Doing?

Friends and all,

We are into the beginnings of month number 2 as the calendar turns over to February 1st. As I mentioned in the last report, we are back to establishing (re-establishing?) a routine. That sense of "the regular" got me to thinking about the notion of "doing." People down here ask us what we've been doing, what did you do today, what are you doing in your retirement, etc. There seems to be this need to "do!" Polley and I, as we fall into our routine, are trying the opposite approach; we are trying to "not do."

That doesn't mean we don't have things that we do. It just means that there is no need to do. Our typical day, and I say this with no sense of shame, means awaking around 6:45 or 7 a.m. Polley is usually still trying to sleep, so I spend a half hour to 45 minutes reading the New York Times and assorted promotional e-mails (never anything from someone we care about) on my i-.touch or i-pad. About 7:30 the day begins and for the next hour, we drink coffee, attend to the toilet, read, return to the toilet, etc. At 8:30 I am out for an hour's walk. Now these rapid strolls can be either of a practical nature, a stop at the store to stock-up, or they can be purely for the exercise. Usually, it is a combination of both. Occasionally I'll run into others we know in PV and chat for a few minutes, then on my way. I am gone about an hour.

The rest of the morning is caught up in tidying up the apartment, reading a bit more, a shower, a bit more exercise and then, whenever we wish, we stroll down to La Fuente del Puente (The Fountain at the Bridge) for a beer, some fun with the waiters, some music,

and some serious people watching. Actually, given the variety of people who pass through, a good deal of it is not serious at all. The variety of tourist that come to PV is fascinating! From the Tea-Party, Nascar, World Wrestling crowd to the most stylish and sophisticated appearing, you see them all.

Of course, occasionally we side-step La Fuente and go down to the beach and have a beer and enjoy the sunshine. There is this one amazing musician who wanders by and each time we witness him, we have to tip him, primarily for his ingenuity. He is somewhat crippled and has strapped a harmonica and an old flashlight to his crutch. He holds the crutch and plays the harmonica and sings (often seemingly at the same time!) and strums the rough edges of the flashlight edge for his percussion. I provide you with a photo, but a video may at some point be called for.

Amazing!

Around 1:30, we make our way up the hill for lunch and the always important SIESTA! Around 4 we are up and do read for a couple of hours before making that difficult decision about where to eat. Last night we wandered up to a place in the Mexican section call La Tia Katrina's. Of course, we first had to stop and provide a bit of food for our family of cats.


and catch a bit of a sunset

The food at La Tia was Excellent. Polley had Chile Rellenos and I had a terrific seared Tuna. We had a lovely talk with with the owner and then, of course, needed to stop at El Patio before arriving back at the house, bringing our "typical day" to an end. While we "did" a number of things, it never felt we had to "do" any of it. It is Heaven!