Monday, December 31, 2018

Happy New Year

Well. Internet issues again. And I cannot seem to post a picture to save my life and of course I have so many from the past two days.
I'll just try and write a few words here before it becomes 2019 and post pictures later.

Mr. Moon and I just got back from downtown where we had a fine New Year's Eve supper in a place upstairs over a busy street. We could enjoy our drinks and supper while watching everything below- folks passing by, both tourists and local people, guys hauling ice and other stuff from one place to another, two guys sitting on the curb and throwing little firecrackers into the street, nine out of ten of them which did nothing but shoot a few sparks.
It's Mexico!

We walked around a little bit after supper and Mr. Moon got an ice cream cone and ate it while I had a religious conversation with a slightly tipsy older Mexican man.
"Do you believe in Jesus?"
"Uh, not really."
And so forth.
"When you pray, who do you pray to?"
"My heart."
"Do you get answers?"
"Sometimes."
But he did not judge me and shook my hand and we told each other Happy New Year and he continued on his way down the street and that was fine.

But then, while we were waiting for a taxi, some people came to stand in line behind us. An American couple and the woman immediately said, "Where are you from?"
And we told her and we discussed where we were all staying and blah, blah, blah and then she saw my Virgin of Guadalupe necklace which I love.
"That's the Holy Mother!" she said. "Are you Catholic?"
"No," I said. "I'm not religious at all. Are you Catholic?"
"Yes! So why are you wearing that?"
"Because I love it. She's the Virgin of Guadalupe, the Queen of Mexico. She's a goddess."
"Hmmmph!" she said. "SHE doesn't think so."
I laughed. "SHE doesn't think so?"
And then I apologized if I had offended her and I have to tell you that this woman had the biggest stick up her butt I'd ever seen.
The taxis were slow in coming tonight. I imagine that a lot of the drivers are home with their families and this, too, offended the woman who, I am sure, disapproves highly of celebrating the New Year if anything fun might be involved. She and her husband discussed walking back to their hotel but she was afraid that some of the areas they would have to walk through were not safe.
"Oh, I wouldn't worry," I said. "Cozumel is about the safest place you can be."
And it is.
"No," she said. "I don't think so."
So we all waited and finally a van taxi pulled up and two local families got on and Mr. and Mrs. Catholic People and us. The driver headed out in the exact opposite direction of where we gringos were staying and the woman became irate. "Hotel Villa Blanca!" she said to the driver who ignored her. "Where are we going?"
"Sweetheart," I said, "We're just going to the neighborhoods where these people live. He'll drop them off first and then take us to our hotels."
Oh my god. You could feel the fuming fumes come from the top of her head.
Mr. Moon and I, sitting behind them, were giggling to ourselves. The van had AC and we were driving through some interesting neighborhoods and who cared? We'd get back to the hotel eventually and meanwhile, it was a nice ride.
She never said another word whereas everyone else in the van would say, "Happy New Years, Buenos Noches!" when someone got out.
She finally did tell someone, "Feliz Navidad!" and her husband said, "That's Merry Christmas."
"Well, Merry Next Christmas," she said.
Oh, sigh...

It's been a beautiful day. Yesterday it rained all day and we stayed close to home and read and snuggled and watched the rain come down. We did finally do a little snorkeling here at the hotel and yes, it rained on us and it was great. So today we headed south and pulled into a little beach bar and had lunch and drinks and there was a rooster there who looked a lot like Ringo. He delighted me. And then we came back here and snorkeled some more.

Sunset was glorious and it's almost 2019.
As my friend B-Boy would have surely said about 2018, "Well, it's been real and it's been weird and it's been real weird."

I have to have hope for this coming up year. I just have to. Otherwise, I might as well just jump in the Caribbean and swim until I can't.
I have my beautiful family, the best husband I could ever have found in this world to be a father to my babies, to love me and to love, and for the past eleven days or so, I have been in my own version of heaven- a place which always sustains me and fills my soul in all wondrous ways.

And. To put the cherry on top of the cowgirl, our dear Mr. Yorkshire Pudding has awarded me his annual Overall Laughing Horse Blog Award. 
I am incredibly honored. If you don't read his blog, you should. And not just because he gave me this award. He is irreverent and a walker and a former teacher and his car is named Clint. And he's funny as hell in a very dry, English witty way. And sometimes he posts poems and songs he's written.

I have so much to be thankful for. And now it is time to go and snuggle with my sweet, handsome sweetheart as this year comes to a close.

Dear Lord, let Mueller and karma please have their way with The Great Pretender.

I wish us all peace and happiness.

Love...Ms. Moon

Sunday, December 30, 2018


What a good, good day.
Sigh.
GOOD day.


Woke up to the blues. 
The good kind of blues. The sky blues, the water blues. The Blue Planet Blues. 

We decided to take another trip to the other side of the island and so we did. We got on the the scooter and drove slow and easy down to the tip of the island and across, by beach and by jungle. We gawked at the huge mansions that people have built on the water, so big that entire staffs of cleaning people and gardeners and cooks and security must be involved. We passed beach clubs and all-inclusive resorts. We stopped on a tiny side road to get off the bike and stretch our poor old tired bones and muscles. As we drove I kept up a running commentary on Cuba and some of the reasons for the differences there and Cozumel which are two islands in the Caribbean so close together. In my opinion, of course. My poor husband. I have no idea why I felt compelled to share these things as we scooted through the jungle by the sea unless it was to distract us from the pain in our butts and our backs. 

The ocean on the east side of the island was as amazing as I've ever seen it and none of the pictures I took give the slightest hint of the colors we saw. 


Maybe that gives you a little taste. By now I had finished my Cuba theories and we both just kept saying, "I can't fucking believe this."
And we couldn't. 
It's like colors not found in nature except they're found in nature. Liquid turquoise, liquid sapphire, liquid emerald. Angel wing froth. 
Unbelievable. 

We stopped at Chen Rio again because we had to have more snapper and ceviche. We pulled into the parking area right next to a couple pulling in driving a shit-beat old VW Beetle who were from Canada. They had broken down on the way across the island but one of the Green Angel trucks who patrol the island roads to help motorists in trouble had gotten them going again. 
Free. 
They were in a state of happy disbelief. 
"Where can you get good seafood?" they asked. 
We said, "You're there."

We ordered our usual and before we'd finished the rain came in. It was a scene! Everyone scrambled from the tables under small palapas to the more protected places. Waiters rushed to try and make sense of what was left on tables and how they kept everything straight, I do not know. The rain was so light. It got cool and the air was delicious and I sat in complete happiness watching it all, the sky, the sea, the people, the rain and before we knew it, the sky cleared completely and was cloudless and blue again and everyone made their way back to the beach and began ordering more food, more drinks, and the little children played in the water in the protected lagoon. 

We paid our bill and got back on the bike and came back to town on the shorter circuit. Again we drove very slowly, taking in the sights. Cozumel is a place where Iron Man competitions are frequently held and there is a bike-lane for the cycling part where we were driving and Mr. Moon was actually in it, which we weren't supposed to be. 
"You know you're in the bike lane," I told him. 
"Let me know if someone on a bike comes up behind us. I'll move over and let him pass," he said. 
I laughed and laughed. 
We stopped at Chedraui for our daily gallon of water and some more coffee and beer. We stood in line to check out and the couple in front of us (gringos) had a problem with the price of a pillow and then decided that they didn't want the ice cream they were going to buy because it was melting and let me tell you something- in Mexico, it takes practically a court order to get something off your bill. That's just the way it is. But people standing in line got irate. The woman behind us actually yelled at the cashier or perhaps at the couple. I don't know because she was speaking Spanish. Then she began complaining to me, believing in error that I could understand her but of course I couldn't although I had a good idea what she was saying which was "fuck this shit!" 
Finally the couple just said, "Take it all back," and walked out of the store. 
It was pretty crazy. 


We drove on back to the hotel, tired as can be from too much sun, so much driving, good food and one whole beer apiece. Bagheera was waiting for us to see what we would bring her. I gave her some bacon I'd saved from breakfast and she ate it. And then she let me scratch her head which is all she'll deign to do and again, I felt blessed. 


We are all this way about Bagheera which is why she has such a good life. 

We decided to get in the pool and we did. It cooled us down and we swam leisurely back and forth from one end to the other, stretching our muscles and recovering from our long ride. It was heavenly. 

And then sunset, of course. 



Supper tonight was at a VERY popular restaurant on the waterfront. Guidos. Italian. It was so packed that we had to wait for at least forty-five minutes for a table sitting on the seawall across the street from the joint. 

It was worth it. We got delicious salads and split a pizza and had martinis. 




We ate in a beautiful courtyard and it was romantic and lovely. 

Our taxi driver asked us on the way back to the hotel if we had been hippies. 
"I still am!" I told him. He seems to be fascinated with hippie times. The music, the cars, the food. 
The food? Is he especially fond of lentils and brown rice, I wondered? 
I think perhaps he had a slightly romanticized idea of what hippies were but that's okay. 
I asked him if he had children. I always ask the taxi drivers this. 
"Of course!" he said. 

In Chedraui a man was holding a darling new baby dressed all in pink, an angel-cloud version of a baby girl. I admired her and asked how old she was. 
"Twenty-five days," he said proudly. 
I loved that. Not a month old but twenty-five days exactly. 
"I love babies," I told him. 
"So do I!" he said. "That's why this is my second!" 
"She is beautiful," I told him. 
"Thank you," he said. The love he felt for that baby child was so palpable. 

Our server in the restaurant here has taken a second job. "For my children," he told me. 
This means he will work until late at night and then be here in the morning, early, so that the divers can get their breakfasts before they go out. 

Being here makes me so much more furious with that pretender in the White House. He is trying to stop the most loving, industrious, creative people I have ever met from entering our country. He vilifies them. The man who has never done one honest day of work in his entire life has the effrontery to label entire countries of people as thieves and rapists and drug dealers. 
He would absolutely DIE if he tried to do the work of one mesero de playa for one day. Not only could he not physically do it, there is no way he is up to the mental challenge of being a server. I absolutely believe that our president has neither the stamina or mental capacity of a typical Mexican waiter, not to mention the emotional stability. 

Okay. I'll stop now. I'm insulting servers everywhere with this comparison and I know it. 

Once again I started this last night but the internet just wasn't cooperating. It is cloudy today and raining, off and on. I am falling more in love with my husband every moment. I am falling in love with this island more and more every moment. 


I do not feel like the same woman I was when I arrived here. And I mean that in all of the most wonderful ways possible. 

Love...Ms. Moon








Friday, December 28, 2018

In Which I Eat Some Vegetables Which Are Not Found In Pico De Gallo or Guacamole


We scooted to the mercado today which is downtown and where they sell fruits and vegetables and clothing and shoes and toys and spells and charms and fruit drinks and sides of beef and fishes from the sea and kitchen wares and breakfast and lunch and where the Virgin of Guadalupe has her own special altar nook, as you can see above.
It's CRAZY there. As many times as I've been there, I get lost every time and Mr. Moon has to duck under hanging clothing and before we know it, we are both hyperventilating. Mr. Moon's height is so very obvious there and one of the things I love about the people of Cozumel is that they find him so amusing. "You are very large!" they will say and that always makes me giggle.
We bought nothing at the mercado except for a pineapple drink for me and a milkshake for my husband. I was thrilled to see that the woman who waited on us was a gorgeous trans woman and I so wanted to ask to take her picture and tell her she was beautiful but I was too shy.
Here are some random pictures I did take, though.





I love this place. It is your one-stop shop for all things spells and prayers and incantations. You got your herbs, your candles, your holy waters, your saints and your Buddhas. Also your incense, your oils, your powders and your things-I-can't identify.

After we left the market, we found the furniture store I love. It is packed with rustic wood tables and cabinets and chairs and dressers and everything you can build out of wood. Some of it is plain, some of it is carved. Also lots of Talavera pottery. And two giant carved saints. 


St. Michael in full dragon-slaying mode and


our lady of Guadalupe. I'm pretty sure she was there two years ago. Also four years ago. Her size is probably the reason she's still there.


Do you get the scale? I've been trying to figure out for years how to take her home with me. 

After that we did some other stuff including going to a different grocery store. Don't ask me why but I love going to Mexican grocery stores. 

We snorkeled a bit more this afternoon right here at the hotel and saw some rays and more fishes. The sunset was shy tonight but I was still mesmerized by the sky and the boats. 

 
Can you believe the size of this behemoth?



My sweetheart relaxing before supper. 

We've had our supper now and it's only 9:20 at night but that's fine. We are neither very young nor very wild anymore. To say the least. I've been reading R.A. Galbraith's Lethal White. Galbraith is J.K. Rowling's pseudonym for her Cormoran Strike series and I am deeply captured by it. 

We have new neighbors to one side of us. They are from Destin, Florida which is about a hundred miles from Tallahassee. They all went to FSU and seem to find it somewhat of a miracle that they have found Tallahasseeans in Cozumel. For some reason, this does not surprise me in the least. 

Here's what I ate for supper.


Shrimp Diablo. It was not exceptionally diablo but it was delicious. And let me tell you that that plate had the most vegetables I've seen on a plate since I've been here. I was just thinking about how wonderful it has been not to eat broccoli for over a week and dammit, there was some hiding under those carrots. I ate it. 
Sigh. 
I think I've eaten shrimp every day since I've been here and I'm not tired of it yet. 

I am not tired of one damn thing here. Not. A. One.

Love...Ms. Moon



Sweetness


One of the blackbirds who makes a whistle as liquid and as lovely as anything you've ever heard and who can chatter like a parrot. I want to take some home to teach our blackbirds how to sing in Spanish.


Companions, waiting for someone to drop a bit of tortilla or nacho on the sand at Playa Corona. 

We snorkeled and I will tell you that the corals are not what they were. Hurricanes and the warming of the seas have had a disastrous effect on them but still, there are fish and there are waving fans and there is nothing so calming to me as being under the water with nothing but what I see and my own slow breath as I hover to watch tiny bits of living, flitting jewels of light and of color.
After that and lunch we were so sleepy. 
Here are our friends.


Sunset.



It was a night to just sit and watch and talk. 




And then suddenly another shower, quick and warm and everyone laughed and made their way to shelter. 
We walked down the sidewalk just a ways for our supper, the rain having passed before we had gotten ready to go. 

We got seafood soup.


We shared a bowl with toasted garlic bread that soaked up the delicious broth and we ate the shrimps and fish and octopus and it was the sweetest meat I've ever eaten, I do believe. 

And now we're back to our room and I can't wait to stretch out on the bed and read. 

I heard four stories today that I will be pondering for a very long time, each of which would make an amazing short story. 

This has been a nearly perfect day. As close as a day can be to perfection for humans here on earth. At least for this particular human. 

Love...Ms. Moon





Thursday, December 27, 2018

So Much To Do, So Little Time


I am getting behind here because there is just too much to do to worry about things like blogging. I mean, every day there is coffee while looking at the ocean


and taking note of the silent passing of the city-sized cruise ships as they slip into the harbor


as the dive boats come and go. 

Then of course there is breakfast. Here at the Blue Angel, breakfast comes with the room and it is a most satisfying and delicious breakfast and you can get anything from oatmeal to omelets to protein shakes to Huevos Motulenos or chilaquiles. And so much more. For instance, today in an effort to try and be a little more sensible, this is what I had for my breakfast. 


Mr. Moon, who had oatmeal with apples yesterday went for the Eggs Benedict today which came with the traditional ham AND bacon. 
It all evens out. 

I just love this little place on the water. It is the farthest thing from a big resort you can imagine. The first thing I do when I get here is to take off my shoes and unless I leave the property or am going up to the restaurant to eat breakfast, they stay by the door. It is the sort of place where you can accidentally leave your phone or your purse on the table in front of your door and they will never be touched. There is a gardener who trims the little patch of lawn around the pool with almost micro-tenderness and he maintains many pots of plants which line the walkway. He has an area where he starts new plants, some rooting in coconut shells. 


It would be a dream job of mine to be his assistant. 

There is of course, Bagheera who is coddled and fed by all of the women who stay here who miss their own pet babies and who lounges in shady places and when she chooses a shady place by you, you feel as if you have been somewhat blessed. 

The people are friendly, both those who work here and those who stay here. The same employees are here year after year which says a lot. The lady-couple who have been staying next door to us are leaving today and I am sad to see them go. We have met people from all over the world here and everyone seems laid-back and chill. 

Oh my goodness! It has suddenly come up a shower and rain is pattering off the palm leaves. Mr. Moon is out on the bike, exchanging dollars for pesos. I hope he is careful. It's not much of a rain. I'm sure he'll be fine. 

Our plan for today is to drive down to Playa Corona to snorkel and sit and have lunch. We meant to do that yesterday afternoon and in fact, did drive down there but Mr. Moon forgot his bathing costume so we just sat and enjoyed the water and I got to see and hug and talk to Rogilio's beautiful wife and one of their daughters whom I remember holding as a BABY and now she's seventeen and beautiful and sweet and taller than her parents. 
The rain will probably come and go and who cares? It has already stopped. 

And of course there is always reading of real books to be done here and also napping and the sunset ritual. 


From last night.

And then deciding where to eat supper. Last night we ate at El Moro which has the best food and is way, way back in a neighborhood, always packed, and which disproves the "location, location, location" theory of business success. 

So. As you can see, I am very, very busy. I have not even gotten in a hammock once! That is how busy I am! I believe I shall remedy that situation today either here or down at Playa Corona. 

Well, Mr. Moon has returned. He missed the sun shower entirely. I suppose I better put my own bathing costume on and round up the necessary items for our Playa Corona activities. Books, towels, sunglasses, snorkel, fins, etc. 

A frigate bird floats above me against the blue sky and clouds, the gardener is hacking coconuts down from the tree with a machete. Bagheera has arrived to see if I have anything for her to snack on. 

It's a busy, beautiful life here. 

Love...Ms. Moon




Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Two For One!


Well of course all of you were right and the baby Jesus is now where he's supposed to be tonight. He is in the manger and miraculously, has arrived as a three-year old.
Poor Mary.

Christmas day. It's been a day of mixed emotions for me. I'm having some struggles this trip with anxiety and I have no idea why. Perhaps it's because I feel some guilt about not being at home with my grandchildren where I belong but I don't think I've ever struggled too much with that before.
Yesterday was quite difficult, today better.
We got in the water this morning to snorkel and that was wonderful. It has been either too rough in the water or too chilly but this morning it was warmer and not as crashy where the water met the sand. It wasn't as clear as it usually is because the sand has been churned up but it was still amazing for me. The little fishes of bright colors, the larger fish swaying in the current, the rays we saw drifting along the bottom. Such peace.
When we got out I felt as if I had been reborn and after we changed we got on the bike and rode to town where we parked it and walked about the neighborhoods.
Some things we saw.









Do you remember my story of Lola, the dog who belonged to the island and who lived in the town square and who died this year? This is her memorial there. 

We ate lunch at a literal hole in the wall. We got beef tacos which came with bowls of broth and shared an ice cold agua de tamarindo. 

Eventually we came on back to the hotel and relaxed and read and napped until it was time to play cards and then watch the sunset. It was a gorgeous one tonight. 



And here's just a pretty little picture of the pool before the sun set. 


************************************************************************

Dec. 26

The internet yesterday was very touch and go. Mostly go. So I never got that post finished or posted. But here it is today, Christmas is over, done, gone for another year and I am still here in Cozumel and instead of saying, Felice Navidad, we are saying, Felize Ano Nuevo to cab drivers and waiters and so forth. When I got up this morning, it looked like this to the south of us. 


It has gotten cloudier but it is still beautiful. As Javier the churro man says, "Every day is paradise here."

We have had our breakfast and I allowed Mr. Moon to go off on his own to buy a few things we need for snorkeling. I say allow because honestly, I do not like to be left out on any adventure and everything is an adventure here to me but I think he probably needs a bit of space from me once in awhile. 

Time is going too fast here. I swear, I barely have a moment between the time I stop crying simply because I am here until the time I start crying because I am going to have to leave. 

I'm ridiculous.

I would like to make a very splendid announcement! 
Remember that sweet gathering that Hank and Rachel held for us all the Sunday before we left?
What I could not tell you was that they had gotten us all together not only to feed and fete us but to tell us that they are, in fact, engaged!
To be married! 
Can you imagine how thrilled and happy we all are? As I think you may have gleaned by now, we are ALL deliriously in love with Rachel. And it makes my heart so very, very happy to know that my son will have this woman as his companion and that I will have her as my daughter. 
She's been calling me Mama for a long time now. And it's always seemed just right. 
So. There you go. Happy, happy news. I could not write about it here until everyone who needed to be informed WAS informed and now they are and since it's been officially announced on FaceBook I think it is okay to tell you all. 

All right. That's enough! I just had a chat with Landy, our beautiful housekeeper here. She and I make each other laugh and show each other pictures of our families. I sort of want to go to her house and do some cleaning for her. It's so odd for me to have someone do these things for me. 

I hope everyone's Christmas was beautiful and calm and peaceful and full of love and of light. 
Or at least gotten through with a modicum of dignity and a sense of relief.

Love from Mexico...Ms. Moon

Monday, December 24, 2018

Christmas Eve In Paradise


This was part of our lunch yesterday which we ate at Chen Rio, a beach on the other side of the island. There is no electricity or running water over there (I'm sure I've already pointed this out) and yet somehow they manage to have the most amazing food and cold beer and ice for drinks and although I am certain that there is absolutely only hard work and no magic involved in these things, I still somehow feel as if it is all a Mayan miracle, a result of some ancient knowledge involving fire and wind and sea.
Here's the secret to the freshness of the seafood.



The fishermen appear from the ocean and unload their panga boats and pull them up on the beach until time to go out again. These people seem to be as comfortable on the water as on the land and there is never a time of day that boats are not passing the hotel. Fishing boats, dive boats, sporty boats, yachts, sailboats, ferry boats for both people and for cars and cargo. 
Before cruise ships began docking in Cozumel, it was mostly known for its amazing reefs and divers came here from all over the world to sink into the deep waters and take in what lay below. It was Jacque Cousteau himself who made these reefs famous and until then, it was just a sleepy little island where families lived and raised their families and had the paradise to themselves. 
Still, many, many of the tourists who come here are divers. The ones who come to stay for a few days or weeks. And over and over and over again I hear stories of people who come to dive many times a year and then, not unsurprisingly, end up moving here when they can, having fallen in love first with the reefs and then with the island, it's people, the lifestyle.
The dive masters are the rock stars here and have been since we've been visiting. 
The cruise ships have changed things dramatically and not for the better although, I probably should not say that. It is impossible not to see that there is far more prosperity now than there used to be, even back in the neighborhoods where the residents live and shop and own businesses. Since we were here last a huge new supermarket has opened up several miles back from the ocean where tourists rarely shop and that says a lot to me. There is still mind-boggling poverty but it seems that people are having fewer children. One or two or three, despite the ubiquitous Catholic church. It is such a family and child oriented society and I get the feeling that parents work as hard as they can to provide the things their children need and they are so very proud to tell you of the education they are getting. 
It's beautiful. 
In the park in front of the government buildings, they have set up a huge fair-like thing for the children and every night there are rides and there is entertainment on a big stage and families gather and the children ride the rides and little cars and I think it's all free and it goes on way into the night. The first night we were here, we watched a father put his little girl in a Flintstone ride, a sort of baby roller coaster, and he and the operator had to give it a push to get it started and when it was going around, up and down, the father went back to his wife and put his arm around her and they watched their baby girl who was delighted and thrilled and I could feel the love and pride they felt from where I was watching them. 
And this is how it is. 

Christmas is huge here but I don't feel the anxiety and stress that I feel at home about it. Families shop and buy the special foods they eat at Christmas and the gifts but it seems far more normal and less commercial. This too may change. But for now, it seems more joyful than stressful.


I think that tonight is the most special night here for families. Nochebuena and families come together for food and for drinks and for fun. A lot of businesses will be closed but plenty will be open for us to find our supper, I am sure. 

So yesterday we got on our Hardly, not Harley, as we are calling the scooter, and drove the eleven miles across the island on the one road that transverses it. 


This is the road that travels through the jungle and parts of it are so dense it would take ten men with machetes to chop a path through wide enough to walk. You do pass ranches and farms, tiny huts and a tequila tour place. The ruins which have been uncovered are also positioned off this road which you can see on the map above. When you get to the water on the wild side, the road to the north is almost impassible. We have tried before, but have never made it more than a few hundred yards, probably. The road to the south is good though, and that is where you find the beach clubs and bars. The water is beautiful but can be treacherous with riptides and strong currents. There are more protected places where people stop and swim. Families, especially on Sundays, make their way to the beaches with food and drinks and spend the day. At the south end of the island, Punta Sur, there is a lighthouse and a few ruins and beautiful beaches. When we first started coming here, there was no entry fee and the lighthouse keeper's wife would fry fish on certain days and it was a popular place for local people to gather. Now it is a state park but I believe free for residents. As it should be. 
I have a story about us being over there one night, a long, long time ago and I think I have told the story before and may well tell it again sometime. 
It was one of the most other-worldly experiences I've ever had and I will never forget it. 

Anyway, after we had our lunch at Chen Rio of that shrimp ceviche and the most delicious fried red snapper I've ever eaten in my whole entire life (I would pay good money to be allowed to go into the kitchen there to watch how they make it), 


we pulled ourselves up and and out of our chairs on the sand under the palm trees.


We got back on the bike and made that long finish of the circuit back to town and our little home here where we napped and got up to play a hand of cards and watch the sunset. 
Beloved routine. 


Some people travel to have new experiences and see new things every day and that is probably the best reason to travel but for me with my stupid anxiety, this is exactly the way I love it. I DO see new things here every day but there is also immense comfort and pleasure for me in seeing the same people year after year, the same streets and shops, in smelling the same smells, in feeling the same soft air, in tasting the same fresh, simple, amazing food, hearing the clang of the dive tanks, the whistle of the blackbirds, the swish of the palm trees, the continual chatter and crash of waves, the whine of scooters, in being able to fall back into the memories of all of the sweet experiences we've had here. 

Well, for those of you who have made it this far through this long and probably not-very-interesting post, I thank you for coming along. 

I just asked Mr. Moon if he has planned out our day yet. He is reading a book and it is almost noon. 
"I'm working on it," he said and went back to his book. 

Felice Nochebuena. 

Love...Ms. Moon

P.S. Although I feel extremely guilty, I am not taking the time to comment on blogs, mostly. I am reading them but I know that for my heart and my soul it is best for me to disengage from any world but this as much as possible and I would be a fool not to do so. 
So. I love you. 
If the phone doesn't ring then you know that it's me.