Category Archives: Rincon

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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Puerto Rico’s Spot in the Limelight

It seems that lately there has been a flurry of activity about Puerto Rico in the media. I watch the NY Times for news about Puerto Rico on the national level, but there is not usually too much that hits that level. However, lately there has been the in-depth NPR series on the migration of Puerto Ricans to the mainland U.S. and more recently, and locally to Rincon, the episode on Hotel Impossible of Casa Verde Hotel which is much less serious than the NPR piece.

Casa Verde

It is funny because I have mixed feelings about Puerto Rico being in the spotlight. On the one hand, more people will know about Puerto Rico and on the other hand…more people will know about Puerto Rico, if you know what I mean. Basically, I feel like it is sort of a hidden treasure to most mainland Americans and I kinda like it like that. While the island certainly has its serious challenges, it is also an often overlooked gem.

It is so cool that we will get to know this place at such an intimate level as calling it our new home!

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Drywall Free Interior Walls

I was driving into work today while day dreaming about the house in Rincon.  I was thinking about what to do with the wood house and specifically about what to do about the interior walls.

The wall cavity between the outer siding and the inner panels/drywall seems to make a great place for bees, rats and bats to live.  This is a problem, because while I don’t have anything against any of those things in general, I don’t want them to live with me.

We know we are going to paint the inside of the house white to brighten it up.  The inside has never been painted and is all a natural wood color so it tends to be pretty dark.  I thought…”well who the hell needs drywall?  Or wood paneling?”.  Here in Colorado we need that space to insulate us from the outside which gets pretty darn cold.  The only purpose it really serves in our Rincon house is to cover up the studs and apparently make nice nests for  pests.

It is fairly hard to locate pictures of what I have in mind but I did find a few.  no drywall
Here is the idea

Basically remove the existing panels and drywall, clean everything out and paint.  Done.   It also provides shelf space.

Now, I am not sure we would do this in every room, but we don’t have to.  Some of the wood paneling can just be painted white and some can removed and the empty cavity painted.

Wall 2
Another example grabbed from Google images.

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And Then We Can

Well I have been back in CO now for a few days and am getting back into the flow of this time zone.  It does take quite a bit to adjust 3 time zones and back again.  Since I have been back I noticed that I am very excited to really get going in PR.

The roof project and mowing down the front and back yard is a very small start to what we would like to do.  All of our conversations start with “And then we can…..”.  This is a great sign as it shows how excited we are to move.

 beach_pic
Woke Up and Went Swimming Here On the Last Trip to Rincon

One of the first things we want to do when we arrive is to start planting trees:  banana, orange, grapefruit, avocado, plantain and anything that is fruit producing.  We figure we need to get as early a start on this as possible.  Along with this is to get a flock of chickens going.  And then we can get going on the wood house, and then we can get goats, and then we can build a water catchment system and then we can plant potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and then we can.  “And then we can” is endless.

When I visit the property I get a surge of energy.  We have come a long way and sometimes I still can’t believe it.

And then we can paint whatever picture we want on our newest canvas of life.

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