Musings from our Puerto Rico Homestead

Not necessarily related to politics, race or really anything serious, these musings are based on my observations living in Puerto Rico.

My Brother Is No Longer In the World With Me

My brother, Benjamin Newton Kennefic “Ben” Orick, recently passed away following a long illness at his home in Saugerties, New York, with his wife, Kari Rice, by his side. I wrote this obituary 10 days ago but when Kari brought the idea of an obit up to Ben (when he was still lucid), he asked…
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An Ode to Willis and His Sneakers

This ode to Willis and his sneakers is meant to be one part humor, two parts seriousness. Willis is my cousin by marriage. I have a first cousin named Nicole. She is the daughter of Tom and Kathie in upstate New York. Her great-grandmother (and Tom's grandmother) and my paternal grandmother were sisters.  Nicole's husband, Willis,…
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Little Red Hyundai

This is the story of a driver of a Little Red Hyundai who think she's behind the wheel of a Little Red Corvette and who's got issues.  So I was driving down the mountain this morning, on my way to the town of Arecibo to do my food shopping, this red Hyundai sedan appears in back…
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Why Writers are not Farmers

I spend many hours a day chained to my desk writing articles and providing supportive services to my clients. After several hours of staring at the computer, with a pair of glasses to protect my eyes, wrist braces to prevent repetitive stress injuries, and repeated breaks to stretch my tired hands, back and hips (um…
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Rest in Peace Marcos Ratliff

Under the house of a family who was renting from our friend Olga lived a dog who was chained up. He was a skinny yellow Labrador. Over a six-month period we saw this guy go from healthy and who used every inch of his long chain to roam the space under the house to just giving…
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A Day in the Life of This Transplanted Utuadaño

What do: Los rotos (giant potholes) Road closure of the main road from my house to the town of Utuado A detour down an alternate road Me unable to back up the hill to allow a car to pass because I have zero depth perception The starter in my car dying Three men—one a client…
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Héctor’s Gonna Do What Héctor’s Gonna Do!

Twice daily we go hiking. Although many might assume because we work for ourselves that we don’t keep to a schedule, we are actually ruled by routine. Our day always starts out the same. The three roosters remind us why we no longer need an alarm clock. The time varies but they generally start the…
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Fixing the Holes Where the Cars Fall In

It’s three years into his term as mayor and he’s right on time. Roads badly in need of repair are getting fixed around here. The one-lane road outside our farm had holes so large you could set up tables for four people quite comfortably. Living in the countryside you learn quickly how to perfect the…
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Doing Laundry in the Tropics

When pondering whether to do laundry in the tropics, one must carefully consider not what the meteorologist reports to you, but what the sky tells you. If the pretty lady with the elaborately painted nails, four inch heels, in the skirt hiked up to here tells you there is no rain in the forecast, assume…
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