Natalie Vartanian's Blog

I met my Romeo on the beach

At first I thought, it’s only been two days, there is not much to report. I don’t want to post a blog about me just “hanging out”. Then I took a step back and realized how full and fulfilling the last couple of days were.

Sally and I have been hanging out with our neighbors more and it’s been wonderful. Before we moved in, our landlord told us about the couple that owns a horseback ride tour company in town moving in around the same time as us. Needless to say we felt we scored! We had talked about going for some rides while we were here. First day at the beach in Montezuma was because our upstairs neighbors invited us out with them. We shared a cab to the cute and quaint little beach town of Montezuma, had lunch and our first celebratory cocktails right near the water then went swimming in the ocean. We felt like little kids … dreaming about summer camps for adults. We ran in to our other neighbors right after lunch, and had JUST been talking about them and their business. Again, score! We booked right then and there to be back at Montezuma the next morning to ride some horsies!!

Saturday morning, we got up at 7am, took the cab to the beach and were ready to ride. The path was from the main entrance of Montezuma beach to where one of the smaller waterfalls is in town. What a gorgeous, beautiful experience. So many moments I would just look out at the water on my one side, then lush jungle trees on the other side and feel like “Shit, I think THIS is paradise right here!” Saw a couple of monkeys hiding in the trees, a ton of crabs hiding in the rocks near the waterfalls and even a crab duel (pinchers held high up in the air and everything). Marvin leads the rides and he is super fun. Both he and Dorothy have been wonderful, not just as business owners or neighbors but as friends – you know how commerce SHOULD feel, like you actually care about your customers and are passionate about what you do for work! Marvin loves those horses you can tell and he loves talking to you about them and educating you on how to really connect and interact with them. Plus he’s a super knowledgeable guy period! Feel super lucky that they are the people that live right next door to us. Dorothy brought over soup for us two days in a row and has been teaching us some yoga moves as she is a yoga instructor as well (I know right?)

I totally bonded with the horse that took me for the ride. His name? You guessed it. Romeo! Although yesterday over some beers with Marvin and Dorothy we told them we are renaming Romeo to Cassanova since he’s quite the stud and has a couple of girlfriends. We literally were like “No, we know you named him Romeo, but that doesn’t suit him. He’s Cassanova now!” But he was perfect for me and mirrored the way I am. All the horses would be walking down the same path and he would choose to go around a rock even if it was a bit cumbersome just so that he did something different (or did it his way). When on the beach as opposed to the trail, we would walk close to the water, but Romeo would go right to the shore and walk IN the water. Muy romantico no? Plus I’m sure his personality reminds you nothing of mine, right?

Another thought that has been popping in to my head a lot lately is “take nothing for granted”. On my horseback ride I kept wondering if people ever get tired of looking at this splendid view. Does it loose its luster after a while? I actually even talked to Marvin, my neighbor about it. He says “like anything you do all the time, it does become routine … however you find things to make it different” (my interpretation: keep it interesting aka not take it for granted). In his case, his scenery is the ocean. It is ever changing and at times unpredictable. He also works with horses which as he said “It’s something different with them every day”. I find myself sinking in to that with every passing day. I want to just feel the joy of living simply and gratefully. I mean, I coach for a living … I don’t need to go out there and exterminate vampire bats because they are biting the hell of out of my horses. Not saying we don’t have a right to gripe and complain about our shitty experiences, I’m just saying I have a lot of perspective and appreciation about my set up these days. Get the drift?

Today as I went for a walk, did some yoga, read, took a nap, answered some emails, hung out with Sally and the neighbors, did some writing, played with the kitties, I realized how luxurious that is for me. At least it feels like it because I don’t typically allow myself the luxury of truly enjoying those moments when I’m at home. Oh, and if you’re wondering about Romeo, he got bit THREE times by Vampire bats a couple of days ago. Poor guy!! So when Marvin said they were going hunting for Vampires soon, I couldn’t help but think “Get those damn blood suckers!” Thus … our love story is to be continued. Until the next time we ride.

posted by Natalie Vartanian @ 7:53 PM