Sunday, May 25, 2008

Outtahere - Part 2

I'm off to the State of Chiapas manana! I hope to visit as many places in that beautiful state as I can possibly get to in 8 days...........I'm sure there will be "adventure" and magnificent moments. I'll tell you all about it when I return..............Hasta luego.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

The sounds of morning

Most mornings at daybreak I am awakened by the sounds of the myriad of birds in the garden BUT there also is the sound of fireworks at dawn (not particularly pleasant) or the melodious sound of the church bells at about 6:30 for the "call to Mass". The subtle sound of "whoosh, whoosh" awakens me on some mornings when Jay, the pilot of the hot air balloon, swooshes over the house and dips down toward the presa for the passengers to see the wildlife and birds. IF I'm already awake and have had SOME coffee, I'll often take the camera up on the roof terrace and TRY to get a good shot as they come nearer and nearer. I like this shot - hope you do also. Maybe one of these days I'll get up enough nerve to take a ride.............

Friday, May 23, 2008

Jueves de Corpus

I woke up yesterday morning to the sound of church bells ringing all over town (22 churches). It is a beautiful way to wake up...........all day I heard more church bells then normal and I kept wondering what was the day, what was the day?
Then last night at 9PM when all the bells starting ringing again it clicked "Jueves de Corpus". It was the Feast of Thursday of the Body of Christ. Only celebrated here by Masses I guess but once I happened to be on the Island of Janitzio near Patzcauro. I had taken the boat over early, like 7:30AM and not much was stirring around the island. While sitting in a little cafe having coffee, I started hearing tubas playing and then the fishermen with their straw hats in parade form started coming down the hill and the women, who are normally so quiet and unobtrusive were flinging the tips of their beautiful aprons in the air and dancing. I was stunned, thrilled and mesmerized by this experience. Somewhere I have photos of the women smiling and flipping their aprons. "Living in the moment" is not hard to do in Mexico!

Bhutan

Here's another place to add to your "Travel List" - Bhutan. A dear friend just returned from an adventure there and the photos are so beautiful that they cause a "catch" in your throat.
If interested go to www.picasaweb.google.com/roykit8/bestofbhutan2 There are some that could grace the cover of National Geographic - I particularly love the one Monks and the Stiarcase - magnifico!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Art...........who likes what?


My intention today was to write about Bhutan but my blogging buddy, Steve at http://www.steveinmexico.blogspot.com/ with a blog called "Same Life - New Location" asked the titillating question, "What is your favorite piece of art?" My initial answer was folkart, Haitian art and everything I have..........(Those who know me know my house is FULL of all kinds of art and sculpture. .BUT the question kept running through my head all day and I have to admit....."PAST TIME" is my favorite piece of art. Why? Probably because every time I look at it I see something different and I can come up with all kinds of stories about the art. I NEVER tire of looking at it and I have owned it for over ten years. I had it crated and brought to Mexico while holding my breath that it would make it here as it is about 5 ft x 5 ft. It covers a wall in my living room.
The artist, John Dawson, www.johndawsonart.com is prolific and so talented in every medium. His thought process while doing his series on "time" was that although lots of things change, life goes on and people in their inner core, do not change. Hence in this painting is the Renaissance woman, the baby, the couple whose faces are smudged out and the Raggedy Ann and Andy for whimsy. He also believes that in America we put way too much emphasis on physical beauty and most times "smudges" the face.
I love to see people's reactions to the painting. Some only see one thing, the woman's breast. It never occurred to me that that would be the focal point for some until a woman was introduced to me a long time ago when I lived near NASA south of Houston, and she said, "Oh you're the woman who has the nude hanging in her living room". I swear I had to come home and look at the painting in a whole different way...............
So, as the woman in Steve's office thought the piece of art that he loved was "Ugh", I'm sure some will think the same of my favorite..........but isn't that what life is all about - "each to his own"?

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Compadres

I'm off to Chiapas next week and these are my "partners in crime"! I've written about Ron and Fred and Gayle previously. This photo was taken when we all left the 50's & 60's Sock Hop a couple of weeks ago. Notice Ron's jeans turned up and the white socks. Fred has on an ID bracelet from that era. As we walked into the jardine after the fun and frivolity, this motorcycle was just sitting there in front of this restaurant and it was ABSOLUTELY a perfect setting for this photo. Serendipity!

Baby Buddha

This picture somehow (my fault) got left out of the blog on Sayulita yesterday and I think it is so cute with her little hands togther and her toes together. She is a "roll with the punches" baby, except when she's hungry. Then she goes from 0 to WAAAH in three seconds. Ok, enough baby pictures for a while...indulge me...I'm a grammy.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

CHACALA

I must confess that I had never heard of Chacala until Andee of www.mylifeinchacala.blogspot.com became one of my daily reads.......and then First Mate of www.blissbloggin.blogspot.com wrote about the sweet little marina that they anchored at while sailing. So I filed it away in my brain as a possibility while on the coast........it's about an hour from Sayulita - north. Very sadly, Andee died in January but she had such a positive affect on all of us who read her blog and I wanted to see this "paradise". I must say her photos were MUCH better then mine. Andee DID live in a little piece of paradise. I heard from her son today who is keeping up her blog a little. There will be a memorial for her in the USA on June 14th. HERE are the good, if not great things about Chacala. NO SIGN on the highway telling you to turn. The attendant at the Pemex station told me the "markers" to watch for to make the turn.
No real estate offices - no vendors selling serapes, parejos, jewelry, etc. etc. etc. Packed flat sand to allow you to walk straight out into the water. NO McMansions. Lots of palapas selling fresh seafood. A true BEACH town. Beautiful clear water.

I just kept saying to myself, "Sweet, sweet, sweet". It reminded me of Mismaloya 30 years ago when there were only two houses on the hillside - now it looks like Miami Beach.

I met an Australian woman who said that all the palapas close at 8 or 9PM and there is nothing to do at night. "Sweet"...........
And, for the "gypsy kids", a first. A campground right there on the beach right next to the palapas. I've never seen that before - usually they are tucked off far from the action. In Tenacatita they are over a hill and down the beach.
I understand that this is NOT the beach for everyone. BUT for those (like me)who want a "natural" beach experience of hammocks, seafood, pina coladas, beautiful water and books to read, this is your place.
I drove down to Rincon de Guayabitos and saw two and three story hotels and did a u-turn and left...........then drove to Lo de Marcos another 10 miles south, had shrimp and limonada on the beach - talked to some Canadians from Vancouver who are renting a 4 bedroom 4 bath house for $350 a month in Rincon de Guayabitos with airconditioning. It's still out there - you just have to look for it..........




2 Possums, 4 Hummingbirds and Velcro the Cat

I'm busy on the computer this morning with the cool breeze billowing the curtains and out of the corner of my left eye SOMETHING moves. I turn my head and can't believe my eyes........it's a POSSUM. IT is walking over the big boulders on the outside patio and going behind the chaise lounge. I immediately call son John, the wildlife biologist. Conversation goes like this. "Hey John, aren't possums night creatures? Yes, he answers, most of the time. I say, well one just walked behind the chaise lounge. Is it foaming at the mouth he asks? Are you kidding, I say - I'm NOT that close nor do I intend to get that close" So we decide all is well and it's not acting weird, as far as I know, and I go back to the computer listening for the possum to move this way........

I swear about an hour later ANOTHER possum walks over the rocks and settles down behind the chaise - then one of them, either Possum #1 or #2 climbs up the rock wall to eat some berries. So, ah ha, I grab the camera and start out the door - those suckers are "camouflaged" and I don't know if the photos will develop or not. I want to ASSURE you that I did NOT go all the way out on the patio, but instead held the screen door open, used the zoom lense and snapped fast. Ready at all times for a hasty retreat.

I had no sooner settled down when 4 hummingbirds started dive bombing each other - all trying to get to the same bourganvilla bush.

Velcro, THE cat sat in the comfortable reading chair inside the wall of windows and just watched all the Wild Kingdom activity right outside our door!

I don't make up any of this............it ALL really happens in this magical place called San Miguel.
Ain't life just a "trip"?

Sayulita Sojourn

I don't know why it has taken three days for me to write this but I think it had to "percolate" in this addled brain. There were so many dynamics and chapters to the saga that "it", the adventure, had to settle down.

The "plan" was to drive four hours to Tlaquepaque and spend the night since Matilda had never traveled before and no one knew what to expect.............she turned out to be a "Travel Trooper" and slept any time the car was moving. And believe me, when she was in it, I was moving!

So we got to Tlaquepaque with directions of "how to get to the b&b" which I followed to a "T" which included turning left on a "no turn left" street in front of 6 lanes of traffic. Gypsy son John nearly had a stroke. BUT hey, I knew what I was doing.................I drove all over that area for 20 years when I was still working and shipping out of there.

Sad to say, Tlaquepaque is NOT the brilliant jewel in the crown that it used to be and my favorite restaurant, The "No Name" cafe looks very tired too.............even the peacocks were missing - guess they got so old they went to the happy hunting ground.

The photo is of all the "players" in the sojourn minus me and another couple who met us there. These are Lisa's parents plus the "gypsy kids" and another "player" who turned out to be a "character". He is a screenwriter living in San Miguel who is quirky, funny and sharp. Among other screenplays he's written was "Poltergeist". We hit it off and discovered that we were born very near each other in a suburb of Chicago. I have a very "off the wall" sense of humor that gets me in trouble sometimes and this guy and I really got each others' mannerisms and humor........I think it's a Midwest thing. (Yes, for those who want to know, that would be you Vandy, he is married and his wife was at a seminar) Geez, I always have to qualify that for those who have tried to "fix me up" for mumble-something years!
So, next day we head out - no one has thought to tell me that it is not a toll road (cuota) all the way to PV so for the last two hours of the four hour drive we are behind sixty zillion trucks going no faster then 5 MPH. Lordy, was I happy to see the beach when we got there...........As was everyone else. We checked into the house, found a place for me at another place and headed to the water and lunch...........First order of business after lunch is the "big dip". John took Matilda out and did the official "first big dip" - toes only. She liked it - no tears.

And to make sure that the "dip" worked we officially had a "second dip" in the pool where I was staying. Matilda has been officially "dipped" and is now had the first Rite of Passage. Dad wanted to do all the dipping so she hasn't had a "grammy dip" as yet.

Here's the "gypsy kids" walking on the beach - Lisa with her parasol to keep the sun off Matilda.

And just to make sure that babies have everything - Matilda has her very own tent.......it has an air mattress and Mom and Dad say this is a way to keep bugs and beach dogs and people from getting to Matilda. She liked it.................I've seen everything now. She's in there - it's the white thing inside..........

There were a few good restaurants in Sayulita. One that the group liked was the Buddah Bar cause they all wanted sushi...........I pretty much stuck with mahi mahi, shrimp and pina coladas every chance I got.............It was the "only" way for me............But the last night at the Buddah Bar, Matilda fell asleep on the big cushy sofas they had and she looked like a little buddah that had had enough. LOVE her little toes!

For all my Texas friends and those who are connoisseurs of great ice cream, I found out the LAST night there that they had Blue Bell ice cream in Sayulita - thank heavens, I didn't know that the FIRST day. It's one of those things that Texans crave! Hence the look of pure joy on son's face as he sees the sign..........
For those who have asked about Sayulita - here's my description - a surfer's town as long as you're in your 20's. Dirt streets, the smell of pot, and expensive. I've been to so many idyllic coves and bays and beautiful shangri-las in Mexico and this didn't even come close - in my opinion - BUT, BUT I did find a place when I did a road trip and tomorrow I'll tell you where it is - "sweet", idyllic, Mexican beach town.............
The trip home was another adventure that instead of taking 8 hours took 11..........yup, BUT Matilda slept the whole way unless we were pulled over for her to nurse. AND it wouldn't have taken so long but we hit Guadalajara at 1:30PM and had to drive right through the town of over 2 million people................oy vey. We made it - life is good and now the "gypsy kids" know that Matilda will be good traveling from here to Houston to Montana - the first leg of the "outtahere" gang...........








Monday, May 19, 2008

A new "pickup" line!

I hot footed it down to the jardine this morning to take care of "bidness", as we say in Texas, and check to see if anyone died while I was gone for the week to the beach. I always sigh with relief when the answer is, "Not that we know of"...........geez.

So I'm catching up with everyone and about that time we hear horns tooting - someone says, "Did someone get married" and I looked and cracked up laughing. It was 7 SUVs with signs and 4 John Deere tractors and 4 Ford tractors circling the jardine. I presume it has to do with the new foods that can enter Mexico come June 1st through NAFTA but it was peaceful - damn, I didn't have my camera. You woulda loved that they had the tractors alternating in color John Deere green, Ford blue. They all parked everything, got out of the SUVS, off the tractors and disappeared. When I left, all the "vehicles" were still parked there. Everything always ends up in front of the Parroquia - the big church - be it taxis to be blessed with their hoods up, office equipment for the new Municipal offices with their drawers open to be blessed (I'm NOT making this up) or whatever................I LOVE IT!

So the "lunch bunch" was heading to the Bagel Cafe for lunch and this guy says to me, so help me, " What is a good looking middle-aged woman doing going to lunch with that old bunch of men?" I turned around to see who he was talking to...........I told him I had a "daddy complex". He looked shocked as I walked off...........

Got the photos back from the "beach adventure". GET ready - it was a doozy of a trip............Yup, I'm BACK to my old "happy" self...................

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Jennifer Lynn Eckrote



I thought I would be able to write about Jennifer, my first born daughter today, but I still can't, so I share with you this Buddhist Prayer that she kept framed by her bed. It sums up her philosophy and way of life. She was a gentle daughter and amazing woman. In the photo is Jennifer's little boy Christopher who will be ten in September.




Wednesday, May 07, 2008

"Outtahere"

I'm "outtahere" til the 18th. I'll be in Sayulita with the "gypsy kids" enjoying sunsets, pina coladas, my toes in the sand and introducing Baby Matilda to the big beautiful body of water known as the Pacific Ocean.

It's a "right of passage" in our family which began with Jennifer 46 years ago to be introduced to the water and to be part of it for your whole life. Jennifer was introduced to the water on Bolivar Peninsula the summer her dad was in Turkey in the Air Force and her grandad had access to a friend's 45 acre quail ranch on the water. Oh how she squealed each time the waves came in . She was about 5 months old.

John came along and his thing was to have a net, even as a little one and pull in seahorses and all kinds of creatures and sit for hours and watch them. He became a wildlife biologist and has done turtle research for the government and worked at Padre Island National Park off and on as a biologist - and saved a dolphin, named Emma after his precious niece.

Then came Julie who loved the beach for the water and strolling and then bringing her own family of four children to the beach...............Jessica, Hannah and Emma LOVE it, Andrew not so much..........Jennifer's little boy Christopher can skim board like no one I've ever seen and like his Uncle Johnny loves to catch the little creatures and sit and ponder their lives. So, now it is Matilda's turn and I intend to dangle her tiny toes in the water and contemplate how the water will be a vast part of her life. I want her to see the magnificent sunsets over the ocean and although at three months she won't remember this trip, it will be a grand memory for me.

WE all have many memories of renting beach houses in Galveston, as many times a year as we could afford, and spending weeks looking for sharks teeth, floundering, swimming in the moonlight, crabbing and all the FUN things we have done over the years. Although this won't be Galveston, it will just be another chapter in our family's life.

By the way, as the "gypsy kids" get ready for their great adventure in the Airstream, John's website has always been outtahere.com. It will become an active travelogue website soon with all the joys, trials and tribulations of John, Lisa, Matilda and Dusty, the black lab, traveling the USA. Stay tuned. I'll keep you posted.

Monday, May 05, 2008

Let the Good Times Roll

Saturday night was a "blast from the past"! Starting at 8PM and ending at 10:30 with "Goodnight Sweetheart", it was a shimmying, twisting rock and roll night..........WHAT FUN! As if the music and the dancing weren't enough there was a HUGE fireworks display with "oooohs and aaahs" and the sun setting behind the Parroquia in a red ball of fire. It was like a scene out of a movie.
Arte Vivo combines a flower shop and art gallery plus restaurant kitchen on the first floor and a restaurant on the roof terrace with a bar. The staff was "jumping and jiving" just trying to keep up with so many people and so many orders. Typically the place has salsa night with about 50 people there but this night there must have been 100, at least. Most eveyone was laid back about getting a drink and food, which in some instances took thirty minutes, but there are always a few who have to get their "panties in a wad" demanding immediate service. I tune those out, if possible............
As we all walked to the jardine afterwards just to see what was going on there, this total sense of contentment descended upon me and the great thing was I was aware of it.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Gangs of San Miguel de Allende

NO, not THOSE kinds of gangs..............but, if you want to laugh out loud, go to www.richland.wordpress.com/ to a blog called Gangs of San Miguel de Allende. This writer must be a professional writer who has a dry sense of humor and a keen eye of observation. Enough said.................Enjoy.

Saturday, May 03, 2008

The BEST place to grow up!

IF you love music! Cajun country -- yup, that's where I was a teenager..........for my Freshman and Sophomore year in Baton Rouge and then Junior and Senior years in Alexandria.............the reason this popped into my head is becaue I'm listening to music from the 50's today in preparation for going to this "doo wop" party tonight. Some of the music that makes me jump up and dance, alone, is "Lordy, Lordy Miz Claudy", "Let the Good Times Roll", and "One Summer Night" which we used to call the latter "belly rubbing music".............Thaks Bart for the cd!

I grew up going to clubs on the outskirts of Baton Rouge with friends where it was an every night occurence for Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, and the little known Cookie and the Cupcakes to play. WHAT FUN. There was also a place on False River that was just a big open deck where everyone would go on Sunday afternoons to dance to whoever came to play.........fabulous, innocent times. My parents already had two grown kids when I came along - thank goodness for their tolerance and for letting me go "for the music".

Cookie and the Cupcakes played at our senior prom in Alex and then showed up to play at our 40th reunion a few years back...........We all had blisters from dancing barefoot that night!
I love to dance and this music just makes you want to.........

Do you remember any of those songs?

A "putzin' Kind of Day

Boy I was READY for a day like this! You DO know what "putzin" is, don't you? It's a day with NO agenda and just "goin' with the flow"...............this time next weekend I'll be at the beach so I needed a day of solitude.......

Twice this week I needed to be somewhere by 9:30AM, dressed with makeup on, and coherent! Geez, it was like living in the USA............It's been something every day, all week and today I had decided I would "sleep in" til at LEAST 8AM. No chance. Fireworks began at 6:01AM to wake up the GODS and everyone else for 50 miles around. I swear. It's the first one that just knocks you out of bed and then you settle down, turn over and wait an hour for it to stop, for a while.
It's a series of 6 days of stuff - honoring workers, construction workers, something else, the people of Puebla who defeated the French and the final thing on Tuesday is "The Feast of the Ascension".......being a FORMER good Catholic, if I remember right, that is a day to honor Mary because she ascended to heaven. I sincerely hope to do that some day, if there is such a place.

So, back to a "putzin day". In order for it to be REAL one must wear as few, but tacky clothes as one loves - wear NO watch, which I'm good at, no makeup - and just "drift". It's so darn restorative that I think there should be a NATIONAL putzin' Day!

Alas, though, it won't be a true putzin' day cause tonight I'm going to a "Doo wop" party so that means I have to clean up and act somewhat normal............darn.

Yesterday while on my way to the 9:30 "appointment" it was necessary to take a taxi because although it started out downhill (the trip) it then was a trip up two really, really steep hills that I ONCE traversed on foot, in sandals, literally clinging to the buildings so I wouldn't slide down the hill............or mountain..........So, I was smart and did take a taxi. Bless the taxi driver's hearts. We rounded a corner on a "less then one lane wide" street and a rickety black pickup truck was attempting to get up the hill like the "Little Engine that Could" but he kept rolling backwards back down the hill - toward us! Three times he tried and three times he failed and each time the cab driver backed up further.....until finally he REALLY backed up and the pickup rolled back down and around a curve and let us pass. All of this was about a 5 minute episode. BUT I so love these experiences cause NO ONE gets excited.............Oh, and at one point a guy came out of his house and attempted to help the pickup driver PUSH his truck up the hill! Don't you just LOVE it? I DO SO MUCH...............