Futalandia

A holiday message from a family member

2011-11-23T20:26:00.000-08:00

An portion of a nice holiday email from a family member:"You could care less about your family. And if you say you do, you’re a liar. If you cared about your country you would be here and not there excepting our money and bitching about how its being run."Guess this family member doesn't appreciate the fact that I have spent more time visiting MY mother and MY family in the past ten years than he

A Week in Photos

2011-11-14T15:43:00.001-08:00

This week, and a few previous weeks, have been consumed by rain. By carving. By woodfires and mud and cooking and cats and clay. Anyway, here are some photos of time arrested by weather. They include a baby in a tree, some coffee cherries, a cat, a bone carving I made. I am not sure what else will load up. But this is my week. Photo descriptions are below the photos. a wild cat tamed some clay

Smoking

2011-10-29T05:04:00.000-07:00

Yes, I still smoke. It’s the worst addiction of all, I think, but I enjoy it. One of the things non-smokers are missing out on these days are the clever photos featured on every pack. The rotted, nicotine-stained teeth, the guy with the tracheotomy, tombstones, gangrenous toes. Here are some samples:The best one, by far…very artsy and creative, is this one:

The video is sort of fixed?

2011-09-23T13:50:00.000-07:00

I was able to get the video to load up, though it is off-center (?!?!?!) and slow to load on my Fred Flintstone laptop. Anyway, scroll down a few posts to find it. Enjoy.

Livin' Wide...Apples and Oranges

2011-09-17T18:04:00.001-07:00

Livin’ WideHad I started a blog when we first moved to Panama, I would have called it “Livin’ Wide”. Not “Large”, not “Long”, not “Wild”. “Wide” meaning just branching out, experiencing everything, taking it all in. But, as it was, I started the blog in the Patagonia region of Chile, and the nearest town was Futaleufu, and I could not pass on that name. Futalandia it was, and is. That experience,

I might BE God

2011-09-15T18:38:00.000-07:00

I am not a "religious" person, however, I was thinking about things tonight and realized that I might be God. This realization is both empowering and frightening. Empowering because I feel like I might be just a tad in control. Frightening because so many fucking idiots are running around actually controlling shit.And this is what preceeded my "awakening". The religious right, right-wingers,

May God Bless and Keep You

2011-09-13T06:05:00.000-07:00

Joyful and Awesome, or NotI once stood in the snow and thunder, at the foot of a glacier. How do I up that one? I don’t, can’t. But I find monumentally insignificant moments that compare. Like when it rains so hard here that I cannot hear the cellphone ring and my mind goes blank. Like when I take a nap and wake up in time to take the bread out of the oven, all by accident. Joy and Awe are

A Video of My New Life in Panama

2011-09-05T16:44:00.000-07:00

You will all be jealous of the "opulencia" of my new home and life in Panama. I'm sorry, but I just have to gloat:

2011-09-05T16:12:00.000-07:00

About My Humble AbodeMonday Morning, September 5th, 2011. A small earthquake shimmied me awake at 6:30 am. Natures’ call to get up and check out the clear morning-blue sky with a rapturous pink thundercloud off in the distance. The hummingbirds are busy and *Alexi is cooking rice in the fogon. I finished my woven rag rug yesterday afternoon. It looks so great I couldn’t bring myself to put it

A New Home In Panama Part Two

2011-09-05T16:07:00.000-07:00

(not spell-checked, no excuse, I know)Skipping forward five months…So, we have electric now, and what a joy...not so much for the lights but for the freezer for food and for charging the computer and cell phones. We had our first Hoo-Rahs sitting one night in the outdoor kitchen, using the Dremel and sander under electric lights. I have the cordless drill battery charging and look forward to

2011-08-30T09:34:00.000-07:00

A New Home In Panama Part Two Skipping forward five months… So, we have electric now, and what a joy...not so much for the lights but for the freezer for food and for charging the computer and cell phones. We had our first Hoo-Rahs sitting one night in the outdoor kitchen, using the Dremel and sander under electric lights. I have the cordless drill battery charging and look forward to finding

A New Home In Panama Part One

2011-08-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

It was hard to leave Chile, and somehow, I will always have a part of me there. But, that’s another story, too long and difficult to write about, or think about, for that matter. Ever onward… After Mister’s three surgeries in the US, we came back to our old stomping grounds in the Western Highlands of Panama. A place so lovely and rustic and cool that driving up the 250-plus curves towards La

The Kaleidoscoope of our Lives

2010-06-08T05:34:00.000-07:00

The Kaleidoscope of our LivesLittle pinpoints, glimpses of memoriesDistorted, enhanced, gone or imagined, different nowFor better or for worseA flash of familiarDancing with color or aromas"I know that person," he says to me, "but I don't know who they are."I whisper in his earA flash. He turns the kaleidoscopeLittle pinpoints, glimpses of memoriesDistorted, enhanced, gone or imagined, different

Wishing I was home...a rant

2010-06-03T07:20:00.000-07:00

We left Patagonia for a trip home arriving April 3rd...a beautiful wedding for our daughter, catching up with all of our children and some medical tests. It is June now, two operations later for my brave and strong hubby, and a couple more coming up.We have had a wonderful time with our children, but being back is disorienting and I am having a difficult time being here as is Greg though it is a

Laguna San Raphael...a last splash

2010-03-10T12:34:00.000-08:00

This blog is screwed up and I can't seem to edit...anyway...what I meant to say in the beginning is about the recent horrific earthquake, and all those who are hurting. I feel badly thatGreg and I had already comitted to this trip to Laguna San Raphael, but here it is. ...A few photos of us on a small launch, our usual non-touristy adventure south on a launch to see the blue glacier. a three-day

Begin with November, and hope Spring really arrives

2009-11-17T03:04:00.000-08:00

Spring weather in this part of Patagonia has surprised me and confounded me. Just when DO you plant a garden here. People have gardens, I've seen them. But October and up through this week has been alternatively warm, sunny and breezy, then cold, relentlessly rainy and snow. Despite the weather, some things have sprouted though I suppose it will be hard to figure out how to survive on

New Clothes

2009-10-19T17:03:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, September 30, 2009 (So cold in the house this morning that my computer touch pad is having trouble recognizing my finger as something other than a cold piece of clay...I will start a fire before I start in...)Have you ever stopped by someone's house and caught someone in their "ratty" clothes...the once white t-shirt now stained, torn and gray with "Bart's Air-Conditioning Service"

Backhoes and Toasters

2009-10-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

(Written in September...)In the US, you wait for the cable guy. Here in "el campo" we wait for the back-hoe guy. I am currently waiting for BH guy to come and scoop and level the parking area at the top of the ridge where we now carefully manuever our pickup truck in between boulders pushed there by previous BH guys doing road repair. It will cost us 28,000 Chileno Pesos for one-hour.Ismael,

Sept 17, 09

2009-09-18T17:51:00.000-07:00

Written September 17, 2009It's been a wonderful week in the country. Sunny, longer days, a small morning fire, days to dry vegatables and rearrange the furniture in the "spring-summer" formation (couch and chairs moved further from the woodstove) and a few vases (preserves jars) of freshly cut evergreen sprigs set around. The fat cat provides much of our entertainment since we are still not up

September 8, 2009

2009-09-18T17:48:00.000-07:00

Written September 8, 2009 - Forgive the spelling and other errors..no time.It happened. We woke up and it was Spring...if only for the day. I flung open the front door to let out the cat and for the first time in months vapor crystals did not freeze in my lungs. The kind of day in town that people find themselves digging under mounds of long underwear and wool sweatersin their dresser drawers

And how Did August Play out????

2009-08-31T16:28:00.000-07:00

Coming up on two years in Patagonia. I read back through a few of old posts and it dawned on me that anyone reading them, then coming to Chile might think I was writing the blog from a mental institution in Arcadia, Florida. Certainly not the Chile that most people see and experience. Maybe unconsciously that's why I called the blog Futalandia, instead of "Fools in Chile", or "Pioneering in

Late Post on End of July

2009-08-31T16:19:00.000-07:00

Post July 30, 2009 (This post wraps up July, and I am just now getting to somewhere with internet access, and have the time to post. I will follow it with another post tonight which updates, and explains why it's been so long since I've been here...until then....)Inching along, wrapping up things at our rental cabin in town, we dragged our refrigerator and washer back home down the several

Sunset in Futa

2009-07-27T17:20:00.000-07:00

Above: View of Tres Monjas from home in AzulAbove: We ventured into town to check mail (it comes every Thursday and we missed last week) and this was the scene coming into town looking east towards Argentina.The past five days have been freezing...water lines frozen, ground frost not thawing even though the sun has been shining. We are getting water from the river, warming it on the stove to

Pink Snowy Mountains and Cookie Monster

2009-07-14T14:40:00.000-07:00

[These posts are not necessarily posted on the days they are written...I write offline out at our place where we have no internet or cell phone service, then when we do come in town, I post them. I am also horribly bad at knowing what day it is - not only when I post them - but when I write them. And then, it doesn't really matter.]I am having my morning coffee in bed, gazing out over the tops

Margaret's Calendar Trap!

2009-07-07T08:44:00.000-07:00

Margaret's Cachando Chile blog is always excellent, and entertaining. Her latest post, the Calendar Trap is a MUST READ if you live or work in Chile. At first I felt a little dense that I did not know this subtle language trip-wire, but then I remembered that Margaret has been in Chile for 18 years. I secretly study-up on Chilean Culture via Margaret's blog any chance I get. Cachando Chile is

Unfit for Civilization and a Rat Trap Idea

2009-07-06T22:38:00.000-07:00

I have so little time now in the world you all know...with cell phones, and internet and TV, that when I do get to a connection place (Futa), I am manic to sign on, catch my mother online, read headlines, skim forums and blogs so that I am exhausted in two hours time. And I find my patience is thin, and thinner as the short time flies. I write snarky comments on a couple of forums where I find

Rain Rain Rain

2009-07-06T15:31:00.000-07:00

I walked out into the spongy yard outside the house to get some logs for the fire. Ten days now? Fifteen? Rain. And more rain. Then I walked up to the road to get a bottle of wine we left in the truck on Friday. On Friday, I thought it was June 28th, but then found out it was July 3rd? So that means yesterday was July 4th, but maybe I'm wrong and today it the 4th.The house stays warm now,

A Quiet Rage Quashed and Thwarted

2009-06-26T19:39:00.000-07:00

Afternoon of a June day, 2009Today is a quiet day raging. We have those days from time to time, and they involve the secret which is not really a secret but which nonetheless is not something Greg advertises, and would prefer wasn't discussed. If I had to pick one word to discribe this, it would be the big Mystery. Epilepsy. What is epilepsy, and how, and why does it happen? The truth is for

A Hydro tour reminds me of a Kayak Adventure.

2009-06-26T16:09:00.000-07:00

Today (June 20?)I am going to give you a quick tour of our micro-hydro system. I know you are sooooo excited! First I have to charge the camera batteries and dry out my rubber boots which I left on the front porch and it rained in them. No, first I have to let the ice in them thaw, then I can dry them out. In the meantime, I have to dig around in the bags of crap, backpacks, boxes and

Update on Pig

2009-06-26T16:04:00.000-07:00

"So, What happened with the pig," my mother asked, truly concerned. "I've been worrying about that poor pig having nothing to eat," she says.The pig-trade confusion was a simple misunderstanding. Ismael saw the produce guy in town and produce guy told Ismael he wasn't coming to get the pig. So when Ismael got home, he sent Nono and the pig to my house to let me know that, and that the pig was

2009-06-23T11:13:00.000-07:00

June 21, 2009The snows on the mountains have made the views spectacular!But the rains and slush have also made driving more hazardous than normal. Here is the back half of a double-trailer semi that was hauling cement on the road by Lago Lancanoa. The road was blocked for most of Sunday night, through early Monday morning. Or maybe it was Saturday-Sunday. I don't know.I was all happy and

Home, Sweet, Cold and Rainy Home...

2009-06-20T13:53:00.000-07:00

June 18, 2009I am so happy to be home, I've said it out loud a hundred times these past several days and thought it another thousand. Snow was predicted for the entire week but the weather hasn't cooperated and it's been rain, non-stop. Aside from being grateful to be home, just being home is happiness enough, I have electricity! That is how I can be sitting here writing this post, listening to

Worst Hospadaje I ever stayed in - Twice.

2009-06-12T20:33:00.000-07:00

Just across the street from the Navimag port in Puerto Montt, is one of thedreariest looking street I've seen in Chile. Worse than port front in Quellon, on Chiloe. Beginning with the missing chunks of concrete which had they not been missing, would have covered five-foot deep holes into which smelly green water gushes. A nice compliment is a light pole that is the mother of all light poles in

My Brothers Would Love This. June 2009

2009-06-12T18:08:00.000-07:00

[Note: From now on, my posts will be written offline, and when I get to an internet, I will post them. So the the post times will not reflect the actual dates or time frames. If I remember to do so, and I know the date, I will include it]The boat trip on the way home from Puerto Montt to Chaiten this time was an older boat. Not the Don Baldo, and a bit rougher feeling. Sturdy, and grumbling

MY MOTHER HAS A BLOG!

2009-06-08T11:57:00.001-07:00

My mom has a blog now. She's new. She's not entirely sure about doing this blog stuff, but there she is at Life After Everything Else and I am so thrilled for her. She's a tough gal, been through alot, and is trying to remake a life after losing her husband. If you get a chance, stop by, say hi and congratulate her on her new blog.How about learning to play a new instrument when you are 70-

Super Market Madness

2009-06-07T13:29:00.000-07:00

Cachando Chile (see my favorite blog list to the left) has reminded me of one of my favorite indulgences when traveling to a big city or town in Chile. SUPERMARKETS! Jumbo, in particular, but any one will do. I go in with my wallet full and my eyes popping out of my head. Oh god, I'm almost salivating as I type. The long isles with more than one kind of everything! Freezer cases with food

Chile - September 2006 - First Impressions

2009-06-07T10:11:00.000-07:00

Cachondo Chile is celebrating 18 years in Chile and invited other bloggers to share their first impressions. EIGHTEEN YEARS! Wow! Happy Anniversary and Congratulations!So, here are my memories of my first steps in Chile....I arrived in Chile in September 2006 after a brutal 8-hour bus trip from our home in the Western highlands of Panama and an overnight flight to Santiago. I was a little

A Cute Kitty

2009-06-06T13:11:00.000-07:00

Expatlandia...A Fictional Story.....

2009-05-31T21:39:00.000-07:00

Bad Ex-pats. A story of greed, debauchery and shame in third-world countries.I watched through Darlene's bay window, with the chintz curtains and padded valance, out onto the vast front yard and garden where Javier the gardener labors in a garbage-bag raincoat in the rising mud to clip and trim the roses. The rain beaded heavily on the window, and thankfully the lightening was absent. Rosa

Who Moves to Foreign Countries?

2009-05-30T23:15:00.001-07:00

This post was inspired by a discussion thread on www.allchile.net, a discussion forum for people who are interested in Chile, want to live in Chile, or are living in Chile.For sure not everyone moves to a foreign country as a matter of choice. Employment, or spouses employment certainly cast a different light on the experience and how it is approached. Also, the individual reasons are different.

Weather in Futa. Childhood Memories

2009-05-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

Plaza del Armas, Futaleufu. Courtesy of Nicolas LaPenna, Patagonia's Best Guide.*A friend of ours, Nicolas LaPenna, sent us these photos of Futa, just in case we weren't homesick enough. Today I went out in a light jacket here in Temuco. In Futa it would be a double socks day and a fire roaring in the wood stove!Yes, I actually miss this. I even find it strange that I enjoy this kind of

My little corner of the World and How to toast your nuts...

2009-05-29T23:54:00.000-07:00

My little cornerIt is a few days of holing up in the Temuco apartment while I should be out somewhere, doing something. Instead, I have made forays out to check on the dog, get a few groceries, and mostly enveloped myself in the internet world. I've made well-intentioned lists, washed dishes in the bathroom (the only source of hot water) and actually, for the first time in three weeks, taken

A Street Dog Story

2009-05-26T13:27:00.000-07:00

A Street Dog Story in Temuco, ChileVeterinaria Sevilla on Pablo Neruda in TemucoStreet dogs in Chile are just part of life here - at least that is the mindset. Some are well cared for by merchants or people in the neighborhood where they roam and make more street dogs. Some run in packs and menace people and pets. I was walking home from the grocery store here in Temuco today and a big white

Wrapping Up Temuco

2009-05-26T10:35:00.000-07:00

I think we are winding down our trip to Temuco. One last major doctor visit to ensure all the parts are in working order. I took the time to try out some of the Cachayuyo (see previous post for explaination and recipe),and yesterday bought some of those little eggs that look like Easter candy (700 pesos for 12). Turns out they taste just like regular eggs but are a pain in the ass to peel...I

Let's All Try some Cochayuyo!!!!

2009-05-24T14:20:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's ugly. Yes, it's almost obscene to look at or carry home to your kitchen. But...I decided after a year and a half in Chile to try this hideous looking spectacle of a sea vegetable called cochayuyo. Here is a picture:Keeping it real, I asked at the market for an explanation of what it was, and how it was prepared. The clerk spoke, as usual, a dialect of Spanish which I am not familiar

Thinking about Eating Differently

2009-05-23T08:28:00.000-07:00

From the first week in Futaleufu, Greg and I began to eat differently. This was not a conscious effort, but simply because there aren't supermarkets, or fast food restaurants in Futa. Aside from the invading stands of snack foods such as strange corn-based cheetos-like food bites and hideously colored candies in bags, Futa offers basic ingredients, and what they don't have, you don't need.

Standing tall and looking gooood!

2009-05-19T14:15:00.000-07:00

And here he comes, walking down the street, singing doo-ditty-dum, ditty-dum, ditty doo....

Trip to Temuco and a Femoral Bypass

2009-05-16T05:03:00.000-07:00

Greg and I headed out on a cold, overcast Monday morning at 6 a.m. on a bus to Chaiten. Four hours later we were boarding the ship in the harbour. It is a pleasant eight-hour trip to Puerto Montt. We plugged in the computer and watched movies and listened to music. Unfortunately the weather was rainy and cloudy, so the views along the coast were mostly obscured.In Puerto Montt we disembarked

Nice Fish

2009-04-27T14:17:00.001-07:00

Just some picture of my life

2009-04-25T15:40:00.001-07:00

Above: Rio DesagueBordering our propertyTres Monjas, a view from the road side of the property.Greg contemplates the river.The humble cabin with the Rio Azul raging below in the background.Opposite view from Tres Monjas. Who could ask for anything more. Ahhh, maybe electricity? Nah! Who cares with this view.

Making apple Chicha

2009-04-23T02:06:00.000-07:00

Greg and a visiting dog. He stayed one day, got in the garbage and left. He apparently uses the same barber as Greg.We head up here to Nono's farm to help make apple chicha in an ancient contraption in one of their outbuildings.The pressing side where all the good stuff comes out.The grinding, chewing side. Apples go in and are ground down through, dropping into a wooden trough. Later, we

A Day in My Life

2009-04-02T10:48:00.000-07:00

An old friend wrote and said, in part, "What do you DO? I mean, what is life like there?". Maybe he was imagining me throwing on my sheepskin cloak and slinking out into the frozen hinterlands to hunt rabbit and wild boar. Well, not quite. Anyway, here is what a typical day might be for us (excluding going to town and making the futile attempt to finish errands and buys supplies):We wake up

Futa before and after Volcan Chaiten

2009-04-01T18:15:00.001-07:00

It is almost one month away from the one-year anniversary of the Volcan Chaiten awakening, and I was searching for a certain YouTube video of the event for someone, and happened across this one, which is Futaleufu specific. I know that the Chaiten people had, and have it much worse, I'm don't want to take anything away from the hardships they had, and continue to have. But I liked this video

2009-03-24T13:15:00.000-07:00

Photos above: Tres Monjas, a view from where I live now in Chile with no electric; a picture of Greg, Nick, Dess and Chris, my lovely family;, me at age 18 - shipping out to Germany as a Tank Turret Mechanic, and then a picture of me at 46 - in Panama, with coffee bushes on our coffee farm in the background. I am plucking a chicken a farmer gave me after giving him a ride of 30 miles up into the

Food in Chile, and other random thoughts

2009-03-21T09:11:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to think of how to ramp up my energy level, and all quick avenues are ridiculous. Seems like the best way is just to do a little more each day...walk a little further, take fewer breaks, continue to eat better. Also, of course, the hardest...smoke less. Make fewer "lists" which is actually a time-consuming activity undertaken to avoid actually DOING something. I could wallpaper my

What if...Just an Ideal

2009-03-13T22:27:00.000-07:00

What if I, as a mother, and a grandmother, found that I had something in common with a mother and a Grandmother in Iran, Iraq, or North Korea, or any other country? What if, a kid, ten or 14-years old, found that he had the same dreams, loves and desires as some other kid in any other country in the world? We do have some common desires, I think. And what if we said to our respective leaders..

Dot Dot Dot

2009-03-13T12:46:00.000-07:00

My Aunt Dorothy, or "Dot" as her close friends and family call her, is a gem. She is 70-years old now, never married, although I just don't understand that, unless it was a matter of supply and demand. She is a lovely woman, with a wicked sense of humor that was lost on the largely prim, Presbyterian population where she lives. She has laughing grey eyes, she is slim, hearty and giving. She

That Music! A Cornicopia of Ear Candy.

2009-03-12T19:37:00.000-07:00

One of the things I miss without electricity, is the opportunity to endlessly listen to music, and music programs like this one which features folks, jazz, blues, and music of the world including indigenous recordings many from the Smithsonian's vast collection of recordings. This program, Tapestry of the Times from WYPR out of Baltimore, is one of the best public radio programs I've found. You

Court and Scorpions

2009-03-12T16:55:00.000-07:00

Today was court day in Futa. There was a judge, a prosecutor, and a public defender. Then there was a defendant, who over one year ago got a bit more than tipsy at the rodeo next door, then decided to break into our truck, rip out the radio (and then dropped it in the grass), grab a package of flour, some canned corn, CD's and a bag of dogfood and drag it to his home two houses away. I guess

IF......

2009-03-11T14:54:00.001-07:00

I came home last night...and where, really, is home? The hydro-electric came on, went off, the water flow diminished during the day, Ismael and Nono had no water because of it, we've walked back and forth up and down the road from water source to hydro house, flipping lights, turning the water pressure valves off, on, half-way, three-quarters, watching battery lights, climbing up and down the

Not About Chile

2009-03-11T04:05:00.000-07:00

I was astounded by this story...please read the comment posted after the story which I have copied from one of my favorite Latin News blogs, The Latin Americanist.http://ourlatinamerica.blogspot.com/:A nine-year-old Brazilian girl who was impregnated after being allegedly raped by her stepfather underwent an abortion yesterday.The child- who’s identity is being kept private- would’ve had her

What's up? Six of one, Half Dozen of another.

2009-03-09T08:22:00.000-07:00

I decided to use sheep skins for chair covers. And this is the "lana" sheep wool that Nono deems too defective to spin for yarn...so it is what I am using to stuff the cushions with after I have "teased" it out.This is my kitchen sink cabinet that I am varnishing now. We were thinking of tiling the top.This is Nono, Ismael and Patricio after the lights came on.This is the funky housing for the

A Short Story: Vicki's Illustrious Toilet Paper Emporium

2009-03-02T04:17:00.000-08:00

Donnie's hardware store does not have roof paint. "Otro semana?" I ask hopefully. He moves his head side-to-side as if watching a slow-motion ping pong game. "Por que?" I ask. I get the "shoulder shrug". I go next door to the other hardware store. They don't have it either, nor do they have the water line connectors I need. Off to the third and final hardware store. Nope. "Next week?" "

US State Department 2008 Report on Human Rights in Chile

2009-02-27T11:38:00.000-08:00

This is the US report on Chile:http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/wha/119152.htmI found it interesting in light of 2008 YouTube videos of Sheriff's Deputies dumping quadriplegics from wheelchairs, that silly hoopla about the Guantanamo stuff, and mentally ill patients laying on floors for hours, not to mention incarcerated children being pushed to exhaustion and death in those boot camps

Will there be light?

2009-02-27T07:04:00.000-08:00

This may be a big weekend. The installation of all the doodads and whatchamacallits down in the hydro-house situated on the Rio Desague. (She rubs her hands and suppresses a giggle)I spent three entire days at our place in Sector Azul. Alone. Candles, good cross pen, paper, some beer and half-finished projects everywhere. In those three days I sealed the wood posts on the back porch, on the

Mom's New Dulcimer and my broken guitar

2009-02-23T12:03:00.000-08:00

My mother bought a beautiful dulcimer, and signed up for lessons. I am not surprised, given her love of music. We used to have a piano when all of us kids were young, an old upright grand. I remember we decided to surprise our Dad so we painted it yellow one year...he was really surprised. Anyway, Mom had a beautiful organ for many years and sold it about 12 (?) years ago. I know she enjoyed

A Sunday afternoon whine...

2009-02-23T06:03:00.000-08:00

This time I wanted to not haul cement blocks or bags of cement and no make trips to by nails and sweat and cry in frustration over misunderstandings in Spanish and carpentry (neither of which I understand much). I thought this time we would walk into our new house with groceries, clothes and furniture and began living. So what happened?I find myself struggling with hundreds of meters of 2-inch

Valentina - My Hero and Winner of Thel Prize for Best Public Servant

2009-02-19T19:54:00.000-08:00

There is a really incredible public servant named Valentina. She is the director of the Extranjeria Office, formerly in Chaiten, now in Futaleufu. She speaks no English (or at least doesn't give hint of it), but has helped us file our paperwork for our one-year visas, and now our application for permanent visas. Her home in Chaiten is near the river threatening homes in the town, but spared

Current Conditions and Updates

2009-02-19T11:34:00.000-08:00

Current conditions are wind and swirling ash, temps dropping considerably. City officials report that there will be no interruption of drinking water and that the water is safe to drink (the new water system installed after the May 08 erruption is from a deep water well).The border to Argentina is open and vehicles are allowed to travel out of Chile into Argentina without the mandatory Argentine

Here we go Again...

2009-02-19T07:53:00.000-08:00

For any of my regular readers, you might be interested in this...the volcano has blown again, and we are engulfed in complete darkness at one oclock in the afternoon.UPDATE: Updates from various volcanism blogs seem to indicated that the event was a collapse of one the the volcano domes. The skies have lightened and the ash fall has decreased considerably (almost 2 pm). It is still overcast

Let's Do Ted

2009-02-18T15:25:00.001-08:00

I would like to introduce you to Ted Talks. Here is just one of thousands of "less than 20 minute" talks by the best and brightest in the world. I chose Isabel Allende, and her talk on passion, because she is from Chile, and so entertaining.These "talks" span brains, and books, and bees, and hope and technology and bio-engineering, and medicine and evolution, love, disability, diversity and

Dancing

2009-02-18T12:57:00.000-08:00

There is something lovely, yet sad about a dried flower. A wisp of what it was, a hint of scent. I cannot help but cut and preserve what I know will die anyway, but in a way I will have a memory of what it was. And I was thinking tonight, it's raining again, and I have bread in the oven...Greg is feeling bad, or is he not feeling well...and I thought about all the times we have, in four

A Chicha Shed and Re-prioritizing to-do lists...

2009-02-18T07:58:00.000-08:00

Ismael remembers how much I admire Nono's chicha shed, a large, tall, naturally hollowed-out manio tree trunk in which he chain-sawed out a door which he then hinged and attached. Hers is ten feet tall and maybe two-feet across. Somewhere in the vast forests and meadows that is Nonolandia (not to be confused with Futalandia, which is...well...confusing) Ismael has come across another hollow

God looks after fools, but sometimes he kick them in the ass for being stupid...

2009-02-16T09:27:00.000-08:00

A short entry here...we are back in town after many days at our place in Azul. It is raining sideways (which is why we know our chimney leaks) and our hydro project has ballooned to twice the original quote. This is because I DON'T FREAKIN UNDERSTAND ANYTHING!!!!The micro-hydro project was quoted, and while materials were in the quote, not ALL materials were included. As in ONE THOUSAND METERS

Note to Missionaries

2009-02-12T12:56:00.000-08:00

While I don't doubt the good intentions of missionaries, I can't help but side with Red Crow in this song about the damage missionaries do to indigenous cultures who love their god in their own way.

A Greyhound Memory

2009-02-12T10:47:00.001-08:00

Fifteen years ago, or so, I traveled by Greyhound bus from Florida to Colorado, traveling through Tallahassee and Biloxi and everywhere in between, to re-connect with my wonderful father. It was an incredible time, but I want to revisit the experience of traveling on a Greyhound bus for two days, stopping in little places where Sheriff's cars pulled up, un-handcuffed someone, and put them on

The Illustrious Micro-Hydro Project begins

2009-02-11T07:20:00.001-08:00

Sufficiently exorcised of my mean-spirited demons and the hydro materials having arrived in Futa, I can now focus my obsessions on the electricity project. Materials list with prices:2 monster truck batteries 273,000Alternator 50,000Transformer/Gen. 564,0001000 mts. Tubing 1,400,000shut off valves/misc 64,000(

It's a Love Affair of sorts....

2009-02-07T06:55:00.000-08:00

My relationship with Chile began in September of 2007, a three-week initial courtship taking me from Santiago to Futaleufu and back again. I sat in an outdoor cafe on the Plaza del Armas staring at the wildly eclectic crowds passing, and the magnificent architecture. This cannot possibly be Latin America, I thought. I've accidentally flown to Europe somewhere. Where are the police hustling

My Mother is Mad at Me

2009-02-06T09:58:00.000-08:00

My mother, who has tried really hard to understand why I would leave the comfortable confines of the US to travel with my husband to the hinterlands, and eventually Futalandia, is extremely upset with me after I sent her an email just a few days ago. The spat started like this....Everywhere I post online, the forum I enjoy, the blog, Yahoo Messenger, my mother is all in it. There is not a

A Weekend in Azul-February 1,2009

2009-02-02T14:23:00.000-08:00