The New Normal

I've been thinking about how life here on Roatan has become so normal for us, and perhaps that's why I haven't been blogging as much as in the past. So, this morning as I was cleaning, I took note of some of our new normals. Mold or mildew. Living in the tropics, no surprise. The dark boards in the above photo are from mildew. That's because the plastic gutters above drip at every junction when it rains or after a heavy dew. We hate the plastic gutters, but that's all that is available here. You cannot get them to not drip. Believe me, Don has tried. We get mildew on the west side of the house, which seems odd, given that that side also gets full afternoon sun. We are very thankful that we have not had mold growing in our closets or on our clothing like many of our friends here.

I really like these white concrete steps, but they are a dickens to keep clean. Enrique had done a wonderful job of scrubbing all the mildew off them the day before we returned, but you can see that it is returning. We've still been getting a fair amount of rain which exacerbates the growth. Our green and yellow trees are beginning to form a canopy over the stairs so we're getting more leaves and leaf particles (thank you, leaf cutter ants!) dropping on the stairs everyday. They must be swept daily or the wet leaves leave dark stains on the concrete.

Gecko poop. A constant battle. Not only on the floors but occasionally dripping down the walls. Yeah, I know. Pretty gross. We have vaulted ceilings with exposed beams and the little geckos consider that their personal playground. Eliminate them, you say? Not sure that would be possible. They are everywhere on the island, as common as dust. They do a good job of eating insects, too. So, we have a love/hate relationship. The daily floor sweeping often includes a little wipe down of the walls.

I must admit, I was a bit surprised to see how quickly clean windows become dirty up here on our hill. The salt from the ocean apparently travels with the breeze and deposits itself on my clean windows. And we have a lot of large windows. The screens are also a challenge to keep clean but do a good job of stopping dust, pollen, etc.  I no sooner get them blasted off with the hose, than someone lights a fire to burn their trash and the wind carries little bits to the screens. Sigh.

And I haven't even mentioned our outdoor living area, the covered deck. We get a lot of traffic through here and some travelers leave their calling card. Geckos, small  lizards, hummingbirds, bats (at night), the occasional cat, leaves and flower petals and general all-purpose dirt.

So what do we do all day? Clean. Oh, not all day. We are retired, after all.

I know, I know. It's a rough life here. But this sure beats shoveling snow!!