a little more stable lately than it was in the spring and summer and we, like most people, are pandemic fatigued. But we’ve been staying busy and healthy going on outdoor explorations and working on the farm. Thankfully daycare has been open since the summer so that really took a lot of pressure off. Maybe because of all the talk of dying, we have felt the YOLO sentiment even more and have seen more of this island in this last year than ever before. Every time I think we have “seen it all” there is something new! This island truly is the “Island of Enchantment!”
Fun in Aguada
Lots of fun in the gardens and even got to play with butterflies!
Incredible Sunsets!
We tore down the old shed, built a new shed/wash room and are starting to build a new tiki hut/gazebo in the old space! It has taken a lot of work and time, but poco a poco we’re almost finished!
Swimming with a sea turtle and lots of fish at Pena Blanca
You have to check out the sea turtle underwater footage in this video! Start at 8:30 if you don’t want to watch the whole video but want to see the turtle! Super magical moment!
Abandoned Youth Detention Facility in Cabo Rojo
Fun random moments, flowers, bananas, friends, abandoned buildings, tarantulas
Ermita San Antonio
Fun excursions around Isabela including Royal Isabela and the Guajataca Tunnel
Fun with family who were visiting
Visit to a waterfall and molino in Maricao
Playa Buye is so buyetiful haha
Playa Buye in Cabo Rojo
Good times in Aguadilla: Crashboat, Cerro Cabrera and More even though we had to deal with a traffic ticket (dark tint)
Fun on Halloween
Cool new waterfall: Charca el Zumbo in San Sebastian!
Stopping by downtown Cabo Rojo after a Dr Appt
Cool Bridge in Morovis called “Puente Mata de Platano”
A Super Unique Experience to see an Abandoned Castle in Morovis
More good times that I don’t take for granted anymore: Thanksgiving, haircuts, flower deliveries
Awesome cave to explore: Cueva del Viento in the Bosque Estatal de Guajataca!
Photoshoots to keep up the creativity
Visit to a Gothic Cemetery (San Rafael)
Checking out a cool Hacienda (Casona Amador) including an interview with the owner!
And Barrio Charcas of Quebradillas with its Parque Jibaro
And the Portal de Los Reyes and the Cantina Custer also in Quebradillas
More flowers, gardens and out and about in RIncon
And that just about catches us up!
We wish you all a Merry Christmas and best wishes for a much better 2021!
Home Life on a Flower Farm
Life has sort of become a blur with every day bending itself into the next in a Groundhog Day sort of way. Without a purpose or reason for being it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish much sense in anything. For seven whole weeks everything in our life was on hold and we hardly saw another soul. Since we live way out in the jungle we don’t even get much interaction with neighbors.
Planting coconuts behind our house in the jungle
The lockdown in Puerto Rico has been especially harsh as the official rules were that we couldn’t have visitors even in our own house and couldn’t visit anyone. We weren’t supposed to leave the house even for walks (not even those with pets)! Of course I doubt anyone actually followed the letter of the law when it is that strict, but it does wear on you mentally to always be looking over our shoulder to see if there are police around. This is so different from how laid back Puerto Rico normally is which why it was all the more shocking. We were stopped various times by the police for very innocuous things like going to the hardware store and stopping and letting Aeden run around while we ate take out food (with no one else around).
A sad lonely Easter at home
For a while the lockdown had alternating license plates (odds could leave one day, evens another) and it was really hard because it backed up everything and the lines to the grocery stores went on for 3 plus hours. Then Easter weekend was the worst. They shut down everything including grocery stores for three whole days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and patrolled heavily; I assume because they anticipated people would be celebrating the holiday. But what it did was magnify the backup for a couple of weeks before and after. It was so hard to get anything that we even ran out of diapers and mostly just ate the eggs and fruit of our farm. Suffice it to say, the lockdown has been super nuts here in Puerto Rico.
He’s getting so big and active!
This last week, on Week 8 (after 50 days of locking down), we were finally given the ok by the Governor to go out for personal reasons like walking, hiking, exercise, etc. And a huge sigh of relief was felt even by the most devout hardline lockdown people (because even THEY don’t want to wait in line with potentially infected people for 3 hours in the hot sun)! Access to the sand on the beach and the water is still not officially allowed though we can look at it and walk nearby. They even stepped up enforcement and started arresting surfers! So crazy. But we have other places to go than just the beach. We love waterfalls so that helps that we know of a lot of “secret” spots to hike and explore. I feel much better just knowing that we have a little freedom and can leave our own house without quite as much authoritarian strain.
A favorite spot: Salto de la Encantada in Anasco
We have been ok through this. It has certainly added a lot of stress and strife to our life, but we are overall in much better shape than many people. We have taken the time to push further on the farm and do some deep cleaning and maintenance projects that we put off.
Cleaning up an area up top
Unfortunately Britton was involved in a pretty serious car accident (no one else was injured thankfully when he was run off the road) and so we have also been dealing with the aftermath of that which is more complicated because of all the government offices being closed and he definitely didn’t want any medical care during this time even though he probably should have. We found a replacement car, so we are doing ok on that front though. Oh, the adventures never truly end do they?! haha
Car crash! Oh no!
Waiting in line for a marbete (registration sticker) for the new car
It has been economically difficult for us and all of Puerto Rico too as tourism came to an abrupt stop. Thankfully this week we received our economic relief check, but I know a lot of Puerto Ricans who don’t file Federal are still waiting for theirs and hoping their small businesses will survive this devastating time.
Double masked employee while working fast food
Puerto Rico’s numbers remain pretty stable and that is good news as we slowly begin to open up a little. We are now required to wear masks pretty much anywhere in public which I am starting to get used to.
Masked biker/walker
We can now go to hardware stores and car shops and laundromats again which were initially closed. When the government offices reopen we will be able to register the title of our new car. We really miss day care, but for some reason Puerto Rico considers education the last phase to open (even though children are the lowest risk and high need sector). And tourism will probably also be slow to build up. But Poco a poco we return to something closer to “normal.” And at least for now we have some room to breathe.
We have moved most of our “daily life” updates into video form. Please subscribe to our channel on YouTube HERE and give us some feedback. We’d love to hear from you! Do you prefer the written form or the videos? Stay safe, stay optimistic! We’ll get through this. And you will too!