real life

January 23, 2013

The house phone thrilled endlessly until Joao and I met at the table to pick up the gadget, half his features are swollen like an infected tooth (as I can attest,) eyes blinked rapidly as though he were startled out of hibernation. As expected, a dial tone responded on the other end. The cordless is ancient and hasn’t the capability to retrieve a number. Just like the olden days!

A rainbow startles out of the sky due to the exposure from the sun peaking thru the drizzle. When we lived on the Big Island, triple rainbows were the norm…sigh.

Is this the real life or is this just fantasy…as the Mastiff-cross howls in emotional pain next door, windows slam in the gusty breeze, rumble of dogs barking in the back drop, drone of neighbor’s chatting, hammering resounds from the construction site across and down the street I wonder. No mundane bills to pay, no cheeky Happy Hour dates, no cell phone to charge, no ridiculous traffic jams while listening to alternative news stations, no quickie phone conversations to my friends and family around my hectic work schedule, no angst about the cats scooting out in the frigid temps, no harried drives to the University to pick up my girl and whisk her off to wherever she needs to go in the short designated time between class and work or meetings or ..

Many of my Brasilian friends are self-employed. The woman across the street is an Architect, the neighbor to the right is a Real Estate Agent, to the left of us are in and out of the house since they live in Porto Alegre and come here for holidays and summer months, numerous other architects in the group, a dentist, PE teacher, orthodontist/craniosacral therapist, sales clerk, students, professors, personal trainers, nutritionist. It is a difficult economy and the majority of my friends are in the middle class status. Quite a number are hand-to-mouth and count on resources passed on from one to the next. Since a lot of people are renovating their homes, Denise and her partner Fabio have a line-up of clients. They are very careful about the finances, do not begin the job until they receive a deposit and create a realistic contract for the projects. I know a few designers who have been burned in the past after generating most of the work and not getting paid in full. The justice system is faulty and corrupt so filing suit is uncommon.

By the way, the curled snake was captured yesterday by one of the three slender, red outfitted firefighters. She/he was popped into a Coke bottle to be taken to the University museum. I suggested they drive a mile or so and jiggle him/her from the plastic trap and let her be free versus stuffed and displayed in the “venomous Jararaca snake” case. I showed no fear of the eighteen inch predator, taking photos and touching its smooth body and the firefighters were incredulous. Joao hurriedly stepped back to the opposite side of the car port in obvious distrust and great alarm. I am only sorry the snake is on death row.

Off to bake some banana bread!