Apr 25, 2013

Rincon, Roosters, Ziplining and Fire Ants

By · 1 Comment

This post…a mix of serious with a sense of humor. If you know us, then there is no reason to explain the humorous side of our family vacations. There are ALWAYS stories to tell when it comes to the King family. Never fails. So, here it goes…

WOW. There are no other words to describe this week’s vacation in Puerto Rico. My family and I have fallen deeply in love with this place. I mean, ridiculously in love with the majestic world of this unbelievable place. If we didn’t have family back home or dear friends, then there’s a good chance we’d choose not to return to Texas. Totally serious…stop laughing; I hear your snickering! ;-)

Hubby and I have talked about buying some rental property in the vacinity to Rincon. YES, that’s how much we enjoy this place.

I have been fortunate enough to take some pretty amazing vacations in my life, and I love city life, beach life and everything in between. But this…oh my stars…it just doesn’t compare.

This week has been an eye opener for me. As a deep thinker (hello, author here!! we think deep…all the time), my eyes have been opened to one thing…

SIMPLICITY

That’s the best word to describe Rincon and the surrounding area. We’ve learned so much about the culture here. Here are a few facts about Puerto Rico.

- The average yearly income here is $15,000

- 45% of the population live below poverty level

- More than half the population is on some type of government funding (food stamps)

- Houses range from nice mansions to very small stucco houses with only a few rooms

But there is one lesson I have learned, and vow to bring home with me. These people are some of the most humble human beings you’ll ever meet. They are grateful for life, for family, and the beauty of just living. Materialism is almost non-existent here. Seeing an iPhone in ANYONE’S hands who isn’t a tourist isn’t seen much at all.

The locals will smile at you, wave hello, welcome you graciously into their world expecting nothing in return. These people don’t stand with their hands open like so many Americans do. Selfishness…isn’t here. Period. Instead, the locals offer what little they have.

This has been a wonderful lesson for our three boys. They are great, great kids who have learned the value of a dollar, but they see how different life is here. There are no media rooms with projectors, Xbox 360′s, etc. Kids PLAY with balls outside, the neighbor kids…there is no sitting in front of a TV. With the beauty here, there is no need. NO NEED.

On to our wonderous (and remotely humorous) adventure this week!

Snorkeling here is amaze-balls. The water is warm, clear, and the fish look like something out of Finding Nemo. We went to a coral reef marine preserve yesterday here in Rincon. Little Adison is deathly afraid of sea urchins. So much so, he tries to walk around them with swim shoes on. Thanks to his big brothers, who told them they were poisonous and could kill you in one poke, he’s afraid they are going to reach out and grab him. Sibling love right there, folks…

Austen jammed his left knee into a piece of coral and is now sporting a gouged out gross battle wound. We have him bandaged like a war hero. Good times…

Wild dogs running down the street, in front of the car, is prominent everywhere. Nina and Brownie live next to us apparently. It’s fun hearing their master yell, “Nina, venir aqui!” <—Nina come here! at 5:30am every morning. Nina, please go to your master before we wring your neck. Just kidding, Nina. Sorta…

Roosters…*&$% roosters. I’m convinced the people here are deaf to crowing. I hate crowing. I’m coming back vegan after this trip. I offically hate chickens. Sorry KFC…

Lucky 13 Resteraunt…best tacos on the island! Cool, tattoed guy(from head to toe) from the east coast who moved here to start his own resteraunt. He’s traveled the globe as a chef and ended up in Rincon. Unbelievable food. We plan on going back one more time before we leave. Delish…

Ziplining today! One of the best experiences of my life! Batey Ziplining Tours in Puerto Rico…Do it! This is an offical advertising post for them. Nicest, coolest people ever. Worth the money, and the time. We took a 4 1/2 tour today. Don’t regret a single piece of it.

1) I am TOTALLY afraid of heights. Driving to said Batey Ziplining left me wanting to pee my pants and puke at the same time. People here drive like bats out of he-double hockey sticks on two lane mountain roads with no guard rails. My knuckles were white by the time we hit the turnoff for Batey.

Once we turned off, the ONE LANE road instructed us to honk the entire way to avoid having a front in collision with someone coming down the hill. Superb.This one lane road was very treacherous. We had to stop at one point for a peacock to cross the road in front of us. I saw him laughing at our frightened stupidity. I bet he’s friends with the rooster next door to our condo…

2) My first experience with ziplining was getting stung by a band of vicious fire ants before I even had my dadgum helmet on. The peacock and the rooster put them there on purpose, I just know it. Turds…

3) We had 2 other groups with us: Two ladies named Gigi and Tricia. They were from Oklahoma City, nice couple, total cutups who taught me how to make my own organic detergent on our walk up a hill to the first zip line. Vegetarians who thought I was interesting. We’re best friends now…

The second group…well, we have officially named the dad “Mr. Parole” and his two kids. He was from New Hampshire. Um, as we walked across a suspension bridge (where I about puked for a second time) he friended Darren. Darren attracts some “interesting” friends sometimes. The conversation went something like this…

Darren: “Where you from?”

Mr. Parole: “New Hampshire. Love it here. This is about the only place I vacation.”

Darren: “Why’s that?”

Mr. Parole: “My parole officer won’t let me go any farther than Puerto Rico, so I just bring my kids here. Their mother is a piece of work. I’m divorced. Got a girlfriend. You know, it’s all good here.”

Silence…

Mr. Parole: “Yeah man, drugs…they’ll mess your sh*t up.”

Oh, well this will be a fun 4 hours! I asked Darren later if he asked him to be Facebook friends…

What an experience. Best DAY Ever.

Tomorrow…the beach. Only three days left. Makes me sad. Maybe I’ll bring the rooster home with me.

Hugs from Puerto Rico ~

VSK

Filed Under: Random Thoughts From An Avid Author · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Apr 22, 2013

Where Heaven Meets Earth…On Family Vacation

By · 3 Comments

Vacation. We’re here. I’m beyond tired, sunburned already, and emotionally exhausted with the simplicity of things. When I say “emotionally exhausted with the simplicity of things”, I mean that in GREAT way.

Those that know me understand my life. BUSY. A dedicated homeschooling mom who works from home as a Social Media Director, who is passionately seeking a full time writing career. <—–This does not include the other tasks such as grocery shopping, washing countless pairs of Hanes whitey tighties each week for my three boys, and cooking meals that could feed a small army because my boys are GROWING boys who don’t understand the concept of what a “serving size” portion is.

It has been ages since I’ve just sat on the couch doing…well, NOTHING. I see a dirty cup across the room now with a 1/4 cup of milk still in it from 14 hours ago, but I just roll my eyes at it. I’m not going to pick up my lazy rear up off this couch with a view of our quaint backyard complete with swaying palm trees, a rooster crowing in the background (we’ll talk more about roosters later), and the smell of earth in the air. Bliss.

We arrived this past Saturday after a two hour plane ride to Miami, followed by another two hour plane ride to San Juan, followed by a three hour drive that should have taken an hour and a half, to the Western part of Puerto Rico. Don’t get me wrong, the drive in was beautiful for about an hour, and then it got re-donkulous. Every 1/2 a mile there was a stoplight. Let me also add that although the speedlimit on the main roads are 60, nobody, NO-FREAKIN-BODY drives more than 45. My husband was passing people like we were running from the cops after stealing a litter of puppies.

My better half said, “What the heck are these people doing?! Why are they driving so slow?” I shrugged my shoulders and replied, “Hey, if I lived on this island, I’d take my time too. This is not Dallas sweetie. Slow your roll.” We didn’t slow our roll…we passed everyone driving their 1985 Corolla’s and 1971 Lincoln Towncars. Nobody drives a vehicle here made from 1995 or above. I feel like I’m living in the 80′s…And apparently everyone adores Michael Jackson here. That’s ALL that’s on the radio. If I hear “Beat It” one more time, I’m going to moonwalk over the next person I see…

We arrived to our condo, walked in and toured and three story home for the week. My youngest pinched his nose and said, “Mommy it smells like poo in here!”

I sniffed and agreed. Come to find out, someone had tracked poop, not dog poop, CHICKEN poop into the house. Thankfully, we found Clorox wipes and paper towels. For the next half hour, we all cleaned up chicken poop puddles on our floor. Good times…

5:40am Sunday morning…The light, oh my stars, THE LIGHT! At 5:40 in the morning the sun is blazing like it’s 2 in the afternoon, and the town roosters were crowing. I got up at 7am. By then, the sun was screaming at me, so I trudged downstairs and fixed a Chai Tea. I walked up to our 3rd story patio. Totally rocks, thank you for asking…Here’s what I saw.

A chicken coop behind us with a horse tied to a tree. Next door, a tin roofed house with two dogs ON the roof sleeping in the sun. The yard below them was a collection of porcelain toilets and beach chairs that hens were roosting on. On the horizon, the most amazing view of the white sandy beach, and PERFECT clear blue waves.

Next was the trip to the grocery store. Grocery stores don’t open here until 11am each day. At 10:30am, locals line up to do their shopping. It’s like standing in line for a ride at Disneyland.

Upon completing our grocery shopping, we stopped off at Little Caesar’s next door for pizza. $5 hot and ready’s, right? WRONG! Try $26 for two hot and ready’s. We bought them, and savored every freakin’ morsel! I licked the box…just kidding. Maybe.

Off to the beach for the very first time. 50 steps EXACTLY from our doorstep. Unbelievable  The beach was empty for the majority of the day. We did meet a sweet young couple from Detroit who left the snow last week for some sun and surf here. We ended up having some kind of really GOOD drink they made us with orange juice and some kind of local melon flavored liquor while we watched the unbelievable sunset. I have NEVER seen anything like it. The beauty…I could write a whole book about the sunset alone. Especially because it set behind an island 11 miles away that is said to be inhabited by 3 foot tall apes. <—Seriously. There’s also buried treasure from local pirates still buried there. I may try to swim it tomorrow. I’m looking for a great adventure like “The Goonies”.

Rincon, Puerto Rico is an amazing town. Everyone here is very friendly and accommodating. We went to the town square to their local farmer’s market and picked up fresh fruit and veggies from local farmers. Cheap and AMAZING flavor. Lady finger bananas…good gravy I think I’ve had 13 of these since yesterday morning! Don’t judge.

To complete our day yesterday, we got in our private jacuzzi on the 3rd floor during an afternoon rainstorm, having memorable conversations as a family. These are the things I’ll never forget. The pieces of our vacation that I will forever treasure.

A family conversation during a rainstorm in 104 degree jacuzzi in paradise. PRICELESS.

Paradise calls ~

VSK

Filed Under: Random Thoughts From An Avid Author · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Mar 27, 2013

Loss and the Gift of Remembrance

By · 2 Comments

Mema1

Words normally come naturally to me. As an author, I live inside a world filled with bright colors, magical characters, and serene images that flow easily from my fingertips. There is rarely a time that I sit down and find myself unable to tell a story.

Today is much different. My heart is full of words that I long to say about someone I love, yet I find it difficult to pull them from the depths of my grief as I face the haunting lullaby of saying goodbye.

Grief

Naomi, my Mema, was a woman who may have been given the title of “grandmother”, but she was so much more than that to me, and to the world around her in general. She was my friend; a woman of great integrity, honor, unselfish love and deep faith.

I have so many fond memories of her from my childhood. The late night drives to McDonald’s for hamburgers, the blue coconut snow cones that my cousin Brad, invariably spilled every single time in the back seat of her Cadillac. Her mall walking t-shirts that she received for free from The Parks Mall that my cousins and I fought over every weekend as to WHO was going to sleep in said t-shirt. For the record, I normally lost the bet.

Her incredible salsa; although countless family members and friends have the recipe, none of them taste quite like Mema’s hot sauce. Her peanut patties made during Christmas, and the fruitcake…yes, the dreaded fruitcake that became just a little bit tastier when she insisted (even for the children) to add a little Mogen David wine to each slice for some “kick”.

In her final hours, I wanted to be by her bedside. We all grieve and let go differently, but for me personally, I needed to talk with her. As we held hands, I prayed over her, played her music…her favorites. Like Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” and Frank Sinatra’s “The Way You Look Tonight”. She wouldn’t respond to my voice, but her spirit stilled while we sat together. The last words she ever spoke to me just days prior to her leaving this life were, “I love you darlin’”. Alzheimer’s had stolen my Mema…most of her sentences were broken words that made little sense. But those words…they made perfect sense, and I will relish them for the rest of my life.

Mema2

I will end with a final thought…a sense of perfect peace I encountered the night before her death. My father took her hands in his and whispered words that I will hold private, for they were my final moments with my Mema. As she lay, eyes closed, soul fleeing, she raised her left hand to the heavens, holding it steady, reaching for her Maker…the perfect Prince of Peace, our Savior, our blessed Lord as the words of Jesus fell from my father’s mouth.

She will be laid to rest on Friday…Good Friday of all days. My youngest told me earlier, “Friday is Good Friday, Mommy. Now Friday won’t be good anymore.” I beg to differ. Good Friday is the day Jesus gave His life for us so that we may live with Him for eternity when our final breath is taken.

When His final breath left his broken body on the cross, our lives were instantly filled with His perfect peace. Our sins washed away by the blood of our Savior. Because of His final breath, our final breaths here on earth are the beginning of a new life. Death is the beginning of a greater life, much richer than our here and now.

I do believe in life after death, and I do believe that God prepared a special place in heaven for the light of a woman who’s life will be forever remembered. I just pray that I can live my life the same way Mema did…gracefully and fierce. Fierce in love, for there wasn’t a person on this planet she didn’t care about. For loving fiercely in a broken world is often hard to do, but she did it beautifully.

“Has the world been so kind to you that you should leave with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.” – C.S. Lewis

Filed Under: Random Thoughts From An Avid Author · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
« Older Posts
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 86 other followers