August 2011

August 2011
I return to Nosara next week. My contract is renewed--I will be living in western MA from Sept 26th till Dec 16th. I would like to work at this job regularly-- 2 three month contracts per year but I will only know one contract at a time. I work outpatient, prescribing, all ages, 30 hours/week. And I started back with my old employer, New England Geriatrics to pick up some extra hours in a nursing home in Greenfield.

Living in Holyoke the past three months, I have adapted to driving in traffic and living in a hotel. I miss the plethora of culture at my fingertips like I had in New York but this is a better job and I have a car. I am in touch with family and friends and I am getting to know this lovely area called Pioneer Valley. Especially Northampton and Amherst.

My Australian friend Mary came up from New York for the fourth of July weekend. We stayed at Allen House, a Victorian B&B in Amherst, across from Emily Dickenson’s house. I learned later that because it was summer, all the UMass students were away and this made the town pleasantly deserted. My friend Tedi visited from Boston last week—we spent the day shopping in Northampton. Now I know where the boutique clothing stores and the good deals are—I bought some green sandals for $20 and I wear them all the time.

My family have visited. Michael came up to help me get used to the car, John, Yola and James were here, and Mary came with Jeremiah. The kids like the pool in the hotel (and so do I). Joe’s nephew, Chris also come by when his job brought him up this way.

I miss Joe. I talk to him twice/day. I miss the dogs. I miss the clean water, the clean air , and our pristine natural habitat though Joe tells me it has been raining a lot which can feel oppressive. But is always beautiful

I now have a Kindle and I bought one for Joe and I have been loading up free classics and free history books for him . I will be taking home odds and ends, i.e. a deep fryer which I bought at the gigantic mall up the road from the hotel. We can get most things in Costa Rica now but it does take planning and things in stores run out quickly—and, between the power surges, moisture, rust, fungus, bugs, and animals, things don’t seem to last that long. You have to get used to having less stuff. And it makes a lot of things seem overdone in the US.

Joe is keeping the pub active. A trickle of people but keeping the pub tradition alive. We go to a lot of trouble to have draft beer and we love seeing everybody.
Hopefully we will have a gathering at the Black Sheep in September so I get to see everyone.

Next post is from Nosara….Love Helena and Joe