Alive in Paradise

Dear Friends and Family,

Nothing really staggering to report, but we are alive and enjoying ourselves in the sunshine. Actually, when discussing the weather, it has been a bit cool in the mornings especially. We have had lows in the upper 50s. I don't expect much sympathy from those of you upo north, as I realized the other morning that our low was still about 15 degrees warmer that you high was going to be for the day. I will, however, confess to needing long-sleeve shirts in the morning and for the last two night have worn long pants down to the Malécon for the sunset, some of which have been spectacular.

Last night, as you can see, we had one of what I call a "Ben Hur" sky, light of God and all that.

We have gotten to know two Canadian couples and have enjoyed their company as they come down to the Malécon most evenings for some refreshment and conversation. Ray and Yvonne are from Vancouver, B.C. And Wally and Pat are from a very small place about 4 hours further east our of Vancouver. Very nice people who enjoy just sitting and talking, somewhat of a lost art I am finding,

Tuesday, after the sun went down (we like to make sure that even occurs each evening), we wandered over to a place on the Rio Cuale, called The River Cafe to see, for the first time this winter, our Scots friend, Bobby Tansen, the hippie flute player.

Bobby plays all over town, but on Tuesdays is paired with Gilberto, a great guitar player, for several sets of the hits of our generation. It is basically the same show they do up river on Friday afternoons. We sat and had glassed of wine and had a chance to talk with both Bobby and Gilberto for a few minutes. You always have to plan to share Bobby with other groupies who seem to gather wherever he appears (of course, that is what groupies are supposed to do, right?). It was a nice evening and we enjoyed reconnecting with Bobby. We plan to catch him and his son who are playing at an Irish pub on Saturday.

I did have one light-hearted, "lost in translation" moment a couple of days ago. I wanted to get my beard trimmed. I like to go to this old Mexican barber. It is another opportunity to connect with the locals. He has no English, so it challenges me to use my Spanish. I ask him for trim, on the short side. In just moments, his clippers had removed one whole side of my beard completely! What could I do? The trim quickly became a complete shave and I was, shockingly, reintroduced to my face. After the shave, feeling somewhat honored by the fact that the old man (probably my age!) used the first razor blade he had ever owned, I returned home and with every fiber of my being, started on the new beard!

So, with that, I bid adieu. All is well, we lover our house, we cherise our daily routine and it is so nice to have time again the read. I particularly enjoyed two novels my Kate Atkinson, a re-reading of "Life After Life" and her companion piece to it, "A God in Ruins," both highly recommended! Until next time, we think of all of you often and hope all is well in the north.

 

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