Only Good things

When you move from one place to another, East to West, north to South whatever it may be, how do you stop forever comparing everything? Do you ever stop? I don't want to be that person that is forever saying "didn't do it like that up North" or "thats not what  I am used too". I've met those people, and I didn't like them and I just wanted to say "well you are here now and this is how we do it and if you don't like it get on the south bound bus". Now I am saying that to myself before someone says it to me. (except  I say North bound bus).

So, I will focus only on the good things and try to stop comparing and relating everything to the North.

The birds sing to me every morning outside my glamper well before the sun is up.

When the sun shines through my yellow curtains at dusk it casts a glow that make me feel like the sun specifically choose me to set on.

I don't need to tell you how cozy rain is on a tin sounds do I?

I have claimed a tree to have supper under every evening behind my glamper, when i am done eating I lay on my back and admire it from the bottom up, it may only be one tree but when looking at it from that view all I can see is tree, making me feel like i am surrounded by trees. I now have time to have long slow sit down suppers. I like that.

I found a Charlie Pride record, someone wrote July 21 1976 on it. Yes I have a record player...don't you?

They don't carry my favorite wine at the local liquor store, but I found a new favorite, turns out I wasn't that attached to it.

You don't need a "sewing room" to sew.

Found a farmer that sells farm raised beef right from his farm....pure beef  from clean cows, with no filler or antibiotics or whatever other crap they feed those store cows....and in small packages, individual steaks and 1 lb packages of hamburger....for single people and for people with a glamper fridge with a freezer that is smaller than your average dictionary. Still need to find farm eggs. Would I be so lucky and find farm cream? Farm cream in my coffee, on my potatoes, in my cabbage soup, cream sauce on my pasta, strawberries and cream, corn and cream....I could go on, I like me some cream.

There is a U-pick strawberry farm up the road. This is a good thing, with or without cream.

Found a grocery store that sells small cakes...good ones too.

I don't miss my 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house....not one bit.

I am going to have an amazing container garden.....just you wait, it will be amazing, I promise. I am going to blow your mind at how many vegetable I am going to grow on this deck, even though it's facing north.....a non gardener must of built this, why would anyone have a north facing deck? 

There are a lot, mucho much, apple trees on the golf course where I work, I will be making apple juice this fall....oh yes.

It's a 10 minute drive to the nearest store to buy a bag of chips....that's a good thing.

At least once a day I have to gently chase a bee out of my house.....reminds me of my Mexican house. I Like that. This of course is because like a heathen I always leave the door open. Heathens do that apparently, they're also the ones that don't believe that bees make the world go round. Yes bees make the world go around, be nice to bees.

There is a big old grey cat sitting on my deck, he isn't mine but he comes for love every few days. He looks and growls like a grey panther but he purrs like a baby. Is he my new summer cat? Hope my old summer cat is ok.

I found a beach....nuff said. 

Supper under a tree, pretty much every evening

Growl growl.....can you come out and love me please

my new tea table

I found a beach a 15 minute drive from my house......alll will be well now. 

yup....if you need me I will be here.....a lot.

A thrilling second hand store find. A small 3 cup pot and a 5 cup tea pot. 

My record player

My Lion King flashlight....because I might need one some day. It's the one little memorabilia that I kept from my child's childhood.....can you believe she didn't want this? Who wouldn't want a Lion King flashlight. 

Getting settled in

My little glamper is all tucked in to what is to be my new home, it is pretty enough, from my toilet (if I leave the door open)  I can see my neighbours, from my kitchen table I can see my neighbours, from my bed I can see my neighbours, while I am standing at my kitchen sink I can see the neighbours. Nuff said about that.

 First morning I was surprised to hear birds singing, not sure why I was surprised, there are some trees, big trees, old maples trees, maybe because of my heavy heart I wasn't expecting any joy, and here they were singing their little hearts out. Well....if they can be happy and sing why can't I. I started unpacking and getting all my services hooked up, of course kept needing stuff, I made a list (bird feeders on the top of the list) and headed out in the afternoon to my new little town in search of a hardware store and a grocery store....couldn't find either.

I found a cute little diner, all chrome and shiny with red 50's style decor, my kind of place. They seat me at the bar, perfect, I can chat up the waitress and find out whats what around here. She's friendly and can't believe someone would move here willingly. I don't tell her I had no other choice, that RV parks won't let us in. There is no grocery store or hardware store she says. What?! How can a town not have a grocery store. Great for the 3 restaurants that are here. (the mayor must own those) There is a Redi Mart/gas station that has a few little things she says but not groceries. She says people go to Innisfail or Olds for groceries, she goes to Olds because they have a Walmart and Canadian Tire, it just only takes 8 mins she assures me, either way they are both about a 10 min drive. (but takes 8 minutes ) I don't need a Walmart just an ordinary grocery store and since I am working in Innisfail I should get acquainted with it, may as well be today.

 I set off for my 10 minute drive, (that should only take 8 mins)  only to miss my exit and have to drive another 6.7 kms to turn around. I find a No Frills, not exactly what I call a grocery store, but by now I am in no mood to go looking for something smaller, there seem to be too many overpasses, underpasses and exits for me to find anything. On my way to finding my way out I find a Coop Centre, I like this place. Now to head back, I take the wrong exit...again, and drive another 8kms before I can turn around....agh! I get home an hour and a half later, but I forgot cream (most important item) so I decide to check out the Redi Mart, turns out it had everything on my grocery list except bananas which I would have substituted for the cucumbers they had...bananas, cucumbers.....they are interchangeable.  What's she talking about "they don't have groceries", they do, and they are 8 minutes away from me, as far as I am concerned Innisfail is an hour and a half away, Which could be problem for me because I have to be at work at 5:30 am which means I have to leave  here at 4 am, I must learn to make better time or find a back way in with no exits.

 I don't have room in my glamper for big boxes and cans of groceries, I just need basic stuff, fruit/veggis/cream/coffee/toilet paper/bird seed/ and one package of meat a week and a bottle of wine every other week (we do have a liquor store) and a store called "Ocean front saddlery"....yeah "ocean front", there ain't no ocean here for many many miles and it would take days to get too, and according to Mircosoft "saddlery" is not a word, but we have the store.

Now some will say it's more expensive at a Redi Mart instead of going to Wamart....ah but it is not. That is what they want you to believe. If you go to Redi Mart you will buy only what is on your list, the basic groceries, if you go to Walmart you will come home with stuff you didn't need, something that was on sale, you will spend more money, and then on your way out of the parking lot you will stop at a Tims and buy a coffee or.....hey look! Reitmans is having a sale.....next thing you know you have new shoes and a  face cream that promises you will look younger in the morning and a shampoo that will turn your hair into a Texas a beauty queen and  you weren't even aware that you needed all this. This trip is not cheaper than going to the Redi Mart. Plus let's not forget, I am single, I don't need that guy-normous box of cereal or 4 litres of milk or an army sized box of laundry soap, Redi Marts are made for single people....it's one of our perks, along with we don't have to share our wine and no one sits in the passenger seat and calls you a dumb ass when you miss your exit (twice), imagine explaining to your husband when the kids tell him "mommy drove the car through the ditch and did a uie"...... this I believe is the biggest "single perk" of all, but then, if I were not single I wouldn't have been going to the hardware store in the first place...."he" could have gone and I would have sent him a text saying "pick up cream on your way home"..... and he would have. I think that is how it works....in my fantasies anyway.

Shortly after hooking up to water I find I have a leaky pipe, of course you don't know this until you step into a puddle, all pipes are tucked away under everything, in this case under my bed. A kind man that owes this place comes and has a look and says we need to get a piece of pipe and some fittings, we need to go to Olds he says. He's a Innisfail man but Olds now has a walmart and a Canadian Tire he says. He explains to me how the two towns, Olds  and Innisfail are rilerverys, (like Edmonton & Calgary but on a smaller scale) and the people of Bowden are caught in between and can choose sides, the people that go to Olds don't like Innisfail and the people that go to Innisfail don't like Olds...at least this is how it was until Olds got a Walmart and a Canadian Tire, now people say "I don't like Olds, but they have a Walmart and Canadian Tire"  making it sound like they are not switching sides but you can't blame them now for going there .....oh what fickle people we are, our heads are turned so easily......and to  think we are all allowed to vote.

Nice man says I need to go to Canadian Tire, so of to Olds I go, it's one straight country road to get there, no turnoffs to miss, I like this part, the  town seems to be laid out in a more orderly manner.....for me anyway. Turns out Canadian Tire did not have what I needed but they had something that could be made to work.

So, am I going to choose a side? Probably not, that would require more of a commitment than what I am willing to give right now but if I do it won't be based on Walmart or Canadian tire, it will be based on who has a Value Village. But, like I said, I work in Innisfail, I will try my best to get more acquainted with it.....I will tape the exit #  onto my dashboard  if I have too. The nice man did tell me of a shorter way on a country road, I will try that on Monday. I also need to find a map, do they still make those?

 Meanwhile my bird feeders are hung up...no action there yet but they will come.

My aunt just sent me a text "Walmart has a gazebo on sale".  Damn you Walmart.

And this morning it is -7C out, my furnace went all night, at this rate I will need more propane soon, I did see the Redi Mart had propane too.

When nice man found out I work at the golf course he mentioned that if I want I can work for him to help keep his property neat, like cut the grass and trim hedges. He usually hires a guy but he hasn't shown up yet. Sure, I can't say no to grass. So like some of my friends predicted I already have a part time job aside from my full time job, life is good. 

Before

After....."do what you love, love what you do" the "love" keeps falling off, I need to redo this and straighten it out. 

Before

after

before

after

Glamper restoration and some grandma time

My glamper was in good shape, but as soon as I started sitting on the seats the cushion covers all started ripping, the fabric was weak from years of sun damage and just age I think. So that meant off to the fabric store to get some fabric, normally this would have been fun, but I was still parked at a friend's place just outside Edmonton so that meant heading into the big bad city for fabric shopping. Over whelming. I had a picture in my head of what I wanted. I wanted a green and red pattern with some black in it. After visiting 2 fabric stores, one of them twice, I was done shopping, that is how much city shopping I can handle. So, my aunt gave me some fabric that she had in her closet and I bought a coordinating fabric for curtains and the solid yellow to match, that is how my glamper ended up being black  and yellow....totally not planned. Oh well, it's just fabric it can be changed, I will travel with a picture in my head and if I ever see it somewhere I can always buy it, that is how I like to shop.

Sewing cushions was not as easy as the Utube videos made it look, if I had made my own video of making these you would find it in the comedy section rated PG due to some language. With the help of some double sided tape, some good  old "speed sew" and many many quilting pins I managed to get it done, no close up photos will be allowed.

After cushions were done it all looked a little too dark (because of the black fabric) so I decided to paint the inside even though I am by nature not a interior painter. Turned out she needed 3 coats...ugh! 4 days of painting. I spray painted all hardware black and wanted to trim all the cupboards with black but after painting 2 doors I decided that it would look a little too much like a zebra but I had already started so now 3 doors have a black trim which I think is just enough to tie into the black fabric. Soon as I started painting I knew this would not be fun and like the song "like when in the back seat of a car there is a point when you have gone too far to turn back" that is how it is with painting. However I didn't have to go to work every day and I had no other commitments at this point so I painted in a meditative and prayerful state, which made it bearable and not entirely horrible, some Roy Orbision would have helped, but I haven't gone record shopping yet and this isn't  like Mexico where if you wait long enough things come to you.

Then I decided that she needed a new back splash and that required a very scary trip to Lowes and Home depo, thank goodness my aunt went with me or I would have stood at the door and cried like a 2 year old who had just lost his mommy just from the sight of floor to ceiling shelves full of stuff, and not your normal ceiling either. I thought of the poor people working in there, no sign of life for 8 hours, no daylight, no sun, not even a single peek of day light through a little window, no wonder they don't look happy. I told myself to always be nice to the staff in these places, each one of these people must be on the verge of having a breakdown of some kind. I did buy a backslash, and again not what I had envisioned, I wanted  the shiny chrome look, you know, like the bumper of a vintage car, again I had to compromise because I didn't want to go from store to store. Again, installing it required some jiggy jacking however I don't think there was any language this time, it did require an extra set of hands though.

In the end I bought a red/white duvet cover and red curtains for my bedroom, which some would say looks odd with the yellow but I don't care, I needed some bright red.

Next week is the big move.....to the place with no trees. I have found a farmer who has made a seasonal campground on his farm, it's cute, quaint and has other glampers on it as well. I have reserved a spot and bought a 24' ft deck with railings off of him that someone left behind, I will come with a trunk full of spruce seedlings, I doubt I will be there long enough to see them mature but that is not the point of reforestation, it is not about you, it is about the forest. I have taken trees and wildlife for granted all my life, never realized that so much until now. I have been here for 3 weeks already and have not seen one wild animal, you can't live for 3 weeks in the north without seeing some wild life. I'm blabbing on again about trees.....sorry. It is true what they say "sometimes you don't appreciate what you have until it's gone". Which means now I need  to appreciate what I have as well, this land, with no trees and it's winds, the wide and long hay fields, the bare valleys, I need to learn to appreciate 

Getting the lawn mower ready 

Gathering wood for our teepee

Petting the moss

Hay field with a pump jack

Pump jack.....

Wide open spaces

First cushion fail 

How to hug a tree with all your might

Saying good bye to the North

I check out my new home today and new work today. It is in Southern Alberta ( I am from the north and that means something) I won't talk about work because this space is not about work, even though work is a part of who I am I don't want it to take over....and neither do you, I can blab on and on and on about work because I love it so and  I don't want to do that to you.

It was as I had thought and remembered from a drive down here long ago, no trees. The few trees that managed to survive look sad, crooked, wind beaten, brittle and slowly drying to death, they look like they have given up hope and are just waiting for death. The land has been hayed over and over, raped of all its nutrients, it looks dried up too. The terrain is hilly and full of valleys, which  would be beautiful covered in canola or flax but it's all hay. I don't see any wild life, not even a skinny coyote, there is no place to nest and hide for any wild life.

There are roads everywhere and people everywhere, on the 4 lane highway that is squeezed in between the hay fields cars pass me on both sides. I can feel the negative energy they give off, I cringe at the thought of having a 15 minutes commute to work every day, it's only 15 minutes, people do it all the time I tell myself, but I cringe. In the afternoon it will be during rush hour, I almost cry in my car as I think of this. All those people on the road, some had a bad day at work, some hate their job, lots hate their job, some in a hurry to get to their second job, some in a hurry to get home, all in a hurry to get home, some talking on their phones, some are texting, some have cranky children in the car, some are drugged, drugged so they can keep up with rat race they are in, some  drugged so that they don't kill themselves....and here am I, in front of them, trying to keep myself from crying as I am singing along with Anna Gabriel as she sings the Clieto lindo and telling myself that once those 3 trees have green leaves this scenery will look so much more alive.

 I realize on this trip that being from the north is more than just being able to live without a Walmart and a starbucks, or shopping at a mall, it's more than living in a place where everyone knows your name and all your business. It's about the vitality of life, things are so alive in the north. If you are not careful a deer or a moose will run you over on the road, rabbits will steal your carrots in your garden, the beavers will block your waterways, the birds will wake you in the mornings and the bears will steal your garbage....and the trees, oh the trees, tall majestic proud trees, no end to the trees, trees give off oxygen and oxygen gives life, so much life. The north is so alive.

I check out the campground where I have chosen to life, well, not really chosen, I don't have too many choices. My glamper is too old to be allowed into the "RV Parks". Which makes no sense to me, these RV parks with their weekly potluck dinners and shuffle board  and bridge tournaments are nothing more than old folks homes, and now my rig is too old for the old folks home?.

So I check out the place, it's on a farm (a hay farm) it's cute and quaint enough but of course not enough trees for my liking (I promise I will not whine forever about the lack of trees in my life now) Maybe he will let me plant some trees. The units are parked facing each other which means my view out of my front windows will be of the rig in front of me, I have never had to have curtains in my windows. There is no chance of me seeing the sunrise or sunset from my glamper. I'll be at work during sunrise anyway, maybe I can see the sunset from my paddle board on some lake, the sun sets early here in the south.

I realize that this reads like a long whiny tale, I sound so ungrateful. I shouldn't write when I am sad or have a heavy heart. There are some good things in all this. There are many lakes close by, paddling lakes and fishing lakes. My grand kids are a 3 hour drive away (instead of 8), first thing I will do is teach them how to plant trees, take care of trees and love trees. Maybe I will become the crazy tree lady, driving around with a trunk full of seedlings, like Johnny Appleseed...but different.

"glamping" Glamorous camping, instead of the plastic plates and cups and eating wieners on a stick and beans out of the can you eat off of china plates and crystal drinking glasses, you serve real meals out of vintage Pyrex while wearing a polka dotted hoop skirt (just kidding..maybe) all of which you have carefully collected from thrift stores or bought at yard sales. 

"glamper"  a old "vintage" camper which is restored, usually with a retro theme. Cushions and curtains are made to match your polka dotted hoop skirt (just kidding...maybe) Every glamper has a sewing machine inside it and usually a friendly long eared dog lying in front of the door.

My glamper is a 1974 Country Squire, it's beautiful. I bought it from the original owners who have loved it since they bought it in 1974. There is a sewing machine in the closet and a record player, it has flower stick on decals in the tub (so I won't slip) It has 2 bags of wool and a spinning wheel in it, an old (vintage) popcorn bowl just like my mom used to have ( you know the kind) , and a mismatched set of crystal wine glasses (my first big find at Value Village) . There is a long earned dog lying in front of the door, but he is not mine. I am still looking for some mismatched china plates and a polka dotted hoop skirt (just kidding...maybe). I am also looking for some Roy Orbison records or maybe Patsy Cline or Emmylou Harris. And.....she needs a name, or a song or title, a decal or a catchy phrase, something cute and happy to make people smile as they pass by ( you know, on that 4 lane road with all the drugged people) . Maybe "crazy tree lady" or "The Canexican" or maybe just "The country squire" What is a squire? I'll think on it.

"glampers" Are not allowed into most "RV parks" We are too cool for your typical old folks home, they are afraid we might start ........ I have no idea what they are afraid of. Maybe they are afraid of the brightly colored gooseberry pyrex bowl stealing the thunder at their color coordinated Tupperware potlucks, or my green polka dotted hoop skirt will look out of place against their Lulu Lemon capris (just kidding...maybe) or maybe they just don't like Roy Orbison. The only explanation they could give me is "it keeps the riff raff out". Really? Riff raff have sewing machines and wear polka dotted hoop skirts? And collect vintage pyrex? But I digress before I start offending people, I have some good RVing friends, they are good people too.

By the way, if you have a Roy Orbison record or a gooseberry pyrex bowl collecting dust in your basement please come forward now and I will trade you for a Tupperware bowl of your choice, my address is.....oh right, I have no address yet.

And by the way, I don't have anything against Lulu lemon pants, except that they cost a $100, do you know how much green polka dotted fabric you can buy for a $100?. Now that I have beaten the polka dotted thing to death I'll stop. 

hippi flowers, a blast from the past

My glamper last fall

Can't wait to bake a pie

As side from a paddle board and a bike that are on the back of my truck all I own is right here. 

Saying good bye to my home up north

once last glimpse behind me

ok,,,one  more

The South

Trees in the south

Add caption

Vintage pyrex, gooseberry is second from the left but they are all pretty

My record player

The last days

My last days have been very full. I packed my whole  house into plastic bags, where did all this stuff come from. I gave away my Pepto Bismal pink dress and threw away termite eaten shoes. I defrosted my fridge, which I am getting good at as you have to defrost your fridge here on a regular basis, not sure why but  we blame the humidity because it is custom to blame everything on it, just like how in Peru we blamed everything on the altitude. (before blogging)

I tried to walked the beach with a sense of gratefulness instead of sadness,  then while I was meditating on how amazing my life is a herd of handsome horsemen picked me up and invited me to eat carne asada with them,  normally I wouldn't let a herd of horseman pick me up, but they weren't headless and there was carne asada...nuff said.

 I helped my Mexican sister and brother build a palapa at sunset on the beach way into the dark of the evening.

 I walked in the water and splashed around in the bioluminescence plankton one starry night, plankton only comes out to play when the stars are bright. I sat on the beach in the dark with a good friend another night, we talked of hopes and dreams and how they change with the times and he told me stories of being at sea at the night while I ate ice cream and he smoked marijuana.

 I sat on a pail in another friends bus, we drank tea and talked about going to Chili together where he would sing on the streets and  I would knit gypsy shoes, while we talked his dog was giving birth under the bed to 11 puppies, we can hear her licking them, we look out the window into the dark night and see the glow of the surf curling up on the shore and lights from the light house twinkling, we both can't believe we are here. 

 I cruised down main street alongside the malecon in Mazatlan on the back of yet another friend's motorcycle as the salty air blew through my hair I couldn't believe that this was my life, this is how I live, how unreal is that? This is my new normal.

 I sit at the hotdog stand and ate my last Mexican hotdog and watch a volleyball game in progress, the women there give me tips on how to keep my Spanish fresh while in Mexico, listen to Spanish music of course, they rattle off names of their favorite singers, most of which I forget later.

 I lay in my hammock with another friend and on our Iphones we look up Spanish music, we look up information on bats (because they were flying all around us), we look up what racoons like to eat besides mangoes, we  look up Chichalacas, we look up how many kms long Italy is and how many days it would take to explore it on a motorbike, we compare the Canadian government to the Mexican government.

 I say good bye to my neighbour, I compliment her on her new hairstyle, she tells me where the shop is in Mazatlan where I can buy hair just like hers.

We had one more party on the beach, It's "mothers" (my Tia) birthday, she is 70 something years old, we had head tacos, beans, ceviche, escavechi, and of course cake. The music was loud, the moon was big and the waves were tall. My Tio kissed my Tia under his cowboy hat, she blushed and slapped him (like you slap a cute puppy) he laughed and took her hand and danced with her like he was dancing with her for the first time. My Tio danced all night, when he couldn't find a partner he danced alone. I stood at the bar and looked down at my family and some of my neighbours all together one last time before I leave, it was sad and comforting, comforting to know that when I come back they will still be here. My Mexican brother sends me a text,  he is lonely tonight and  he wants me to send him pictures, he couldn't be here tonight. I text him pictures and a videos and chat with him all night. At one point I move towards the outer edge of the party and slowly slip into in the dark, I walk alongside the tide a bit before I head home. The tide always looks so magically in the dark, even without plankton it glows a bit.

 The vegetable guys makes a big deal about selling me my last papaya and limes, I can't afford to eat them in Canada. 

I go to say good bye to another friend, we hug and I say "have a nice life", he laughs and says "thats a lousy good bye" I know, I suck at good bye, I prefer to just sneak away.

 I go say good bye to my Mexican sister, we agree we won't cry, however, as  I walk away she ask me what time her dad is driving me to the airport, I say 10 am, she says "maybe I'll stop by for a quick cry". She doesn't show,

 I cry later as the plane takes off, the person sitting beside me thinks I've left a lover behind, and I have. Oh Mexico, how I love thee.

 I recover soon as I think of my new life about to unfold in Canada, a new job, my new vintage home (one with wheels), a whole new area to explore on my bike and my paddle board. My grandkids will live closer, I can teach them to fish, ride a bike and paddle. Will I have a garden? Maybe. Will I wake up to the sounds of birds, I hope. I will be living in the south, less daylight, less sun, will I miss it, probably. Will I be too busy exploring to notice, I hope. The forests aren't as thick and the trees not as tall but will the prairies and the ranch lands have something new to woo me, we'll see. I like to be wooed. Maybe the waters and the fish will win my heart. I hope. 

Chano's burgers, go there. 

Cruzin downtown Mazatlan

The enchanted palm forest

when your cab and box aren't aligned....no problem

See you in Canada 

Mermaid in training

Last winter was the first time that I spend time in the water, learning to swim. I had a very patient teacher, I was not a good student. Then one day I connected, I felt the water, I smelt it, it was deep in my skin, I felt it in my hair and tasted it on my lips, then I became determined. I was ok, then one day I made a mistake and got nailed hard by a big wave, the sea swallowed me and spit me out. I was fine, but it slowed me down. Then I went back to Canada, no more swimming. Until this year. I was more determined, I had no coach or partner, I was on my own.

I went to Los Chivos, the most south point, there's a little bay with no waves, the water is crystal clear, you can see the bottom, the sand, the pebbles, the little fish and the occasional manta raya. I was there 2-4 times a week. Swimming is not the problem anymore, it's my breathing that is the problem. I am no longer afraid of the water, I love it, I jump right in, no tippy toeing, I want the water on me, sliding off my skin as I push myself through it. It's so soft and silky, like swimming in a tub when you have used one of those bath salt bombs. I leave it on me when I get home, I don't shower until the next day. I love it when my bed sheets smell like sea.

There is a pizza place, they have cold cocos and beautiful garlic pizza, and a trampoline by the sea, you can jump on it to dry yourself off before walking home. I swim, eat, lay on a lounger, swim again, and sit around until I am dry. I meet a new friend there this year, she has a restaurant too, good fish. A wonderful Christian women who love to talk about scripture. She cooked a lobster dinner for me and some other Canadian friends of hers before we left. It was very special, it was at sunset and we watched a cruise ship leave on our way home. When I am lounging I imagine opening a surf shop of sorts. I would have a juice/smoothie/milkshake bar, no food, I would rent out paddle boards and other beach toys, no one else on the beach has this. I would have my Mex sister's menu and she could deliver her food over.  I would have a paddle instructor on hand, he would be handsome and single, he would massage my neck in the daytime and serenade me in the evening while we salsa dance in the plankton....ops, different dream never mind.

I should continue swimming when I get home, I can't imagine swimming in a pool, indoors, that smells like chlorine, kids pee in there, old men spit in there and who knows what the staff do in there. I need to find a shallow lake, it won't taste and smell like the ocean but I just need to swim so I don't lose momentum.

The bay at Los Chivos, photo from the web

Drying my clothes