Geography Lesson #4

After deciding on a general area of the island to live on – you’re still not done with decisions relating to geography!  I initially thought I HAD to be on the beach/waterfront.  After staying in a villa here on a vacation (just so happens to be the house I live in now),  I realized how marvelous it was to be “up high” where I could see the many shades of blue and turquoise in the water, watch the sky change colors, and in general have an elevated view of the landscape rather than being at sea level.  Of course, there’s a trade-off here, too. If you select an elevated view, chances are you’re not going to have a nice flat yard for a garden. But, you learn to improvise (the Mayan Indians did! Look at Machu Picchu!!  They created amazing gardens!!!).  We grow things in pots, create terraces, and have hanging baskets!  You just have to be creative!   Of course, if you have small children, being elevated may mean more trips to the beach to let them run and play….which is not all bad, either. But it IS an important thing to think about!  Not much “bike riding” if you live in a neighborhood of big hills!

And then, one of the most important decisions is the orientation of the house itself.  If you’re facing west, yes, you’ll see lovely sunsets, but you’ll also have the sun in your face from about 3:00 till dark – and that makes for a hot house and uncomfortable experience, in my opinion.  Facing “due east” will most definitely get you the most breeze.  In my first home in Judith’s Fancy (which closed yesterday, YAY!!!), we faced due east.  During the winter months, were nearly blown away by the breezes!  Yes, there IS such a thing as TOO MUCH BREEZE!!  (side note:  Chuck and I visited a place in southern Spain that has constant breezes….and also the highest suicide rate in the world….people really get SICK of all that wind!!).  In the home I live in now, we face pretty much due NORTH, which gives us great cross breezes, no “direct” sunlight in our home, and we get to see sunsets during part of the year.   So it’s pretty much perfect in my book. When I get a beach / sunset craving, I go west and hang out in my condo!  It IS fantastic to be right on the water…and although the sun does make the condo hot in the afternoon, the sunsets on the water are just spectacular! Perfection in another form!!

Regardless of your elevation and orientation, you do need to consider where rooms and windows are placed – it makes a difference!!! Feng Shui aside, having a good cross breeze in your rooms will save you countless beads of sweat and dollars on AC.  It’s these “fine tuning” geography things that can REALLY make a difference in your life!  And you might get your Feng Shui on too….can’t hurt!!! (or maybe it can, I think I pulled mine dancing too much LOL!!!).