It is a good-hearted person who will leave "Rescue tongs" in strategic locations around the casa.  Thank you Cheryl!  It is land crab season, and they are everywhere.  I can here them clicking around, skittering through different places in and around the casa.  Once in awhile they will fall into a sink, or the tub, or elsewhere, and not far off I can find the "Rescue tongs".  I catch the crab(s) and put them back in the jungle.  The land crabs eat the rotting debris on the jungle floor and anywhere else.  They are actually a good part of this ecosystem here.  

     The dogs are a treat.  So far I have Oso and Lucky.  They are silly, and they keep me company.  They also chase the Tejone (Coati) off at night. (See photo).    I like that however, I don't care for them chasing skunks.  

Critters and Friends

     In the rainy season here in Yelapa it is so "Normal" to see all kinds of critters and creatures of the jungle.  After being away, and out of the jungle for a couple of years, I find myself suddenly faced with critters I don't normally see, or find around my house in Utah.  Yesterday was a giant hairy spider in the sink, looked like a baby tarantula, and then today a bright, florescent green snake was climbing around near the entrance to the casa...  and then of course, there had to be a big yellow scorpion who came running out of the little throw rug that had been wrinkled up that I tried to straighten.  I took off my flip flop, aimed carefully, and gave it a whack.  I guess I stunned it, so I gave it a couple of extra whacks for good measure.  I completely get the fact that all "Critters" have their place in this world, but in their proximity to me, I shall take license to kill them lest they kill me first.  I did not kill the snake, and I do not kill the toads, but I'll be damned if I won't kill a scorpion, a spider, flea, mosquito, or any other freakin' insect who wants to bite me, suck my blood, sting me, or save me for a later meal.  I have a goal in mind here.  Yes, my other goals were listed in my other blog: get stronger, etc.  But this goal is a bit more simple, if a little sinister.  It's to kill every little biting stinging pest who approaches me with vigor!  Now, the other question is how to do it.  They are small, they are microscopic in some instances.  So without boring you with fruitless thoughts of "How To", I will wait and give you blow by blow of how I accomplished this seemingly impossible feat.  Yes, I have a mosquito repellent of my own.  Does it work?  Yes it does!  However, one of my foes that it doesn't work on is the common FLEA!  And here they are TINY.  In fact, I would venture to say that these are often mistaken for "Noseeums".  They are fleas, and they make a helluva welt and itch like crazy!  Okay, I'm done with my rant.  I will comment on the crabs.  They are almost "Cute".  If you go back in the archives of my blog you will find musings regarding the crab phenomena.  More to follow.  

Getting Stronger, and Other Musings

     I set a couple of goals for myself while I am here in Yelapa this time.  One is to get stronger, meaning muscle, stamina, and endurance, and the second is to lose some weight.  Well, I have traveled up and down the steps to Casa Vista Del Sol several times now.  My calves are killing me!  But when I feel the soreness in each step, I know that I'm on the right track.  I feel stronger just because I know I'm doing something.  I am going to get stronger every day, I know it!
     The sunset last night was amazing...  one large, bright red cinnamon ball just above the ocean's horizon...  I am so looking forward to more sunsets here, and more adventures.  My dog friends keep me company along with the occasional toad trying to catch an evening snack of beetles, and the occasional crab trying to skittle across the tile floor without being seen.  The jungle is truly amazing!  I posted a short video of Lucky trying to play with a crab: http://youtu.be/9FKdWxSGyZI

     Wow!  It's been a long time since I've written!  I am finally back in beloved Yelapa!  I knew when I left there would be a way to get back here.  I knew that this was a special place; a magical, living, breathing piece of the earth whom I would get to know better.
     Cindy and I came down in January for a week to get out of the cold and to see what Yelapa might be like in winter.  Perfect temperatures: Seventy-five in the day time, and sixty at night, with some humidity and waves crashing on the rocks below our modest hotel room, confirmed what we thought: we needed to get a place of our own here, whether part time or full time.
     I hooked up with a few of my Yelapa friends and put the word out that I would be interested in house sitting again, but for a shorter time; less than six months.  It wasn't long after when I received word from my friend, Cheryl Rawson that she could use a house sitter August and September, so I jumped at the chance!  Although summer is harsh at times, it is still a most magical time, the jungle teeming with life, and all things, including the plants, seem to breathe in unison, in a cadence that is hard to define, but you can feel it.
     So I am here now.  Friends met me on the beach to welcome me "Home", and then I was invited to celebrate the "Star of David" astrological event on the beach.  The energy I felt was amazing.  Suddenly I feel refreshed and encouraged.  I feel like I could actually get out and hike for miles.  It might have helped that just a day before coming here I had spent a week with the Wounded Warrior Project in Park City, Utah being uplifted by fellow veterans and encouraged beyond my perceived threshold.  Yes, I managed to make it through the ropes course!
     So now I am here.  I have set a couple of goals: One is to participate in yoga, and the other is to walk more, and go places when I am invited.  Basically, to get healthier.
     I have been here two nights now, and it has rained twice, once heavily; a typical thunderstorm, but not as bad as it could be.  I am also trying to keep the noseeums from biting, although sometimes it's futile.  I brought my Jungle Block, and it has helped, but I have to remember to apply it everywhere, including my toes.  I am definitely a bug magnet.  Blood type O Pos, and probably expel more Carbon Dioxide than any other living thing!
     So as I write this I am sitting up in bed, safely tucked away in the fine mosquito netting Cheryl provided.  All windows and doors are open, and just outside my windows is the jungle.  I am listening to many thousands of insects and frogs, and who knows what else.  It's six in the morning and still dark.  I smell rain, but I haven't heard it hit the ground yet.  I love this place...
     

Me Gusta La Pesca! And Other Thoughts... And on Forgiveness

I Enjoy Fishing!  Me gusta la pesca!  Ever since I was a little girl I have loved to fish!  I must have some sort of gene that dictates my love for fishing!  I was raised in Los Angeles, in the "Big" city so to speak, but as far back as I can remember I have loved fishing, even if it was in the dirty ponds of the city parks in L.A. County.  But I remember back to the days when my step dad would take me to Redondo Beach, California out on the pier; my lust, at ten or twelve years old to be the best fisherman on the pier... my dream at the time was to match the Mexican men on the pier who were catching Bonita (actually tuna), and to land the biggest one... unfortunately I found myself as a ten or twelve-year-old girl casting underhand, as they did on the pier, and getting my giant hook and bait caught on the wood pilings underneath the pier...

I would climb like a monkey underneath the pier, and through the pilings to find my hook, release it, then crawl ever-so-gracefully back up to the deck only to cast again... hooking into the pier pilings below... My step dad, Cy, told me many years later, when I was in my forties, that he admired the "Fisherman's Heart" that I had... even though I was a "Girl".  I never really caught anything on that pier, although I was sure happy to stand around with the local Mexicans to admire the shark, or stingray, or halibut flopping about between the fishermen's feet... I wanted so desperately to be the one who brought the creature to the planks...  The strange creatures were the talk of the pier, and the talk was mostly in Spanish.  I adored my experiences there, even though my step dad would get irritated with me.  He was at least willing to take me there and let me try.  I was a vibrant kid, nothing could hold me back from the enthusiasm of fishing!  Not even my step dad who thought it was all for nought, and who didn't even like fish.  I must admire him however, to take his step-daughter fishing... to rent a saltwater rod and reel... to allow her the freedom to explore the pier pilings...  At fifty-one, I am admiring my step-father anew.  He is gone now, but I appreciate so much his patience as he allowed me to explore...

So here I am living in a fishing village in Mexico... I am here for six months tending a gringo's home... it's tuna season... and what's a girl to do?  So I go tuna fishing!  Yes, me and a friend catch tuna... big ones, fat ones... heavy ones... but it's not that: I love fishing because I am a primitive soul.  I have touched my primitive self.  I was in touch with my primitive self from way back... way back when I was a little girl... I have learned that fishing is not just some sport, something to do, nor some flaky deed that grandpa talked about: fishing is a primitive, natural instinct for those of us who have tapped in to our inner-survivor selves.  I also have a deep desire to hunt.  What is that?  I am a girl for goodness sake!  But it's just in me to want to know how to hunt and fish, camp, etc.  No one taught me, no one turned me on to it all... It was in me.  So I have come to the conclusion that some of us are just a little more primitive than others, or that some of us just grasp that part of ourselves more willingly than others... I really don't know.  I don't even know if there has been a study done on these things... All I know is that this is how I feel; this is how I am.  I love fishing.  I love hunting.  I love camping.  What is that??

I am here in Yelapa... a wonderful fishing village in Mexico.  I adore the people, the culture, the lifestyle, yet, unfortunately I can never truly be a part.  It would take years and years for them to fully accept me, and I don't have that kind of time.  All I can do is treat them with dignity and respect, and remain generous and open.  They don't know my heart, but when I think about it, that's okay too... they don't need to know my heart.  All I need to do is be myself... be kind, loving, generous, and truthful...  to them, as well as myself.  I shant require the whole world to love me... I should only require that I be good to all people regardless of circumstance...  If it serves any purpose at all, it is for me.  For if I am friendly and another is not, it is not my concern; I am the one who will be the beneficiary of mental, emotional, and spiritual freedom. 

The same is to be said of "Forgiveness".  We don't forgive because of someone else... we forgive to free ourselves of the bondage of resentment.

Leslie L. Ortiz

Observations and Wonderings

     Wow!  It's been a long time since I've written in my blog!  I apologize to my readers.  Funny, after I wrote about relatively safe food and water, and that I hadn't been sick, well, I got really sick!  I do believe, however, that it was an intestinal virus.  It didn't resemble food poisoning really, so I guess I'll stick to my original opinion. 

     June 1st was the national holiday, Dia de la Marina.  It is the Mexican holiday where the whole nation commemorates the navy, the bounty of the sea, and all those who were lost defending liberty, or bringing food from the sea to the masses.  In other words, fishermen and sailors.  What an amazing cultural experience!  In the morning I hopped on a small boat on the beach with friends, and many others were in other small boats, and we paraded out to sea in armada fashion.  Other small boats carried school children of all ages; brightly-colored hand-made wreaths, freshly-showered and groomed children sporting their very clean and tidy school uniforms, all precious indeed!

     Once out to sea we circled the boats, I would guess maybe thirty-five pangas, and tied off together.  Two of the boats were the masters-of-ceremony: one contained the speakers who would tell the story of the sailors, and the other contained the high school children who would bear the flags and recite speeches of heroes...  A moment of silence, no motors, only the water lapping at the hulls of the shallow boats... a speech, the Mexican National Anthem on loud-speaker, and finally we tossed our array of flowers and wreaths onto the surface of the sea... It was very moving. 

     The event made me think of how every country, not just the USA, has pride and vision, and Mexico is very proud, and like Americans, they mostly cherish their freedom.  This is Mexico.  It is not completely frought with drug wars and violence.  Those issues are regional, just as organized crime and violence and gang wars exist regionally within the US.  Mexico is a big country.  I happen to sleep in the open, as do all of the other residents here in Yelapa.  I am not threatened, nor afraid.  My biggest fear is getting out of bed with bare feet and stepping in toad poop, or worse yet on a scorpion, God forbid!

     I am alone here, but the jungle entertains me.  Everyday I find something new, something unique, or something really gross!  We have an animal here they call, tejone.  It's a reddish-colored animal similar to a racoon only longer and bigger.  One night one was sniffing me through the mosquito netting.  Kinda freaked me out because I thought of Little Red Riding Hood and the big bad wolf!  Fortunately the thing is mostly a vegetarian.  Almost every morning I find a messy mango in the sala where a tejone has chowed down and smeared mango goobers all over the tile.  If it sits too long it's very sticky and hard to get off, and fruit flies charge in.  I have become accustomed to hosing off my living area in the mornings.

     This morning I found something gross: the cats, or something, had puked up a mouse.  It was in pieces, and was all wet and icky... Yes, I hosed it out of my living area, the sala.  I fed the cats in the bodega, a large storage room off the kitchen (cocina), and low and behold another common mess: toad poop and pee... Ay Dios mio!  Every morning there are things like these; little annoyances that make life interesting.  But realize these are the only things I have to worry about.  Nature, it abounds here in all it's glory, it is relevant, alive, and fascinating.  Being here is better than watching Jeff Corwin on Animal Planet, or living vicariously through the travel channel, both which I love.  Did you know that toads pee about as much as my dachshund back home?

     Oh, I must say something about the crabs.  The land crabs abound here.  They came out of their holes during the first big rain and they were everywhere!  Most are about the size, or diameter of a baseball, some smaller.  You usually hear them before you see them: "Tick-tick-tick-tick".  They were in my book case, under my chair, on the walkways, on the pathways, and in the leaves.  The jungle has so much plant debris that the crabs can eat... once again, the food chain, or food web, is alive and well.

     The sea is beautiful this morning.  It stopped raining about a half hour ago.  I can see the Marietas Islands very clearly in the distance... it is going to be a great day!

    

Self-Care

     After breaking my ankle a year ago in April, I was sedentary.  I gained weight, much more than I ever wanted to, and was tired all the time.  Then I got sick and tired of being sick and tired.  When I came here three weeks ago I knew it would be a challenge to begin walking on a regular basis, let alone climbing hills and stairs.  Add the drastic change in climate and elevation, flora and fauna, and I have come to the conclusion that this is probably a much healthier situation for me personally. 
     I am no longer in an artificial environment, meaning, indoors with air conditioner, or in an automobile with air conditioner.  Nor am I in a restaurant or a store with climate control.  Being near the ocean the climate here is temperate, meaning the fluctuations in temperature are not drastic.  A 10 or 20 degree change might take place in a day, but nothing like the fluctuations in the high desert environments of Utah where a 40 degree change is normal.    The humidity here in Yelapa is high.  It's nothing like Okinawa humidity, but maybe something closer to Georgia or the Carolinas.  That being said, dehydration can still occur, especially with someone like me who spent time in a field hospital in Iraq for heat stroke. 
     I'm not trying to be instructional here, I just want to share my personal experience.  In order for me to feel good, I have to drink a lot of water, or liquid.  I try to drink something at a minimum of every half hour, and a maximum of an hour.  Water, pineapple juice, other juices, etc.  I will have a coca cola as a treat around lunch time, not every day, but every few days or so.  Soda is probably not the best thing to drink all the time.  So if you ever come here please drink a lot of fluids, and limit the alcohol.  It's not quite the "Pith Helmet Hot" that it was in Okinawa, or in the Philippines, but it's warm enough to cause dehydration very quickly.  And if you bring children, they are even more susceptible, so make them drink fluids... a lot.  Most kids don't like to drink water, I know my son didn't, but juices will work.
    Another thing I've learned along the way, not just here in Yelapa, but in other places as well, is take it slow.  Walking slower, looking around, looking down at where your stepping... here in Yelapa, everywhere here, the paths are uneven. 
    Bug repellent.  Shorts and light colored tank tops are the norm, but obviously being outdoors all the time I share the space with mosquitos and other insects.  A good repellent is in order, especially on the legs. 
    Lance has a fine water filter for the tap water here, so there's no need to haul water up the hill.  I drink at least two pitchers of water per day, plus juice.  Yesterday and today it was pineapple juice, tomorrow will be cranberry juice.  I have drunk tons of water here, including in the restaurants.  The Yelapans drink filtered or bottled water too, and the ice is filtered water, so don't panic.  I've been here three weeks and have had no problems.  I don't know of any other people who have had problems here either. 
     So far so good.  I take as much time as I need to move around.  I walk slower, I take time.  It's amazing what you observe when you take your time.  So knocking on wood, and taking all the personal precautions I can think of, I think I'm set.
     The food here is pretty amazing.  So far it's all been fresh, and I would even say it's mostly organic.  So if you come to Yelapa, eat up!  Enjoy!