Everything changes......

Good morning! It's Dec. 30th..I'm sitting at the hotel just having finished a plate of fresh papaya and watermelon, toast and a cup of coffee ( yes, another coffee relapse...). I've been pondering a topic for today and frankly, haven't come up with much. I was going to send a picture of Lucky in his elf hat but alas, I didnt download my latest pictures to the computer...Thought Id share this blue beauty with you...the beach has been chock full of shells lately and the waters warm but keep your eyes peeled for these things- they sting, even when dead im told. As an adult, I tend to occasionally take peoples word for things instead of having to find out on my own they were right.....One day I counted 8 of these while on a beach walk.
So, now that we are back at home, there is a lot less beach walking. Its SO far to the beach ( across the road......) as opposed to stepping out the door at the house we were at. I believe i posted a couple pics of said house, here's a few more...

If you look real close, you can just make out the "patients" legs in her bed....and that TV is a loaner from the other neighbors (the flat screen was at the shop..). This TV now resides in our living room where we watch videos on it..well, we were..the DVD player stopped working yesterday...The owners will be moving dowm permenantly in February....

The patio and beach are on the other side of these doors...

So, this house has it all..a generator that comes on automatically when the power goes out, a huge pool, a stove, oven, microwave, ice maker in the fridge...it also has one thing after another that needs to get fixed...a house full of "things " is a houseful of problems......We have very little at our place and thats perfect. There is very little to go wrong. The poor woman is forever in the process of sending something out to be fixed or having someone come out...$$$$$$$. I guess I'd have to say our biggest concern is do we have water today? Some days its not on....every now and then, the power goes out for no reason...well, there's not much in the freezer so it doesn't really matter.....

The new year is just around the corner, a fresh start, a new beginning, another revolution of the planet. On new years eve we will be in Santa Clara guietly ringing in the next 365 days. We will hang out at two different houses, eating, snacking...midnight is so late for us! On the 5th we will be back in Merida where I will venture out with a friend into the stereets where thousands will throng to a huge musical event celebrating 400 and some years since the cities birth. Another late night...We were invited to some peoples home on Christmas Eve to eat and celebrate. We found out ahead of time folks here do that around 11:30- PM!!! wrapping things up around 3:00..ohhh, we had to decline that one though we were touched to be included in "family" festivities.

Well, thats it. The last blog of the year is pretty low key. Low key is good. There is a certain ebb and flow to our days here...some require more running around, some have a walk on the beach, some have rain ( so we dont need to water..) some have a nap....most are filled with a quiet peace. The locals in Santa Clara say its " muy tranquilo"..very tranquil. What more could we ask for? Well, more coconut flan would be good........Happy New Year!

Yuletide Greetings.....

Sleigh bells ringing? Let it snow, let it snow? White christmas.?....grama got run over by a reindeer? No wonder it doesnt feel like christmas to me- the music doesn't fit! I'm sure there must be some sort of palm tree song or coconuts roasting in a barbeque pit song or something...i just haven't found them...
I awoke to a clear, blue sky with a light breeze blowing and pink flamingos grazing in the lagoon ( none of them were wearing santa hats...). Barefoot, in my shorts, opened the front door and said to the dog " Lucky, I don't think we're in Portland anymore...". he's never been there so he didn't get it. He just looked at me and wagged his tail...Last year was our first christmas away from our family and friends. it was a little tough. the mother of one of the guys who worked for us made us scarves and i cried. These people live in a stone house with dirt floors and gave us gifts. This year, i had a list of 18 people that i made things for. In some cases it was just a card ( which I made..finding a box of cards proved difficult), like for the nice guy at the gas station or the young family at the lavenderia (laundry) or the man who delivers our water. The point is, we've made friends and acquaintances here. In a year, we've built a community for ourselves.
One of these people is our neighbor. Some of you know we've been taking care of a woman who had hip surgery. While we have returned to our house ( after a 30 day stay at hers ), our duties continue. She can't drive for 3 months so we have to do her shopping for her and yesterday we needed to pick up her flat screen TV that had been repaired. To do this, she had us drive her truck... It is a grand behemoth of a thing ( behemoth:"something of oppressive or monstrous size or power"). Navigating the streets of Merida, while NOTHING compared to the near death experience of commuting in India, is a wild ride and navigating through it in a land yacht was indeed exhilerating. I am happy to report the truck, our bodies and the flat screen all made it home safe and sound in addition to the numerous bags of food we brought back from Wal-Mart. Speaking of which- Wal Mart- 2 days before Christmas...and we were there! OMG! I thought my head would explode. With a throbbing headache and a stomache that was screaming " get to the bathroom NOW!!" we attempted to fulfill our 'patients" food requirements. Ruffles potatoe chips, Campbells tomato soup, Heinz catsup...where are we? i dont know where these items are..i don't buy them. We also had to do our own shopping so with two carts and mobs of people, we tried to maneuver around the masses while blaring Regaeton music pulsated through us. Even louder announcements spewed out through an intercom system which was turned up to the max so they could be heard over the music.....whew...gave me PTSD just telling you about it......
On the way in, i drove. One of Johns customary habits while driving is heavy and regular use of the windshield squirters. Its very important to him that he have maximum visibility. I, on the other hand, am annoyed by this. I can see fine UNTIL the squirters shoot water all over the windshield turning it into a brackish mess as you wait for it to clear, silently praying there isn't a bicyclist, pedestrian or village dog who has picked that particular moment to cross our path.. We discussed this difference as we drove after John reached over to apply the washers. ' No! I'm driving and i say no to the squirting. I can see fine." " But theres dirt on the windshield". I pondered this..I can see just fine. I look through the dirt. He focuses on the dirt and therefor can't really see the road ahead. This is very telling about our general outlooks on life. Even though things can be a bit messy, cloudy, murky, dark, dusty, blurry ( interject adjective of choice) sometimes, I can see it as temporary. The path ahead is there i just need to stay on it. If i focused on the dirt, I would miss the trees, the clouds, the roadkill....I ignore the dirt and see what is out there, beyond it. Others ( John in this case) only sees the dirt. The dirt obscures everything else and only when its removed can he take in what lies beyond.
With a new year rapidly approaching, I am going to keep this in mind when it comes to people. I am going to focus on what lies beyond the dirt. We all have habits that are less than endearing. Maybe its a belief i disagree with or a value that isn't mine. I want to try to look beyond that into a persons heart. We all have baggage and we are all, whether we like it or not, creatures of our upbringing. We can change and get rid of a lot of that if thats what we want, but traces of it remain. Does that make us bad? Evil? Rotten to the core? It makes us human.
In my minds eye, i am traveling down the road into 2012 where endless possibilities await. No squirters on, listening to " coconuts roasting on an open fire....flamingos nipping at your nose...." Happy Holidays everyone

hello again..

This is going to be brief because i already hear the dog barking upstairs....

We are at the hotel ( I think there are only 2 other occupied rooms..) and John and the dog are up by the kitchen. Dorismar, the young lady who makes breakfast then helps clean rooms, really likes Lucky and vice versa. She feeds him sandia- watermelon- so she is his pal for life.

Things are pretty much the same this week. we are still at the home for the infirm...this occasionally includes my husband. He took a tumble on the scooter the other afternoon. Luckily he only scraped his leg, no broken bones. Wouldn't that have been a good time -taking care of TWO incapacitated people....later he rode the bicycle to the house and almost crashed into the bushes on the return trip. Our "patient" suggested maybe cataracs were causing problems with his night vision. Well, we won't rule that out but it was daylight when he laid the scooter down......

So, more church people brought soup, I've had more conversations about religion with the lady from Texas- oh- we also had a conversation about addicts/alcoholics and how they should set up a center on say...Alcatraz. people would be locked up and there would be a facility for folks who want help and one for those who dont. There would be a time limit and if the ones who didnt want to quit still kept it up, they'd be euthanised- " that way they dont have to suffer anymore"....bless her heart....

The doctor who did the bone graft on the hip has been out twice now. keep in mind, this means a 3 hour roundtrip drive to check on a patient...without billing her...because he is genuinely concerned about how his patient is doing...gotta love this system!!! The government paid for his education too....Speaking of health care, a Canadian couple who spends part time in santa Clara recently went into merida to get their insurance. They were only in the office about an hour or two and had insurance-poof! Free. Just like that. We are going to get on board with that as soon as we possibly can. The 'patient" said " well, the quality of those government hospitals isn't like at home. You might be in a bed in a dormitory where the family has to sleep on the floor". As opposed to the plan I'm on now where John would be my attending physician/nurse...well, he does have extensive experience with anesthesia....The Texas lady served as doctor to Johns scrapes by dousing them with something called "balsam and thyme linament". This has some amazing healing properties but burns like napalm when applied. She didn't mention this part to him before she put it on...

We have about two more weeks on our assignment...its nice for John and the dog. They get in daily beach walks that are good for the soul. Lucky is the cleanest dog in the yucatan as he gets a bath after each walk...about 3-4 a week...I'll be glad to get back to my cozy little place. i very much prefer it to the huge, cold, stone and concrete edifice we are in now. I like color and textiles, music and walls with art and photos on the fridge. I may not require much, but i like to feel alive.

So as the holidays approach,the only sign of it at our house are some trees the lady from texas gave me to stick to my windows. i think of "White Christmas" (the movie) - when they open the doors at the end and everything is covered in snow and a happy ending is had by all....I cant get in the mood under the shade of cocnut trees or while wearing flip flops. We will be going to Portland mid January. The decorations will all be down by then and the the stores will have moved on to the Valentines Day displays but I'll be eating turkey dinner with my kids and spending time with friends. Thats when my holiday will begin.......

Here I am!

OK...lets see...where to begin...first of all, I didn't quite get the order of the pictures down ( that backward thinking thing..) Anyway- I believe i told you all that we would be staying at our neighbors ( across the road and down a bit) house to take care of her after her surgery. She had a hip replacement/ bone graft. Four days before this she fell and broke her other knee cap..if this surgery doesnt take, she will be in a wheel chair in two yeeras with no options. Its very important she heels (!!! hahahaha...) HEALS correctly. ( wouldnt we all be in trouble if we had to heel correctly!!)But I digress....we have been there for 2 weeks on Sunday. We are giving her 1 month so we are halfway there. I have been rather busy changing sheets, emptying bedpans etc and frankly too tired to blog. She has another woman come stay on Thur so we can get into Merida to our mtg so this is our reprieve. BIG thank you to the neighbors without whom i don't know how Id be doing right now. The woman, Carol, is so helpful and kind. She is a southern baptist Republican from Texas amd i have really come to appreciate her...lifes funny huh?..this first pic is a photo of their house. They are in the process of getting thier old palapas roof torn off and a new one put on. They are only here occasionally but plan on retiring here full time. they have lived all over the world. We are going to get some of the old wood to build a little shady roof over our pool and a small front porch. We recently had a two day major wind storm. As it was dying down, John said to me one morning " come check this out". He took me out between the house we are in and the neighbors and he pointed up. This bird was hunkered down riding out the storm in the relative calm of the coconut tree. he apperaed wary but held his ground, well, tree. I got out the bird book but couldnt find it. Birders-if you could find out what it is, let me know. It was the size of a seagull with a large blue beak. The next day, it was gone.

This is a pic of the bedroom we are staying in but its a poor shot. Out the window , over a low sea wall you can see the ocean. Well, YOU can't see it, thats why Im telling you...thats what we wake up too. She has a person come, marseille (who has worked for us on many occasions)EVERY DAY! He cleans the house ( the clean house...) and takes care of the pool and yard....the floors are like glass in here.

Here is a picture of the outside of the house from the beach side. I'm a few feet from the edge of the water where Im taking this from. When we had that big wind, the water came about 3 ft from the wall. Would NOT want to be there in a hurricane. I find there are many reasons to be glad we live across the street from the beach. Sand being another.

One of the last times I was visiting Marcie before her surgery, she took me to her front yard and showed me a tiny little surprise- a hummingbird nest in one of her bougainvilla. It contained two gumdrop sized eggs. We were both amazed that a lizard or snake had not eaten them and wondered if the nest had been abandoned. The other day, Marseille came in the house and said something about taking a picture. Its sometimes difficult for me to understand all of what hes saying so i just got my camera and followed him out. He took me to the same little bush but this time the nest was occupied by mom and one baby. The poor little thing was scared to death but didnt budge. I quickly took her picture and left her alone only to hear the roar of the lawn mower as he started cutting the grass ( Marcies ex-husband was adamant about having a lawn " I didnt move all the way down here to stare at the sand". Really? Because you built your house right on the beach).

I guess it doesn't matter if our safe haven is the crook of a coconut tree, a shot glass sized nest in a bougainvilla, an enormous house on the beach or a little bungalow, sometimes we just hunker down and wait for things to pass. Life goes on with or without a roof, when we lose an egg, when the storm winds blow and when the bedpans are full. The only constant is change. So if things aren't going well for you today, just hang on, it'll pass. If things are going great for you today, savor it, it won't be this good forever. But then that will pass too...and on and on and on until the really big change comes at the end of our "movie". The story of our life. Here's to hoping yours has some interesting twists and turns to spice it up.

Lucky dog and other fearless creatures

No picture today and , again I need to apologize for missing a week. Sometimes i feel i have nothing to say and don't want to just ramble. I don't know why not, i do it so often!
I've been wanting a bicycle but it hasn't been in the budget. Living is cheap here but we really have to watch what we spend in order to make it through the month. Good things come to those who wait though right? Well, sometimes ( sometimes they just miss out all together...). I was given a fabulous beach cruiser bike in almost new condition! John lowered the seat to fit my munchkin like legs and i was in business. He bought me a basket ( around $4.00) and I was off and running. Speaking of running, Lucky LOVES to go with me. He looks like a little trotter running alongside with his tongue flapping merrily in the breeze. He is not too street savvy so i was concerned about his response when a car approached but hes such a smart boy- i snapped my fingers to the right of the bike and he cruised right into position. Each day we have ridden a bit further. today we went to the other end of the village and back stopping at the beach where i discovered to my dismay there isn't sand but mud. i don't know what is going on in the gulf but it all landed here. he sunk up to his chest at one point but was undettered from bird chasing. Of course he had to have a bath when we got home after which I of course had to have a bath...
We were hanging out after. i on the stool at the breakfast bar, he laying by the door, then he decided he wanted out. I watched him stand with his nose pressed to the screen for a minute then he pushed..tentatively. Stopped. Pushed again then sort of bumped it with his nose. it opened!. he was surprised and unsure of his next move. he sat there a minute then pushed it again to see if he'd get the same result. it would open a few inches then come back to its original position ( there is no spring). Now standing, he carefully bumped it a third time and stuck his nose in it. The door hit it gently upon its return. He calculated this didn't hurt and there didn't appear to be a great risk. I could see him pondering for a moment then...bump, push, out! Now, i could have at any point just gotten up and opened the door for him saying "here, let me help you" but he wouldn't have learned a valuable lesson- he is capable of doing it himself. It made me think about how many people are enabled by people who are trying to be helpful but are really hindering peoples growth. I feel this is a universal idea whether its a parent doing for a child what they could do for themselves, people who are learning how to live on their own, entire countries of people who have become dependant upon aid ( I've recently been reading about what a crock most aid is...). It's like that old saying ( and i'm paraphrasing ) about give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he'll never go hungry ( well, as long as there are still fish to be caught!). Just like Lucky bumped his nose, people need to learn they can over come a little bump on the road to learning something. the other thing I saw was that he overcame his fear. It was scary to push that door open and walk out. He wasn't sure what would happen once he got past the point he was familiar with. it was an unknown but he took the risk and reaped the reward- he can now let himself out. He has more freedom. So many of us get stuck, held immobilized by the fear of " but what if...?"
Later, we are going to ride up to the manglar and see if we can catch a glimpse of one of the local crocodiles basking on his sunny little knoll. " but what if he comes after you?"...what if he does...what if he chases us down the road?! What if he's not there at all? We won't know if we don't go look. I encourage you all to push those doors open and walk out- even if you get a little bump on the nose.

drive from Santa Clara to Dzidzantun

OK actually I lied...this isnt the road to Dzidzantun, this is passed there in Cansahcab, the next town.

This was in Dzidzantun. I snapped this as we were getting gas

This guy is sooo typical. Rubber boots, maybe a rifle slung across his shoulders and a load of sticks on the back of his bike. This was on the road from SC to Dzidzantun.

This beautiful shot is the santa Clara basurero- dump. Where we first saw our dog. As a pup, his litter was dropped off here to fight the vultures for scraps.

so there is a whole other blog- 2 this week. the other one is SC pictures...till next time, thanks for taking this journey with me.

Santa Clara

I try to be a woman of my word so, as promised, i am posting a few pictures of our village. I took several photos but can only post 5 at a time so, here is a tiny sampling. Guess i'll just have to show you a few more from time to time.
So- as we were leaving our house today to come into Merida, I was poised to shoot. First, as you approach the village ( we live on the outer edge..as if the village isn't remote enough, we live outside of it) from the west, I don't know if you can make it out or not but there is a chapel. One wall is open- always. You look in and see the pews, the virgin, you know, churchy stuff. Its the structure with the red roof in front of the red and white cell phone tower. you also see our trusty Ford Ranger that has been and continues to be one of the best vehicles I've ever owned. Just passed that yellow sign, you turn right to head into Dzidzantun. If you continued forward, you would go to Dzilam de Bravo and the end of the road.
A left hand turn at the church, and you pass this cute little place. It, like most of the places in Santa Clara, is a vacation home. People come down for Semana Santa (2 weeks in April- like their spring break) and the entire month of August.

Just passed the little green house is the beach. Lots of fisherman come in and out of this spot. Some enterprising person installed a beer store just to the left of this concrete building. And to the right of these boats, is Quincy's house. He and his wife have been working on their mega structure for 3 years- for the two of them. It is enormous. She is a head hunter and works out of her home online. They are...how shall i say it...know to tip a few. a few buckets full!

Oh look! Its my navigator on this tour...we are3 driving along the beach. this cute little house on the left was built by a gringo realtor and was sold to gringos. it was one of the first to bring in the big bucks which sort of set a new precident (sp?) for selling prices here.

Oh I DID include a picture of the mega structure....this really does not display the grandeur of this place. It towers over everything else around. Well, except for another home to the left of ours on the beach. it was the first giant gringo house built in the village. I will be staying in it, as a matter of fact, for a month as the woman who lives there is having hip surgery and will need help. She's a nice woman. Lives in the big house alone.....

Well, I must say, these pictures really don't show you a darn thing. im going to have to do a series of these. I am in fact going to post a drive to Dzidzantun right after this...a bonus post! The snowbirds are starting their migration. Carol and AJ from Texas via Dubai, Singapore and points unknown, will be down in 2 weeks, Peggy and Tom from Ontario and Newfounland will be down in 3 weeks, Rosealia and Wayne will be down next week from Woodstock, NY just to name a few. Its so odd, when they all left in May I thought Id get bored or lonely I find that i greatly enjoy my solitude. Our routine of playing gin, yard work, chasing the dog around the yard, sweeping sand out of the house, tending to the pool, reading and taking siesta pretty much fills our time. Now that we've been here over a year, i have reference points-when the flamingos come and go, when the window birds start banging on the glass and when they go, when the leaves fall off one bush in the front and when the die hards remain behind as the rest flee. We have come to the conclusion that those of us who have chosen to move down here are all a bit....odd? different? weird? eccentric? offbeat? dropouts?alcoholics? crazy?anti-establishment? all of the above? but those of us who stay here for the duration, through the heat of a Mexican summer, the crowds that swarm the beach in August, the hurricane season...are we even crazier? maybe...maybe crazy like a fox ( a drunken, one eyed, addled, lunatic fox!!)