{"id":16507,"date":"2021-12-17T08:19:46","date_gmt":"2021-12-17T13:19:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/?p=16507"},"modified":"2021-12-17T08:19:46","modified_gmt":"2021-12-17T13:19:46","slug":"calma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/?p=16507","title":{"rendered":"Calma"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Today, Friday, December 17, finds me calm and at peace in my “happy place” — my favorite island in the Caribbean.<\/p>\n

My flight to San Juan was uneventful, though full. I was upgraded to first class, which makes it more comfortable as well as having more space between passengers. For Covid protocols, the more spread out the better.<\/p>\n

I arrived on Wednesday, and was met…
\n
\n…by a paramedic with Los Bomberos San Juan<\/em> (local fire department). The nice young woman who met me is the sister of a fellow vaccinator back home with whom I worked all summer. <\/p>\n

It was great to be met and have a ride to the hotel I had booked for the night in Carolina — a neighborhood adjacent to the airport.<\/p>\n

\"\"My room was upgraded to a suite with a private veranda and was next to the swimming pool. I changed to my swim trunks and had a swim, then lay back on a lounge in the tropical sunshine.<\/p>\n

Later, after a shower and change of clothes, I was met by some colleagues with whom I worked before I retired. They took me to a great locals-only restaurant for dinner. I had fresh fish caught that morning.<\/p>\n

Slept well, then made my way via taxi to the car rental center at the airport and picked up the compact SUV that I had reserved. Easy process. I was out in a flash.<\/p>\n

Then… the lovely very busy highways of San Juan greeted me. Ugggh… I never liked driving in Puerto Rico. The locals are very friendly and gracious, but they drive quite aggressively. Their behind-the-wheel behavior belies their usual friendly nature. When they drive, let’s say, “every man for himself.” <\/p>\n

I quickly got on the toll road that crosses the island from the North (where San Juan is on the Atlantic Ocean) to the South (where the Caribbean Sea is.)<\/p>\n

I stopped for lunch at a well-known fast food restaurant and ordered well enough in Spanish that I got what I wanted and did not get what I did not want (condiments like ketchup and mustard.)<\/p>\n

I then made my way to my home away from home — Mayag\u00fcez, located on the west coast of the island about in the middle between the South (Cabo Rojo) and the North (Aguadilla). These will be my “stomping grounds” until mid-January.<\/p>\n

I am staying at a house owned by very dear and close friends of mine. My friends will be visiting their children who live on the mainland (USA) for three weeks. I have their lovely house all to myself. Just a little dog-walking, plant-watering, and the rest of the time is mine.<\/p>\n

\"\"The house where I am staying has a rooftop deck that overlooks the Caribbean Sea. It is a great place to meditate each morning.<\/p>\n

While I am here, I will visit some beaches that only locals know. These beaches are quiet and have few visitors. I’ll plop myself down on a beach blanket under a palm tree and relax. I have many memories here… where my husband and I traveled together in February 2020 for two weeks of relaxation and to enjoy Valentine’s Day (little did either of us know it would be our last).<\/p>\n

\"\"Come 7 January, I will scatter my husband’s ashes upon the Caribbean Sea as he requested, and is the main reason I am here. I also wanted to avoid being at my house on Christmas and New Years, which respectfully are days when I lost my husband (last day he in the house was Christmas and last day in the hospital with discharge to hospice was New Years Eve.) I no longer “celebrate” these days for any reason. I will relax in the tropical sunshine with my thoughts.<\/p>\n

Life is short: no man is a failure who has friends.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, Friday, December 17, finds me calm and at peace in my “happy place” — my favorite island in the Caribbean. My flight to San Juan was uneventful, though full. I was upgraded to first class, which makes it more … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-puerto-rico-memorial"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16507\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}