photos

So adorable, I couldn't resist.

Yelapa , Mexico's Future.

She isn't a student yet, but we are working on it

                           oh oh...2 pictures on top of each        other....Our dear 4 legged friend, Parasita...RIP
and Moi inspecting damage to Verana boat
from small collision with Parachute boat.
Alls well that ends well.

Stormy stormy night

Buenos Dias Amigas y Amigos ...

Holy Wind blew through here Friday night. Enough gusts to blow your roof off, which it
did with my neighbours !! Granted it was only a temporary tarp, but don't mess with Mother Nature !!!  

The whole thing lasted 20 minutes, then continued to rain to the tune of 1.5 inches ...
I am still cleaning up palapa debris, seriously !! Trees fell, and many branches too, knocking a few wires down, but i believe that's all taken care of, as well as the new tarp for my amigo .

I didn't sustain any damage here, thankfully, just a lake inside the front of the house, as per usual with rain and high winds.  This was the biggest flood so far, but the lights stayed on, so that makes it a whole lot easier !! ??

I have 7 pairs of flip flops , 5 brooms, 2 mops, and a pretty basket full of large rags at the ready ... all stratigicaly placed, and in use through out the day.
My 6th mop bit the dust last week !!

I have to change to my smartphone to post the photos. 

I am still in renovation. So exciting to be creating my wall of gratitude and memories, leaving lots of room for new ones.  
Next step Ladies and Gentlemen ... Hot Water in the Kitchen Sink.
I am so overjoyed about this I may have to make it the title of a new Poem !

Fish are jumping as I write, the ocean less brown, more blue, and has been as calm as a Lake these past days.  Except for that nasty wind that has been coming of late.
We have had some clear nights, and in the early morning the stars are burning bright in the deep sky.  A sacred thrill watching Venus Rising from my swinging bed . Couldn't see her this
morning, though.

Anticipating a gorgeous peaceful day, in the hammock with the NYtimes Book Section !

The Lagoon is full to the brim, looks spectacular. The beach in constant ebb and flow.
I have never seen it in this particular configuration before. Like a sandbar for a crossing.
It's high time to get my legs over there !!

Enjoy the last days of the September Song.
Sing it to the Moon .... 

photos

           It is POURING ..The fishermen bale out their boats

                             Our local Samuel Enrique
                           He wasn't happy with this shot...
                            so he told me to take another

                  One face Samuel...One face Enrique

                 Efron's catch of the day, with daughter
                 Valentina inspecting...15 kilos..
                   and longer than her !

                     Jareli and her newborn niece
            The older being so smart and motivated
             She is reading a picture book about Whales,
                    in English.  Go Girl !!

                   My Front Door..20 years old
                   or more....46 steps...up

                        Good Morning Nicole ..

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                               Biko getting it level...

                                                ....getting there...

                                   Estrella and Hannia
                               made by Gloria and Biko
                               ..sweet innocence and joy
                           

                           First Communion...
                too hot and crowded in church
                ... and with Mario and his cooler of
                treats waiting....

photos

canajo's first day of summer

hard at work in the jungle

casa Vieja's Garden

Best Yelapa boots !

Rainy Season Update

Good Morning el Norte .... Happy Saturday... 

Well, basically the Rainy Season started September 1st this year ! So, if you are coming back before November, you may want to bring with you, a pair of boots like Ana is modelling in the following post !

We have had 3, maybe 4 downpours during July and August. 
Two, maybe 3 thunder storms. Then September came and drenched us ! 
Nothing the last 3 days...clear skies, but the Ocean still brown from the deluge. 
Top priority if you are on the hillside...Call Biko to have him secure it as much as he can,
with Chicken wire and Cement .
If I don't do that soon, my Bodega will be swallowed within a few years ... at least the back side and the roof.  
New, improved, " state of the art " ! Bodega ReDo is what I'm after next.
Soon as it stops raining, God willing.    

It's hot. It's humid. It's sticky and buggy and mucky. 
But I love my Life ! I really really do.

If, (I should say, when) I start over heating, and swelling up, and there is no water, or no phone, or no electricity, or no internet, and my floor is flooding ( not always when there is a flood ) but I remember my past, Terrace Bay, The Cold. The Bone Chill. The Mosquitoes.
This doesn't seem so bad.

I envision the Crones of my past.  
The Warriors and Pioneers long before me who Never Gave Up !
I look to the Elders in the Village, the Donas who grew up here, and Honour their Stories
and Will to survive. 

Yelapa grew 2 Generations in 10 years, basically, but the hardships that the People had
to overcome are still here. You see it every day. Everywhere.

Many people here still go without, what you and I have at our fingertips.
They work hard, everyday, to survive, and provide. 

If I feel that Nervous Breakdown coming on, I focus on Survival, and then get in the Hammock with a book ASAP.

Just Imagine what it was like 70 years ago .... 100 years ago... 
We have Elders here over 100 years old !! 

The air, the ocean, the river, the sun, the rain, the food, the peace, family.
And their Faith too ... built this Village of ...

Beautiful, Easy Going, Peaceful, Strong, Kind, Fiesta Loving, Welcoming, Warriors !!

It's a great place to " chanel " John Lennon ... " There are no Problems, only Solutions " .

Not everyones cup of Tea, for sure. I worked up to it slowly...but .. 
Even for me, loving it all as I do, I see, in my future, a little cabin on Jackfish Lake,
August and September... can it get any better ???

Many many Happy Returns of the Day...

I hope you are breathing in fresh clear air ... eating fresh fruits and vegetables ... and 
giving and getting a lotta love 





  


  

  

To begin again ...

... but where to start ?

    I have been home from my road trip for 15 weeks. 
    I am thrilled to report , I have unpacked !
    Around the 10 week mark, I took a day off; to replace the canopies over
    the kitchen island and bed, that protect from termites, other creatures
    and such, that fall from the palapa ... meaning roof ... and realized there
    was not a box, bin, bag, or crate, left to inspect and consolidate.

    WoW ! Now, with my memories and history gathered here I begin
    to create a home of my own, ahhh, to relish and savour and share
    with family and friends.     
    I can't wait !!  But.
    I will take a little holiday this month, to reconnect with Yelapa,
    take it all in ... recharge my batteries ... write ...


    Weather ? Weird ... but becoming more predictable every day...raining
    every , or every other day.  Wet, steamy, sticky, mucky, mossy, buggy,
    humidity is 105 %, sun is brutal, it's a test of endurance.
    The feeling is still the same, ... to burst out in laughter or tears ?

    Do both, while jumping in the ocean, or shower, grab a Corona from the  
    freezer, ( the electricity here so far so good ... up the hill not so good )
    get in the hammock, swing in the breeze, say yummm.

   This year the drainage ditch gets dug behind the banos.
   Being here this time of year you get to see up close and personal
   the deluge some of these storm produce. Mud.
   Retaining walls and " canals " all around each building are high priority !
   Google ... " How to install gutters on Palapa roof ? " or ask on the beach.
   I think someone there tried it .

   Living within Mother Nature. What a trip.
   Everything you do she is in your face.
   I'm so glad I went to Brownies and Girl Scouts !! 
   Thank you all my Scout Leaders !! Volunteers all !! 
   Growing up in the North, and being a Chesley ! , help with keeping the right   
   attitude, and adapting, but it ain't easy.
  
   The motto, mantra is ... Don't Sweat it ... so ironic, but true.
   An oxymoron, double-intandra ..you know what I mean ... 
   A clear example of the inside out of Yelapa.  You just feel it more now.

   We have Mexico Time, we have Yelapa time, and we have Yelapa  
   Summer time. 

   Everything slows right down.  The rhythm changes.
   Mexicans on school vacation come on the " Party Boats "
   and water taxis for the day.
   Three Americans from San Diego, mother 2 daughters on last day
   of their holiday, at Boca on the 3 0'clock, out for 2 hours, but they HAD
   to come to Yelapa, they have heard so much.
   One perhaps a volunteer at the clinic one day ??

   They would have been here 2 days ago but the hotel in PV sent them on
   the Island tour instead of to Yelapa !!
   They persisted and found their way, I'm pretty sure I will see them here   
   again...
  
   Buses jam PV with tourists and Conventions.  They park up on the highway 
   now, instead of downtown old town, Gracias a Dios .. 

   There is the smell of food cooking everywhere ... it smells good.
   Suntan lotion and beer.  No one runs for cover when it start pouring,
   or the thunder begins.  They carry on having the best time swimming,
   or crowded under a towel or umbrella.
   They aren't ready to go home yet.

   Observing and sharing in the Mexican Family Culture is a blessing and a
   privilege for me, and so many of you I know.

   WoW.

   Greener hills every moment.  Jungle growing 10 cm a day.
   Buds budding and flowers blooming.
   Yet everything needs to be cut back and trimmed and transplanted.
   Now I know what trees fall over and which grow into the house !!

   My machete is ready. 

   Our loved one Maria Von healing nicely in PV. Stitches out Friday.
   I will post an update on FB.

   Sooo nice to be back. I will post 1st Monday of every month...
   Yelapa Stories .... and more ..

   Hasta Pronto

   kelley