Peace

Debi and I often see this egret on our morning walks along the beach. He's so graceful; he just embodies the word "peace". Our walks are always peaceful and enjoyable, but today's walk was hot. We've decided that we may need to start our walk earlier than 7:30 now that it is heating up, say 6:30 a.m. There was no breeze this morning, so it really felt hot.

Success! Our RECO adventure ended well. The inspectors came out yesterday to ensure that we really did have electrical service running from Merlin's meter and that all looked ok. So, today we gathered up all the documents that we thought they could possibly ask for, including the papers for our property purchase. We had left our final signed copy in St. Louis, along with our paid property tax receipt from last year - good, safe place for them. The office girl had indicated that they needed a signed copy of the purchase agreement - what to do? We had a copy of the final draft with us, but no signatures. We discussed contacting our attorney here to see if he had kept a copy, but Merlin said he wouldn't have, all copies are filed in Tegucigulpa on the mainland. Don decided to type up and print out a signature page, have us all sign it and date it and see if she would accept it. We took it in and she didn't even look at it! Just stuck it in a file where it will no doubt collect dust. She asked if the inspection had happened and what the guys said about it!! I said we passed, she wrote out a receipt, copied our passports (which she had not told us to bring in - good thinking, Don!), had us sign the application for a new meter, took our money and we were out the door in 10 minutes or so. Tomorrow the meter-change guys will come out and switch meters. We can cross that task off our list. Friday we'll tackle the final challenge - getting another 90-day visa.

This morning we learned that our dear friend, Nelda Hawley, had passed away. Alzheimer's had slowly taken away her mind and left just a shell of the woman she once was, a beautiful, gentle soul. We will miss her, but rejoice knowing that she has received her heavenly reward and been reunited with her beloved Roger.