Ed

El Yunque -- Yunque means "Anvil", despite the nonsense about Yuquiyu on Wikipedia -- used to be a long and strenuous drive away. Today it felt like we were there in no time. Better roads? Better cars? Or is it just the Puertorican Time Warp?

Once there, we made lots of brief stops: photo op at La Coca Falls (at the entrance), another at Yokahu tower, another for lunch. Mustn't forget to eat! Brent laughingly tells us of his Chinese family in BC: everything revolves around meals. Discussion at breakfast consists of figuring out where to have lunch. Lunch starts with discussing the food, then progresses to where to have dinner. I could live like that.

After lunch, a short hike down to La Mina Falls. "Short" is relative: Zora timed it at 30 minutes. The hike back up, on the other hand, took only ten. Different paces.

We bathed, splashed, and hung out in the pool at the bottom of the falls. The water was c-c-c-cold even by my standards, but the Oregon crowd just soaked it up. The girls are water freaks: they can't get enough swimming. Mention "la playa" and their eyes get big.

After a couple of hours we raced or plodded back up, then headed to Luquillo for bacalaitos and -- of course -- more swimming for the girls. We used to do it the other way around: beach first, then river to wash away the salt. The girls didn't complain.

Blueberry pancakes for breakfast (triple batch) then off to the Caribe Hilton beach with friends. The first splash was cold but the next few hours were lovely. The water was calm, and we had lots of time to catch up.

Got back home to find the tribu gone to Dad's... and my room completely redecorated. Zora says the girls spent hours on it. Sniff. That was really sweet.

Mostly a cooking day in preparation for Mima's 93rd. Maritere came by with Alejandra, and ended up spending the entire day visiting and going through old photos. I baked a carrot cake, prepared some chicken and pernil for dinner, and played Snap with the girls.

Dinner was a bustle of about 18 people, and there was enough food to go around. The night's most valuable lesson was: don't buy American fruit in Puerto Rico. The centerpiece was a "floral" arrangement made with fruits. The melon was tasteless, the strawberries vile. After just a few days feasting on papaya and bananas and oranges this was an offense.

As a kid I remember being sick of El Morro. Now I try to visit each time I go to PR. The scale and sense of history are not meaningful to a child. Who were the individuals who laid those massive walls? Can a computer geek from New Mexico have any idea of the working conditions in sixteenth-century Puerto Rico? What pressures or (mis)beliefs led people to waste so much effort on such a silly and pointless military endeavor? What lessons can we learn from that?

As we left we missed a rainstorm by mere minutes. We headed off to El Hamberguer for a memorable late lunch, then wrapped up the day with a slide show.

Mom's car is in the shop but she has a loaner.

Mom's finca is in beautiful shape. Oranges, lemons, papayas, plantains, bananas, breadfruit, gandules, eggplant, there's so much growth.

It has taken decades to happen, but Mom's dream is starting to take shape. The lot is cleared and marked, plans are drawn up, things are happening. It's exciting, and how much more so for Mom! Like everything in Puerto Rico it will take longer than expected, and progress will be stop and go... but nevertheless it's moving along and I think she'll get her house. Not by Mother's Day like she hopes, but possibly by the end of the year?

Andrés gave me a tour of the area, rattling off plant names and stages of growth and when he planted them and how he trimmed them until I was almost dizzy. He knows every inch of the place because he's planted or groomed or in some way worked it. We went down to the creek where there were ñames below and pomarrosas above. He fished out some tilapias. We took our time and got some good talking done.

Tío Jose came over with Lourdes. Jose is thinking of getting a computer. He mentioned the same thing last time we talked, but this time I wonder if he might not really mean it? He recently had an alumni reunion and he's the only one not in touch electronically. That might give him the incentive he needs.

Mom's car overheated on the way home. The radiator fans weren't coming on. Some quick looking under the hood the next day revealed a rat's nest of spliced wires in the fuse box. Pretty bad; definitely something for a professional to look at.