Olon Again...Naturally: Cold Duck Runway

May 23, 2011

Yes, that is a chicken..
On the bus

Riding the local buses here – for me, anyway – is always fun, if sometimes daunting. A few of the bus drivers “push the pedal to the metal” like bats out of hell, (and the most macho of these like to do this especially around sharp curves). I’ve always sort of worried about the kids, bicyclists, animals, and pedestrians traversing the Ruta in light of some maniacal drivers on the road (not to mention myself and fellow bus passengers). Fortunately, there is only one nearby cliff that a vehicle could hurtle over, but I’ve never heard of that ever happening (it doesn’t hurt that that a beautiful church, many school children, and “stop, take picture moment” are along that route, so all drivers slow down going through that pass). And in our 4 years of coming here, I’ve yet to see a dog crossing or sleeping on the Ruta del Sol highway that ended up as road kill. A few maimed or limping, si, but still on the right side of the dirt.

So yesterday morning, when I took the local bus up to Curia, I thought the driver was going unusually slow, which was a nice change of pace. It wasn’t until I hopped off the bus that I realized that our driver was reading the newspaper… WHILE driving the bus…

I chuckled to myself, because, honestly I’ll take his bus any day over some of the speedster studs.

Some adorable Montanita kids
watching a fun street show.

I’ve always liked traveling and seeing new places, but not even in my wildest imagination did I ever think that I would be living in Ecuador. Until a few years ago, it wasn’t even on my radar, let alone my bucket list. Nor did Todd anticipate this turn of events in his life. But we have no regrets, despite more than a few moments/days of frustration, aggravation and confusion as we learn better the language and the culture. Every day we learn, or see, or hear something new; every day is a new adventure for us. And we are both grateful to have the opportunity now to live this life.

KC Laurie and Me
A few years ago in Joshua Tree

Years ago (around 1975-76, to be more more precise) a long-time and still one of my best friends (Kansas City Laurie) and I got to know each other while working towards our private pilots’ license at a then local county airport. We were 19-20 years old, both passionate about flying and even more ardent about what the future held in store. We each did become certified private pilots that same year and, boy, were we proud of those licenses! We showed them off every chance we got (i.e.….needing I.D. while shopping – Laurie and I were both guilty of saying “oh geez, I don’t have my driver’s license on me, but maybe this pilot’s license might suffice?”... But I think what we both remember best about that time were the late evenings when we parked at the end of the night-lit runway, in one of our beat-up used cars, sharing a cheap bottle of Cold Duck and wondering what kind of life stories we would have to tell our grandchildren.

Clara

Now, it is 35 years later, and my newest granddaughter, Clara Renée entered the world on May 9^th.

I have another granddaughter, Avery (age 10) who I miss very much too. Probably one of the hardest things about living in Ecuador is the distance from so many of my loved ones, and I miss them a lot.

Nevertheless, I’m pretty sure not all my stories since those pensive nights spent at the end of a darkened airstrip may be suitable for grandchildren stories…. Well, at least not for now.