Friends, Family and Some Time Out

Dear One and All,

I have, again, let three days slip by with no word. Part of that was carelessness and part of it was by design. Little outside of our normal routine has occurred so there was little of import to report. We did have a very nice dinner on Tuesday evening with our friends Pat and George (Salem), John and Molly (Beaverton), my brother, Dave sister-in-law, Katie and Polley and myself. We went to a new place at the north end of the Malécon, Layla's. It was quite good, but, of course, it was about the people and the food became secondary to the company. One thing that was fun about the evening is that Molly, who was a nun in an earlier life, was discovered to be Katie's high school math teacher at Sacred Heart Academy in the late 60s. So much was enjoyed in reliving that relationship. I guess this is where I should say, "Small World."

After the lively evening with friends, Polley and I found that we were running out of gas. We did have a very nice lunch with Dave and Katie the next day, at La Fuente

As you can tell, I owed some money to this group of musicians. I try to book them once a week. We have become good friends and they work very hard, and are often treated rudely by American and Canadian customers. We try to do our bit, plus they are quite good. Here we have, left to right, Pedro, Victor, and Lorenzo.

With that social engagement, it was truly time to check out. One thing that traveling and being essentially on your own in a foreign world give you is a greater sense of self. How you respond to the constant improvisation of travel is revealing. While Polley and I consider ourselves social beings, we find that we have limits. It has nothing to do with the people, but we have found it is telling about ourselves. So, after enjoying our time with friends and family, the following day we withdrew. We stayed in during the morning hours (Did I earlier recommend The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty?), sneaked down for a margarita at noon, and after siesta, just went down the bridge to the little cafe in the park (no sunset! Unheard of!) and enjoyed a glass of wine. It was both lunch and dinner in. It was lovely. It gave renewed energy to face the next day.

Yesterday was beautiful and warm. We got to the beach, got a little sun and shared some time with Dave and Katie who wandered down about 11:15. We got in our margarita, although that is not quite. Polley had to take a pill yesterday that would not allow her any alcohol for 24 hours. So it was Virgin Marys and Limonada for the day (for her!).

Then, having missed sunset the night before, we headed down to Langosta. Dave and Katie arrived and as we were sitting on the beach, a little Mexican man came by and plopped down on the sand and proceeded to craft to take some palm fronds and weave them into some rather magical

In just a matter of minutes, he prosented Katie with a little gift

Of course, when Katie gave him 10 pesos for the "gift," he demanded 20! Very clever, however.

From there is was sit back and enjoy the show on the horizon.

It was pretty spectacular. As I have said before, you just never know. This one did not disappoint.

As the sky darkened, we left the beach and headed for dinner at a relatively new restaurant, The Old Town Bistro. We walked by another place, The Blue Shrimp, and I managed to capture their sculpture agains the fading sky

Having taken a day of rest, it was a lovely evening. We need those days out of the routine just a bit more often. They make all the difference!

 

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