Mowing The Grass The Hard Way

Many years ago, when the construction on the cabana was newly finished, I went to a garden store in Cancun and bought a bag of grass seed. Like when we lived NOB, I wanted to have a nice lawn leading up to the front door.

I spread and raked the seed. I kept it damp for weeks until it germinated. In other words, I lovingly cared for it.

Then came the day when it was finally long enough to mow. But how was I going to do this? It was too small of an area to buy a real lawnmower. And way to big to use garden shears on. Mmm. A traveler worker to my rescue!

A guy stopped by and asked if I wanted him to cut the grass. I negotiated a fair price, showed him how long I wanted it left and left him to it. Really left him to it because I went downtown to run errands. When I returned, I almost cried. Both from sadness and immense anger.

He had done exactly to my precious lawn what you see my neighbor here doing to his.




With exactly the same result.





I went out and bought a weed whip and mow my own grass now.

Putting On A Pretty Face

Carlos and Andrea have now moved out of the cabana and into their new digs. That left us with a scant two week window to get the cabana put into shape for high season. We have been very busy over there and this is what we started with.

It has been about 3 years since last we painted the cabana. I remember because Simon was just a kitten and stepped into the paint tray. Also, it was the day our friend's baby was christened. So it was time we put on a new pretty face for the public.

We have either gotten too old, or too lazy, to do this kind of work ourselves anymore. It is a heck of a lot easier just to hire the professionals.

You can really see how the paint has faded here.

You might also recognize the painter. It is Tico, from Snackbar El Tico. He is a painter by trade, and a damned good one. He had previously painted the interior of our house. We looked mighty hard afterwards to find a drop of paint that had not been cleaned up. I also like that he was trained in Canada and knows the importance of a good, clean edge!

Of course, to make a hectic day even more crazy, I decided to have the mechanic come over and change the oil on the Tracker. Why not almost bite off more than you can chew in one day?

Da-dah! All fresh and lovely and ready to greet her public!

I Promise, I Won't!

While in Izamal, I did some clothes shopping. I wanted to try something on so I went into the men's changing room.

Imagine my surprise and then laughter when I saw this sign! I wonder what it says about the usual customer in this store!




For the Spanish challenged, it says "Please do not urinate in the changing room."

Death Defyers

I've mentioned before that my favorite carnival ride is the Tilt-o-Whirl. I don't know why I love being spun in circles so fast that centrifugal force will not let the smile leave my face. But I do. Maybe because it is not something that involves leaving the ground and thus, may come crashing to the ground. I suppose I could get hurt on this ride too, but at least I wouldn't plunge to my death.

I finally talked Carlos into going on it with me. Or maybe bullied and made fun of him until he relented and went on it with me. Maybe. I think he enjoyed it but was adamant that he was not going on it again with me anytime soon!

What really caught my attention at this carnival in Izamal were the four guys who were spinners for the ride. They were in charge of grabbing your car and giving it a hefty spin, thus keeping you spinning at top force for the entire ride. Great fun for the people in the cars!

I marveled at their dexterity and agility to race around that moving track and all of those cars and not get smacked in the face or knocked down and rolled over. I don't know how they do it but I hope they get paid well for it. What dangerous work. I have never seen anything like this in the United States. Maria, my friend, from Sweden, says that it is a very common practice in Sweden too. Maybe it's OSHA that keeps them from risking their lives NOB.

I took some video after my ride to show you these guys in action. For the most part, they are wearing white T-shirts. They are easily recognizable because they are the only ones out of cars and running around. Be sure to click on all the videos, they are short. But they sure give you a sense of the danger these guys put themselves in every time that ride starts up!

A Night From Hell

Monday and Monday evening had been very busy and very tiring for us. We actually parted company with the Family and headed back to our hotel room by 9:30pm. We needed a good night's sleep and we still had that drive back to Cancun to look forward to in the morning.

We thought that maybe we had gotten off lucky. One of the lesser, side stages had been playing music all night and it wasn't too bad. We could barely hear it from our room. Then it stopped.
What replaced it almost made me leap out of bed in fright.

That big stage right across from our room came to life with a suddenness and loudness that cannot be described. I think they had both the volume and the bass turned up as loudly as they would go. The windows shook and the wooden panels that closed over the windows came loose and swayed with the vibration coming at us. I could even feel the music in my pillow!

We tossed. We turned. We cursed ourselves for getting a park side view. I put pillows over my head. I put toilet paper in my ears. Nothing drowned out that loudness of that noise coming from that stage. It was pure Hell. And it continued, unabated, until 5 in the morning!

Needless to say, those last two hours before we had to get up were pure heaven. I'm sure I did not fall asleep but rather passed out!

We were able to get our ourselves around, have coffee and check out of the hotel in time to pick up Andrea at her parent's house by 8am. Carlos had returned the night before since he had to get back to work. We had an uneventful drive back to Cancun, met our friend Lisa for lunch at the car ferry and were safely home by 3:45pm.

All in all, a very nice trip. An eye opening trip. Although I enjoyed myself tremendously, I don't think that this is a fair we will ever attend again. Once was enough. Too many people in a small space for my comfort.

Why, then, am I so looking forward to attending the Yucatan State Fair later in November!!!

The Big Day

We had known all along that Monday was going to be the big day in Izamal. That was the actual day of the procession. Still, we were quite dismayed to step out onto our little balcony overlooking the park and see that they were constructing one of the largest stages I have ever seen right across from our balcony and doors. The worst part was the 8 huge speakers sitting atop one another on either side of the stage. We knew what that meant!

After breakfast and a little shopping, we gathered what we needed and headed over to Andrea's parents house. We knew that Andrea's mother was preparing another special feast in our honor that day. In a big, special gatherings like this, everybody that can, contributes money to help buy the groceries for the meal. We were more than happy the day before to contribute towards this meal. It was a bit disconcerting though to offer to help pay and then have them tell you the total amount they needed for the meal and expect you to reach into your pocket and hand over the money. But we did. One of the items they needed to purchase was a pig's head. The meat from the cheeks is especially succulent and prized for the meal she was preparing.....Pozole! I loves me some Pozole and was happy to hear we would be getting some homemade.

Of course, being the unwilling guests of honor, we were served first. Huge steaming bowls of Pozole to which we added the customary helpings of lettuce, oregano, radish slices, chili powder, lime juice and taco chips. We were served in big glass bowls so were able to see with crystal clarity the two inches of pork fat floating on the surface. No attempt had been made to skim this off and it was duly consumed by yours truly. Not without a bit of guilt for eating something so fatty but still glad for the tremendous delictableness of it.

Six o'clock saw Bob and I in the square, waiting of course for everybody else to show up. Which they eventually did. We made our way over to the procession route and waited for the parade to start.

And what a Parade! First came two drum and bugle bands, followed by the actual Christo Negro being carried on the shoulders of six men. This figure was huge and looked like it weighted a small ton. There were 15 ribbons coming off from it, all being held by one of the faithful. This was followed by what seemed like thousands of the devout. Most carrying multiple candles from which the wax had melted and coated their hands. It was a very moving, very intense scene and experience for me. I am so glad I got to witness it.

The rest of the night was not so enjoyable. See you on Monday for the final chapter!

Izamal Revisited

I just returned from a three day visit to the lovely city of Izamal, Yucatan. As you will recall, this is the city where our friend, Carlos, married the lovely Andrea last July. We were witnesses at their wedding.

Andrea's family were kind enough to extend an invitation for us to join them as the city celebrated the Procession of the Black Jesus. I have never heard of the black Jesus and do not understand what he may represent to the Catholic community. This event is celebrated every year on October 18.

We did not want to impose on the family so we booked a room in the same hotel where we had stayed in July. Our room faced the town square and had a small balcony. Actually, the town has two squares adjacent to each other. Imagine two squares with the left top corner of one touching the bottom right corner of the other. Each of these squares was ringed with vendors of all kinds. Mostly selling cheap trinkets, leather goods, baby and adult clothes, shoes and of course, my beloved salchipapas.

We dropped Carlos and Andrea off at the parent's house, said our hellos and kissed quite a few cheeks. With promised to meet up later, we headed to our hotel and settled in.

We had agreed to meet in the park immediately across from our hotel at 7pm. Naturally, we were there at the appointed time. Not so everybody else. In typical Mexican fashion, they came sauntering up to us at 8:30pm with no apologies or explanations as to why they were so late. Or why, since everybody has a cellphone, they did not at least text that they were running late. We have so come to expect this type of behaviour and time telling that it really did not phase us too much. It is irritating but certainly not life threatening.

A nice evening was spent sauntering the two squares and perusing the items for sale. Of course, we bought our "girlfriend" Isel, anything she wanted. And put her on several rides. Speaking of rides, Carlos and I took a turn on the tilt-a-whirl. He almost got sick but I enjoyed it. I will be posting about that ride later.

The next day we had been invited to the family home for lunch/dinner. Grandma was doing the cooking so we knew it was going to be authentic Yucatan and good. And we were right. Upon arriving at the house and getting and receiving all the obligatory cheek kisses, I sauntered out to the back yard to see what Grandma was up to. We had already heard how she had forced everybody out of the house the day before with her charring of the chilies. (chili peppers are placed over an open flame and charred until they are almost like charcoal) The fumes they give off during this process are evidently very strong.

I was greatly amused and intrigued to see Grandma at her cooking pot. Her huge pot of boiling chicken pieces had been placed on a grill held up by two cement blocks. Under the pot she carefully tended an open fire as her pot of chicken boiled away. The broth was black. Jet black. This had happened with the addition of the charred chilis. The aroma coming out of that open fire pot was stupendous. A bit later she removed all of the chicken pieces and replaced them with huge albondigas (meatballs) which absorbed all of the flavor of that black chili broth. The dish she was creating is called chili relleno.

Prior to the main meal, we were offered a snack of boiled rice and lentils that had been rendered in pork fat. Not very healthy, but certainly delicious. Especially since it was served with hand made thick corn tortillas!

I ate until my lips could not stand the heat from the chilis. Then I had a bit more and stopped!

Tomorrow we'll have another homemade meal, talk about the procession and the festivities of the night. Stay tuned.

Take Shelter, For Real!

Here's another look at the bay inlet area I featured last Thursday. Little did I know at the time I took those pictures that it would actually be used so soon!

After Paula

Unless you live in a cave or pay no attention to world weather, you are aware that we had a Category 2 hurricane named Paula pass within 55 miles of our shores on Wednesday.

Once again we were faced with the question..to board up or not? We chose to only board the ocean facing windows until Paula got closer to us and we could decide how much impact we were going to get. I did put all the plastic patio furniture away again. As well as any other "flyables" and bunch the plants into a protective corner. Bottles of water and Diet Coke were laid in and extra groceries were bought. We bought mostly bread, eggs and bacon. The three things that we always miss the most when supplies run out.

There was a small buying frenzy here on the island. Lines went for blocks with people buying water and you could hardly move in the grocery store. Let alone find a can of tuna! And forget gassing up your car. People sat in those lines for hours.

So we watched and we waited. We checked the internet constantly. We got a little wind. We got a little rain. Nothing to really write home about. And that was it. Paula, thankfully, turned out to be a non-event for us.

Still, there was a bit of a surge to the ocean level and some interesting wave action. I decided to drive around and see for myself what other parts of the island were looking like.

I started at "my" beach, of course.



I just love me some Crocodile Rock! I don't know what I will do if something ever happens to it. It is my barometer of ocean/tide action. Normally, the waves come ashore and just barely kiss the tip of this rock. This picture was taken as a wave was going back out to join forces with her sisters.,




Oh yeah! This is what I am talking about!




Somebody made a comment to me on Facebook (yes, I now do FB too! So sue me!) They said that at least the waves were cleaning the beaches and making them shiny clean. NOT!

Does this look shiny clean to you?



Or this? Usually it is just the opposite. Huge amounts of dead seaweed and debris are deposited on shore.

Next I drove out to South Point. Looking north, back towards my house.

Looking south to the point. There are rocks under that water that are normally always exposed.

After a quick stop out on Sac Bajo, which I will post at a later date, I headed into town to see the beaches there. First stop, NaBalam and Avalon. The water was high but the seaweed shows how high it had been.

That's a barrier of large rocks under the breaking foam. Normally waves don't come over them.

You just saw almost this same picture earlier this week. Showing the bridge over to the Avalon Reef and Rip U Off Club. The water is normally 4-5 feet below this bridge.

No takers for the beach umbrella palapas either! I heard later that only 50 tourists stayed on the island.

All this seaweed is going to leave on big stinking, rotting mess. Unless the owners of the NaBalam do what they are supposed to do and clean it up. I'm not holding my breath on that one.

Here you can see that incoming surge has formed a lake on the beach.

A view from the bridge. I think I captured at least a small sense of the power of the incoming water here.

Now onto North Beach.

Some useless sandbagging had been done. At least some attempt had been made to keep the beach here from eroding even more from the advancing surge.

You saw this same picture earlier this week also. Just a comparison shot.

The brown you see in the water is seaweed that has not yet been deposited on shore. But it will be.

It breaks my heart to look at this beach and what it has become. It used to be the most beautiful beach I had ever seen in my life and always made the list of the top ten must see beaches in Mexico. No more.

So there you have it. Just a peek of what a non-event hurricane can do to our beaches. See you next week. Have a safe and happy weekend.

Take Shelter

On the western, bay side of the island, a natural lagoon enters from the sea. This is a very protected area and very calm.

Many of the luxury boats and yachts take anchor here and there are many private slips for the boats.

This is also the area where boats come to hide from hurricanes. Even the ferries are put here for safe keeping.

It's not a good place for swimming. In fact, I have heard tales of small sharks seen swimming around in here. Kind of like a nursery. You can imagine how thrilled I was to hear these stories.

Zippity Doo Da

Another place I like to periodically visit is the overlook at Garrafon National Park. On a clear day, the view to Cancun is incredible. As is the water. I never get tired of this view.

On the particular day that I stopped there, the zipliners were out in force.

I particularly like the ones who get scared and put on their brakes too soon. The worker guys then have to hand over hand out to them and pull them in.

Just Beachy

On a sunny day about a week or so ago, I decided to hop onto the motor scooter and go check out some beaches.

It looks like further efforts are underway to reclaim some beachfront by the NaBalam beach.



They are meeting with some success.




In order to make more room for rentable palapas and beach chairs. Notice how many takers they get.




Over on North Beach, by the Hotel Maria del Mar, reclamation efforts are also continuing. More beach area for them not to clean the seaweed, as required by law.





They have extended the successful post reclamation further out to sea.

Gratuitous picture of people enjoying the sea just to the left of the above picture.

The area of beach remains about the same on the bay side of the island, in front of the Posada del Mar.

Although this bay side beach is not the best for swimming, it certainly has the most beach area.

There you go. Just a quick update.