Wednesday

. . . .I was awake at 2am getting my email caught up; I find that is the best time to find Comcast at Natalia’s house, and that through a dial up link/router from across the street. I finished with the email around 3am and attempted to get back to sleep but that was a long time coming. At some point I was asleep though because I remember being awakened at 5am by the sound of a car crash then a lot of yelling, I could not tell what they were saying but someone was really making himself heard. Next was a gunshot right outside my bedroom window, not more than twenty feet away. Then about two seconds later another gun shot with loud voices leaving the area and five seconds later two or maybe three shots fired from a distance from the house. I would have guessed them to have come from about a block away. Things were quiet for a minute before a lot of loud voices returned right outside my window with many police vehicles parked on the street. In this town police vehicles are pickups with benches for police officers to sit on while being transported around town. I got brave and peeked out between the blinds of my window and saw the street was swarming with armed policemen. They had a bad guy in custody and were roughly accompanying him to the back of one of the pickups and forcing him to lie down in the back of the truck. He wanted to set up but they were having none of that so he was suddenly no longer to be seen. He was in the bottom of the truck bed. By 5:30 all was quiet and I fell back to sleep. When I awoke Natalia told me she had not been able to go back to sleep after all of the noise so she got up to start her new day. At daybreak she was out front washing her car when the lady from across the street told her a burglar had been running from the police on a motorcycle when he crashed into the lamppost next to Natalia’s house then to the top of her house and dropped down onto her patio. Around here there are only two ways to get out of a patio and that is to scale a 12 foot wall or go through the house to the front door. Luckily for the lady her back door to the patio was heavily locked and they guy could not get away. A couple of policemen dropped down into the patio and took the turkey into custody and asked her to open the door so they could escort him outside to the vehicles. This was accomplished with little difficulty and it was then that I had opened the blinds to watch him being placed not so gently in the back of the truck. What a way to start a day! It made me wonder what was in store that could top it!    .   . Natalia had, again, made oatmeal for me so I had that for breakfast as she was on her way out the door heading to work in a freshly washed car. The wrecked motorcycle was nowhere to be seen. The street was back to normal. No problem. I was fairly certain that the day would end on a much reduced scale of excitement than how it began. I was not to be disappointed.  I left about 10am and walked by the Plaza where Nancy had her Volunteer Greeter location set up. We talked for a few minutes before I decided to get on with my day. I decided to walk to the little ‘lean to’ lunch spot I had located some weeks before, near the University annex that Natalia works at. It is a long walk and I was hungry when I arrived at noon. The man behind the counter told me there was no food today because the cook had failed to show up for work. Wouldn’t you know it! But like Natalia would say, ‘that’s Mexico’. I found another restaurant near a Government Naval operation and had lunch there. It was an expensive place but the food was good. No one complained while I sat there until 3:30 reading the Ken Follett book Natalia had loaned me. There was a nice roof on the place but only the kitchen was closed to the elements, a very comfortable sea breeze drifted through the eating area. My table was right over the water, a nice view each time I raised my little pointed head out of the book and took a break. After spending almost 170 pesos [@ 8 cents per Peso] I was on my way home, arriving there about 4:30. It had been a nice day. At 5:15 I attempted to access the internet through the router across the street but no such luck. I decided to try again later.

Tuesday

. . . . I was awake from 2am to after 3:00 taking care of my email and now it is all caught up [again]. I have several daily news letters coming in and if they are not taken care of they add up rather quickly. I see on my weather report that it is 32 degrees in Kelso; it sure is nice to not be there at the moment! I made it to Stone Island today,  took many more pictures of parts of the area I had missed before, had a nice lunch and spent over two hours sitting in the shade on the beach reading a book Natalia had recommended. A big thick monster by Ken Follet about spies and their work in WWII.  It was a full day and I arrived back at the house about 5:30, except for the boat ride I walked the entire distance, I suppose it might have amounted to six miles on the outside.  A pretty good walk for a kid.

Monday

.. . . . . I was feeling much better this morning, Natalia left earlier than usual because there is a lot going on at her work. After a bowl of cereal I started a load of laundry and used the ‘waiting time’ to continue reading Moby Dick. The sunshine is especially bright today, sky is a comfortable blue, and the air is like medicine to the lungs. I was able to access Comcast at 5am but by 9am it was impossible. I did get my email answered though so all is fine there. It was about 11:30 that I left the house. I walked south in the direction of the south bay to catch a small boat to Stone Island. One of the larger Plaza’s in town is two blocks south of Natalia’s house and when I got there I decided to sit in the shade and read for a while. It was quit and comfortable, so much so that I felt I really did not have any interest in exploring today. I sat there long enough to finish Moby Dick then decided to return to the house for another book. Natalia had made Meat balls yesterday and left two for me for lunch so I decided to enjoy that before picking up ‘Around the World in Eighty Days’ and continuing my travels. I got as far as the beach and found a row of benches overlooking the area where the fishermen bring in their catch each morning.  It turned out to be a nice spot to read, watch the ocean and spy on the locals as they walked buy on the concrete boardwalk. After a time I walked to the Blue Port and had a beer with chips, continued my reading and generally relaxed. By 4pm I had worked up an appetite so I ordered a dinner salad, continued reading and returned home by 5pm. Maybe tomorrow I will get to Stone Island.

Sunday

……….I failed to mention in yesterday’s blog that the correct spelling for that golf cart sized taxi is Pulmonia. I believe it is named after the man who first introduced it to the city in 1965. There is a monument to his honor on the Beach. Perhaps I had mentioned an allergy problem I was having. This morning I was too tired to get out of bed with any amount of vim and vigor, Natalia fixed a really nice liver meal for breakfast. Liver in a red sauce and Tortilla’s. After breakfast I helped where I could while she prepared her weekly meals for her family. Eventually though I began to feel cold so I returned to bed wrapped in my blanket.  I attempted to read but that lead to falling asleep. When I awoke at 1PM I found a note from Natalia telling me about lunch that she had left in the micro-wave for me. She had gone to visit family. After eating I felt much better but still could not bring myself to get out of the house.  This also turned out to be another day when I was unable to find Comcast on line so my email will wait until late tonight or tomorrow some time. Natalia returned home at 6pm and I visited with her as she ate dinner. She fixed me some hot honey and lime juice for any possible sore throat that I might be getting. Just before I went to bed she had me mix some bicarbonate of soda and water for some reason. I drank that down then she laughed when I complained that it ruined the taste of the honey and lime.

Saturday

. . . . Natalia felt bad that she could not cook breakfast this morning but she had an appointment with the bus company that is to furnish transportation for her next hike on March 11tth. It appears the bus she signed for cannot make it over the road she is requesting so they have to agree on a different bus. However that appointment did not interfere with her morning cooking program for next week; she was up and running early enough for that.  I told her it was nice to have a day off. She laughed. She might have sneaked a couple of bites of vegetables while preparing the soup but I never did see her have time for breakfast. She has a day off and has left the house earlier than she would if it were a work day. I fixed myself a bowl of cereal and pondered this new day. I decided to take my book and go exploring. I left the house at 9:30 and took a few pictures of the ocean, sat and read several times, ate twice while I was out and bought another book at the local book store/library. While setting out front of the library Nancy came by and visited for a minute until a friend of hers came by and they both disappeared around the corner never to be seen again. I returned home at 4:30 and visited with Natalia for a few minutes before she left to go out with an American girl friend she has not visited with for some time. I was tired and ready to call it a day. . . . .It happened that today became another of those periods when I have been unable to get on Comcast so my email will have to be checked later. I hope I will be able to post to the blog.

Friday

. . .. . . . I was late waking up this morning and when I did leave my room Natalia was on her way out the door attempting to get an early start on her work day. We talked for only a minute and she was gone. She did tell me she would be going out after work and would not be home until late. She added that she planned on cooking breakfast tomorrow morning; I said thank you and as she closed the door she said you’re welcome. . . .  The lady who never stops. I had a bowl of cereal and checked my chances of getting on line before giving thought to meeting Nancy at 11am for our journey to Stone Island. Getting on line fizzled out but the bright sunlight bode good will for a walking excursion on the ‘Island’.  I met Nancy at her place at 11:00 and after walking a block or two flagged down a Pulmonia {taxi. Shaped like a golf cart only a bit larger, top speed about 40mph. They are as numerous as ants at a pick nick.] To deliver us to the Port dock. The ride across the water was 30 pesos each and took about that many seconds to make the trip. When we got off at the other side we were directed to the back of a pickup truck and sat on benches for the ride through the village to the beach on the other side of the Peninsula, perhaps more than a mile but not much more. I wished to take pictures but there was no chance from the bed of a pickup going like a bullet through the little streets.  All of this riding was because Nancy was having serious knee problems and certainly did not wish to aggravate the situation. We had lunch while she greeted many people from town that she knew. We both agreed that we chose the wrong place to eat. Her fish was really dry as was my beef slices. They called it Carnas Asada, the flavor was there but I could not chew the meat. The waiter marked  about 50 pesos of the price. I will not return there next time.  I do feel the rice and beans were great though. After lunch we walked down the beach to the narrow part of the peninsula and over to a different dock for the return trip. After arriving back on land we caught another Polmonia for the ride back to Nancy’s place. 5 minutes, 6 tops.  Nancy had a good time but I wish to return and explore the entire distance on foot. I was expecting many miles of walking and discovered that the entire village and beach front is actually rather small. I will return one day next week and spend more time in the little village; from what I could see the natives who live there are living the same way their Grandparents lived a hundred years ago. I left Nancy about 2PM and walked home. It was a really nice day to be out; the temperature may have reached 80 but the sea breeze left me very comfortable in my T-shirt. The rest of the day was spent accomplishing nothing. I did read for a while and as usual that lead to a nap followed by a bowl of ice cream and more reading. I showered and settled in for the evening

Thursday

. . . . . When Natalia came home last night she told me that the drink I was looking for was Mescal, evidently it has a worm in the bottle too.  I decided to return to that same store today to continue my search for the elusive poison. In the meantime since the fumigators did not make this one of their scheduled stops last Thursday they promised to be here today so I thought I would wait until they left before I departed the premises. I did wait until 11:30 but by that time I was getting hungry so I tossed my book in my bag and started my journey, saying “Adios” to Olivia who had arrived at her regular time to do her housekeeping. I stopped at a nearby ‘restaurant’ someone had created in their double garage and ordered something to eat. I have no idea what is but I certainly liked it. It looked like three soft shelled tacos with beef chunks inside. I had also asked for beans but they never came. I was there for almost an hour snacking on the lunch and sipping a coke while reading Melville. The walk to the Liquor Store took about 45 minutes and after asking where the Mescal might be I searched the area for a bottle of anything that had a worm or bug in it, to no avail. I shant give up but I must admit to a certain amount of skepticism as to ever locating that animal in a bottle of something. I then left, crossing the street and aiming toward home with the ocean on my right and two tons of traffic buzzing by on my left. After a couple of blocks my friend Montezuma started whispering in my ear so I caught the next bus and five minutes later I was home. In plenty of time, no problem. Olivia was gone and I have no idea if the exterminators had been here or not. There was no odor but that sometimes means nothing. My Laptop was still secure on the shelf where I had left it. After reading for a while, thinking I might fall asleep but that never came about, I decided to take my book to the Plaza and read there for a time. I then felt the need for some ice cream so I hiked to the large super market [a real supermarket by Mazatlan standards] and bought a gallon of the stuff. I had to rearrange things in the freezer to get it to fit; hoping Natalia does not come home with a lot of frozen stuff that belongs there. I was home about 4:30 and satisfied my craving for the icy delight then approached the computer with the intent of getting on the internet and posting my blog. I was unable to do that at that time so I had to wait until later. It was close to 7pm before things cleared up enough for that to happen. Natalia was tired this morning and told me she was going to get home early, it didn’t happen. The Mazatlan facility of the University of Mexico has recently gotten a new director [she is the director’s secretary] and she is putting in extra time helping him get up to speed.

Wednesday

. . . .  I took possession of my new top front partial this morning. My smile is improved but by the way the thing is made I am having trouble with certain letters of the alphabet. The letter C is difficult because my tongue cannot get to the roof of my mouth. The support piece from one side of the appliance to the other gets in the way. Same problem with the letter D. G is not a hard sound like it used to be. J is not the same as it was. G is OK as long as I am speaking the word good but not when I speak the letter G. The letter H comes out as ASH. T is a problem also because the cross piece on the roof of my mouth gets in the way of my tongue. There is a space between the roof of my mouth and the partial that may be a problem, I am not yet sure. The dentist explained that my lower jaw juts too far forward to get a truly beautiful result but I don’t mind that. It is an improvement over what used to be there. I feel that if the partial fit closer to the roof of my mouth most of my speaking problem would be solved. I will get back to him soon and ask about that.  Another question is what happens when the old teeth that are now holding the partial in place slide away due to the slight pressure and the partial is overcome by gravity. What holds it in place then?  There is no way to ‘stick’ it to the roof of my mouth.. . . . I had eaten a bit earlier than usual this morning so by the time I left the dentist I was beginning to develop an appetite. I had my book with me so I began my continuing exploration of the city. Old town has been pretty well gone over but that main shopping area is always exciting so my plan was to walk in that direction.  As I stepped out the door I remembered that Natalia had pointed out to me a store that sells hard liquor; that store was in the direction of the Gold Zone so that is the way I went. I was looking for a bottle of Tequila that is bottled with a worm in it. I had seen such a thing at some point in my travels but it was a long time ago. I found the store, a large store that had a sample of every kind of alcohol I could ever imagine but no tequila with a worm in it. And no other kind of poison with a worm in it. The man behind the counter told me that perhaps it was a product of Northern Mexico but they claim to have never seen it in this part of the country. I had no reason to continue walking toward the Gold Zone but I did so anyway. After another mile I decided I was close enough to McDonalds to try out my new teeth on a 2,000 calorie double burger. I was also carrying my book with me so I ate slowly and enjoyed the meal while Herman Melville entertained me. The teeth worked fine. When I left the Golden Arches I considered catching a bus back home but I was feeling so well I decided to walk awhile before relenting to that temptation. As happens I walked all the back to the Blue Port Restaurant and sauntered in for a beer and chips. My teeth did a good job of crushing those chips up into a fine tasty dust that mixed well with the Pacifico Lite. And lime. Around here beer is served with sliced lime, not a bad flavor, sure better than salt in the beer. I was there for almost another hour with Herman and Captain Ahab before walking on home. As I walked by the Oxxo Market I considered stopping for an ice cream but denied myself the pleasure. It is close so I may stop by later. I would guess I walked seven miles today, give or take.

Tuesday

I ate the rest of the oatmeal Natalia had prepared for me yesterday. After she left for work I played on the computer for a long time, attempting to sign on to Skype. I made a call to Terri and had to leave a message because there was no answer. It has been several days since I have heard from her. I then called Caren just to make sure my Skype was working, all is fine there. Chichi dog seems to be doing very well; at least they have not killed him yet. Before I left for another day of exploring I ate some soup that Natalia had left for me. It was close to 11:30 when I finally left the house. I found Nancy in the Plaza and we made plans to make the 300 foot cruise to Stone Island Friday morning. I then walked from the Plaza to the ocean and back home via the concrete boardwalk. I witnessed the commercial part of the Tuesday night parade at 4pm then stood around until 5:30 waiting for the main part. It was on its way, I could see it across the bay but I came home. I found an email from Terri so I can stop worrying about her; she has lost an old friend these past few days and has been too busy to get back to the computer. Her health is OK so she is doing much better that I had imagined. And that pleases me very much. It turns out to have been a very good day.

Monday

. . . . Natalia had oatmeal ready for me when I got up this morning. After she left for work I fixed her front door so it would close easier [wd40] and changed a light bulb in her living room ceiling light. She will like that. I ran a load of my laundry, folded some things she had left in the dryer, worked on my chess games while my stuff was drying and generally tried to make myself useful. I left the house about 10am and did nothing all day but roam around getting acquainted with the city. I had a couple of tacos for lunch and read for about an hour before continuing strolling along. At one point I bought a drink to carry along and found a nice quiet park to sit in while starting Moby Dick. That is a tough read but not much worse than Dickens.
I returned to the house at 5pm, ate a bowl of cereal and tried to take a nap. Usually I can do that during the day but today was not one of those times. Natalia arrived at 6:30 and went to her room to change her shoes then entered the kitchen wrapping an apron around her waist.  Since she had not done her family cooking over the weekend she felt compelled to get it done before another minute passed. I sat and visited with her until 8pm, helping her when I could, then went to my room and posted this before going to bed. Tomorrow is Tuesday, the second of two large parades during the Carnaval Festivities will be held late afternoon.

Sunday 19th

 . . . The little girl from upstairs and little Natalia were with us for breakfast. One of them wanted pancakes and the other asked for omelet and beans. Natalia and the girls fixed both and I got my share too. After breakfast we all worked getting the kitchen cleaned up then Natalia and I took a can of ‘tire fix’ to where her car was parked and got the tire inflated enough to drive to the shop nearby. We had locked the girls in the house and told them to not let anyone in. When I got back they were nowhere to be seen. I became concerned until I saw the closet door in Natalia’s room move a half inch. I then went in the kitchen and cleaned up a couple of pots that had been missed after breakfast. A few minutes later they got tired of hiding and came out to the kitchen. I said ‘Hola’ and left it at that. After I was finished in the kitchen I had to use the bathroom and was gone for several minutes. When I emerged from there I noticed again that the girls were missing. This time I found them inside the large portable  closet I had in my room. The tall one 7-9 years old was standing on my dirty laundry and the other had crawled into my shirt closet and was sitting there. It was not tall enough for her to stand. This time I made a big deal out of finding them and that created some merriment all  artound. Natalia returned shortly after and I left to wander around to see what was going on down at the beach. The main street was blocked off and the parade floats were already lining up for the 4:30 parade, hundreds of chairs were in place along the sidewalk with different families names on the backs of them. Some of the chairs were already occupied. I walked to a nearby market and picked up some more cereal and delivered it back to the house. Later I found myself at the Blue Port for lunch and since I had my book with me I read on that for almost an hour. Things were starting to get busy on the street by 2:30; a lot of people were arriving. By 4:30 the first part of the parade started moving. This consisted of local merchants driving by advertising their existence [the largest of them being Pacifico Beer] and tossing candy out to the viewers. At 4:50 that ended and a police car pulled up to the starting line where I was standing. Everything stopped at that point until 5:30. That is when the real parade began. I was tired already. And getting cold. And unhappy because the sun was sitting very quickly. I took pictures of all that I felt might produce an acceptable view of whatever it was I trying to create a view of. It got darker and darker, colder and colder and later and later.  The parade would move 50 feet and stop for the longest time then move another 50 feet. The sunset was nice so I took a couple of pictures of that then started walking toward the end of the line of floats. I took pictures all the way to the end of the parade and at that point found myself two hundred yards from the house. I went home. Natalia and the girls were still out. I posted my blog and called it a day. BTW, someone asked for Natalia’s recipe for her rice dessert. I can only say that she cooks the rice in a mixture of water and canned milk, After that is completed she adds sugar and Cinnamon, two well beaten eggs and puts it all in a baking pan and covers it before putting it in the oven. That is all I could get out of Natalia so perhaps with a bit of experimenting you can figure it out. It is really delicious and I like the fact that it does not have raisins in it. Give it a try.

Thursday

. . . . . Natalia prepared breakfast this morning. I cannot describe it except to say that she said it can also be served for dinner. During breakfast she mentioned that we would be having guests from Minnesota for lunch. After breakfast she found things for me to do to help when she started cooking lunch. She had everything completed by 11:30. It was then that she left to do some shopping and told me to great the guests as they arrived, which I did. She returned shortly after they arrived and we all sat in the living room getting acquainted until about 1pm when Natalia put food on the table and we all followed her to the dining room table. The meal was very good; Natalia had made two kinds of hot sauce, hot and hotter. She and I ate the hotter on our tacos and the two couples visiting ate the hot. She had made pork filling for the tacos, it was really very tasty and the rice dessert was real special. The two couples left about 3:45 to attend Carnival and I helped Natalia clean the place up then we retired to the patio for a while until her daughter, arrived with her daughter, also named Natalia. By then it was almost 4:30 and I retired to my room to bring my blog up to date and to read while they visited. The weather has turned cool and I was surprised to see the Minnesota couples dressed much warmer than I was. They had been here several times in the past and were well acquainted with the surprise changes in the weather in this part of the world. I would have been happy with an extra thick shirt at least. At the moment we are ‘enjoying’ 30 kph winds coming onshore. The temperature is about 14c.I think that is in the low 40’sf and cooling off as the sun sets.  A couple of hours later Natalia’s daughter left. The plan is for Granddaughter to spend the rest of the weekend. Jessica, the nine year old from upstairs came down to visit and the three of them ran off to the market to do some shopping. I had some more Rice pudding as they walked out the door. I could hear fireworks explosions as I typed up my blog for the day.

Friday 17th

. . . . I left the house at 9:40 to meet Nancy for our boat ride and hike to Stone Island. Poor Nancy has a very large and infected blood blister on her left big toe so the only place she was going today was to see the doctor. We will attempt the Island hop again next week. This city is in Carnival Mood this weekend so after leaving Nancy I walked out on the beach front to watch all of the booths being constructed and the various stages for entertainment being put in place. It has been reported that the road is closed but there is no one there to stop the vehicles so you can imagine the chaos. The ‘King’ of the Carnival was crowned last night and I guess it is the Queens turn tonight. All streets leading into the Promenade area are to be blocked at 4pm and booths will be set up to collect 25Pesos $1.92us to get into the festivities. I am told that is to be the situation up to and including Tuesday night. I will take a walk down that way after a while and see how things are coming along. After walking only about half of the beach this morning I went back into Old Town for more window shopping and lunching. I found a seat in one of the Plaza’s in town and read for a while before returning to the house about 4pm. It is very apparent while walking by the banks that the American dollar is losing power in the world. A month ago when I arrived a dollar bought 13.56Pesos, this morning a dollar buys only 13.00Pesos. Gee, it’s getting expensive to live down here! LOL. I was searching for a market that sells ice cream today and was unable to find one. Even the very large Central Market has no booth that sells ice-cream in bulk. The last liter I bought at Oxxo {a small version of a 7/11} had been previously melted and refrozen while lying on its side. I never was able to find a date on it. This morning I asked Natalia if the mouth wash I had purchased yesterday really was mouthwash and after looking at the bottle agreed it was but wanted to know why I asked. I told her it says Mint flavored but it did not taste very Minty. She said, ‘did you buy it in Mexico?’ I said, yes. She shrugged her shoulders and said, ‘That’s Mexico’. I walked North on the Promenade about 5pm to see what was going on as far as festivities were concerned but discovered that most of the excitement was going to be at the Southern end of town, actually closer to Old Town than half way between that and the Gold Zone. I stopped in at ‘Blue Port’ for a beer and a bowl of clam chowder. Clam chowder is not usually my thing but this was pretty good. I had taken my book along so between that and watching the sunset I was well occupied. I was back at the house by 6:45. I tried to access my Comcast account but failed. I will wake up during the night and try again.

Thursday

. . . When I saw Natalia this morning she told me she gotten home about 11pm last night. She said the party she attended was much more than she had expected and she was not dressed for it but was talked into staying anyway. One of the guests was the Tourist Minister of Mexico all dressed up in his finest. She told me that it rained very hard while she was driving home and shortly after saying that the clouds opened up above us and we had a little monsoon right outside the door, I found after a month’s visit that it can rain in Mexico!

 It is very strange, after having access to my Comcast email for a couple of days I now find it is no longer available from Natalia’s house. Oh well, the new restaurant I found is much closer than the Café so I shall not complain. I was awake again this morning at 4am so I did try one more time, I was able to read and respond to a note from Terri but it was difficult maintaining a connection.. . .   Olivia, the housekeeper, was expected this morning as was the ‘bug’ man. The bug man comes once a month to spray for the little creatures that inhabit the homes of Mexico when proper safeguards are not in place. Natalia has had dealings with the company for a long time but  she said she knows nothing about the individual workers so she advised me to be around to protect my laptop, camera and loose change just to be on the safe side. While Olivia was here I read my book and relaxed. About 12:30 Natalia phoned Olivia on her cell phone to let her know they called and cancelled until next week. At that point I was ready for some lunch so I grabbed my book and walked to the Puerto Azul [Blue Port], the place that I had been talking about. I had a beer, chips, sauce, Pasta Primavera with chicken and bread. All for about $10.00US. Natalia had mentioned to me that a family of four can squeeze by on about one thousand Pesos per week if they don’t own a car. That works out to about $2.00US per hour for a man working a 9 to 5. I had just paid over a day’s wages for lunch. I read quietly for about an hour before a Mexican with a guitar came in with another customer’s approval and started singing Spanish ballads. I, not appreciating Spanish ballads, paid my bill and walked back to the house to start this daily blog. I then took my book to the bed and awoke some time later realizing my day had more or less ended as far as going out again was concerned. I jumped in the shower and found myself wide awake in a very short time. But that was not enough to create a large amount of interest in any more than additional reading. I decided to eat my remaining ice cream for dinner [later] and call it a day.

Wednesday

.. . . Last night after posting my blog I tried again to get my email account from Comcast and was very happy to have succeeded! There was a message from Terri and one from Mr. and Mrs. Hill! If this keeps up I will be able to do away with the hike to the Café and or the restaurant down the street. It is a miracle! It is magic! It has only taken a month; perhaps that is the way of Mexico. This morning I left the house about 10am having no idea where to go but decided there was another way to get to Wal-Mart, a street I had not been on so away I went. On the way I found Burger King again so I stopped in for lunch and since I had brought my book along I stayed about an hour. After lunch I walked past Wal-Mart into territory I had yet to see. I was surprised to find myself in the area of the Marina about two hours later. I had never thought I would walk that far but yet there I was. I took a few pictures from the stop of a bridge to remind myself that I was really there before heading back in the direction of home. By that time I knew my walking day was over so I caught the first bus that was pointed in the direction I wished to travel and stayed on it until it turned in a direction I did not want to go. I then walked a block or so to catch another south bound bus. By this time I knew where I was so I knew I was home free. The total time on the two buses was about 40 minutes. I decided I had been a long way from the house. I walked in the door about 4:45 and immediately began this blog entry. . . I also attempted to open my Comcast account but was unable to access my email. I was on the account but when I clicked Email I found myself unable to go further. That is when I decided to pack up the laptop and head for the new place on the Promenade, overlooking the ocean waves coming in. Natalia told me last night that she grew up in that restaurant; her Grandmother owned it when Natalia was a little girl. It seems the Grandmother at one time was a commercial success in Mazatlan. She gave all her children and grandchildren the houses they are living in today. The new place is pretty nice, a bit spendy but the location means a lot in tourist country. There are very few restaurants right on the water in this city. Well, I just ate a crab meat tostada, chips and salsa with my beer so I think I will post this and head for home. It is pretty dark out; I am usually home by this time.

Tuesday

Tuesday Happy Valentine’s Day! I over slept this morning; it was almost eight when I got up to greet Natalia with a pleasant “Coma Sta” She was feeling much better, the cold she thought was on the way had not meterialized so she was feeling like it had been brushed aside. She left for work at the usual 8:30 and I prepared a bowl of All Bran for my breakfast. I cleaned up my kitchen mess and spent time on the puter getting my chess games up to snuff and answering an email I had gotten from Terri via Hotmail. It was about 10:15 when I left the house with my book in hand on my way to the Plaza near Nancy’s house. She was out greeting tourists as I had been told to expect and we talked for a few minutes. It was agreed that we would meet at 10am Friday morning and do ‘Stone Island’. Several people have told me that I should not miss that so we decided to give it a try. She said it has been a while since she has been there.  I found another little park with benches a few blocks away and sat to read for a while. When I began to feel my appetite return I left that spot and found a noisy little restaurant right on the sidewalk across from the beach. The noise was caused from all of the traffic and I decided to sit inside because there was a cool breeze puffing its way in off the ocean. I took a picture of the two tacos, rice and beans I had ordered. The tacos were green peppers stuffed with goat cheese and shrimp. Hot sauce on the side. I proceeded to use all of that hot sauce and the waiter brought a second serving which I also used. I had a Coke Lite with it but the next time I will order a beer. I enjoyed every bite and completely cleaned my plate. The dish washer probably loved me for that. After paying my bill and stopping by a little store where I purchased a set of ear rings for Natalia, after all, she did surprise me this morning with a nice Valentine’s Day Hug, I started for home. It was then that I realized Montezuma was in the process of extracting his revenge via the meal I had just enjoyed so much. I felt in my heart that getting home in time was not going to be a problem so I marched on my way. Ten steps short of the front door the inevitable happened. Let me say it was only a very serious although wet preamble to what was on its way. I was on the throne almost in time to divert disaster.  A few minutes later I had myself cleaned up and ready to continue the day. It was only 1:30 in the afternoon. I decided to read for a while and woke up about 2:30. The day was still young and I felt like a bit of a walk so I left the house in the direction of the beach. It was the time of day when the traffic begins to become loud along the beach but I found a Sea food restaurant that had a nice patio so I ordered a beer and relaxed. The entrance to the restaurant fronts on the walkway/street but the patio hangs out over the beach. I was happy to discover that the building blocks most of the noise from the street so I could easily hear the waves breaking. The breeze was brisk and I did not have a t-shirt on under my short sleeved shirt so I felt a bit cool. I was there for most of an hour and when I called for the check, “La Quinta” the bill came to only 20pesos. $1.60US. Not only that but they offer free Wi-Fi; I decided right then that I would be back. It is only a five minute walk from Natalia’s place.

Monday

Monday 13^th. . . Natalia had her famous oatmeal ready for me when I got up this morning, really nice of her! She left for work at 8:30 and I put in a load of laundry and worked on my chess games until it was time to leave for the dentist appointment at 9:15. The impressions were taken today and I was home by 10:10. I then put the laundry in the dryer and returned to the chess games. When the laundry was finished and put away I packed up the laptop and hiked to the Café for lunch and to get my Comcast email caught up. After returning the laptop to the house I grabbed my latest book and wandered to the Plaza and sat in the shade reading and relaxing. I also walked to the beach to try that but the traffic noise was a bit too much for my brain to accept so I returned to the house… It has been a nice day, wonderful weather, my health seems to be mighty fine.

Sun day 12th

I had high hopes when I got up this morning but the day ended without much getting done. The day turned out to be a day of rest, after all. Natalia had breakfast cooking when I first awoke so I quickly got may face washed and hair combed before sitting down to the first meal of the day. It was a Mexican breakfast and would easily be called dinner at home. She had prepared a dish of shredded beef, chopped tomatoes, onions, lettuce, chili's and a few other things all blended in a stir fry type of pan. This was served with tortilla's and refried beans. A very hearty breakfast! I ate my fill and would be willing to do that again any time. I mentioned to her that we were eating without place mats and she explained that her sister liked the place mats she had so much that she just gave them to her. Natalia had fallen in love with them when she first saw them in a little shop in Canada a year ago. After breakfast I went out looking for some All Bran Plus Cereal that I found I really liked and in the process ran across some very colorful place mats that I purchased for Natalia. She seemed to like them, they are very colorful, look Mexican, and she smiled.
I am not sure what the smile meant but she can give them away too if she likes..........I never did find the cereal I was looking for and Natalia said she will look next time she is visiting Sams Club here in town. . . . . I took my book with me today and spent a lot of time in the nearby Plaza reading and people watching, Natalia took her mother to lunch, a regular thing for her on Sunday. I arrived back at the house and found Natalia watching TV. She was happy to announce that her TV was working again. She told me she has no idea what caused it to stop in the first place. Anyway, that problem solved. I took my book to my room about 3pm and slept for about a half hour. Tomorrow is the dental appointment for my impression, 9:30am. After leaving there I will hike to the Cafe and check my Comcast e-mail which has not had any attention since last Friday.

Saturday 6:30pm

   Saturday. . . . . A big day was Saturday. We left the house about daybreak and drove to Natalia’s work to catch the bus she had arranged for the day. It was a very nice bus, almost new and most comfortable. We filled it to capacity and pulled away from the South Bay area about 7:30. An hour later we were several miles South and East of Mazatlan in a little town called Mesllas. If you cannot find it on any map just look about ten miles South of Concordia. A week or so ago I may have lead you to believe we were going near Durango but that must have been a lie. We were headed in that direction but Durango is a mighty long way from where we stopped. There is also a good chance I have the little town spelled incorrectly also. There is a fold in the map at that spot and I can’t read it very well. I do know that we waved goodbye in the direction of the big bus at 8:35 and started our journey down a dusty street of the aforementioned little town. The dusty street almost immediately became a tractor road, pickups too I suppose, if one were brave. The hike was considered flat but there were enough little hills to create some discomfort among the travelers. I being one of them. We had three breaks along the way so we could all gather before starting off on the next leg. One break was about half way at the high point of one of the many hills. The second break was at a large lake completely covered with some form of Lilly. I took many pictures; saw a deer, no picture there, that rascal was too fast. On the way home we agreed that the walk was closer to 15 km than 10. The ending point was at Aqua Caliente. We all arrived there about 12:30 and found the bus sitting across the street from the restaurant that was expecting us. We had to wait for nothing, just pick a seat and a soda is put before us right now. Goat cheese chunks and a red sauce to be applied to tortillas as an appetizer, not really needed, then the main course that was like a beef stew with shredded carrots, lettuce, radishes and chopped onions sprinkled over the top. Very good and every one was very hungry. After lunch Natalia and I with 6-8 others following visited the saloon across the street for some cold beer and a few laughs. Someone came in about 25 minutes later and told us the bus was leaving. Natalia said, as she looked at her watch, “Not for five more minutes. I know they are not leaving because I have the money” We arrived back at the University parking lot  about 3PM. Natalia paid them off after several group pictures were taken and we all headed for home. I turned down an offer to stop in for a beer with Natalia and some of her friends. She dropped me off at the house and was on her way to the little party. I took a shower, ate a bowl of ice cream, started reading and woke up about 6pm as Natalia was coming through the front door. It was a great day. There is no doubt I will be giving the longer version of the story on UTube once I get all of the pictures arranged for showing.

Friday 5pm

. . . . Natalia reminded me that we leave the house at 6:30am tomorrow for the bus ride to wherever the 10km walk begins. She promised me she would be knocking on my door at 5:45 so I would have time to get some breakfast before leaving. I read the news from the States and brought my chess games up to date before having breakfast and getting myself ready for a new day. I had ran out of milk and knew I would need some for breakfast in the morning so I walked two blocks to the Oxxo market for that and a liter of ice cream. As I turned the corner to enter the store I was confronted with a small army of local policemen on official business of some kind. The cops around here all wear black ski masks and dress in black, carry machine pistols as well as 9mm’s or 45’s on their hips. Sort of a scary sight for the uninitiated. Since no one seemed to pay any attention to me I proceeded into the store to make my purchases. There were five cops inside questioning some guy about something; I just ignored everybody and they ignored me so I paid for my stuff and exited. Still have no idea what was going on.  .  .  . I started a new book this morning, The Pickwick Papers, it sounds entertaining. I read that for a while before gathering up the laptop and hiking to the Café to check my Comcast e-mail and get lunch..I was in there for a couple of hours before paying my bill and heading home. I was too lazy to more than take a nap this afternoon and read on the book. The weather was nice today, never above 80 and because of the sea breeze it was very comfortable. I am getting used to saying Hola instead of hello, which has taken a while. Tomorrow is the nice long walk in the country; I hope there are a lot of things to take pictures of. Getting up at 5:45 is not my thing but so it goes.

Thursday 9th

    I was up early and visited with Natalia while she did her morning food preparation for her family. She also sat aside a couple of containers for me to have for dinner this evening. After she left for work I checked my chess games and read the news from the U.S. That lasted until Olivia arrived at 9:30 to clean house and do the laundry. I left soon after to meet Nancy. We hopped on a bus that drove us North to a place called Cerritos, the end of the bus line inside the city of Mazatlan. I would guess it was about 9-10 miles from this end of town. There was a good sized tourist trap out there with one heck of a nice restaurant right on the beach. By 11:30 we were both ready for lunch so we walked the two hundred yards or so out on the point where the restaurant was sitting.
Great view, we could look back down the coast and see the high hill the Lighthouse was sitting on. I took a picture of the view but no picture can ever take the place of actually being there. The picture at that time of day had to be taken into the sun so I don't expect a lot, but I took it anyway. After lunch we sat for a while waiting for a bus to come along to take us back to the Gold Zone. That is the part of the city she and her husband used to stay at while he was still living. She showed me around and introduced me to several business owners she knew from the 'old days'. She gave me a tour of a couple of her favorite hotels from long ago and pointed out some favorite restaurants. The Gold Zone is full of Americans and Canadians down for the winter and she told me she moved away from that because she has so much fun volunteering in the 'Centro' District. [Old Town]. Most of the streets we were on I had already visited but it was interesting listening to tales of the Hotels she stayed at and the spots where her daughters had started different businesses over the years. They never made a lot of money but they did make memories. At one shop they had producing Bagels they had to run an extension cord from the business next door so they could make coffee in the mornings.
One day next week she wants to go across the Bay at the south end of town to Stone Island. It is actually not and island but it takes many hours to get there by bus so she says we can get a row boat to take us across for about 30 Pesos each. Lots of waking and there is a cute village over there that is fun to visit. Sounds like fun and others have mentioned to me that I should not miss going there. Especially since I will be here long enough to really explore the area. I told her I would find her in the city square one day next week and we can work out plans.
We arrived, by bus, back in Centro District shortly before 3pm and I walked her to her door before returning to the house about 3:10. After that huge lunch I had, three tacos, rice, beans, chips and dip I really felt I would not have to eat again for a week but after relaxing and reading for a couple of hours I have decided I will raid the refrigerator after all. It was a good day, the bus ride was an experience. Those buses are all on their last legs, I have no idea what keeps them going.

Wednesday 8th

Wednesday.   .   .   When Natalia got in last night she had a hunger for Pan Cakes but I was still full from my meal earlier so I turned down her offer to make me some. She made them anyway and this morning reminded me where they were in the refrigerator. She also had some really tasty Canadian Maple Syrup. The Pan Cakes were delicious, a packaged brand I have never seen at home, a very nice meal. After I ate and cleaned up the kitchen I worked on my puter stuff for a while then got antsy and decided to try to find that book store again. Natalia looked at a very nice map I had purchased yesterday and told me the name of the Hotel I needed to find before I could find the little shopping area across from it. The distance is about five miles, give or take. I left the house at 10am and after stopping to take pictures and buying lunch I found the place about 12:30... It was easy because the owner had a nice sign sitting out on the sidewalk. I was in there long enough to find four classics in paperback that I decided to buy. The price of 223 Pesos surprised me because, after all, they were used paperback. Oh well, now I have them and perhaps one day Colter will appreciate them. I started back at 1:00 and walked in the door at 3PM. Natalia had told me exactly which bus to catch to ride home and I saw one come by about every 7 minutes but ignored them. I forgot to mention the lunch; it was at a rib place in the Gold Zone. All of the ribs I could eat for 150Pesos. They were delicious and I brought about a third of them home to finish off about an hour ago. I think they named it the Gold Zone because that is where all of the expensive Hotels are who cater to the rich Americans and Canadians who inhabit this town during the winter. This turned out to be one of the more ‘spendy’ days I have had since arriving here. I expect to stay out of the Gold zone.

       I don’t call it cheap, I call it thrifty. Do you have a problem with that? And I forgot to mention while walking back today I got rained on very briefly. The raindrops on the sidewalk were 5-6 inches apart so you can see it was not much of a rain. It was a fine day for a ten mile walk, cool, cloudy and peachy keen.

Tuesday 7th

Tuesday…   …   The dentist told me I was healing just fine but he wants to wait a few more days before taking the impressions. I have an appointment for next Monday at 9:30am. I had carried my laptop with me thinking I might check into the Café but I never got hungry enough to bother. I did find Nancy at her volunteer station meeting with as many people as she could in the Square near her house. She thought she would be able to show me around the larger Mzt area via local bus on Thursday. I promised her a nice lunch and that seemed to wet her appetite. We agreed to meet at 10am. I had told her about my travels yesterday she was surprised I had walked so far. I joked about liking Burger King and had stopped by there also. She mentioned that there was a Burger King in Old Town too. That surprised me because I thought if there was such a thing I surly would have seen it in my travels. I decided to go looking for it. I am happy I was only strolling along at two miles per hour because if I had blinked I would have missed it. The store has a 12-14 foot front and I have no idea how far back inside the building it goes because I stayed outside and took a picture of it. I spotted it relative to the big church in town so I can find it again as soon as I build an appetite for another stop at a Burger King. Before returning to the house for a nap I stopped at a second hand hardware store and bought a pair of long nosed pliers, a screw in electric plug and a 5 foot extension cord. After returning to the house I used the pliers to retrieve a small tube of facial cream Natalia had lost down the drain some time ago. I then inserted a strainer I had purchased yesterday so that animal will not be able to get away next time she drops it. I then removed the light bulb over the sink and placed the screw in electric plug on top of it before screwing the whole thing back into the ceiling. I then attached the extension cord and viola! She has an electrical outlet in her bathroom. Can you imagine a bathroom without a place to plug in a razor, hair dryer, curling iron or what have you? I know she uses a curling iron but she has to do it in another room in the house. Or did, until today. I will have to report her response tomorrow; this will be posted before I get home this evening. She was very pleased when she found I had replaced a light bulb in there last week, 12 foot ceilings are a bear to work with. .   ..    .  Natalia is only 5ft tall.  Before she left for work she reminded me I had not yet eaten some soup she had made so I ate that before starting my day. By the time I got to the Café I was hungry again so I ordered a sandwich. The bread it was made from was wavy like the ocean and cooked like a toasted cheese sandwich. I really have no idea what was in it but it did taste good. I could taste cheese and what I thought may have been bacon. There was a serving of potato salad next to it on the plate. The salad was very good too. The weather has been fantastic all day, it may have gotten to 80 degrees, and I’m lovin’ it! I discovered about midnight last night that I can send e-mail very easily using Hotmail, Comcast just does not respond from Natalia’s house. I still have to come to the Café a couple of times a week because that is where I get the information I need to keep track of my little investments that I have ‘working’ for me. But that’s OK, the food is great!

Monday 6th

Monday………Yesterday, on my way back from the Café I stopped for a shoe shine. I cannot recall ever having done that before [getting a shoe shine]. The man did a good job; the shoes needed a good cleaning even before I arrived in town. He charged me 25 Pesos. He told me he is saving his money for a trip to Rhode Island. I didn’t ask why but he seemed serious about the visit. He felt he would need over 30,000 Pesos for the trip. That is a lot of shoe shines. This morning Natalia told me she was enjoying a three day weekend because the country was celebrating Constitution Day. She felt the dentist would not be open and she was correct. I walked back to the house to plan the rest of the day. That plan consisted of a long walk down one of the major throughfares in town; just strolling along with no destination in mind. I came across some extremely sad sights. Some of the places many of these people live in are no better than hobo dens by the side of the road. I took two or three pictures but could not bring myself to recording more of the situation I found. Every one spoke to me with kindness and I felt safe enough but it was still shocking to witness close up what a second world country Mexico can be on the back streets. I had lunch at Burger King again and walked through Wal-Mart then sat outside that store for a while reading and resting. I checked my watch and it said 1:45 when I started back. I was surprised find I made it back to the house in an hour and 15 minutes. It has to be at least 4 miles to Wal-Mart. Since it was a Holiday I allowed myself to decide that the Café would be closed so I made no effort to hike the 11 blocks to check my e-mail. I will take care of that tomorrow after seeing my dentist. Natalia was not home so I read myself to sleep, waking up at 5pm. I checked once more to see if I could access my e-mail but no luck. I brought my chess games up to date and checked into Facebook [very quiet there too] before posting this to my blog and getting back to my reading. This evening I will be finishing my fifth full length novel since I arrived. I seldom read fiction but it beats TV commercials all to heck.

Sunday 2-5

 This morning I was able to get a lot done on the computer from Natalia's house. I had to remove the TV its shelf so I could put the laptop up there for a 'fair' signal. Natalia did not mind that I moved the TV because she wants to put it in her room since I don't watch TV. Her unit stopped working last week. I attempted to pay my Comcast bill on line from there too but that did not work. For some reason I can not get Comcast to respond unless I am at this Cafe. I did pay my Visa bill from the house. Anyway, my bills are all up to date so I am doing very well. ... ...Since this is Sunday I do not have many chess moves to respond to so they remain caught up too. I left the house shortly before 10AM to do my exploring for the day and made sure I was at the Cafe before they closed at 3PM. West of Natalia's house is a very high hill that has all of the City and Commercial broadcasting towers sitting on top of it so that was my target for today. I took my time, the streets were well paved, but I could tell I was working hard. The Doctor says that sort of thing is good for my heart, the rest of me sure suffers though! I got a lot of great pictures except for the haze, the final results with the pictures will not be really great but they certainly bring back memories! And that is the main thing. After leaving here this afternoon I plan on walking back by way of the shopping area, that is so much like a circus!
One of the few places I enjoy shopping and looking, I hope I have taken enough pictures of the shopping area to properly convey my experiences with it. Tomorrow I will be visiting the dentist again, to begin the impression phase of this job. He thinks it will take about a week to have the new appliance ready for its first and hopefully successful fitting.

Saturday

Saturday… … I slept until 8am and after waking found Natalia working in the kitchen again. She told me WE were having lunch today. I asked, WE are? She said, ‘Yes’. I asked her what the occasion was and her answer was “My family is coming to lunch today”. I offered to help and she immediately put me to work. I learned to remove seeds from the Guava fruit, she had me slice onions, and I also sliced strawberries, washed a lot of dishes and generally made myself useful. I found that ‘lunch’ starts about 3pm because it was close to 2pm that her sister arrived hungry and wanted to eat immediately. Natalia cooked for her and she ate and left. About a half hour later her daughter and Granddaughter arrived and after waiting a while they were hungry too so Natalia asked me if I wanted to eat too and I said yes. We were about finished when Natalia’s Mother, Brother, nephew and his wife arrived and were served wine as a starter then after a while started eating dinner. I took a lot of pictures, some that I am sure Natalia will appreciate in years to come. When dessert was ready another son in law arrived for dinner so we all joined him around the table for ten while he had dinner and dessert with us. There was much wine, rum, and laughter until 6pm when they all disappeared, Grand daughter was staying overnight and the 9 year old from next door was here playing with her so things stayed busy even if most of the people had left.. . . I stacked the rental chairs and rolled the large round table up against the wall for later pickup then did what I could to help Natalia clean up the kitchen. Not much help was needed; she is a snappy one when it comes to cleaning up a kitchen! It was a good day but I never did get to the Café this afternoon. I attempted to post this from Natalia’s at 7pm but only you can tell if I was successful. My indications were that I had a ‘fair’connection but I think it did not work

              

.

Friday 3rd Feb.

.  .  .Natalia left for work about 8:30 and I had a bowl of oatmeal before showering. I then gathered my laundry and went to work on that for the first time. I loaded the clothes and the detergent then turned on the machine. I was not convinced it was working until I opened the lid and watched the slow trickle of water entering the machine. It appears the water pressure is not what the machine would really appreciate but I left things alone just to see what would happen next. I had set the dial to Extra Grande size load and it took 17 minutes for the washing cycle to begin.  I would guess about the same amount of time for each rinse. The dryer was filled to capacity so that took more time too. I had things all folded and put away by noon then left for a walk around town. This time I headed due west to the ocean and turned south toward a sidewalk Café called ‘The Loony Bean’, operated by a lady named Windy from Australia. Nancy introduced me to her yesterday, she also has free Wi-Fi in the
Café but it is two or three blocks further than the café I usually go to. I had a nice lunch but I was still ready for Lemon pie and Milk by the time I arrived at the Café at 5pm to post my daily tome. The weather is a bit cloudy today and cooler, still nice though! I will turn to my chess games now and get them caught up again. More adventure tomorrow!

Thursday 2nd

… . . . After leaving the Café last night I walked around the corner and knocked on Nancy Morgan’s door. She had not been in earlier but was now. She was happy to finally meet me and we talked for about 45 minutes before I left. She told me she had graduated from Castle Rock High School in 1951. We had made plans to meet at her place this morning at 10am. She promised to give me her walking tour of the city. I was surprised when I got back to the house a little after 7pm to find that Natalia had not made an appearance. That was really not unusual though, she sometimes stops in to check on her mother after work and that can eat into her remaining evening hours.  .   .  .Carlos stopped by this morning and determined that the signal from across the street is not consistent enough to maintain a constant connection. It is like the signal fades in and out as the traffic goes by to deflect it. In order for Natalia to get a better signal she will have to make arrangements with the neighbor next door or, that failing, she will have to have a cable hookup brought into the house. Nancy has a cable hookup at her place that cost her $14 USD per month but that is expensive when one gets paid in Pesos. Natalia is not a great lover of TV and it would no doubt be an unnecessary expense for her. She is going to consider both options and decide what will work best for her.  As for me, I rather like the walk to the Café and the brownies!  If I spend four dollars per day on brownies and milk that becomes $120.00 per month, the same as my cable hookup at home. Carlos and Natalia were both gone by 8:15 to get to work. Shortly after they left the man came to pick up the table and chairs Natalia had borrowed last week for her party. Olivia, Natalia’s weekly housekeeper arrived about 9:I5 while I was preparing myself for a day of exploring with Nancy. I left the house about 9:30 to arrive at her place at 10am. It was a shorter tour than I was expecting but it was informative and we never did get more than four blocks from her house. At one point she showed me the building of the third floor apartment that her daughter was renting for $450usd per month. Two thousand square feet, she told me it is fantastic inside. The building itself was impressive by Mzt standards. Two blocks to the beach. I bought her lunch at a favorite sidewalk restaurant of hers and we were back at her house by 1pm. She had other plans for later in the day and I left about 1:30 to return to the house for some reading before heading back that direction to have my dessert at the Café.  .  .  .Dessert was Apple Pie and a glass of milk, yummy! I ate way too much lunch and I am sure the pie was not needed; life is like that when one finds himself in warm sunshine in the middle of winter. I checked my e-mail and posted the blog before switching over to my chess games.

Wednesday 1st February

 I am seldom awake before the sun comes streaming in between the venetian blinds so I seldom see a sunrise. Natalia is out at that time though, I'll have to ask her if she notices. I was shopping [looking] in old town this morning and had a great lunch at noon. After that I walked to the address Nancy Morgan had given me and knocked on the door but there was no one home. Surprise, surprise, it is only one block from the Cafe I 'work' out of each day. I will be stopping by her place again this evening after leaving here. She was right when she told me the Melville was close by, it is right across the street. That was the place she had recommended to me and the place Verda stayed at last winter, at least 3-4 weeks of winter. . . . When I walked in the Cafe just now I saw what looked like lemon pie in the glass case so I ordered it and a glass of milk.. Happy to find that it is Lemon Pie. Love it! This is another nice day, the sea breeze is just right and the New York T-shirt I am wearing is all I need. Got a note from my Brother Len and his wife, they have Natalia's address and have found a picture of her house on Google. I sent them the address of this Cafe, they want to see if they can find it. The way Google works they can trace my steps all the way between the two. I think the pictures were taken in 2004. Interesting.