Author: Jim Santos
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Game of Thrones Game
If you never watched Game of Thrones or read any of the books, that is fine. I really don’t understand how some people think that gives them something to brag about, but there does seem to be an American tendency to applaud your own ignorance for some reason. More on that another time. Those of us who have be-spoiled…
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10 True Summers Long
Ten years ago today on May 3rd, 2009, my life changed. Not that I was aware of it at the time. In fact, I was not aware of much of anything. Mostly I was in a kind of an emotional limbo. My wife of 25 years had finally succumbed to a battle with breast cancer…
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In a World …
Since I made the decision to resign as International Living’s Ecuador Coastal Correspondent back in March, I’ve been ramping up the attempts to find more freelance work. I’m still writing articles for IL’s magazines and website about places we have lived and visited – in fact, look for a Feature Article I co-authored due out in…
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Queen and I
We’ve gone overboard on every album. But that’s Queen.– Freddie Mercury Back in the States now, we’ve been catching up on our streaming of series and movies. One of the first movies on the list, was the Oscar-nominated Bohemian Rhapsody. In case you’ve been living under a rock since the 70’s, the movie presents some of the…
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Winter Strawberries
Rita and I recently returned to our home in Salinas on the southern Pacific Coast of Ecuador after our longest time away in the last five years. Between taking care of some business in the States, attending the International Living Boot Camp Conference in Santa Fe, and enjoying Thanksgiving with family, we were away from…
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For of Flying in Baños
There’s a moment of clarity, just before you begin, when you think calmly to yourself, “Why am I doing this?” Then the calm is shattered by sheer terror as you are flung out over the abyss. Now your brain is screaming “WHY AM I DOING THIS?!” This was my experience with the “Casa del Arbol”…
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Locked in Cages
I am an American. I was born in Annapolis Maryland, one of the oldest cities in the nation. I’ve lived and worked in her small towns, her big cities, and some of her beautiful rural lands. We own property in America, pay taxes, and are registered voters. I did tech support in the US Senate,…
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My 2nd 5th Anniversary
Today I celebrate my second fifth wedding anniversary, by which I mean the fifth year of my second marriage. It seems a good time to reflect on a few things, and I’ve been trying to sort out and identify my feelings about “the institution of marriage”. We hear a lot that the “institution” is threatened…
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What is the Shape of Water Anyway?
I saw an interesting post on Facebook over the weekend. Someone asked if anyone had seen the movie “The Shape of Water” and liked it. OP apparently did not like it at all, and wanted anyone who did enjoy the movie to explain why they liked it. I almost commented – in fact, I did…
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Confessions of a Gumbo Junkie
I could feel the urge building over the last few weeks, and then this Sunday, it finally happened. I woke up with a raging gumbo-ner. I just had to make my favorite New Orleans meal. Gumbo is not something to be taken casually. It is not one of those “one pot” dinners that you can…