Day Trip to San Nicolas Beach

 Ron thought we should find a new fishing spot, because the "Christmas Tree" spot only produces small bass and Triggerfish. I suggested San Nicolas Beach, because it's the mother lode for seashells. And the side trip from there to Whale's Point across from Old Kino has a shipwreck, ankle-deep shells, and caves. We had a cooler with Tecate beer, and potato chips, Jif Extra Crunchy peanut butter and Mexican Ritz crackers. A veritable feast.

All these spots are marked on the map by blue balloons. Click on the balloon for identification.

Google Map

We've had some rain, and the road's changed accordingly. Pretty thick mud, plus they've been dredging for the Aquicola (some sort of seafood-farming installation) and now they have gates they actually lock, apparently prior to 4:30 PM. Required a bit of off-roading. Here's our truck AFTER:

 The road we usually take had a fence across it, so we backtracked to the canal and drove over the chain that was on the ground. Well, the chain went back up sometime in the afternoon. Bummer. I didn't get a shot of Ron driving over a berm and across a scary deep washout and back up the berm because I was concentrating on not soiling myself, if you get my drift. And the canal is dry there by the gate, but the bottom of the canal is littered with huge dead crabs. Perhaps they lock the gates now to prevent crab poaching?

We ended up not staying at San Nicolas Beach, instead meandered on over to Whale's Point. It's where the new PROJECT is supposed to go: huge hotels, marinas, retail, galleries, bridge over to Kino, casinos, theme park, lighthouse etc. Very sad. Here's a quote from their proposal: 

"At this time, the Kino Bay area is virtually pristine and untouched. Over time we intend to transform the area into a Mexican Riviera rivaling the likes of Cancun, to become the preferred North American resort destination."

You can read about the Project here. It's a big file, takes a minute to load, and disturbing to read. They actually don't see the travesty in transforming a pristine and untouched area into Disneyland.
Kino Bay Project

Of course, this is Mexico, and it probably won't happen in my lifetime, but it's sad nevertheless.

Anyway, on to Whale's Point. Just before the end of the road, there's a cool rusted shipwreck on the beach, and yesterday there was an Osprey perched on the stern, with it's huge stick nest in the wheelhouse.

Here's where the ankle-deep shells are:

 

If you climb down the rocks on the other side of that beach, there's a cave:

I didn't have a flashlight, so I didn't go in. But I did get my feet all cut up because I was wearing flip-flops and trying not to spill my beer while negotiating the rocks, so when I spotted a cool tidepool, I sat on a rock and soaked my feet for a while:

 

 And while sitting there, I spied Ron (red shirt, tiny) perched up high across the little bay, fishing. You can click on these to make them larger.

I filled 2 plastic bags with shells and cool rocks, had a snack, and then Ron pantomimed I should bring him a beer. I REALLY didn't think I could make it over there in flip-flops, especially carrying TWO beers, although Ron did it carrying a beer, two rods and a tackle box, plus he's old, but I did. Left the camera in the truck, though. 

The drive home took a bit longer because of the gate thing, but once home Ron grilled two fat hamburgers as the sun set in front and the moon rose behind Eileen's house:

Then I slept through two hours of TV and went to bed. Perfect day.

Here's my "loot":

 

Sort of clockwise from top left: Black & White Murex shells, a big broken fossil shell, chunks of granite quartz for Ella's grave,  sea urchins, pelican skull, those orange shells (sorry, I don't know very many names, but those are ankle-deep there), turbo shells, olive shells, fragments of some bright coral-colored shells, shell fragments for pendants, and my beloved operculum shells (the trap door of a snail) of which I have many hundred.

I just found out these are called Sea Urchins, I always just called them Bubble Shells, and did not know they were covered with spines when alive. I've only found them white before, and only found them here on Whale's Point. Apparently their roe is a delicacy . Wikipedia, Sea Urchin

Who Knew? Revelations in Mexico

Who knew?

That canned tuna costs half what canned cat food costs? Rocky's living high.

That a pretty seashell accidentally lost under the car seat for a week could smell SO bad because it turned out to have been inhabited?

That Mexican plumbing doesn't tolerate Mexican toilet paper and it goes in a wastebasket next to the toilet and requires twice daily removal and is THE single most disgusting thing I've had to get used to?

That Ritz crackers in Mexico taste a lot different than Ritz crackers in Minnesota? How is that possible?

That there could be SO many stars in the night sky where there aren't ANY city lights?

That a cat could miss a dog that dies? He was depressed for weeks.

That you could miss the sound of childrens' voices SO much when you live in an enclave of seniors?

That a deserted beach more than compensates for Netflix and movie theaters?

That two days after a drenching rain the desert explodes in color?

That food produced without chemicals could taste SO much better? Except their bread, it's too sweet.

That birdsong, coyote calls, wind through the palm-thatched roof, and the sound of the crashing surf could elicit tears of joy and gratitude in a 57 year old jaded woman standing on a roof  at 4 AM in January?

Rocky redirects intruders.

Birds, Storm, Table, and Bathroom Sink.

I have a birdbath and now a hummingbird feeder. This morning I scattered some stale bread chunks and crumbs under a few bushes and voila! Within 5 minutes, I had cardinals, sparrows, a flicker (on the hummingbird feeder!), mourning doves, quail, and one hummer. I only got photos of the cardinals, though. Will need to hang out on my porch looking unobtrusive.

You can click the photos to make them bigger.

This guy was waiting for them to call his number at the birdbath.

Had his bath and a drink

 

Then he had a little nibble or three.

Have had some wild weather this week: high winds, drenching rains, and power failures. The power was out for 19 hours Friday, about 12 hours Thursday. We used the generator quite a bit for the fridge/freezer, TV and computer, but I was content to read for large blocks of time. We have 12V lights in the fifth wheel. The generator will run the computer, TV, modem, etc. all at once, but won't heat food in the microwave even if nothing else in plugged in. Mi Estufa Nueva (I call her Min) does a fine job on propane, though. Not like me to miss a meal...

Had a campfire last night with good friends Chuck and Patty Shannon from the park for company. And have had better-than-the -average-amazing sunsets with all the storms:

That was taken standing in the doorway of the casita. Same view sitting on the futon. Have to shut the door sometimes if the view and sunset interfere or distract from American Idol... Can you tell our porch palapa roof needs some attention? Lost a ton of those palm fronds from the porch and casita roof with the storms. We have to find out how to nail them back up there, that's only thin lath and won't support a person standing on it. Don't know HOW they do that.

Vikings game today. Will do barbequed chicken on the grill, roasted peppers and potatoes.

We bought a tiny table from neighbor Eileen. It has a fold out leg to expand it, and two little stools that tuck underneath, also two drawers. NOW we're full!

Rocky's sitting on his new pillow I crocheted for him, and is being pissy to me: he wants to go outside, but not with all those bread crumbs and birds out there. Later.

And this is new! Ron moved the washer, dryer, tools, and STUFF that were behind the folding screen out to our new garage (that property next door we just bought.) This corner will be our expanded bathroom, with the new Mexican bathroom sink for which he'll construct a Mexican-style cabinet. The stacking baskets will be very useful for NEW stuff.

This window used to be full of loaded shelves. Now we have too much light. That's where I watched the birds this morning.

And a few other bits and pieces got rearranged to make the table fit in better. The chair on the left is from the fifth wheel. The one on the right is Eddie's chair, which I HAD to have because it seemed to fit so well in style and color, but it's humongous and weighs a ton. We made a deal: the park borrows it every Christmas for Santa to sit on in the bed of a pickup truck, driving around distributing gifts in the streets of Kino.

So it's shaping up. There'll be an opening in the wall behind where those stacking baskets are to allow a tad more room in the toilet area. Right now it's literally not suited for tall people to sit there, more like a public restroom cubicle. And eventually a hallway into the bedroom addition... We have very little disposable income every month for projects, February's $ goes for the new water heater and PVC pipe.

And that's all that's new.

Our Yard!

So I was sauntering around the property, with my camera this time, and decided to show you my yard. Since we (think we) added the lot south of us to "our property", I saunter farther than I used to. Rocky went with me, and here are the highlights:

This is my new birdbath! A shallow frosted glass bowl with hand painted flowers, found at a thrift shop (segundo) in Calle Doce. It was 15 pesos, maybe $1.25. It's just going to sit there on those cacti skeletons until Ron builds me a stand for it. We have a gazillion birds, and only sea water for them to bathe in. And so far, the bees haven't found it...

This is my poor little Limon tree, I got it for my birthday. Limons are those small sour limes that you use for Mojitos and Gin and Tonics. Everyone here also squeezes one over restaurant food: it's said to take care of unneeded pathogens. This tree isn't doing well. When I asked the Senora at the Vivaro (nursery) how much, she said 70 pesos. When I grasped it's trunk and pulled it out of the line, half the leaves fell off. I said "How much now?" She laughed, said 70 pesos. I bought it anyway when I ascertained it was guaranteed. I'm going to back off on watering it (mimicking the local dry climate, according to Google sources) and see what happens.

My palm tree, however, LOVES water and is thriving.

This is one of four Aloes in the garden. Each one has several babies at their bases, and I'm told I need to dig those babies out and replant them or they'll not survive. I'm afraid: I have a doomsday effect on living plants, AKA brown thumb. I once killed an air fern.

Near the garden is my sweet Ella's grave that I keep embellishing. Now she has an epitaph (laminated onto a chunk of sanded 2X4), her bandanna, and a whole bunch of rocks and driftwood to ensure she won't get dug up by anything. Solar lights, too. I think it's finished now... I visit several times daily and talk to her, tell her to guard the house when we leave, and slowly but surely that horrific "end" in the vet's office is dimming. A little.

Ella Durham, 2001-2009, Good Girl!

 

As I saunter, Rocky's never too far. He stops often to roll in the sand a while, or stick his paw down a hole up to his shoulder. Here's Rocky in our "front yard" with the casita in the background. Now that he's allowed off leash, he still likes his strolls to be accompanied, otherwise he just curls up under a bush next to the casita, or lays in a lawn chair on the porch. His nickname is Fat Bastard.






This big cactus is a Cordon, I think, and it's just outside our property boundary. The top of my head only reaches the lowest of the green part. It's humongous, and houses lots of tiny birds in the holes. You can see the casita and Eileens's yellow house in the background. Rocky thinks these are trees, he sharpens his claws on them. His favorite claw-sharpener-thing is the board under the sewer hose at the back end of the fifth wheel.

 

I don't know the name of these cacti, but there are several on the property. In the background is the garage on the south property we think we've bought.

And back at the casita porch, I've taken down the coyote skull/shell/bone/cactus wreath and replaced my wood sign Durham Casita. In case telling people "it's the orange one with purple trim" isn't enough. In the adjacent pottery wall vases are palm fronds, aloe spikes, a javelina skull, and whale bones found in the hurricane debris piles on the beach.

So that's the yard. I sit up on the roof with my drink in the afternoons and survey our kingdom. Rocky sits in the other lounge chair. Birds in the roof palm fronds get upset and scold us severely, but we stay there through sunset.

My Personal Amulet Bag

In my Etsy Shop listings for amulet bags, I mention my OWN bag and what I keep in it. Several people have asked to see it, wondering how all those things fit in there.

This bag is almost 12 years old. It's made with cotton thread, is only 2.25 inches long, and has taken a lot of abuse. It's on an adjustable leather thong, and is very simply decorated: actually, the varied stitch patterns are the only decoration I felt it needed.

It always holds:
My Zuni Bear with his medicine bundle. He was made by the Navajo carver Emery Eriacho, and is for general protection. Different Zuni fetish animals have different powers, I've read. A white bear specifically aids healing, for example.
A rough emerald, said to ease pain.
An amethyst crystal, supposedly avoids drunkeness...
A tiny capsule of sand from Coronado Beach (San Diego) where my Dad liked to go.

Sometimes I add folding money, a pain pill, a tiny shell or pebble to commemorate a special place, or a flower or leaf that smells good. My gate key (to our neighborhood here in Mexico) fits in there, too.

Just having it around my neck seems to impart a calm serenity to my mood.

And for anyone now wondering about all this pain I'm anxious to avoid:
I have the lowest pain tolerance of anyone I ever HEARD of.  (I need Nitrous when I have dental X-Rays.) I developed osteoarthritis in my early teens (thanks, Mom), and have undergone 8 surgeries for degenerated disks and knees. Then I got Ramsay Hunt Syndrome 2 years ago, which is when the chicken pox virus that WAS lying dormant in cranial nerves decides to wake up. It feels like a bayonet is being rammed through my right ear and comes out my right eye. Comes with painful blisters in the ear, and sometimes facial paralysis, decreased hearing, vision, and balance. Treatment includes antivirals, high-dose Neurontin, steroids, and rest.

So that's the story of my amulet bag. See my Etsy Shop if you need one...

January Revelations...

...as opposed to resolutions? We're retired and living in paradise, I don't need to make resolutions. I DO have some new insights however, stemming from this last semi-maudlin and depressing year:

No dog means no dog hair to vacuum.
Depression causes weight loss (in me, anyway). Who knew?
Depression also creates less laundry. If you stay in your PJs for 3 days...
When depression lifts, there's only one direction: UP!
Five dozen peanut blossom cookies plus Mojitos = medication for depression.
Cacti don't like to be watered every day :-(
Mexican children laugh more than American children. Without TV or Nintendo.
Fish tacos are a perfect food.
Mexican toilet paper doesn't ever dissolve.
Super Nanny's methods really work.
Spending time in toxic situations with toxic personalities is SO liberating when it's over. If I make just one New Year's resolution, that's the one: To extricate myself from those ASAP.

So I'm better, the new year looks bright and full of contentment, and if you come here to visit, bring me a few 24 packs of Scott single-ply toilet paper.

New Year's Eve dinner at Eileen's.

Ron at Eileen's, New Year's Eve

Picture from home, my angels.

Dylan

Nora's tutu and fairy wings