Why We Go

This picture was taken almost three years ago in Cozumel and I love it for many reasons.
We're posing in front of what I call the Alux House which didn't used to have a fence in front of it but now it does because it's part of the state park. I have crawled inside that building before. It is tiny. A tiny little temple and one night, Sr. Santiago, the owner of a restaurant we used to go to, told me all about the Alux, who are the Mexican version of fairies and leprechaun's, I suppose. Isn't it funny how almost all cultures have these tiny creatures? Makes me wonder.
Same with mermaids, but that's another story.
Anyway, Sr. Santiago, who is an educated and cultured man told me quite seriously that the Alux are alive and well and did indeed build this tiny temple long ago. I have a hard time doubting him because I have been near that temple in the dark, under a moon, beside the water and I felt the presence of something so strongly that I could not move. I had planned to walk up to it while my husband and a man named Angel were fishing in the surf but I couldn't make myself do it. The moon shone brightly enough to illuminate the path and I knew it was a short walk, but this was the wild side of Cozumel where the ocean batters the shore and there is no electricity and we could have been the only three people on earth and I could not move. If an Alux had made himself visible to me, I would have died of fright. I swear it.
I retreated to the safety of where the men were and I have never forgotten that night.

But in the daytime, it is a different matter. You can see where it was once painted, you can see on the top where a conch shell had once been placed to catch the wind coming off the water (it overlooks the sea) to make a sort of music. You can feel the presence of, if not the Alux, at least someone who lived long ago and built it. It has withstood hurricanes with their winds and their rains. It has withstood the shifting of the dunes where it is built. It has stood there for centuries, guarding the shore where it sits.

There are no huge temples or ruins in Cozumel. Cozumel was sacred to Ixchel, the main Mayan Goddess and as such, it was appropriate that her temples laid close to the earth. She was female and the earth is female. And when I see this picture, I think of all the times I've been to worship her, that Mayan Goddess, in that place and on her island.

Another reason I love the pictures is because it's one of those pictures that when it has just been taken, you look at it and go, Aah, whatever. And then three years later you look at it and think, How gorgeous we were.
I do not think I am that gorgeous now. But I am as gorgeous as I am ever going to be, I suppose, from here on out.

When Mr. Moon and I are in Cozumel, I think we are the most beautiful.

We are relaxed, we are happy, we are not worrying about much of anything. And we are love-filled. There's something about being in another country- you are too far away from home to spend much time worrying about the things going on there, the things you worry about all the time. The business, the tomato hornworms, the children, the dogs, the economy. You know. My main concern every day is taking a nap and waking up in time to see the sunset. And where to eat our next meal. And we concentrate on each other because we can. I am always amazed that even after ten days of being together every moment, night and day, I have no desire to be separated from him for any period of time. We laugh so much. He writes me silly poetry. We are love-filled, indeed.
We are two children, set off to play. And play we do.

No, it's not "real life." Vacations are not supposed to be. But I tell you this- our trips to this island have made our real life so much better. Every time we go there, I fall more deeply in love with that man.
Real love for real life.

And maybe part of it is the magic that is there. The magic of Ixchel, the magic of the moon over the Caribbean, the magic of the smile of the Mayans, the magic of the ruins, the magic of the soft air, the sea which is seven colors of blue, the magic of love.

Sweetness, sweetness.
And it's waiting for us. I can feel it waiting.