Jorge and Claudio

I mentioned previously that we could sit poolside or beachside and hardly ever have to move. The vendors came to us! What a life.

But the piece de resistance was Jorge and Claudio. Little Jorge was 4 years old and his brother Claudio was 8. They peddled glass hand blown swizzle sticks while their Dad watched from a distance. Polite, gracious, adorable. They handled the sticks with gentleness so as to not break the nose off the dolphin one or the leg off the tortuga. How cute! I bought just for the interaction with the kids. Here are photos of them carefully wrapping my purchases. And, then when I wanted a photo of Jorge with the swizzle sticks, Claudio wanted to hold his tray too. Adorable kids.

Their glee at showing all the different types to me was contagious. Especially when I would tell Jorge the names in English. He was a quick learner. Just one of the special memories of this glorious month of sun, sea and relaxation.

I head home manana. Not without reluctance. I'm ready for home, but not ready to leave the beach, the sunrises and sunsets.......oh, and the pinadas - an alcohol free pina colada - gladly I found out that name!

See you on down the road.

Memories of the Month

Above are various photos that are rememberances of the last three weeks. One more week to go. Yippee - I'm not ready to leave........

Here are a few, very few memories that keep running through my head.

The little girl in Soriana in Chapala who was attempting to stand on her toes as a "ballerina" in her regular shoes. She then looked up at me with this look of absolute joy.

The cab driver who lead me to the Chapala exit when I was lost in Guadalajara last week - I followed him for thirty minutes and then he only wanted thirty pesos. Needless to say, I tipped him well.

The sound of the pounding waves at 4:30 in the morning. I'm so close to the water that I'm waiting for them to come into the room - swoosh.

Mr "Fish Man" who comes to deliver cooked meals and pina coladas. His pina coladas are the BEST! Woo hoo. They even have a tiny paper umbrella and fresh fruit on the side. YUM. Not much alcohol at all, who cares?

Walking the beach at Tenacatita - the whole bay. Lovely.

Looking at the beach in mid-afternoon - it looks as though it is covered in a blanket of glistening diamonds.

A different sunset every night.

Best of all, a new grandson born this month.

Hope your January was memorable also.

Traveling Through the Jungle

Dreams are a magnficent thing - especially when they come true.

For over 25 years I've known and traveled with a good friend who talked and talked on our travels about how some day he was going to build a house on the coast of Mexico.

He has and here are the photos to prove it. Isn't it lovely? He did it himself through eight years of dealing with government bureaucracy, employees disappearing and a myriad of other difficulties. But, he persevered and now has the pleasure of whale wathing, peace and tranquility. It is a spectacular place.

John is a fearless man. He is one of the hardest workers I've ever known. Singlehandedly he has cleared land of brush, trees, scorpions and giant iguanas. I shake my head in disbelief at all the work. His house overlooks the Bay of Cuestacomate.

Our friendship began 27 years ago when I happened to walk into a little shop in Clear Lake. He imported decorative items from Mexico. He remembers that I was getting ready to drive a truck to Orlando for a condo installation. Hence two fearless people met. I've known him through raising kids - his and mine. In his case, I've known him through a few marriages, ncluding the current one. He met his wife in the airport in Guadalajara when he had dropped me off from a buying trip for one of my projects.

It has been delightful to reconnect on this trip. To see his dream completed has been uplifting. But the most fun has been reminiscing and laughing til our sides hurt at all the crazy experiences we had in the 80's and 90's when we were both importing from Mexico.

Priceless memories.

Great expeeriences.

Life is good.

Snow in San Miguel

IF a picture is worth a thousand words, I don't need to say anything other then amazing!

SUNSETS

Not only is the beach refreshing, the pool cool and, the weather could not be more perfect, but the sunsets are stellar.

Wish you were here.

On another note - they had SNOW in the mountains around San Miguel last night or this morning. I might be moving permanently to the beach, ha...... I'll try to post the photo tomorrow of the SNOW! SNOW near San Miguel - OMG!

The Great Chaise Race

Typially when I go to the beach, I rent a private house and am secluded on a mostly unoccupied beach. Not this year. I'm surrounded by the geriatric set from Canada.

It is a "trip" watching all the socializing that goes on. As each couple arrives, there are hugs and kisses and catching up on what has happened in the last year. It goes on over and over. Anyone who says that Canadians are not social has not been to Bungalows Mayorca. They are out on the lawn from dawn to dusk and even after that. Little groups here and there. Some are on their laptops from dawn to dusk too. That blows my mind. Why even bother to come to the beach?

But anyway, it is an interesting sight to observe. The funniest of the phenomena is the "great chaise race". It starts at sunup. I've only seen it once........people surreptiously go out with beach towels in hand and start offloading one chaise after another to position just exactly where they and their partner want to spend the day. You see, there are more people then chaises. Hence the need to "get out there early" as someone told me.

Is this what I have to look forward to when I'm part of the "geriatric" set? DON'T tell me I'm part of "that" set.........(My friend Ron (of Ron and Fred fame) just said I AM) Oy vey.

Busy Doing Nothing

I've been so busy doing nothing that I haven't had time to post! I've really gotten into the rhythm........Ii've gone from unstressed to "sloth status" in 14 days.

Trust me there is a lot to do when you're doing nothing! It starts with coffee in the morning out on the beach watching the tide go out or come in or whatever. Watching the color of the sky change as the sun comes over the mountains. Someone has to do that to make sure the day starts..........

Then there is securing your chaise for sunbathing and reading for the day. Possession includes putting your towel over the chaise so none of the others claim it. Then sunbathing is hard work. One must flip from time to time to make sure one is evenly brown. I look more and more like well cooked toast.

Somewhere during the day food sometimes enters the equation so a sandwich or something must be prepared in order to have sustenance for doing nothing. If one doesn't want to eat, one can have liquid refreshment. There is always the ice cream man, the pina colada man - well, you get the picture - you don't even have to leave your chaise. They come to you! Life is rough........

If one REALLY doesn't want to do "nothing", you can drive up to Tenacatita Bay and elevate doing nothing to a whole other level. There one just lays in the chaise or goes out in the water.......or walks the beach all the while being provided with food or drink.

The above photo was taken while doing nothing. Please note that at the moment the pelican is doing nothing also........

So, if anyone ever asks you what one does when spending a month at the beach - it's nothing. It sure is a lot of fun!

Dangers at the Beach

I laughed the other day when I was warned NOT to put my chaise under the coconut palms - at least not under the coconut bunches next to the trunk!

It seems people are fatally injured every year by falling coconuts. Now you scientific people could figure the impact weight etc but I just took the warning to heart and moved.

Geez, here in this idyllic paradise there is something to be careful about - not drug wars, kidnappings, speeding cars - just falling coconuts.

How great is that?

Icicles - A lesson in Patience

There are so many ways to learn patience. I've tried many of them. I'm happy to say I'm much, much more patient now then I was ten years ago. (STOP laughing those of you who know me well) Aries are not known for patience.

I received another lesson in patience while in West Virginia recently. Icicles. Big, beautiful, exquisitely intricate icicles.

It had been at least fifty years since I had seen them. Of course as a child, I didn't stand around and watch them develop. Housebound during the 'Blizzard of 2009", it was a marvel.

Lessons learned:

Some things take a long time to develop.

The initial beauty is not always evident at first glance.

Anything worth enjoying is often worth waiting for.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Those things we love don't always stay with us - but the memory does.

Our lives are enriched for having experienced the beauty.

Hmm, all THAT from nature's gift. A little bit of water dripping off an eave... or was it?

Another beautiful lesson of patience and about life.

Rear Windows

I've moved to a bungalow where the ONLY sound is the surf and the waves crashing ashore. I slept like a baby last night. The views are of the rocks, huge, hard to climb hill rocks. They are out in the ocean - the Pacific Ocean. Breathtakingly beautiful view.

The sunset was also spectacular last night. Blue-gray clouds with crimson pink sky that looked like those photos I used to see of God rising up to Heaven as a child. The above photo is from the front ones. Nice huh?

That view was from my rear windows. The photo above is from the front wndows. Nice, huh?

Yes, finally after a week in a bungalow with only sights and sounds of the street and the restaurants I have arrived at the beach.........

Wish you were here!

Gypsy Kids Update

He's here! Sebastian Woodrow was born on Monday, January 4th - 8lbs, 1 Oz., blonde hair, blue eyes. BIG baby boy. All are well - All are home.

So, the little family in Colorado has grown to four. Backpacks will carry the wee ones on their hiking trips and camping excursions.

Nothing, in my humble opinion, is more wonderful then the birth of a healthy, wanted baby. Happy days!

I can hardly wait to cuddle him in my arms and to read to Matilda and hug her too. I guess a trip to the frozen tundra will be necessary once I've had my fill of the beach, sunshine and tanning.

In a month or two.......

Will the last person in British Columbia turn out the lights!

I have met no one but Canadians since arriving in Melaque - well other then the local Mexicans! The cars cruising the streets have plates that say "Ontario", "Calgary", "Yukon Territory" Kamaloop, "British Columbia" over and over. Good gosh, Mexico has been invaded. Not by those blood sucking Norte Americanos, but, by the Canadians.

Nice people. Unassuming. Friendly. NOT loud dressers or talkers. Just lots of them. It appears that they all come back to the same place year after year after year. There are big hugs and welcomes. Drinks and long conversations among them out by the pool. Interesting to observe.

I actually have met two couples now. The one from the Yukon Territory and another from Calgary yesterday. He is a freelance photographer. His wife is a nurse. Interesting stories about his assignments in Bahrain and Yemen.........

Melaque merchants are thrilled, polite and dazzled by the amount of tourists in town. It seems that the Mexican families have gone home just in time for the siege of the Canadians.

It must be empty up around Vancouver if the number of BC plates is any indication.

So, if there are any of you still up there, stand up and be counted! OR come on down and join your countrymen and women.

Happy Toes!

My feet are deliriously happy to be barefoot or in sandals. Claustrophobic in shoes, much less socks, they are squealing with joy - as is their owner at the lack of clothing necessary at the beach. Happy is not a strong enough word, actually.

I finally figured out by inserting the chip in my camera into this laptop, that I could download photos. Geez every day is a learning experience for me.

So I've included photos of my footprints in the sand; and the view of the palms while sitting by the pool. In addition is a photo of the tray of drinks and papaya, which are prolific here, ready for anyone with a few pesos to buy. Life is so easy at the beach. I had forgotten.

One of my goals when I'm here is to find the PERFECT pina colada. Oh my, I found it last night. At Senor Froy's. It wasn't in a glass - more like a bowl and sooooooo smooth. It's a good thing I was with my friends Ron and Fred cause one of those was more then enough.

So, the evening ended on a happy note with us singing and walking down the dirt road back to our bungalows. The last photo was the beginning of the sunset.

Hope you enjoy! Wish you were here! Well, you COULD be..........

Melaque

Melaque is a little dusty, seaside town just thirty miles north of Manzanillo. Not pretty at all. Unless you're looking out at the ocean or the cocoanut palms, banana plantations or the mountain ranges in close proximity.

I've taken lots of photos already - of daily life - and will attept to download them to my friend's laptop. But, those of you who know me, know that me and electronics don't mix well.

We'll see what happens in a few days.

In the meantime, I must tell you that Melaque is HOPPING. Tour busloads of Mexican tourists have been offloading all over the place. The streets are crowded. The beachs have plenty of people. There has even been a traffic cop directing traffic at the intersection of "whatchamacallit" street and "who knows" avenue.

It doesn't seem like the town has changed much in the three years since I was last here, just more tourists. Lots FROM ALASKA AND CANADA. Today I made a total fool of myself - kinda like Sarah Palin, god forbid. I had no idea where the Yukon Territory is and thought it was in Alaska........well, heck I'm not a cold weather person, so what can I say? I'm sticking to that theory.........The couple said that when it is 20 below they are in shirt sleeves because in comparison to 52 below, it's warm. My jaw dropped..........can you imagine?

There are so many vendors driving by seliing anything you could imagine and then this afternoon a man whose wife cooks at home came by selling margaritas, pina coladas and shrimp on a stick. How enterprising is that?

Uh oh, I hear the man yelling "ice cream" - gotta go. See you on down the line.
With photos, I hope.

Adaptability

I'm in Melaque. So far I've dealt with a room on the road that has two bars with loud music that played til 5:42AM this mornng; my cell phone has no service and there is a new baby coming any minute; and a cold shower this morning.

I did start laughing.......I NEED to adapt. I'm in Mexico........i'm at the beach.
I've taken off the watch, shoes, and I'm just going to chill.......and probably siesta multiple times as it seems to be quieter during the day!

Life is a trip..........even when you don't expect it to be!