Livin' on the beach under the palm trees...

Posted by Gayle:

I left LdM for a few days last week to visit friends on Fripp Island off the coast of S.C. We've done this for 22 years and it's been a huge part of our "growing up" together. I had a wonderful time, as always, but i missed my man and my beach home terribly!

I had an absolutely perfect birthday! Eric arranged dinner with several friends, and the food was amazing. So fresh! Different people, including Eric, cooked and prepared, and what a feast we had! Then afterwards it was back around the campfire for some plucking, singing and all around good time. It was an amazing evening and I couldn't stop smiling. (0: My friends on Fripp continued the celebration, since 3 of us have birthdays in Jan., and Judy made 2 chocolate birthday cakes of which I'm proud to say I ate the majority.

The palm trees around our homestead are laden with coconuts, which have proven to be a bit of a problem when they fall. I'm just waiting to get bonked in the head, and Eric's standing by with video camera in hand waiting to record the mishap. He does that a lot when I have the occasional mishap. Apparently there's an entertainment factor involved.

But falling coconuts can be deadly, and they're in the process of removing them, which doesn't look like much fun. We watch them work their way up the trunk using a rope under one knee and one foot and pulling themselves up. I kept hearing, "oh, oh" and "ay yi yi" while they were in the process and decided it'd be even worse having a Mexican land on my head, so I took great care in positioning myself....til I couldn't watch anymore. I have to say that's one problem we don't have in WI. No falling coconuts. Or Mexicans.

We were lucky enough to see whales recently from our porch. They were HUGE. We'd see their gigantic bodies come up out of the water and their size was hard to fathom. Stunning! And unbelievable!

We also found a stingray, about 18 inches in diameter, that had worked it's way out of the water to become an appetizer for nearby vultures. Unfortunately we also found a good sized jellyfish on shore, which brought back memories of the one I met while boogie boarding last year. It was a short but abusive relationship, so painful I bawled and cussed nonstop for a good hour or two. So now I'm in full wetsuit, neck to toe, in order to avoid another unpleasant jellyfish experience.

Life is good here, and for those of you who are concerned, we are very safe here in Lo de Marcos and the surrounding areas. We're far away from the cartel violence which seems to plague the border towns and then get plastered all over the media. The process of crossing the border and getting here is done in caravans. Travelers hook up and make arrangements to meet at the border, cross over and accompany each other to various destinations. The Federal Police and military have been very helpful and respectful of incoming tourists. So please don't worry, as we are always cautious. The things going on in Los Angeles before we came down here were more threatening and nerve wracking than anything we've experienced in MX. Except for the falling Mexicans.