Major shift in the tide.....

This morning Sharon and Jeff left to return to New Jersey.  They hope to be back next January.  Pepper leaves next week for upstate New York.  She will be working on an organic farm for 6 months.  Mike and Martha have sold their house and are returning to Galveston next week.  Eleanor and Jeni are leaving for Toronto in 2 weeks.  Jeni will be back for Christmas, Eleanor will be gone for several months - maybe more.  She is trying to reestablish her residency in Canada and needs to be there 6 months out of the year.  A huge thing for a girl who has lived in Costa Rica for almost 20 years.  Brigitte returns to British Columbia the 1st of June as she and Fred do every year.  They usually return in October.

People coming and going is a constant here in Esterillos.  There are those of us who live here full time but many have to do the 90 day thing.  There are those who come at least once a year - others several times that own property but need to be in other places for work.  There are the travelers - mostly guys  who come for the surf - often more than once a year.  Then there are the new people who arrive weekly that become a part of the EO family and we will for sure see them again in the future.

The tide comes in......the tide goes out.

This morning, when Sharon and Jeff left,  a major tidal shift began.  All these people are loved by all of us who live here.....and they will be missed.

In preparation of this change, I held a girls party at my house Tuesday evening.  Everyone brought something to eat, something to drink.  Most of these women love to cook and thus the food was outstanding - boxed wine was in abundance :)

I wanted to do something "special" but had no idea what.  Bri had suggested "a women's circle" with a "talking stick"  When someone had the stick in their hands, they had the floor.  What was said and heard was not to be discussed outside this circle.  For the talking stick we used my magic wand that I held while riding a horse, in my fairy costume in last year's EO Mardi Gras.  It served the purpose well.

This was a special evening for all of us as it gave us the opportunity to express just how important we are to each other.  Sisterhood is a powerful thing I knew little of until I lived here.  I am very grateful to know all these women - for the trouble and experiences of their lives they have shared, for the strengths I admire in each of them.  It was my pleasure to host the evening and now promise to do it again in the future.