“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.” -James Baldwin

Here on the ranch we had the kind of community I had hoped to find in Mexico, not a “gringo ghetto” where all of your neighbors are expats and all speak English. We have a mix of locals and notre Americanos. But, alas, a number of them have not lived in a small community and sometimes forget to observe the niceties of conversation and tempering opinion, thinking they need to share what they believe in order to establish themselves, whereas in a small community normally we all work together to maintain harmony and cordiality.  Having grown up in a small town in central Oregon, I learned early on that my actions could impact others and I didn’t have to believe as they did but should respect their right to that belief. As a teacher if I tried to impose my thoughts and opinions on my students it would not only be wrong but unethical, so why does anyone think it should be different with the people you meet and interact with on a regular basis, so what if we don’t agree, we both may be right or we both may be wrong but why should the conversation revolve around those issues anyway. What a narrow person I would have become if that was my world, if I thought that social media was a source of actual news than a source of many opinions. If someone reads this newsletter, and knows me, they will find I write about things I don’t bring up in conversation, for to do so would not be in the greater interest of the community overall.

Still am re-reading books in my, much diminished, library the most recent is “Gringos in Paradise” a wonderfully written book by Barry Golson about his and his wife’s experiences moving to Sayulita, about an hour north of Puerto Vallarta. They arrived there in the mid-2000’s and proceeded to buy land and construct a house, quite the adventure and though a bit dated it was a wonderful read for his easy style and conversational manner. Also reading “Miraculous Air” by C.M. Mayo about her exploration of the Baja peninsula with a lot of history thrown in that I don’t remember from my first read, and this is funny, it turns out I have never read this book, spine was unmarked, no wonder it felt new, A little bit more on the much diminished library it does refer to printed books, I left behind or donated most of the print books that I had collected over the years, only coming to Mexico with about 500 or so, of which I had given away or donated about 1/2 of those, but in the process have acquired through various avenues about 10,000 ebooks that should give me plenty of reading for the next 30 years or so, if I get the grace to make it that long.

“Literature encourages tolerance — bigots and fanatics seldom have any use for the arts, because they’re so preoccupied with their beliefs and actions that they can’t see them also as possibilities.” -Northrop Frye

One of you asked what it is like to swim in the ocean. Different than swimming in a pool or a lake for sure, for one thing there is only a horizon on one side, sort of important to remember. The first few times I went out it was more about overcoming fear than really swimming, I knew nothing about the ocean, or wetsuits, or tidal forces or waves. Everything I learned was new to me, our ocean here ranges in temperature from 55-68, so wetsuits are worn year round and for me that also includes gloves and boots as well as a hood for much of the year. Heck I had to watch you-tube videos to learn how to put on wetsuits with destroying them, more art than science. And to figure out what all of the terrors of the sea could be, turns out not much where we live:  fish, dolphins, pelicans and seagulls for the most part. That first year is also when I realized that dolphins had dorsal fins and though they are much different than a shark’s, still 3 years on when they break the surface next to me it can cause a bit of a start and sharp intake of breath. Maybe I am not as brave as I think I am. I wonder if I should call it the ocean or the sea. All I know for sure is that it is a living thing. At times it looks like glass, other times like molten steel and then it turns it bunch of little waves. we always seem to have some wind and that wind creates waves and learning to swim in those wind waves is all about being able to breathe and not constantly inhale water. There are days when I can’t see the surf or the shore, as the fog closes in, but I can always hear it, the crashing of the waves on the shore never stops. That living pulse of the ocean can seem like a long slow heartbeat, it is truly a power that is palpable, one does not take that power lightly, but it can also feel like a caress lulling you into a type of mediation. It is like nothing I have experienced before and every swim brings it anew. Just the other day I had a small seal swim alongside, but when I was too slow it went on to find someone else to play with, or maybe to look for breakfast.

That power was on display during tropical storm Kay, in early September when many of the Pacific side arroyos flash flooded and scoured their courses, depositing driftwood on the beach, which we never see here and lots of onions and peppers from the fields that are no longer there. The ocean was muddy water for about 100 yards out but cleared over the space of about a week, still lots of seaweed and kelp floating around out there.

“I wish I could have known earlier that you have all the time you’ll need right up to the day you die.” -William Wiley

One of the things about being retired or semi-retired like I am is figuring out what to do with the time that is available to me. My work teaching online takes up about 1/2 of my time and gives me a chance to stay nimble with my intellect and curiosity for which I am immensely grateful but there is that other time, that time that retirees find so heavy on their hands. Until lately I built the Adirondack chairs and small tables, which had a lot of cutting and sanding involved since the wood we get down here is not really very good. Lately I have been doing a lot of reading as I try to sort out what type of hobby or maybe even craft I feel like taking up in the future. I used to make walking sticks but really quit doing that a few years back when I didn’t think I could find the “right” wood to use, feels like time to revisit that older hobby and maybe try it with some type of carving, who knows I may have an artistic streak in me yet.

Some interesting side notes on the whole retirement idea and what it means to some different visitors we have had at the beach lately. First was a couple who came and camped on our beach in a popup camper, they surfed for a couple of days and then moved on down south. I thought they were in their early 40’s, their fitness level seemed like it (turns out I was way off he was 55 and she was 50), they were long distance bikers (done the Continental Divide and the Andes Divide on bikes) but they were surfing and boogie boarding on our beach. They talked about working for 4 or 5 years at a time and then taking off traveling for a couple of years to pursue their passions, they had most recently done 5 months bicycling around the US. So their idea of retirement was to keep doing what they were doing until they couldn’t any longer. Makes sense to me now, maybe not so much when I was younger. Then a few days later I was coming back from swimming and talked to a guy who had just come in from surfing, he seemed pretty young and he really was in his 40’s and had just bought a house in a development about 20 miles away but we were the nearest surfing spot. I asked what brought him down here, “divorce, sold house”, he had impeccable timing, at least on the house sale, maybe not so much on the divorce, he figured he had enough that he could live a modest lifestyle here in Mexico as long as he keeps his needs simple, could be. All I know is that there are a ton of ways to step back but they all take money and figuring how to use the time allotted, if you are just watching the clock until happy hour, retirement may be shorter than you think.

“It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment.” -Ansel Adams

“Blind faith in your leaders, or in anything, will get you killed.” -Bruce Springsteen

Well folks that is all for this one.

Take care and may you all walk in beauty

Tony