When the House is Finished, the Work begins

Today, Luis the owner of InterDinamica, an alternative energy company, came out to visit us for a consultation.  Our solar power has not been operating very well and today we really got a good critique on the system we installed.  Lots of good ideas to maximize the power coming, and the life of the batteries.  How to incorporate the hydro power in the future, and also that wind energy may be something to look into for the future.  Luis is very good at what he does.  He studied on scholarship in Japan to become the engineer that he is.  He is also environmentally conscientious and sensitive.  I was surprised when he said he notice a good vibration here and commented that it is rare to find places like this where people live like they did fifty years ago.  Fifty years ago is when the people of this area first settled here.

Yesterday we had a meeting with Sergio, the man who built our house and Rolando, the realtor who sold us the house and has been a good friend along the way.  With Rolando translating we communicated several problems we are having.  Due to us not having enough experience with local building practices, how to build to live in this climate and Sergio not having experience doing a design different from what he is used to, we ended up with a house with a few problems.  It is dry season but here it rains a little in summer.  Such as the other day we had a nice downpour for a couple of hours.  We discovered that the house and studio leak from every door, every window, the clearstory windows at the top, the place where the balcony meets the house and through most of the walls when there is wind.  We asked Sergio to share the responsibility and so he will give us a week of his time and then we will pay for two more weeks of work to remedy this together, creatively and in many different ways.  That’s after we decide on how to treat the wood from wood-eating insects that are being well fed at the moment.

Willie, our friend who lives in the town about an hours walk from here called and we joked a little.  He was just figuring out how to get electricity to his place.  It’s like what I say to students who are just getting certified for the first time.  The journey is just starting.  Here, when we finished the house, the work starts.

For some reason I can’t sleep tonight.  Maybe that is because we decided that we have to set the alarm for 5:30 starting tomorrow in order to meet the day when the day is demanding us to meet it.  I thank God for our routine in the morning which includes some Gyro and a little meditation.  We are both fitting in our Music practice almost every day but out here where the vibe is mostly about practial things we have to be very strong in our determination to enjoy some of the non-materialistic aspects of life.  Music really does require a sense of leisure, and that is difficult (but not impossible) to manifest during this time.  (laughing to myself with that little smirk on my face that Jim notices sometimes when I write funny emails) 

Many times we look at each other and ask “why are we doing this?”  I don’t know the answer accept that we are doing this because this is what is happening.  I remember when Juliu asked me one time, “what are you doing,” while I was teaching a course somewhere.  I said “ well, I’m feeling like a feather in the wind being blown about.”  His reply - “ Are you a donkey?  Donkeys get pushed around,” or something like that.  It stuck with me because I wondered if I should be something different or have more ambition.  Many days I feel as if I am directing my life and making decisions for some desired outcome but for now I sure feel like I’m a donkey.  However, at the end of today I  have a smile  for absolutely no good reason.  I haven’t been remembering to take all my supplements and that is because I don’t feel a need for them. (knock on wood)