Random thoughts

-Art, its everywhere, it's on the fishing boats, it's in the streets, on the buildings,  people are wearing it, making it, selling it sometimes without even knowing it.If you have even an iota of art in you it will appear. 

-Fishing is an art, it is humbling and therapeutic, almost spiritual. I believe watching the fisherman is just as therapeutic.

-Paddling in the ocean  on a calm morning on a paddle board is surreal

-Paddling at sunset with high surf, will roll you to the bottom of ocean and then spit you out before you even know what happened. Seems I need a lesson in wave watching.

-Yoga underneath the clicking palms and whispering banana leaves, I Pinch myself.

-Shrimp/ribs/fish platter on the beach with friends is the new normal.

-James 5:13, is anyone sick, pray, is anyone cheerful, sing! And we did, we raised the roof of that little church with joyful song. Good to be home, where we can sing and dance uninhibited...even in church.

-True story, man and son get off the ferry boat in front of me, boy stumbles and drops a 2$ plastic pistol in the water, father leans in but it floats away, he kicks off his flip flops and jumps in, rescues pistol. This is how you become your son's hero, not by buying expensive things, or by saying "we'll buy you another one tomorrow".  

-Patience, it should come with your tourist visa card that you fill out on the plane, you need it here, everything takes longer here. Whether you are here for the winter or for a 2 week vacation, relax and just let things happen....oh and  a little bit of shut up and listen goes a long way too.

-There are some that would argue  that Alberta grade A beef is the best in the world, I would challenge that with some carne asada grilled on the street here.

-A food journal, why didn't I buy one years ago?

-I feel a desperate need to paint my toe nails as soon as I get here.

-Life revolves around the moon here, the tides, the fish,  the weather, the bugs....yup even the bugs.  We talk about the moon all the time and we always know where it is......do you know where the moon is today?

-I will be getting motorbike lessons from my housemate this year, yes he is still here and I adore him and his pretty girlfriend. He's back from sea and is on his Christmas break until the new year now, all tuna boats coming in now are staying in until after the new year.

- to bring a whole cake across town and across the water requires a skill I do not have yet, there was an incident in a store (yup, didn't even make it out of the store) and another incident where a cake ended up in the garbage. I must keep practicing.....poor cakes.

-there was a duck chase on my street, my tio and I chasing a wild duck. I don't know why, he wanted a duck and I wanted to help. We were both underneath a truck, had it cornered, brother happens to come along at this time. "why is my sister and my papa lying in street?" there was much laughing....Oh, just help us already. Duck got caught, my tio had a new pet, until someone left the gate open one day. Never a dull moment.

-Did I mention it's hot, it's hot.

-Do you know you can buy little wee 12gr balls of yarn here, this may change my life. No need to buy a massive big ball when you have a small craft project......do I have a craft project...of course.

-I always thought it would be cool if I could find some kind of work that could be done via the internet so I could make money while traveling. Not cool at all. I did bring about 80 hrs worth of work with me this year to be done via the internet and computer. It is not fun to be in doors when Mexico is outside.....not fun at all and hard to concentrate. Very hard. Your head is just not there.

-I spied on my neighbour one morning, cutting cocos, with his son helping (standing by anyway) I listened to them quietly chatting all morning, like 2 people that were genuinely interested in each other. He wasn't teaching him anything or expecting him to help, he was just chatting with him, 4 hours the kid stood on the truck, listening, talking, giggling and sometimes even helping. I love watching him with his kids. I'm posting this because I know if I asked him if I could he would say yes, I just didn't want to interrupt them. We are good neighbors.

-As I write we are anticipating hurricane Sandy, I have my emergency kit  ready, toilet paper, yogurt and fruit.....there was supposed to be a cake but.....not, and I've since eaten my yogurt. We are not too worried. It's been on the news for a week now, they change prediction every 1/2 day or so, you get tired of hearing about it and soon become desensitized and stop listening. This how small villages are wiped out and you watch the news and wonder "why weren't they ready?".  This is why. By the time the hurricane got there they've eaten their emergency kit.

-Sorry I've been so slow in updating this space but there is that work thing looming over my head, i finally have a good excuse. 

found this coconut blossom in the street already flat, perfect for hanging.

Restaurant journal, should have had this years ago, this is what my child will inherit when I die, details about the best places to eat. 

Watching this man repair his nets is a wonderful thing

When you have banana trees there is some work involved in keeping them. You have to trim the old leaves off

12 grs each, I am learning how to crochet granny squares (no pun here) I know most people do that when they are 12 but I didn't, I was busy running around in the bush making teepees.....which is a good skill to have too. 

Thanks to my house mate's girlfriends we are ready for Christmas

 

My friend's new apartment. he says "come on up". I say "no, you come down" he says "you afraid of heights" I say "no my friend it is not the height I am afraid off"

 

Me trying to take a selfie with my tio and me and his new duck, duck not cooperating. 

My neighbor and his son.....4 hours they spend on this truck. Look how he is sitting on his cutting board to anchor it. Smart he does this on his truck so that when he is done he can just drive to the dump and  drop off the debri. Not his first day cutting cocos.

when life is messy

When I arrived  the road behind my house was barely passable due to a big mud hole, the whole road was full of water, they did have a rain just before I got here. 2 weeks passed and it didn't dry up, clearly a different problem. I keep thinking "why doesn't someone fix this". 

"why doesn't someone fix this?".

One day I am doing laundry and the water starts coming out of the drain, not how a drain is supposed to work from my experience. I explain to my housemate about my little problem, he nods his head with a sad smile and points to the muddy street. "we have a little problem there" he says. "we?" I ask. "yes, we" he smiles." Turns out that's our  laundry and dish water out there in the street. How embarrassing, thinking of all the times I've thought "someone should fix that".

"ok, what do we do, let's fix it". "We are waiting for my brother come to come home, this is his problem too, and he will know what to do" he says. His brother lives next door and we share this drainage pipe. His tuna boat hasn't come in yet.

The day after the poor man comes home he is told of "our" problem, no rest for him, shovels and picks and hoses are gathered. He's been at sea for 3 months, I'm sure he has other things he would rather be doing.

House mate says "all is good, brother will do the hard work, I will buy the new pipe", it's a good deal for us he says. I agree and want to share in the cost.

The street is closed off today and brother is up to his knees in muck digging and chipping away, little brother is standing by and running around the village on his motorbike gathering whatever needs gathering....another hose to siphon water, a bigger hose to siphon water, a bigger shovel, a sharper machete (nothing gets done here without a machete), cold drinks and then for a while he just stands by in his clean shorts and chats with brother, but he is a good brother and soon picks up a spade and helps. Around 1 pm he asks me "what time do you want to go to bed tonight?".  They are anticipating working until late. "don't worry about me, it looks like I am getting the best deal of all".  "Why don't we just make a swimming pool ?" I ask.

Blocking the road off makes everyone curious, soon there are a few spectators and a few experts I imagine. I have faith the brothers know what they are doing.

Seeing 2 brothers working side by side makes me smile, seeing them working side by side and chatting  all the while makes me smile even more.

Soon I smell cooking, of course......the mother showed up, there will be food soon. Life is good, even when it's messy. 

And so starts life on the Island

Let me set the scene:

It's Friday, The Restaurant Cardon on the beach has a tour of tourists in, I am there to see a friend that works there just to let him know that I am back. He spots me right away and comes running over, hugs me and in his English with his heavy Mexican accent and loud squawky voice he hollers "wow you so wiiiiide, you so wiiiide". I smack him with my flip flop that I was carrying. He hollers louder "hey, don't spank me in public" ..... and all the people stare. I notice luckily that most of the tourist are Mexican so I say in English "shut up, you are never going to find a wife if you call a women wide", and I smack him with my flip flop again. He laughs and laughs and says "I said you are so whiiiiiite".  That was the entertainment at the Cardon today. ...... waiter getting beaten up by a whiiiiite women with a flip flop. 

I found some art

I did mention it was hot, super hot, much hotter than last year, do I say that every year? I hope not. With the heat comes mosquitoes and tiny little no seeoms, and me not wanting to get dengue fever again (EVER) needed to pop my screen back in. 

Somehow, not sure how, when I wanted to hang my hammock last year this made sense to me then. We needed an anchor but the screen was in the way so we made 2 holes in the screen. I remember doing this and it made totally sense back then.....now not so much. 

Love the clicking sound at night of the geckos

 Re,ember last year a chunk of my ceiling feel down in my bathroom. I hired someone to fix the ceiling in the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. From my understanding the process for this is basically just  throw concrete up there, enough of it so that it sticks. I was told to pack up my whole house in plastic bags, which I did. Believe it or not I had forgotten that I had done that, and was shocked at my mess in my house when  I got back until of course I saw the new white ceiling. They must have nearly destroyed the house because they repainted all the walls as well (except the living room) and must have damaged my cupboards because they got painted too. remember the time I spent making them look old and worn by dry painting 3 different colors on them ....... well, they look like this now.

I don't like it, it may grow on me

Love  the nice white ceiling though. You may find it interesting that they didn't even think to consult me about the wall color, this makes sense to me because they would not have cared about the color themselves. They decided to deal with the task at hand and deal with any issues later should I not have like the color......that's the Mexican way.  The butter yellow is perfect for me. I love it. 

Love love how when you buys eggs here they are dirty, right from the nest, and you don't have to keep them in the fridge because they are fresh. A egg that has not been washed and has not ever been in the fridge does not have to be kept in the fridge......for weeks,seriously. 

My  garden.....did well

Hanging the hammock slowed down the "unpack the house process a bit". 

Did I mention it's hot, so hot. I put a 50 peso note in my bra (that's where money goes) when  I went to pay in the store for my jug of orange juice I went to discreetly whip it out, only it didn't "whip out" it was stuck, not your normal it's hot and I am sweaty stuck but like it had become my skin stuck. When I peeled it off it hurt (like my boots hurt when I peeled then off) and I now had to try to dry it on my skirt. Sorry guys, just trying to explain how hot it is......not complaining, just reporting......now back to sports. There is a rodeo happening ..... i may or may not go. 

Hello Mexico!

and then.....bamm,  I'm in Mexico, I know I am jumping ahead here, I have a summer summary post for you  but I am so excited to be here I felt I needed to share  the excitement.

I probably had the most surreal trip from the airport to the Island ever.

My Mexican brother picked me up at the airport, he was late, I didn't care, the airport smelled like Mexico and it was humid and hot. I was over dressed.

 He tied my carry on to the box of his truck with a string and made room for me on the seat, I commented that he needed an assistant to organize his life, he figured he could keep 2 assistants busy.

As we weaved in and out of traffic he filled me in on the family drama, so much drama. He loves being the first to fill me in, so i can hear his side of the story first. (he of course is always the innocent bystander in everything). The Mexico 15 through the city is under construction but unlike at home they don't detour the traffic they let you find your own way around, it was a mess, he never stopped talking, he didn't make a detour plan at all, we just weaved in and out of parking lots, across sidewalks, through back alleys, over driveways, cut across gas station lots and all the time he is talking and talking. We stop at the Marine school to pick up some important papers, as he walks away from his truck it starts to roll forward, I try to put it in neutral but can't reach the clutch, I try to crawl over to the driver side but he makes it back in time to rescue me a mili-second before we slam into the back of another car. By now I am sweating, my black leather boots are stuck to my legs, sweat is running down my back and into my pants. It's hot.

We stop at an Oxxo to transfer some money, I watch as he greets the dirty homeless guy sitting by the door as he walks in, I sit in the truck and notice how every single Mexican man greets him verbally or with a slight nod of the head. It is not in their nature to not acknowledge a person even a begger on the street. 3 out of the 5 men that walked into that store gave him some change as they came out.

I am in dire need of tacos, we choose a street taco stand on the busy Mexican 15, the owner proudly bring us a small sample of his carne asada while we wait for our order, the flavor explodes in my mouth, how can it be so good? "why do you North Americans always cut your steaks so thick?" brother asks, we 've had this conversation before, "I don't know why", ( I really don't)  I can't figure it out either, just because we don't know better I guess. This guy had the best carne asada ( or maybe it was just that I was so carne starved) his salsa and quac was the best, he had roasted onions and peppers, as the traffic roared by and the dust floated in the air, horns honked, and the music played I felt my body sink into contentment and once again I knew I was in love....with my Mexico. Everyone has a different experience in Mexico, this may  not be your Mexico, but this is mine.

 

 We take many detours and short cuts I get lost as I listen to the rest of the family drama stories, a lot has happened while I was gone, seriously a lot. I look around and think how beautiful my Mexico is and feel  so grateful to be here,  I wonder if my skin will rip off when I peel my boots off, I think it will.

He drops me off at the dock, he has more errands to do, he says he will stop by later tonight to see if I need anything, he won't come. I am welcomed home by the ticket taker guy, the parking lot attendant and my boats captain. I see the Norwegian Jewel in port,  I remember it's Wednesday, Wednesday used to be the day for 3 ships in port, now we are lucky to get one.  The vegetable guy  hollers "welcome home" as my taxi drives by on the other side. My house looks beautiful, there is a new gate in the front, my laundry station has some new posts, my garden looks great, my bricks are moldy, my screens all fell out, some plants died but have been replaced with some new ones. Before I do anything I need to get these boots off....fast. 

Go West

I've been missing trees, big tall straight majestic poplars, tall fat covering and towering spruce trees....like we have up north, been pining (haha) away for some trees. I should have known, it was so simple I didn't think of it. Go West. Just point your car west. 10 minutes west of my glamper I found trees, lots of trees, beautiful trees, too many to count, you could even get lost in them (if you wanted to). I couldn't believe I was so close. I should have known, the good ol' West. So, the next time you are sad and lonely go West, not sure how far you will have to go, I got lucky in 10 minutes. Also found a lovely lake to paddle in about 20 minutes from my glamper. Live is good....and about to get better, strawberry season is here. 

Pointed west

 

Love this road going West

My beach

Heading out to paddle in some choppy waters on a windy morning......still fun

I should have a bumper sticker that says "I brake for strawberries"......because I do. 

a 20 minute stop and ...... a pail of strawberries in the passenger seat

patio garden

more garden

a big basket of peonies petals .... fresh poporri 

A shiny bow tie

 I been here for 3 weeks now. The first week was very sad, I felt misplaced, which is different for me. I've traveled a bit and never have I felt like that. I've always felt that I could be dropped off anywhere and I would adapt to my surroundings very easily. I try to do things thoughtfully, mindfully and prayerfully and everything seemed to point me to this golf course even thought I didn't feel I wanted to live here.

The first week I was here I was questioning God and questioning my intuition, the work part was all good and wonderful but living here was feeling wrong. Some people would say "well, you can't have it all". I disagree. You should want it all, you should be able to have it all. If you dream little you will only get a little. God didn't create this big beautiful world for us so we could live a mediocre life in it. He wants us to be awed and amazed at his creation every day,  which in turn will make us want to sing and dance and praise him, which will make our hearts glad and faces beam and shine with love for all things he created, which will pass on to everyone we meet.....human and animals,  and that is how we will all live harmoniously together. Is that asking for too much? Sounds so easy.

I wasn't awed the first week I was here, or the second. I was awed at work but as soon as I got in my car to drive home the awe stopped. I didn't like the drive, the weather wasn't great, not enough sun, too many people on the road, can't ever just walk to the store, and the never ending hay fields made me sad, even the cattle farms made me sad (cows trample trees) I was mad at cows for killing all the trees here, blaming them for all the windy days......how pathetic do I sound? Then someone told me that seeing a butterfly here is rare because of all the crop spraying the farmers do here......imagine the sadness then, that almost sent me packing. 

Then of course there are all my very close fellow campers that can all see into my glamper if I ever forget to close a gingham curtain.....this bothered me BIG TIME. Why does this bother me. My wonderful neighbours in my little house on Stone Island are all about as nosy as it gets, they don't take their eye off me, I have no privacy there, and it doesn't bother me and I love them all. Why does it bother me here? Clearly it's me, it's not the place. I realized this the second week, that I am the problem, I cannot blame the cows for my hardened heart...and for the lack of butterflies.

Do I need to change my heart? Nope. I needed to get down to my soul, and my soul belongs to God. I needed to forget my heart, the heart is deceiving and can be swayed by almost anything, I needed to  get down to my soul. That's where the real you is. The world changes and messes with your heart all the time, but your soul stays true to who you are. I needed to let my soul connect with my surroundings.

I know......I usually don't blabber about deep stuff like this....sorry, but I was really really having a bad time, I had to get deep.

Once I stopped thinking that this move may have been a mistake and that the problem was me and not the cows I slowly started to connect, which I didn't feel at first until one fabulous weekend.

A friend called me up in the morning and asked if I wanted to go for a drive to Drumheller to a car show. Maybe you don't know this but I love love old cars....they have character  and style.....just like glampers. I had heard of Drumheller but had never been there. Drumheller is home to the Alberta badlands, and I had never been there. We drove down in a 1931 ratrod that still had a bee nest on the ceiling,  we had the windows opens, we spun our tires (a burnout) on every wooden bridge we crossed and talked and laughed. We stopped at all antique and thrift stores and of course ohhhed and awwwed at all the pretty shiny cars at the show. And over and over we said "they just don't make cars like this anymore". 

  My soul connected that weekend. 

I do love that Chevy bow tie

All dressed up with a shiny bow tie

This was m y ride for the day..... it was so fun

So fitting that it had a bee nest

At a car show the spectators vote for best car, this was very hard but I choose this one....no I didn't even vote for my own ride. shhhh

You can't go wrong with a shiny red Chevy.

The rat rod surrounded by bikes. 

What!? You blaming me for your unhappiness? Get over it.....eat another hamburger. 

I believe I have made peace with this place.