Shirlee loves her job as an elementary GT teacher; she also owns and operates Vintage Photo Revival, a photo restoration business. I love my job as the editor of Las Vegas-based Huntington Press, to which I've been telecommuting from Reno for the past 15 years (my totally cool publisher doesn't see any difference between working from 500 miles away and 5,000 miles away). So if you see stray stuff on this site about Vegas, that's why. 

Shirlee, of course, can't telecommute to her classroom, so she's staying behind at least through the school year. She's also holding down "the fort" -- my euphemism for the house I bought in 2006 and, being in Nevada, I'm 50% underwater on, so that's one ongoing subplot: a possible foreclosure in the foreseeable future.

Another subplot concerns Shirlee and me living apart: As of March 1, I've been living in Cuenca on a six-month tourist visa, while arranging for a longer-term stay. Since Shirlee remained behind, we're conducting a very long-distance relationship, which is has its challenges.

But you gotta do what you gotta do. When I visited Ecuador for the first time in February 2010, I knew it was the place for me; I caught the vibe within 30 minutes of arriving. It’s a one-of-a-kind siren song and if you’re lucky enough in this life to hear it, you have no choice. You have to answer its call.

If you think Ecuador might be for you too, you're at the right website. C'mon along.

Captions, top: the two of us outside the Mirador restaurant above Lago Cuicocha; middle: in our Reno kitchen on Thanksgiving Day 2010; bottom: goofin' around in a photo booth