Alone on the Hill

After three weeks which can only be described as a whirlwind of activity, Francisco and Bill loaded up Bill'sVW and left for Portland at 1 pm on Thursday.  I say whirlwind because from the moment Francisco arrived he was busy everyday in business meetings, visits to the notario for property and citizenship paperwork, meetings with his partners in a couple of orchards, visits with the administrators of the ejido (political body responsible for Aticama, trips to the orchards with employees, hours and hours working on his dune buggy, a vast amount of time helping me get solar power and pressurized water to the house and, occasionally, taking an hour off to have lunch at our favorite restaurant in town.

Francisco earned my respect through the demonstration of his work ethic.  He earned my friendship almost instantly as we both realized we are like "brothers from different mothers".  We seem to appreciate the same simple things in life and are satisfied with where we are in our lives which seems to validate all of the necessary steps taken to arrive here.

Before you start feeling sorry for Francisco please remember that all of the things he accomplished were accomplished in paradise.  We also took time out for a little recreation and several evenings we had cocktails at sunset on the patio.  Sometimes the cocktail parties extended late into the evening with great conversations and much laughter!

I look forward to his return!