THURSDAY

THURSDAY. . . . .Natalia left early again today, the University auditors are still poking around and things are a mess at work so she felt she should be there and keep an eye on her desk. We did have another very nice breakfast this morning and when I entered the kitchen I found the oranges already squeezed into juice. I was really surprised because the machine she uses makes a lot of noise. I had not heard it. I sort of put the kitchen in order after she left then I got my few things together and left about 10am. I had no idea what direction I was going to be going but by noon I found myself at Burger King, about four miles North in the Gold zone. I had been in no hurry so four miles in two hours was no big thing. The pictures I have posted today were taken during that walk. The picture of the large building is just to give you an idea of what the tourists can find for accommodations if they are so inclined. There are many very nice hotels in this part of town. That is why they call it the Gold Zone. [Bring lots of gold]. The picture of the eight Pomeranians being walked on the beach was a shot I could not refuse to let get away. I thought it was a lot of fun watching them trying to get loose and run but fat chance of that. There was only one not on a leash and he would not mind the caretaker one bit! The picture of the waves I took just because it might turn out to be a nice picture of high tide with the wind bringing in the surf. After lunch I continued my walk to the bowling alley and by then it was 4:30 so I sat on a bus bench for about ten minutes waiting for the big green bus that has Centro on the front of it. Twenty-five minutes later it dropped me off 20 feet from Natalia’s front door. It was a good day but I noticed when I got off the bus that it was pretty cold at this end of the peninsula. I had noticed during the day that many of the older people were bundled up quite a bit. The tall buildings in the Gold Zone stopped a lot of the cold wind and I didn’t notice it. It was a nice day, long walk and my bad toe never gave me any trouble. Can’t beat that! PS: try clicking on the pics, do they enlarge?

WEDNESDAY

I had intended to take my bowling ball with me this year but Natalia told me the bowling alley had closed so I left the equipment home. It seems the owner of the place was using it as a front to launder money and one of his partners in the business become upset with the way things were going and put some lead holes in him. The family knew nothing about running a bowling alley so they closed it. The other picture is of the golf course near the Gold Zone. It appears to be in need of more moisture than it is getting this year. It was much greener last winter.

            Wednesday. . . . . . Natalia left at 7:30 to attend a Mass for the sister of a good friend who is about to die. She left me her famous oatmeal for breakfast and after my shower I was ready for some of that! I left the house at 10am and as expected I went directly to the library. I picked up a free pocket book, bought a book for 20 pesos and picked out from the library itself. I will return all of them as soon as I finish with them. I then walked two blocks and turned south for a stroll to the end of the peninsula. I took many pictures, several of which I will post on the blog eventually. I had lunch at the ‘lean to’ restaurant I have mentioned before. I got there at noon and asked the man if there was going to be food today and he told me he was not sure the woman was going to arrive. I told him to bring me a beer and I would wait a while. She did arrive about 12:40 and asked me if I wanted to eat beef burritos again today. I told her I really enjoyed them last time so she cooked some more for me. I was there over two hours reading, relaxing and eating. When I got up to pay the bill I was surprised to find there was a strong cool wind coming in off the ocean. Clouds had also arrived while I was busy with the book and food. Strangely no one else had ordered food all the time I was there. I walked home wishing I had worn my sweat shirt but that didn’t stop me from eating another ice cream on the way. I arrived back at the house about 4pm and down loaded the pictures I had taken

TUESDAY

These pictures are taken from the south end of the peninsula looking north. They could be attached at the ends and produce a nice Panorama of South Bay.

            TUESDAY. . . . . It is amazing how much better I felt this morning. Natalia’s soup must be powerful stuff! Today I walked to the library to get another book. I had it half read by the time I got back to the house. For lunch I had a nice Tuna Salad with Coke and for dessert I later had an ice cream. I also stopped by the bank and purchased another 3,000 pesos to hold me over for another 3-4 weeks. Got home about 4PM and I am sure by tomorrow afternoon I will be ready to stop by the library again.

MONDAY

 . . . . . These pictures were taken on the Mali can a few days ago, the young boy had held up a small fish and when the bird came for it he grabbed the bird by the tail feathers and put it on display for me. It happily flew away when he tossed it into the air. The lower picture shows a man doing the same thing except he did not attempt to capture the bird. If you look carefully you will see the fish in the mouth of the bird. I was unable to enlarge the third and fourth pictures. Strange.           

 MONDAY. . . . . . .  .I felt much better this morning, I am convinced that almost 14 hours of bed rest had a lot to do with it. Natalia fixed me a very nice breakfast this morning and you can be sure that helped too!  After she left for work I did my laundry and a lot of reading while that was going on. It was about noon when I went out looking for Nyquil only to discover that none exists in Mexico these days. I really thought I had purchased a bottle of it last year while I was here but perhaps not. I purchased a bag of oranges to have around because that is the way Natalia fixes orange juice in the mornings. I found some more dry cereal and some really tasty raisins. I had purchased some of the raisins a few days ago but they really don’t last long in my cereal because I like them so much. They are twice the size of any raisins I have ever gotten at Safeway and more red in color. They sure are better than those dried up little things we find in some cereal boxes. I was not gone long but I did eat lunch while out and when I returned to the house I was back in my room napping in short order. Today I feel the possibility of a chest cold coming on but with rest and lots of fluids I will be able to shake it off. Some more warm sunshine tomorrow will help a lot too. I forgot to mention that Natalia left me with a nice bowl of soup that I ate this afternoon. That really was what I needed! Great soup and it really perked me up!

SUNDAY

. . . . . . . Last night I went to bed with the sniffles and this morning I was in no hurry to get out of bed. I had my breakfast then relaxed until almost noon at which time I left to go for a walk in the sun. I ended up at the [used to be] Blue Bay Restaurant for a small lunch and then drifted back to the house for a nap after eating what was left of my ice cream. The Blue Bay was the name of the place when I last here. It is the one Natalia’s Grandparents owned when Natalia was a little girl. They have changed the entire crew so I knew no one. Natalia had been out with family and friends all afternoon and returned about 4:30 to start her weekly cooking for her Mother. But before doing that she decided to take a nap and get up later to start her work. She agreed that I sounded like I had a chest cold coming on. Tomorrow I will go the central market and get some Nyquil and juice. I came in my room and worked on my blog while Natalia napped. Today I am posting [if all goes well] two Panorama’s that my photo program helped me put together. The picture showing the islands fail to show the fact that there are really three of them out there. I am writing this before posting the pictures so perhaps I am wrong a about that.

 

SATURDAY

.. . . . Natalia had invited friends for breakfast this morning. They are a couple she has known for several years from Canada. I remember meeting him last year and actually waved to him several days ago in the park. Natalia went all the way with a wonderful breakfast and I did what I could to help. They left about noon thirty and Natalia was out the door to check on her Mother by noon thirty-two. It was not long after that that I too left for my daily walk around town and bench warming. I may have walked 4 miles today and because I had too much breakfast I never did get anything to eat. Except my favorite ice cream on the way home. I also purchased a half gallon of milk to go with my cereal in the mornings, or like today cereal in the evening with my evening pills. Carnaval is coming to MZT on February 7^th so the city is beginning the decorations for the big parade. The pictures I have today show some of the early productions including a live camel in a trailer being delivered for the parade.

I was up at 7:30 this morning just as Natalia was leaving for work. She said she had a very busy day today and wanted to get an early start. After breakfast and after getting my email and chess games up to date I left for a day of wandering around. Today I decided to walk South on the Malicon next to the ocean. I have been calling it the 'boardwalk' but according to the locals it is the Malicon. I will have to check the correct spelling later. In my wanderings I discovered the tower I had climbed to the top of last year. Last year there had been no railings so after walking up I found the downward trip was making me dizzy so I came down on the seat of my pants, one step at a time. I made no effort to climb it this year, taking the pictures was good enough. The left side of the tower is the side the divers leap from. They have a very scary dive into the water as you can see from this picture. This walk ended at Macaws Restaurant where I spent over an hour enjoying a Chicken Salad and a coke.  This is usually a half hour walk home but since I had come the long way it took two hours. I did stop several times to listen to the ocean waves breaking nearby. After lunch I slowly worked my way home, including a stop at the ice cream store for another 20peso dessert. I thought there was room enough to place these pictures side by side but my efforts were for naught.

THURSDAY

. . . . . . I was really surprised when I got up this morning and found a cupcake Birthday cake at my place at the table. It appears someone I know sent Natalia an email reminding her that my big day had arrived. I didn’t eat the cake until I got home this afternoon from my daily wanderings. I still had some ice cream in the freezer and planned to have cake alamode this afternoon. As it happened I ate way too much lunch and did not have room for the ice cream so that will wait for another day. This cupcake is not your ever day sort of cake, this is very hefty, filling and delicious. I am sure that tomorrow I will have to let my belt out a notch to make up for it!. . .  . I enjoyed myself today, wandering around the city and stopping at all the shaded park benches to read another chapter of my book. I allowed myself to get too hungry before eating anything so I ended up ordering too much and not leaving one drop of it on the plate. I do much better if I stay away from the tourist restaurants; they serve way too much food. I much prefer the little mom and pop spots. No need to explain the picture today, it speaks for itself! Thank you, Natalia!

WEDNESDAY

………    The picture today is a beach scene I took one day last week when we were still putting up with the clouds…..Today I was up at 7am and Natalia was heading out the door to take her Mom to a doctor appointment. I took a shower, ate a bowl of cereal and walked to the Centro Market for another box of cereal and some liquid detergent for the kitchen. After getting that back to the house I again left, taking my book and camera with me. I didn’t have much left to read on my latest book and finished it while enjoying lunch. I then strolled to the library and checked out a much longer book about the history of Alexandria of Russia. That one is bound to keep me busy for a while! I was back at the house at 4:30 and thought I would read myself to sleep but that never happened so I got on the puter and brought my email up to date. Today I found myself walking on the shady side of the streets even when the sea breeze was sharing it with me. It was a nice T-shirt day around here. I also checked out Ocean fishing costs and found one guy with a nice looking 38 foot fishing boat that he charges $US350.00 for an eight hour day. I can go alone or bring three others with me, the cost is the same. He told me that yesterday he took a group out 12-15 miles and they caught twenty Bonita in the 12-14 Kilo range. I think a kilo is 2.2 pounds so that sounds like a good day of fishing. He furnishes everything except food. He will have that too for extra money. I didn’t ask the price for that.

TUESDAY

. . . .  . .I left the house at 9:45 and arrived at the library right after they opened, it didn’t take long to choose another book because I had seen it previously and knew it was the one I wanted. I then walked to the South bay and visited my little lean too restaurant for the first time this year. I was amazed when the lady waved at me even before I got there, she remembered me from last year and we found that our ability to communicate had improved because we each had learned a little more of our respective languages. I guess that is not proper grammer but you get the idea. I ordered a Pacifico beer and told her I would not be ready to eat for a while, I was going to read and enjoy the view of the bay. She delivered a quart of beer [that is the only size they have] and said she would start cooking when I asked her to. It was 12:45 before I felt hungry and asked her to deliver whatever she had as a special today. A few minutes later she arrived with three beef burritos with refried beans on the side. The food was delicious, no complaints at all! The bill came to 65Pesos and worth every centavo. I left a 20% tip when I left at 2:30. The picture today is one I took of the place this morning. The eating area is off to the right. I should have included it in the picture.  When I got back on the street there was a city bus turning around to make his return trip to wherever he was going so I got on board and stayed there for 45 minutes until he got to the end of the line. I then got on another bus going outbound for another location and I stayed on that one until I got back in the Gold Zone. I got off there and waited for a bus going to the Centro district and hopped on that one to return home. I got back to the house about 4:30 and discovered that the ‘gate’ door was locked. I had no key for that lock so I was stuck until Natalia arrived at 8PM. I sat on the sidewalk and read my book beyond the halfway point before it became too dark to read. As soon as she arrived she ate a banana and told me good night, I had a bowl of cereal to help my evening meds go down then retired to my room to post the blog and the picture. It was an interesting day, to say the least. Let’s see what tomorrow brings!

MONDAY

 . . . . .I left the house at 10:30 this morning and by Noon I was in Lety’s Café across the South Bay having lunch. This area is an adjoining peninsula that is called Stone Island. Boat taxi cost 30 Pesos round trip and lasts about ten minutes each way. It was a nice day to be walking the streets of the little town. Only two streets in the town are paved and I can only imagine what a mess it is when they suffer a heavy rain. Around noon all of the dogs are asleep in the dust and bother no one, occasionally a motor bike goes by and stirs up the dust. I wore my cheap canvas shoes because I remember what a mess my good shoes looked like after my last trip over there a year ago. I had a wonderful chicken salad and two beers for lunch. I was in Lety’s for three hours reading and relaxing. I left there at 3:10 and by four I was back at the house eating a bowl of ice cream. The temperature was a comfortable 75 and a few lazy clouds poked around as the day progressed. My toe was giving me trouble because I switched shoes today but some Hot and Icy fixed that when I got back. The picture I have today is one I took at the Central Market where I had lunch a few days ago. Those crazy birds have no fear and love to finish up the plate if not shooed away.

SUNDAY

.. . . . . Natalia fed me another great breakfast this morning, before leaving about 10:30 to take her Mother shopping. I left shortly after for a nice long walk North through the Gold Zone and beyond. I stopped for lunch about 1:30 and read for almost an hour before continuing on toward the Marina where all of the rich people park their boats. I made no effort to walk home; I sat on a bus bench for about ten minutes waiting for a Cento bus to come along. The bus ride was twenty minutes and I had him drop me off at the same convenience store I was at yesterday when I bought my favorite Popsicle for only 18 pesos. I chose the same goodie today but I was charged 20 pesos. So much for finding a good deal! I was back at the house by 4pm and Natalia arrived shortly after. I was pretty much pooped and laid down to read. I thought I would fall asleep but never did. The picture today is of my room. The router I am taking advantage of is through that far window and across the street. This computer location is one of the hot spots where I get a fair signal. Since I have taken this picture I have removed the TV that is sitting the shelf to the left and placed my puter in its place. The signal there is fine as long as I don’t attempt to use it during the day when so much traffic is going by. The pipe coming out of the floor to the right of the puter is something that the city put in for their own needs, Natalia told me last year what it was all about but I don’t recall. It looks like a small gas line to me.

 

SATURDAY

. . . . . . . Natalia was up and outside walking before sunup this morning. She had returned and was busy in the kitchen when I finally began my day. Today was the day of the family gathering and she was cooking up a storm, preparing to feed an army. I walked to the Library, arriving about 10am, the hour they open on Saturday. I traded in my finished Balzac and found a book about radical Islam, a memoir. I returned by 10:30 and did what I could to help Natalia prepare for the crowd. She is very well organized and seldom requires much aid. The first family members arrived close to two and folks were drifting in and out all afternoon. The meal was delicious and plentiful. The laughter was ‘catching’. Natalia 4 was entertaining, it was a good day. Enjoyed by all.  I helped Natalia the best I could during the day and cleanup was not difficult after the last guest left. She disappeared into her room with her laptop and I came to my room to bring my email and blog up to date.. . . . . . The picture today shows a fisherman gathering many hundreds yards of yellow fish line, attaching a fish hook and length of clear leader about every 20 feet and dropping the line into the hold at his feet.  I am supposing the plan is to attach bait to each of the hooks and slowly feed the entire length of line out into the ocean. After a time and with any luck he will be able to retrieve the line and find many fish attached. The line is actually coming off a very large spool that appears to hold thousands of feet of line, perhaps several thousand feet.

FRIDAY

………I worked on my laundry this morning and did not get out of the house until after 11am. I walked to the central market stopping along the way to sit in the nearby city park to read and people watch. Natalia fed me another nice breakfast this morning but by 12:30 I was feeling hunger pangs again. That seems to be the story of my life! I went upstairs in the market where all of the good food is and sat outside overlooking the busy street below. The waitress gave me a menu and I threw a dart at it and received a very nice shrimp dinner and Pepsi. I am not a great lover of shrimp so next time I will throw the dart in a slightly different direction. After eating and reading for more than an hour I left the little restaurant and stopped by a Super Market across the street and stocked us up on T-paper and napkins. I then dropped them off at the house and continued my walk North on the boardwalk overlooking the ocean. I found a quiet spot overlooking the incoming waves and enjoyed the solitude for a long time. I then walked across the street and found my favorite 20 peso ice cream bar selling for 18 peso’s. After completely enjoying that I returned to the house and finished my Balzac book. The name of the book is ‘Pere Goriot and Eugenie Grandet’, actually two completely different stories. By the time I finished that, is was now, and I turned on the puter to post my daily doings. . . .The picture today is a pic of the local Taxi of which there are many that prowl the streets looking for tired pedestrians who might appreciate a ride. For a price of course. The vehicle is named Pulmona after the man who many years ago built the first one and used it so successfully that others wanted to buy in. Someone told me last year that they are used only in Mazatlan but they are so successful here I find it hard to imagine they are not used in other Cities around the Globe. They are not allowed to compete with regular taxi's in that they can not drive a fare to the Airport. The city has built a monument to Palmona that can be seen while walking the 'boardwalk'.

THURSDAY

……….Natalia fixed a nice breakfast for us this morning before leaving for work.  That was after she washed her car. That lady never stops! . . . . . .The wind has subsided to a great extent and the clouds were not as thick, so warmer weather prevailed this afternoon. I never got too far today, I was too lazy, I guess. I ended up at Macaws for lunch and spent almost two hours there reading and relaxing. I strolled toward the house stopping at a couple of shady spots to read and people watch. I also purchased another 20 peso ice cream on a stick. I noticed a different one in the fridge but I waited until next time to buy it. The one I had today and yesterday was good enough! I was home around 4:30 and worked on my email for over an hour, it would have gone a lot faster but the router I am tuned into is on a telephone hookup and with a week signal too it is slow as the dickens. Chris, at R&R Motors wrote me a nice email today explaining that he feels the transmission is now working fine. He did not have an easy time finding the problem but thinks he solved it. I am very excited about driving it again come spring. He is going to continue driving it off and on during the winter just to make sure it is a permanent repair……… I have found a strange way to post pictures on this blog but it works so I will attempt to post another one this evening. It’s a pictured I took from the ‘boardwalk’ a couple of days ago. A hammock hanging from two palm trees in a setting between two thatch covered restaurants right on the beach.

WEDNESDAY

………….Natalia and I had breakfast together before she left for work at 8:30. I poked around the kitchen a bit and read a while before leaving for my daily walk to wherever I decide to go each day. Today I decided to walk north on the wide ‘boardwalk’ between the ocean waves and the traffic of the city. I will attempt again to post a picture of it so with luck you will see it up there. The picture is looking South after I had walked North for about an hour. The  four lane street goes as far as the eye can see and beyond the curveture of the land to the right. It then proceeds to the Southern end of the penisula. I left the house at 9:45 without expecting I would ever get as far as the Gold Zone but that is where I was by noon. I stopped in at McDonalds for lunch and an hour of reading before I felt the urge to get moving again. I arrived back at the house at 3PM and decided to lie down and read. I woke up at 4:30 and had a couple of scoops of ice cream before sitting down at the puter to get caught up with my blog and email.

TUESDAY

…….I left the house about 10:30 wearing my light sweat shirt over a t-shirt. A light jacket would not have been a bad idea though. My first stop was the post office to mail a post card and I almost did not go in because there was a closed sign in the window. After getting closer than across the street I saw people inside so I entered and found business to be moving right along. In Mexico you must put US postage as well as Mexican postage on stuff going to the US so that meant 44 cents for US and an added 88.5 cents Mexican. I mailed the card to Terri on this date and I am interested to see how soon she gets it. Packages I have sent to Natalia [the ones she received] from Castle Rock took 30 days to arrive. Natalia once ordered a pair of reading glasses from the US and after a month she contacted the dealer via email and complained that they never arrived. She was told no problem; they would ship out another pair to her. Natalia asked them to send them to Canada because her sister would get them and bring them with her when she came to visit in a few weeks. They did that and her sister brought them with her. Two months after the sister went back to Canada the original glasses arrived at Natalia’s house. I sent a Christmas card to Natalia from Kelso on Thanksgiving and it did arrive just in time for Christmas. … . . After leaving the Post Office I began my several block walk to the library [walking on the sunny side of the street] for another book and found Nancy Morgan at the park where she volunteers as an aid to tourists. She has a daughter who graduated from Castle Rock High school many years ago and I had first met her last year when I was here. She is a friend of one of the lady’s in my bowling league. Nancy was talking with another couple and introduced me to them as Arthur and Lottie. Nancy went on to explain to them that I was staying with Natalia and asked them if they knew Natalia and Arthur said Natalia was his Aunt. It was discovered that Daniel, who met me at the airport was his uncle.  This evening after  Natalia arrived I asked her about it but she said no such person exists.. . . . . The library was next on my list so I went another 6 blocks or so and traded in my Hemingway book for a Balzac [I have always wanted to try reading his work. The little park right in front of Macaw’s is just across the street from the library so I found a sunny bench and sat down to read. It was getting time to eat something about the time Nancy came by on her way home so I walked with her to her new abode, she had moved since last year and she showed me the  building she rented in. She pointed out the second floor apartment on the left where she lives and the second floor apartment where her daughter lives. She then pointed to the top floor and told me that is where her other daughter lives. I didn’t go in because by this time I was hungry and wanted to get some lunch at Macaws again. I spent an hour eating and reading then I got cold enough to pay my bill and move across the street to another sunny bench to continue my reading. I stayed there as long as I could. The wind was blowing in off the ocean and it was getting cold so I moved inland a few more blocks and bought another of those ice-cream bars I had yesterday. The Twenty Peso one. I found another park bench in the City Square out of the wind and ate that and read Balzac until I was almost shivering. I was home by 4PM. It took me twenty minutes to get warm. I almost put my jacket on in the house! During the course of the day I stopped by the beach and took a picture of the wild waves coming in. I am going to spend the rest of the evening attempting to post it on this blog. With luck I will learn again how to do it sometime before I go to bed. There is a tiny surfer in the picture, just to the left of center.

MONDAY

……….Natalia left for work about 8:30. She served me breakfast again, she is a wonderful lady and great friend, not to mention fantastic cook!  I cleaned up in the kitchen best I could, I’m not much good in someone else’s kitchen. I then spent some time with the laptop. I have not had it out for almost a year. I am still learning how to and not to use it. I did experiment with the blog a bit and put those pictures where I wanted them, more or less, but I wonder how well I will be able to do it a second time. If the whole thing disappears you will know I pushed a wrong button somewhere. I left the house shortly before 11am stopped by a bank to break up a couple of 500 peso bills; it is difficult for some of the smaller businesses to accept those things. I find the hundreds move along at a smart pace though. I walked south toward the end of the peninsula where the university annex is. I was looking for that little shack restaurant that I had frequented several times last year but it was closed. Or out of business, it would be hard to tell with that place. I will stop by again one day and if it is open I will take a picture for you. Natalia had told me of a new place close to her work so I went there and ordered something delicious but I have no idea what it was. It tasted very good and looked a lot like three rather flat tacos filled with cheese and many other tasty ingredients. I ordered a beer and that arrived in a 210 ml bottle. It was a tiny thing but tasty and I certainly don’t need more beer than that anyway. I was in there eating and reading for about an hour but the wind was blowing through the place and it was very cool right on the water like that. I was wearing only a T-shirt and that was not enough. While walking home I remembered that I wore my lightweight London Fog jacket quit often last year. I should have had my sweatshirt on today at least. I stopped twice while walking home to sit in the sun and read. At one point I even got brave and purchased an ice cream bar. I don’t know what it was made of but I am going to be buying more of those before the winter is over! They cost 20 pesos and are worth every Centavo. I have 40 pages to go on my book so tomorrow I will stop by the Library again, I find I like Hemingway but will probably switch to another author just for the heck of it….I was home by 3pm pooped out and cold. I laid down to read and woke up at 4:20 just long enough to check the time then woke up at about 5:30 just in time to start the evening.....First I wrote the above blog of the day and attempted to add pictures with it. You can tell how well that went. Natalia arrived home late, well after 7pm and in possession of the smoked salmon I had brought as far as the airport. She told me that the man who took it from me did not take it home but put it with the other confiscated items of the day that were to be burned. The man she phoned after I told her about the fish phoned the department that destroys such things and told them that the salmon belonged to Natalia. Those people, who are all friends of Natalia. got all excited and rescued the salmon for her. She was so busy over the weekend that she didn't have time to go get it until this evening. I took a picture of her holding the bag of salmon but as I said earlier I am unable to repeat whatever I did before to post pictures on this site. I have not yet given up and will continue to try and if it does appear you will know the story about that. Natalia was in her room getting ready for bed less than half an hour after she got home. I was tired earlier but that long nap helped so I will be up a while longer trying to post pictures, wish me luck!

SUNDAY

                                        Turkey Buzzard

…..Natalia fixed breakfast today and I helped a bit around the kitchen [mostly doing dishes] as she cooked for her mother for the coming week. I also found the time to read more Hemmingway and to generally do nothing until about 11:30 {Natalia had left for her mother’s place} when I left with my book and water bottle. Today  was cool enough to wear long sleeves but I decided to brave the elements without going back to the house. I did bring a light jacket but it would have been too warm for that. I made a stop at a market and purchased two boxes of cereal for 115Pesos and carried them with me the rest of the day. I had a soup dish and rice for lunch, it was good but the very thin soup had two pieces of unboned chicken and trying to remove the meat from the bone made things difficult with only a fork and spoon. After splashing soup all over me I dove into the soup and lifted the chicken out with my fingers and tore away at it with my teeth. That worked. The dish was called Caldo de Pollo and rice on the side. Natalia told me later it is a favorite local dinner. The taste was fine I only had trouble with eating it without splashing all over myself… . . .After lunch I stopped in the central square and sat on a bench for some time reading and relaxing. I arrived back at the house at 3:30 just as Natalia was driving off; she saw me and waved as she quickly zipped around a corner. I walked to the corner market, Oxxo, and got a quart of milk and a pint of ice cream. I had developed a sweet tooth since lunch. Natalia stopped by later for a short time and had her mother in the car so I went out to say hello. They were on their way to Wal-Mart and we did not visit long. It was nice to see Natalia One again; she has been sick but is making a comeback. Jessica, the nine year old from upstairs stopped by to let Natalia know she was moving away, Jessica was the violin player I mentioned last year when I was here. She told us she no longer plays the violin…..

SATURDAY

…….. . . .I went shopping with Natalia this morning while she stocked up on groceries for the weekend. We looked further for Kellogg’s All Bran Plus that I learned to like last year. I was unable to find it at home and was looking forward to it again but it is not to be found. I had emailed Kellogg last year after arriving home to ask where in Longview I could find it but they wrote back telling me it is not available in the US. I am getting the idea it is also no longer available here…….After getting back to the house I gathered my camera, book and water bottle and went walking. I had lunch at Macaw Café; I took a picture but still have not found how to paste pictures on the face page of this blog. Perhaps I will try to relearn how to put them to the side like the present ones are. Lunch at Macaw was about 40 pesos including a coke lite. That was fine until I decided to order a 60 peso dessert. I could hardly waddle home after all of that…..I also took a picture of the Library that is fifty yards away from Macaw and will post that one day soon…….Natalia was still running in and out this afternoon but left for the evening about 3PM leaving me in charge of the delivery of a tank of Propane that she had run out of. She uses that for cooking and the water heater. The propane guy was here and gone by 4:30 so I read for a while then started this blog. I will have to wait till later in the evening to post it though because the connection from the router across the street will be stronger after the sun goes down and the cars stop whizzing by.  The locals are bundled up to a certain extent but I was comfortable in my T-shirt and an unbuttoned over shirt. I am sure that should I go walking this evening I will wish for my light jacket…….

I decided to stay inside and play with this picture problem I have been having and it seems to have paid off. I was able to post the Picture I was writing about yesterday then unloaded the camera and posted more from today. They have titles but it appears the titles don’t post with the picture. I will see what I can do about that.

FRIDAY

… . . .  . Today I left the house about 10am with my book and a bottle of water in a plastic sack. My first stop was the ‘library’ where I paid 150 Pesos for the right to check out one book at a time for the next year. The store does not offer a large selection but I will not have to read them all to keep me aptly supplied for the time I will be here. I then walked to the beach and strolled the Wide Avenue enjoying the cool breeze and the sights. By noon I was a few hundred yards from the house and stepped in to a very small restaurant for a couple of Tacos. I then stopped at the house for a couple of hours of relaxing before starting out again for a longer stroll around the city. I was not in any hurry and I could tell by the amount of ground I was covering that that was true. I may pick up the pace later but rather doubt it… . . I took a picture of a Turkey buzzard on the beach today but it is a distant shot and I doubt it will be very good. I have to experiment with downloading pictures to this blog before I can post it. I have posted pictures to the body of the blog before but for some reason I am unable to figure out how to do it on the laptop. This machine is very sensitive and just resting my finger on the left or right key causes the machine to respond. For that reason I am constantly doing something wrong, losing patience and chucking the whole thing. I am not using a mouse and find this finger slider just too difficult to get along with. Life sure can be a problem sometimes. Natalia has not yet arrived but I am going to post this now that I’m on line and bring things up to date tomorrow.

THURSDAY

If I did it correctly you will see above a picture of the sidewalk café where I enjoyed lunch today. I spent a quiet hour there reading Pearl Bucks, The Good Earth.  There is traffic on the narrow street but thankfully it is one way to the right. I am developing an interest in the classics and find this one to be very good, it is fiction but I am convinced this sort of thing happened in china many times throughout history, and not only in China. After lunch I wandered around and found some breakfast cereal for about 37 Pesos. On the way home I also purchased a Baseball cap [80 Pesos] with the local team’s logo on it. I thought the locals might appreciate that. This way I look more like a local than I do with the English driving hat I usually wear…..Natalia arrived home late tonight. She told me she knows where the Salmon is but she had to go help her mother after work. All is not lost, she is determined to rescue her smoked salmon! No pix..sorry.

WEDNESDAY

…..I was awake ten minutes before Ron phoned. He arrived 20 minutes later and by 3:30 we were on our way to the airport. The plane left at 5:30. Security took my little pocket knife away from me so I will have to find a replacement in the next few days. It was nice to see the sunshine in Phoenix but I was told it was cold outside, something like 43 degrees. We left 30 minutes late but still landed on time so the flight only lasted 90 minutes. I had to declare my Tillamook Cheese but they accepted that because it was in its original packaging. I had also brought along a half pound of smoked salmon that Mel had given me because I knew Natalia loved smoked salmon. The man at the counter told me he would have to relieve me of that tasty morsel because it was not wrapped properly. It was in a Ziploc bag. I became upset and told him to go ahead and take it, take it home with him and enjoy it. I told him it was the best smoked salmon he would ever eat. I was not happy and I am sure he realized that. I proceeded through customs and complained at the next stop for all the good it did me. Natalia’s Nephew was waiting for me as I exited the area and after I purchased $270.00 worth of Pesos we were on our way. Natalia was not home so I put my stuff away as soon as Daniel drove off. I then locked the place up after me and went for a stroll around town. I was looking for All Bran Plus breakfast cereal but was unable to find any. I will find some tomorrow. It is not available in the States and I have grown a fondness for it since my last trip down here. Natalia arrived about 6:30 and we had a happy reunion while she cooked for her mother and us. During our conversation I told her about the surprise smoked salmon she almost got. She asked me who the man was behind the counter and I described him as best as I could. She picked up her cell phone and told me she would find it. After a couple of minutes she hung up the phone and told me they would call her back. She left about 7PM to take her Mother her evening meal and got home before 8. I told her she had forgotten her cell phone and it had rung once while she was gone. She checked the number and called back, two minutes later she hung up and said she had found the smoked salmon and would pick it up the next day. Needless to say I was beyond belief! All of that happened yesterday and I am posting this after she left for work. I am going to be waiting to hear the end of the story today. That was yesterday, I am warm, healthy and happy and plan on making another tour of the beach this afternoon. I will take my book along with a bottle of water and find a shady palm to sit under while I read and relax.

TUESDAY

. . . . . My Protime check turned out fine this morning. After leaving the lab I stopped by the restaurant to meet the ‘52’ gang for lunch. There were only seven of us there. We missed Bob Vetious, Dewey said he was not feeling well and even Dewey was just getting over a spot of flu. I wished them all a nice winter and told them I would see them in the spring. I then went home to finish my last minute packing and prepare doggy for his change of home. I arrived at Teigen’s before 4PM and unloaded the doggy stuff before delivering the car to R&R Motors. Ron then drove me back to their place for a nice steak dinner. After dinner we watched TV for a while then I said bye bye to the little dog and Ron drove me home. He will pick me up at 3:30 am and the great adventure will begin! It rained most of the day but the temperature is at record highs so there is not any fear of snow in the morning. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

MONDAY

. . . . .With my errand running completed by 11:30 I stopped by the bowling alley for the last time before leaving town. My average for the first five lines was the same as my second five. 135.6. I hope I am able to improve on that during the summer league that will start a week after I get back. Light rain most of the day, as expected. The temperature was an acceptable 49. Acceptable only because it is too warm to snow. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

SUNDAY

. . . . . Lots of football today and I did again force myself onto the stepper for forty minutes. Other than that it was a most quiet day. Rain arrived this evening; I have no idea what it will be like tomorrow but I am sure I will stop by the bowling alley after taking care of some business at the bank. No rain would be nice….. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

SATURDAY

. . . . . . .Right after having lunch I drove to the bowling alley. The idea of exercising does not sit well with me but the bowling thing I find very satisfying; when I do well. And, I do find it is exercise! Today was a good day, I averaged 146.8 over ten lines and one of those was a 200 game. This is the first time in months that I have reached 200. It is also the fourth time I have been at or above that number. After bowling I stopped by the house and picked up the dog and we visited Ron and Caren for a short time. Doggy is getting used to seeing them so dropping him off next Tuesday evening for the winter will not be a big surprise. I am now in the process of packing my trunk with all of my junk and getting ready to fly away until the snow melts. Natalia needs a reading lamp in my room so Caren gave me an extra one to take to her. It will fit in my suitcase just fine and I will still be under my 50 pound limit. I will leave it with Natalia and use it again next winter if Natalia decides to invite me again. I have not heard from her for a couple of weeks so I will send a short note tomorrow reminding her that I am on my way. Snow is expected a few hours after my plane leaves, looks like I will get away just in time! http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

FRIDAY

. . . . .Two of yesterdays four deer returned this morning. I was eating breakfast and one of the deer walked up to the living room window and looked in to spy on me. She jumped away as I got out of the chair to get my camera. I was able to get a couple of not so good pics of the two of them as they glided across the grass and disappeared into the bushes. A couple of hours later I went outside to intercept Roy as he was delivering my mail. Naturally ChiChi followed and as we talked the dog ran over to the deer poop and started rolling in it. Yuk! As soon as he left the spot Roy’s dog, Lexie, started to do the same. We said goodbye and I herded my dog inside and Roy did his best to save his dog from such fate. I have been putting off bathing ChiChi but that all changed as soon as I got him inside. He made an attempt to hide but I had my leather gloves on and him by the collar before he could escape. I did get one bite on the left wrist but it was not too bad, never did bleed like so many times in the past. Crazy dog.. . . My plan for the day was to go for another walk down to the river but since the dog was wet and shivering after the bath I decided to spend thirty minutes on the stepper and call that my daily exercise. The dog is still hiding under the bed. He will forget all about it before long and come out looking for me. I will scratch behind his ears and all will be forgiven. He is pretty good. . .. for a dog. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

THURSDAY

. . . . The thermometer read 27 this morning, no wind and no clouds. The sunshine is great! Roy told me he checked his thermometer at 5am and it read 21. The sun was bright and shining when I left at 9:45 to drive up the hill to see Bernita about a haircut. After leaving there I stopped by R&R Motors to remind them that I would be by about 5PM next Tuesday to drop off the car for the winter. Chris is going to spend his free time during the cold months to find out what is needed to get that transmission working correctly. I am sure it will be in excellent shape when I get back. After leaving R&R I drove home for lunch then continued on to the bowling alley. I was happy to have bowled a 437 series which is very close to a 146 average for the day. I met Sharon, who will be taking my place for the balance of the year and told my other team members to expect me back in the spring. I then went to Safeway for some milk and bananas and while checking out received a twenty cent per gallon discount on gasoline so I filled up the tank at $3.11 per gallon. It was a good day, I should mention that the clouds are rolling in quickly and it is getting cold. Snow is on the way, I wish not, however. As I was typing the above I noticed three deer outside my window. I ran for the camera and as I was snapping away I realized that there were actually four deer in attendance. They were all small but if the people with the hunting rifles don’t see them they may grow up to be nice looking animals. I saw no sign of horns on the deer. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

WEDNESDAY

. . . . The sun was out in all of its glory today, not a cloud in the sky but with snow in the forecast. Darn it! ChiChi and I walked down the hill to the river bottom right after lunch. We were gone an hour and I really felt better about the world when we got back. It is amazing what a bit of exercise will do for one. The temperature was above freezing but the little bit of snow still around in patches was not in any hurry to disappear. There was no wind so the sunshine did a good job of keeping us warm as we strolled along. I am looking forward to bowling tomorrow. I hope I don’t fall on my face. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

TUESDAY

. . . . .The snow melted away as the day progressed, by night fall most of it was gone and there was no hint of it returning anytime soon. I spent the day inside watching TV and reading. Accomplished nothing and feel fat and lazy because of it. I did get all of my laundry caught up though. I wish I could say I got some exercise but that never happened. I will try again tomorrow. . . . . http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/