If you only showed up in the summer, when all the flowers are blooming, the pond is cool and full of biting fish...you might just forget the snowbound winters and think central Ohio is a perfect place to live!  At any time, the farm is a great place to recoup, relax and rethink.  Feels good to be here. 

Meanwhile, I have a book out, that YOU can purchase (hint!).  It's actually an anthology in which my piece appears, alongside many other great writings.  It's a beautiful hardbound book about LUCK, something all of us could use a little of.  It makes a perfect gift (hint) and the small, local (NC) publisher would be thrilled to get a bunch of orders (hint) especially if said buyers clicked "special merchant instructions" and noted that their purchase was motivated by Marann Mincey (hint).

In all seriousness, I haven't had a chance to read every page, but I've spent some time looking through my advance copy (how fun!) and it really is a great collection of various writers, quirky sidebars and colorful illustrations...and a great cause (you can learn more about this small press later).  Along the way, I've received much appreciated encouragement from many of you concerning my writing.  Two common questions are, "When can I buy your book?" or "How can I help?"  Well, here is such an opportunity.  

There two easy ways you can purchase:

Click here to order directly from the publisher (hint), learn about the press and the book:  http://www.lorimerpress.com/Luck.html

If you must, must save a bit of money and go through a discount seller, you can also purchase at http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Luck/Avery-Caswell/e/9780982617106

Go ahead and stock up, enjoy for yourself and remember x-mas isn't that far away and this is perfect for all those "what in the heck do I get for them" people.  I look forward to hearing what you think of "Luck: A Collection of Facts, Fiction, Incantation & Verse." 

Thursday is the 15th of July, which marks exactly 3 months from the date of our passport entry stamp and just over 1 year since we sold most everything and took up a nomadic lifestyle.  Causes pause for reflection, which we’ve been doing a lot of—talking, dreaming, reminiscing, scheming—during various excursions to beach towns in search of an Oceanside rental which we were thinking we’d make our next one-month home in Nicaragua. 

We haven’t found Fred’s dream house (though we did see some great ones), but we have found some clarity.  We are aware that our very use of the word “plan” is an oxymoron but have yet to come up with a more succinct alternative: what IS a single word that means the intention to act upon a spontaneous idea for whatever length of time that idea produces a pleasurable result?

Anyway, living in Nicaragua has made us clear that this lifestyle is for us.  We enjoy how the small, daily challenges of living abroad prevent an auto-pilot state of mind.  We love the laid-back atmosphere, the non-consumer attitude, and the overall feeling of safety and freedom.  We’ve experienced how we can live an amazing quality of life for a fraction of the cost of typical U.S. living. 

We’re also clear, that to do so, leisurely, we can’t have any American-style obligations lingering.  Without loose ends such as car ownership, a sprint contract, that one last credit card (none of which a plummeted real estate market have helped) it would be truly easy living down here.

And we haven’t forgotten all the ways life in the states is amazing.  So, we are returning for awhile!  Don’t even ask, because we don’t know where, what, why, how, or for how long, but after a final beach vacation in Las Penitas (of course!) we’ll land on the good old farm in Ohio and figure out some things until our next foreign voyage, keeping in mind that life, in any location, is an adventure. 

Here are some things we do know:

We won’t miss: beans; cold showers; rude bus riders; firecrackers (at all hours of everyday and night); roving trucks with concert speakers blaring advertisements; old, lumpy pillows; scrawny, feral dogs; and trying to express ourselves in Spanish.

We will miss: markets; fruit; our Nica family; the beach; $150/month rent; the lack of crime; year-round warmth; lush countryside; cheap, easy nationwide transportation; the creative re-using of just about everything; 50 cent cab rides; and trying to express ourselves in Spanish.

We are looking forward to: soft, fitted sheets; a frost-free freezer; an espresso maker; water flowing from the faucet anytime we turn it on; consistent power that doesn’t shut-down inexplicably; being able to ask for exactly what it is we are looking for; and, most of all, seeing our family and friends!

Same concept as last post, but I can't resist writing descriptive placards (a museum would do as much, no?)

A Classic Still Life
One of Nicaragua’s best features: fresh fruit and vegetables.  Pictured here are fine specimens of avocado and mango.

Nica Bag
It was a proud day when we acquired this.  Market shopping using the bag of local choice.

Water Jug
The back-up kitchen faucet.

The Bucket Shower
We learned fast.  First priority when the water does decide to come on is fill this bucket for future showers or flushes as our needs may be.

Writing Desk
It’s what it looks like.  The top part of the table meant for a TV (which we declined to have in the apartment) strung across an extra chair makes for my Nica writing desk.

Making Coffee.
1. Fill with water.
2. Throw in grinds.
3. Wait for boil.
4. Watch carefully because it boils over quick and baked coffee is a bitch to clean off the cooktop.
5. Don’t forget a rag before you touch the scorching handle.
6. Pour coffee into glass, slowly, so grinds don’t come with it.
7. Dispose of grinds in the flower bed while coffee cools to less than 3rd degree burn temperature.
8. Add sugar and milk.
9. Ahhh, enjoy a morning coffee.
10.  How Fred misses his espresso maker!

A main staple, and a change from beans!

Alright I can’t help myself, a few words about our PARTY!
It was the night before the 4th of July.  Our existence is typically date and timeless, but our facebook friends had reminded us of the bbq we wouldn’t taste, the fireworks we wouldn’t see, the family gathering we wouldn’t have.  It put us in a nostalgically festive mood, well me anyway.

“Let’s throw a party!” I enthusiastically suggested to Fred shortly after his return from a mini beach vacation in Las Penitas.  We invited the neighbors, Pedro’s family, Maria’s family, expected them to all bring more family, plus some friends…so, we started shopping.  48 hotdogs, four 3-liters of soda, 50 buns, three 12 packs of cookies, a case of beer and a bottle of rum later, we were ready. 
Except we forgot balloons!  And we’ve noticed a fiesta isn’t a fiesta in Nicaragua without balloons.  Besides, I’d had the most inspired idea to host a water balloon contest.  So 20 minutes before our start time, Fred jumped in a moto-taxi, sped to Pali and saved the day with a 100 pack!  When the guests did arrive, we were a bit breathless from our inflating furry, but balloons were everywhere, Romando brought a boom box and the celebration was underway. 

Water balloon tossing is apparently a new concept and was so enjoyed by the kids and adults alike that we had to fill more balloons…and rack our brains for other silly games before the children got completely soaked in their nice party clothes.  We played musical chairs, stomp the balloon, an impromptu version of seated balloon volleyball/keep away that EVERYONE could play at one time (and everyone did) until it degenerated into a frenzy of “pop as many balloons as you can” until their were none left hanging and we had to settle for a round of charades.