Tag Archives: Laguna Bacalar

Happy Happy 2023

1 Jan

As a child in the 60’s I remember reading the book 1984 by George Orwell. The year seemed far far away and I wondered what the future would hold. I certainly never imagined the year 2023!

Big brother is watching.

2022 was filled with getting physically and mentally fit. I consistently worked out at the gym three days a week and added a rebounder to my off days along with my usual swimming. Having a beautiful lake out my back door made it easy.

Laguna Bacalar
Many many health benefits to rebounding.

In retrospect I realize that my life is about keeping the hot breath of aging off my neck. I was doing pretty well, or so I thought and then two weeks ago I fell…again.

I tripped over the air mattress that was prepared for the guest we had coming. A perfect storm of being in a hurry, a dimly lit room and forgetting it was there sent me flying and landing on my chest on a concrete floor. The result was a fractured sternum.

I also have scoliosis..sigh.

Yes it was an accident, but there have been too many to not factor in my age. My doctor’s comment to Lisa, “well she IS 70 years old” takes me aback. Not that I don’t know how old I am.

So the next month will bring rest and healing. In February I go to Merida to paint haciendas, landscapes and local scenery. I will continue to keep my fragile bones as strong as I can. Let’s face it, none of us gets out of this alive. My blog seems to have gone from the adventures of travel to the adventures of aging, the good and the not so good.

Happy happy 2023. DOS TORTAS

From our house to yours the future looks bright.

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The Rare Jungle Siting – A Visitor

25 Dec

We have a guest! It’s been years since any family members or friends have come to see us in Mexico. It’s so fun having someone ooo and aah and run around taking pictures. We get to see everything through fresh eyes and appreciate the beauty of our home.

Stella is always the perfect welcoming committee.

Our friend Mary lived next door when our adult children were little. I have an absolutely favorite memory of her that I’d like to share. I had just adopted a cat named Isis. She was a young calico and absolutely loved kids. We were delighted with this new addition to our family. One day, not long after we got her, Isis got sick and the vet said she wasn’t likely going to make it. They quoted us an intervention that was more money than I had. With no guarantee or even likelihood of survival we decided against treatment.

Roof of the pirate fort, Bacalar.

I sat up with the kitty all night keeping her hydrated. In the early morning hours she died in my arms. I felt a charge of electricity pass through her like nothing I’d even felt. Her little spirit had left.

We had a viewing on the back porch and all the neighborhood children came to see the dead cat and ask questions about death. “Why is she stiff and yet her fur is still soft?” “What if she wakes up and is covered in dirt?”.

Our favorite taco place.

We had just had three big holes dug in the yard to plant shade trees, a perfect final resting place for Isis. As we gathered the next day to lay Isis to rest, it was pouring rain. My kids’ dad had to bail water out of the hole. It was almost a burial at sea!

Mr. Taco 🌮

As children gathered together under umbrellas, Mary pulled up and joined us with a fist full of little white daisies. Each child got a stem. At that point, I pretty much lost it. We each stood in the rain, dropped our flowers into the grave and said what we liked about Isis. It is clearly one of my favorite memories and the children were precious

My youngest in plaid.

Thank you Mary and thanks for coming to visit our home. Next time you must stay longer!

DOS TORTAS

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Saying Goodbye For The Last Time

17 Dec

We got a very unexpected message on Monday. Our dear friend Gabriel had died. He was 63. On Sunday,Gabriel had just placed second in the annual Laguna Bacalar kayak marathon when he complained of not feeling well. Two heart attacks later, the doctors could not revive him.

Mexico is our home for ten years and we still have much to learn. One thing that we have learned is that when someone tells you that you are family they mean it. That was certainly the case with Gabriel.

Mexico City 2017

We met about eight years ago when I was out kayaking and saw him and his wife Monica pull up to a dock in their motor boat. Lisa badly wanted to ski and this was my attempt to make friends with someone who had a boat. It is hard to describe but we’ve been family ever since.

From that day on we were included in so many activities, dinners, parties, and assorted family get togethers, including his daughter’s wedding. We know their children, grandchildren and extended family. When Lisa and I married in California in 2014, Monica and Gabriel put on a reception for us at a local restaurant. It was so much fun.

There were even two brides on the cake!

In Mexico, when someone dies, they are laid out at home. A vigil was held and as word got around on Monday, people showed up with food and flowers. Family flew in from all over the world.

His life jacket and paddle rested on the coffin.

Gabriel’s body was cremated and on Tuesday there was the most amazing funeral I’ve ever attended. Boats, kayakers and paddle boarders all gathered on the far side of the Laguna. The wind made it hard to hear but it was clear that Gabriel was beloved by many. His daily Insta sunrise photos will be missed.

Laid to rest in his beloved laguna.
With his beloved Monica. Maya, his chihuahua will miss him terribly.
Picking me up at our dock.

It has been a hard week. I am still processing. We also celebrated Lisa’s birthday and remembered the death anniversary of my brother. Gabriel had a full and wonderful life. That’s what I want to remember.

DOS TORTAS

It is not important how long your life is but how you live it. Adiós Gabriel.

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Feminine Spirit Guadalupe

10 Dec

December 12 is the feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe. She is such an important Mexican icon, that she gets a bank holiday. For me, she is the feminine expression of God. I was raised Catholic and walked away from that dogma in high school. Somehow I have found a way back.

2018 with Lisa and Frida
This work of art has a predominant place in our house and in our hearts.

As I have aged, I have found my way to a less intellectual God and more to a heartfelt appreciation for creation. Guadalupe is my sister, friend and mother. Her presence adorns my house in every room.

A gift from my sister-in-law who died of Covid. We had this niche created for her when we built our house.

I am reminded of her holiday by the presence of the Guadalupanas (pilgrims) along the highway. They mostly ride bicycles adorned with her image and the red, white and green of the Mexican flag. They ride in clusters with matching shirts, often in sandals. Sometimes there is a support vehicle, sometimes not. I’m not sure of their destination, perhaps Tulum which is two hours by automobile.

Tulum

I wonder what the pilgrims’ stories are. Is their motivation a petition or gratitude for a prayer answered? The site of her original apparition is outside of Mexico City. We visited in 2017. Twenty million visit annually with nine million around December 12, her feast day.

Both the new basilica on the right and the older on the left. Mexico City in the background. Lisa and I are standing on the site of the original apparition.
Grotto in front of our house.

DOS TORTAS

This week my dear Aunt Irene died. She was 100 and devout Catholic. Guadalupe surely welcomed her with open arms.

Both my aunt and uncle lived to 100.

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Where Oh Where Are The Keys?

4 Dec

On Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, we were heading out to be with family. Hat? check, bathing suit? check, cell phone? check, keys?

Standing in front of our rental car I reached into the end pocket of my purse for the car keys. They weren’t there. I try my best to have a designated place for the keys. Mmmm. No keys.

Key Largo, Florida USA

In the parking lot of our condo, we began digging. Still no keys. Back inside, we searched through all the obvious and not so obvious places, pockets, counter tops, bathroom? Nope.

The conclusion was that they must be locked in the trunk from when we unloaded the car the night before. It didn’t make sense but where else could they be? We tried reaching the car rental company, a local lock smith, and finally a Nissan dealer thirty minutes away. My brother volunteered to come over and call AAA a roadside assistance company, when WE FOUND THEM (ok Lisa found them. Credit where credit is due.)

Drum roll, they were under the dresser in our bedroom. As near as I can figure, I placed them on the bed and when I climbed in, the keys went flying and slid under the dresser.

It was a very stressful hour with a happy ending.

DOS TORTAS

When all else fails?

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A Day To Celebrate Gratitude

27 Nov

My first favorite activity to celebrate the US holiday of Thanksgiving is watching the New York Macy’s Day Parade. I remember as a child, sitting with my dad, who loved parades. Every year we said we’d go and never did. At my brother’s house, the TV is so large you can see the performers’ nose hairs.

Turkey day tradition.
Santa closes the show.

A newer tradition that I enjoy is the Westminster dog show. I caught the end in time to watch Winston the Frenchy win best of show.

Miss my puppers.

Of course the day would not be complete without stories of Thanksgiving’s past. The family memories that we are making and passing down are what it’s all about. “Remember the time…”

We saw a dolphin off the back of my brother’s boat. Lisa got the money shot.
Walking the neighborhood.
What it’s all about. Family and food.

DOS TORTAS

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Florida Same Only Different

19 Nov

After two days of intense travel that turned out to be even more difficult than I imagined, we are finally in Florida, USA. If you look on a globe, you’ll see that Bacalar and the Florida Keys are the same latitude more or less. I’m looking at the same swaying coconut palms from our Key Largo balcony.

Raining

There were some sweet moments over the last two travel days, like visiting with this child on the bus who was intensely studying my art journal. I love kids and am so happy that I have enough Spanish language skill to be able to talk to them.

She intently studied every sketch, turning the pages slowly.
Travel Art Journal
Adiós Mexico

Sunrise in our hotel room in Puerto Morelos, outside of Cancun.

Also the delightful couple who are minding our dogs while we are gone. Ben from Ireland and Katrin from Austria.

We will be enjoying my siblings and assorted nieces and nephews and a grand holiday meal. I’m sure all the crazy travel expenses and headaches will fade into the distance. Not!

DOS TORTAS

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A Scary Close Call – Hurricane Lisa

5 Nov

Living in the tropics makes us vulnerable to hurricanes, plain and simple. Over the years we have taken measures to ensure our safety and ability to ride out whatever Mother Nature throws at us.

Facing the Laguna.

After several years of mopping up water on our screened porch, we added hurricane shutters. Our biggest threat is wind. I imagined a branch flying through our screens. Yikes.

“X” marks the spot. At the time this was posted, it wasn’t even raining at our house.
Bacalar waiting for the rain from Hurricane Lisa.

Lisa came ashore in Belize, which is south of us.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=-O11pydzb38&feature=share

Since we are not on the ocean, there is no fear of storm surge. We have built drainage both outside and in. At some point we’d like to add solar as back up. The other option is a generator. In the nine years we have lived here, we’ve been very very lucky.

The morning after.

We finally got some wind and a downpour during the night. My wife slept through it all.

DOS TORTAS

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Too Old To Learn Spanish – Not

23 Oct

Some people have a knack for languages. Research shows that the earlier you start, the easier it is to learn. Rolling your r’s and softening your d’s is just some of the oral gymnastics required to speak Spanish.

We drove out of Texas on September 1, 2013. Lisa’s first foray into learning Spanish was translating highway signs. Many were self explanatory. Others not so much.

Si toma no maneja – If you drink don’t drive

No deje piedras sobre el pavamiento – Don’t leave rocks on the highway (sometimes a form of civil protest)

Más vale tarde que nunca – Better Late Than Never

Works for us and it’s free!

After nine years of using the application Duolingo, Lisa can hold her own in most conversations. I joke that I can’t talk about her behind her back any more because she understands almost everything. Her main skill is not being afraid of sounding foolish. I remember overhearing her tell a friend’s Mexican parents to “talk to me like a two year old “. She is not afraid of making mistakes. Locals really appreciate her effort.

Lisa at the pyramids of Teotihuacan 2017.

For me, I lived in Mexico and learned Spanish in my twenties. In the beginning of our time in Mexico, I was doing all the translating. Today Lisa thinks nothing of heading to the hardware store, pharmacy or market by herself. I’m still in charge of phone calls, government documents and doctor’s appointments, although I sometimes need help with technical language. God bless Google Translate.

Living with a Mexican family in 1974.

Living in the country who’s language you are trying to learn helps, but so does determination and perseverance. It is said that learning a second, or third language helps keep your brain sharp and “young”. I guess for us, we’re getting younger every day.

DOS TORTAS

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Finding Your People

9 Oct

You’ve probably read about “Blue Zones”. They are areas of the planet where people live longer, healthier and happier. Studies have identified commonalities that we all can incorporate into life to improve health and longevity.

The one important area of the circle that has eluded us has been having a community of friends and family that we socialize with and depend on. When we first explored moving to Bacalar, we found what appeared to be a vibrant social community. There were parties and the potential for numerous friendships, or so we thought. In the nine years we have lived here, much has changed. People moved on, Covid hit and we have grown more and more isolated in our beautiful jungle home.

The view from our porch.

This week the proverbial shit hit the fan. Lisa’s mom has not been doing well since her bout with Covid. There have been multiple doctor visits as we attempted to figure out and give her some relief from symptoms that have put a halt her day to day activities.

Last photo before Covid.

Also this week, Lisa and I both broke out in some jungle crud rash that is itchy, and causing small, burning blisters. I will not post any pictures.

I had a molar pulled due to a broken root. Hopefully I am a candidate for an implant down the road. Again, no pictures.

On top of all of this and more that I won’t go into, the car broke down. Weird smells and even weirder noises is enough to stress us out big time which I’m sure is a no-no for Blue Zone living.

When I woke today my game plan was clear, ask for help. As a USer, lesbian and overall pain in the ass, my modus operandi is, figure it out, do it myself, “I’ve got this”. Well, not today folks.

David, the general contractor who built our house took Alice to her doctor appointment and provided translation ❤️

I had made a friend at the gym who mentioned that he had an auto mechanic. We have found it so important to know people who know people. I called Rod and his mechanic is at our house right now working on the car. We have been loosing sleep over all this drama, which is never a good thing.

A burned out alternator is not in our wheelhouse
My hunky gym rat. Thank you Rod for sending your mechanic.

I’m not sure what’s with us and hunky guys but we are so grateful for the help. The car is fixed and Alice has an inner ear infection which is highly treatable. Breathe, relax. I guess you never know where your people will come from. Relationships of all sorts are worth nurturing and sometimes you do that by being vulnerable and asking for help. Friends can always say no, but sometimes they surprise you.

DOS TORTAS

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