Monday, August 6, 2012

Returning to My Own Life

I have been home a few days. Chico has forgiven me for being gone so long. I love dogs. They don't hold grudges. He is sitting peacefully on my lap as I am writing this post. His ears, like radar, are tracking the sounds outside. The birds are waking up in the garden. It is overcast but I know it will be hot by this afternoon. It rained last night and the air coming in my window is fresh and cool.

I am settling back into my daily routines. My life. My simple life. The other day I went to look at several houses for sale in my friend's neighborhood. For a brief time I wondered what my life would be like if I owned one of those huge beautiful homes. A fantasy not worth pursuing. My freedom is worth more to me than ownership of a home.

 I have watched friends struggling with maintaining their homes. It is a constant strain and outflow of money. Something is always going wrong. Besides, Chico belongs to my landlord. He would never allow me to take Chico away from him. All things considered, I have a good life. Why would I want more than two rooms anyway? Just more cleaning to do.

I miss my family in Portland but I would not move there. My quality of life would go down too much. I no longer drive and I hate being in cars. Everything up there is expensive. When I was with my son one day up there, he parked in an illegal space in the center of town. He kept the car running and as he stepped out of the car he said, I will be back in a few minutes. If they come by to give me a ticket, move the car.

That would have been a simple request for anyone else but it sent me into a tailspin. I no longer have a driver's license. It expired several years ago. I didn't need to drive here so it didn't matter to me.  I sat there, watching all the cars whizzing by. Even if I were to drive the car, how would I find him? And how would I be able to park again? I imagined having an accident and with no driver's license, ending up in jail. I was so relieved when my son returned-- finally. Every minute felt like an hour as I ran through my fears about driving.  I gave him a hard time for saying that to me and he just laughed and said, I was just kidding.

But this experience made me realize how far I have drifted from my former life in the States. My son also said to me another time on my visit, You act like you have never lived up here, like someone who comes from a third world country.

Well, I wouldn't call Mexico a third world country these days but I understood what he was saying to me. I have simplified my life down to the bare bones. I am easily overwhelmed by the demands placed on people in big cities. I am like the country mouse who visits the city mouse. I always loved that little story.

So here I am, once again, the country mouse, happy and relieved to be back home. 




14 comments:

  1. An interesting thought: 1st world, 2nd world or 3rd world? Mexico. The Mexico I know is a bit of each, depends on where you are and what you are doing. With the advent of cell phones and the internet the lines are getting a little harder to see.

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    1. HI Norm, I just put this online. Fun to have a comment immediately. I also think it depends on how much money you have, whether you are living in a first world, second world or third world. Thanks for writing. p

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  2. Great post, P! A lovely and honest description of how life here changes you.

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    1. Thank you Leslie. I appreciate sharing the morning walks with you. P

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  3. Wonderful writing & thoughts, Patricia. I really enjoyed this entry! I've heard MX referred to as a 6th-World country -- You add 1st, 2nd & 3rd together. Right on, I think.... Let's be sure to ask Chris about his next endeavor: playing Elvis in the Naked Stage's next performance!! See you 2:30-ish. Carolina

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    1. HI Carolina, Interesting. Sixth world... I had fun with you two today. Thanks for inviting me. P

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  4. Patricia,
    My name is Jerry. My home is in Clearwater Beach Florida.I was in Ajijic, November 2010, I love it there. I have friends that will be moving there next year. I am looking for people that are from the US and Canada, that still have friends and family in the US or canada.I understand the mail system isn't the best in Mexico..I have a wonderful online service that sends real greeting cards and gifts for you. The cards cost as little as 31 cents plus a stamp.Because its mailed from the US the postage is only 45 cents.
    Check out mywebsite.. cardcrow.com
    my email is cjwnow @yahoo.com
    Send a real free card to your family here in the states....

    Take care, Jerry

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    1. Thank you Jerry. Sounds like a great service. P

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    2. CARDCROW.COM
      Send a real FREE greeting card to a friend or family, that live in the USA. Send it right from your computer in 5 minutes.The card is on me. Be safe,enjoy Lake Chapala..

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    3. Thank you very much Jerry. Patricia

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  5. home ownership, as you said, requires a lot of time and money. and the thought of all that extra cleaning if you were in a big house! i hate housework!!!!

    you think like me pat. i too would have been anxious about having to move the car and wondering if i would get in an accident, etc. etc. glad you didn't have to move it after all.

    still haven't gotten around to sending the wedding pix-hopefully in a few days.

    take care pat.

    teresa in nagoya

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    1. Hi Teresa, Great hearing from you again. You and I think along the same lines. Where are you now? P

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  6. What an eye opener. I never looked at home ownership that way. We did get rid of our main home in Florida about a year ago before we started our full-time RV journey. It was a bitter/sweet experience, but we felt such a load off our shoulders when the home was gone. All that stuff was such a heavy burden!!
    Even though we still drive and tow our home around, it is still a huge difference from what we were doing before. Just the worry of having to make that monthly mortgage payment was so stressful.
    Anyhow, two weeks into the Mexico experience, and we can feel the difference in our stress level. We are still watching and learning, but it is quite the experience, and we look forward to the days ahead.
    Thanks for your posts and for sharing your experiences.
    AL & Lulu

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    1. Hi Al and Lulu, Thank you for commenting. Very interesting. I look forward to meeting you and hearing about your adventures and hopefully listening to Lulu sing. P

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