Wet Dogs Morning, Afternoon, and Evening. (Cats stay dry throughout.)

Oof-da! First full day in Puerto Rico. Where to begin?

First, with our first full night, which was restful and long. We all got up late-ish (7:00 for Janneke, 8:00 for those of us with souls), and a breakfast of cereal, bought the night before at Supermax.

Where, if any of you are scouts for modeling agencies, you should start hanging out.

And where Pueblo used to be. Pueblo was the store where we used to get our groceries, but the whole dang chain went under and was subsumed into Supermax. Which may or may not have a connection to Supermaxi, Ecuador’s biggest chain. Hard to say without access to Google and a smidgen of interest. I have one, but not the other.

We let the morning slip past us pleasantly, me resolving an issue with the renter back home and her internet access, and walking the dog around the neighborhood. (We didn’t go onto the beach, because I wanted the kids to be witness to Clarabelle’s first experience in the waves.) Janneke and T spent that period at Supermax while Q and I took Clarabelle up and down the streets, observing the dramatic shifts in property values and building quality from one block to the next. Kind of a nice walk we two had, and we got back home just as the ladies made it back. Nice timing, since there’s only one set of keys.

Lunch, and then to the beach, where Clarabelle’s first dip in the waves did not disappoint. She was a little afraid of it at first, but eventually plowed in easily deep enough to swim, and the kids had a blast calling her farther and farther out, chasing her up and down the beach. I laughed then, and laugh now, at the hotion that we brought our damn dog along. It’s just so cool. Extravagant? I don’t think so – no more so than having a dog is in the first place. If you argue that point, you don’t take your dog to the vet much, do you?

Those kids of ours wore us out. We were at the beach for four hours as a family, though I took a break to go running down the shore to where the beach peters out, which took 12 and a half minutes, and then seeing how fast I could make it back. (9 and a half.) Janneke then took off to do her power walking and scope out some shops for assorted stuff she needs. Not sure what it is. She told me, but who listens?

Late afternoon: Charades before dinner, driving directions transcription for tomorrow’s adventures (the mall, and the two soccer camps Q is thinking about, for reconnoitering purposes), and then dinner, of chicken and tomato sauce, lovingly prepared and gratefully consumed. Followed by Nacho Libre on the ginormous TV that Marimer was considerate enough to purchase for our use, and then to bed.

For the kids. I walked the dog around 10:30 in a gentle, warm rain, and assessed property values again as I went. Marimer says the crime rate’s been awful this year, and you really can see the effects of the economic crisis on much of what surrounds us. Other elements are totally unaffected, or seem to be. Life again, being unfair and inequitable. It keeps on doing that.

And so ends another day in paradise. I’ve got to go play the guitar a little before Janneke yells at me for bringing the dang thing. But then, it is late, and I’m pretty tired. Maybe I’ll do that instead of blogging tomorrow…