I guess we are all “creatures of habit.” Once we find something that we like or that works, we tend to do it again.

So it is, that for the fifth year in a row, we flew over the “wall” and went with another couple from home to Mexico for three weeks in the sun. Things are fairly predictable down here as to the weather. It is far enough south, so that the “polar vortex” and other climate anomalies don’t affect us. It normally is sunny and the temperature rises to about 83 degrees each day. Of course, we don’t stay for the hurricane season, so I am speaking, by way of experience, only for February and March.

Two years ago, when we were down here, candidate, Donald Trump, went to El Paso and promised a better and bigger wall. The Mexicans pretty much shrugged it off as just being politics. Because the Pope was in Mexico at the time, we watched on prime-time news as he answered the candidate by going to the border and laying a wreath on the Mexican side of the wall. The Pope doesn’t like walls.

The wall is still much the same, and it is ignored by the vast majority of tourists traveling to Mexico who go over or around it. Most come from the U.S. and arrive by airplane or cruise ships. I thought that by now the Mexican government would have built a symbolic wall at the airport for us to walk over on our way to customs–but instead, we came down a brand-new jetway into a new terminal with easier and more amenable surroundings as we entered the country. Thus, goes the way of most of the world as they enter and leave Mexico.

Years ago, Paul Harvey hosted a well-liked radio program called “Now You Know the Rest of the Story.” So, I should end this theme of being “creatures of habit” with what happened next. As in past years, once we arrived at our rented condominium, we immediately began the “nesting process.” There was a light that didn’t work, some chairs that needed to be brought in, and a ceiling fan that rattled.

We called the rental agent (as we have in the past) and a maintenance man soon showed up to fix things. That didn’t mean we were done. There were extra clothes hangers needed, a tray for the shower to put the shampoo on, and a refrigerator to be filled with food and drink. Our wives left for Walmart to fill in the gaps and, by the end of the day, they were feeling good and our place was ready to go.

Of course, being a guy, I didn’t have to decide which side of the bed was mine–it is and always has been the same side, the right side. Also, my toothbrush was put where it was supposed to be, next to the soap dish, and my clothes were stashed in the proper drawers.

The same kind of thing happened in the kitchen. The paper towels were put where they should be, and the garbage bags were hidden in the same place they always are–inside the counter door just under the sink. There are certain places where things are supposed to be no matter what country you are in.

Now that we are settled in to our usual “habits,” we are enjoying a few days in the sun! Then, soon enough, we will be coming back to assume our common place routines at home where the soap, toothpaste, and garbage bags will reappear in the same places. Life is good and “habits” never end!

Rolland Kidder is a Stow resident.