Warm Nights and Warmer Days

Dear One and all,

Three days have passed since my last communication and, frankly, little has occurred in our lives. Mother Nature, however, is warming up. It is not so much that the actual temperatures have changed dramatically, if at all, but the angle of the sun is sharper, lying on the beach seems hotter and light just seems brighter and more alive. I caught the foamy sea and this day cruiser in the bay

Despite the lovely days, the sea has been pretty wild, with a number of quite high tides spoiling the beaches of the surf-side cafes. While cafes suffer, it has been a great time for the boogie boarders. I caught this fellow in a squence of pictures and he rode the wave all the way to shore

In the last day or so, things have quieted down and with yesterday's earthquake, the seas have seemed to change their patterns once again.

We have been spending our days in a pretty regular routine. We sit and watch the ocean for about 90 minutes each morning, exchanging pleasantries with our friends, Art and Marilyn, from Vancouver, WA, with several of the vendors who now seem to just stop by, whether we are buying or not (usually not), and with Dave and Katie, who are slowly growing accustomed to doing little or nothing, day in and day out.

We had a nice dinner with them at Vitea on Sunday evening and stolled up to El Patio last night, introducing my brother to a quite flavorful beer, Minerva, that Polley and I discovered a couple of weeks ago. Dave and Katie have also been joining us for sunset each evening. Last night, while bright and clear, had little to dazzle us. Just a flaming orange ball that dipped beyond the horizon. Perhaps we are becoming a bit jaded to one of nature's great wonders. However, Saturday and Sunday, failed to disappoint. These three are from Saturday evening.

Clouds moved in on Sunday, but the effects were even more dramatic.

It is often not just the sky and the clouds, but the reflections off the water as well. It makes it very difficult to avoid the beach at sunset. If you are somewhere else, it always feels that you but be missing a spectacular show. With the arrival of Wednesday, we will be down to our final 3 weeks. We have dinner out tonight with our good Oregon friends, Pat and George, from Salem their friends, John and Molly, from Beaverton, along with Dave and Katie. I will try to remind myself to use the camera. MOre soon!

 

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Bight Sunshine and Flowers

Dear One and all,

Well, temperatures are beginning to warm up as we move further and further out of winter toward spring and summer. It has become most notable at night as sleeping has been a bit more of a challenge. Getting the perfect balance between sheet and blanket has become a bit trickier. At 5:30 this morning, it was 73 degrees. Very different than even a month ago when it could be as cool as 59. You can see the effect of the warming trend especially in the colors of the flowers

This little guy sprang out at us as we were making the trek up to our apartment. And last night, coming back from a trip up river, we stopped in at El Patio. Usually, El Patio is the last stop of an evening, but last night the sun had not yet set and we found ourselves enjoying a glass of wine and the fading light. I was able to get a photo of this lovely "Poor Man's Orchid"

It is hard to believe that this plant was near death a couple of years ago. The owner of El Patio, Heidi, has done a great job of saving it. I caught Polley, naturally, admiring the color

Because we are generally there at night, I don't have many good pictures. Last night, with light still in the sky, I caught a couple of pictures that give you a sense of a very special place

While some of it is closed, where we always sit is just open to the sky. On a still night like last night, it really is breathtaking.

Heidi told me that it was once a kind of carriage yard for wagons and some animals. The covered area, now the bar, is where the carriages, harnesses, etc were stored

It is our favorite late night hang out and we strong recommend it to anyone visiting PV. Still one of the town's best kept secrets.

Yesterday, we got together with my brother, Dave, and his wife, Katie, for a trip up river to El Rio BBQ for some refreshment and good music. We joined out Canadian friend Reg, who, sadly, is leaving on Monday

Actually Reg returns to Winnipeg, only to immediately head for 2 21/2 weeks in Australia! Dave and Katie seeemed to enjoy the rural setting

and we all enjoyed the Baby-Boomer tunes with Gilberto and our friend Bobby

Friday afternoons are always a good time at El Rio

Besides Friday afternoon, we tried to rest up after the birthday celebration. We got down to Langosta for a sunset one night. Clouds had moved in, as they did yesterday as well, but it made for some dramatic effects

There seem to be many more sailboats this year. They keep appearing in nearly every sunset shot, including this one that captured by sneaking up on this unsuspecting Niño, fascinated by the sky and the boat

Good times in PV continue, but I am aware that we are just 3 1/2 weeks from coming home. Does one rush to take it all in, or just sit back, do little and and absorb as much as you can, trying desperately to hold on what you can, to get you through Oregon April and May. The rest of the summer will take care of itself. More soon

 

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A Special Day for Dear José

Dear One and all,

While I could talk of the sun going up and then going down, of us downing another cerveza, margarita or tequila shooter, today I am focusing on our celebration of the birthday (cumpliaño de José) of our waiter friend, José, the life of the place at La Fuente del Puente.

He was 48 yesterday (also Ash Wednesday). Polley and I planned a little celebration. Why we chose to do the blowout for 48, I can't explain. I think we just came up with an idea and executed it. We had t-shirts made, saying "I "heart" José. They were a real hit. From the moment Polley and I walked in wearing our, to the surprise of having them for the whole staff

Here you see José with the kitchen staff, all donning their camisitas. We also got the other head waiter, Alex and the restaurant manager, Aurora, to pose, although Aurora had yet to slip the shirt over her head

I had invited Esparanza, his wife to come along as well. They have been together 28 years

Esparanza also brought along two of her sisters, Betty and Sonja, who seemed to enjoy the party, despite a limited amount of English

You may notice my brother sitting there as well, Dave and Katie Joined us and Dave really got into the celebratory aspects of the day, having not one, but two Cadillac margaritas, which José personally made right at the table

We finished up with a lunch of calamari and ceviche and, of course, a lovely little cake, divided about 12 ways. It was great fun and sseemed to be something embraced by the whole staff. José is that kind of guy. He loves his job, loves his family and, I think, trulyu loves his friends and customers. Polley and I talked about the money we spent on the shirts and the food and the music. Mexicans have so little, would a gift of money have been better? Perhaps. But I think we gave José a day he will remember for a very long time. Priceless!

Other than that event, after the big day with Dave and Kaitie's arrival,, we had a very quiet Monday and Tuesday. Polley caught my cold, of course, so she is suffering through the effects of that. We did make it to the Malécon for a couple of sunsets

This one was actually Wednesday night. It was a sunset that was quite lovely as the sun went down

But, after that, Nada! The clouds seemed to just take over and rob us of any afterglow (except that which we both just naturally possess!) We were, in fact, supposed to join by brother and his wife for some dinner and music, but Polley's cold insisted on being a priority. So it was just up the hill for a light supper and then, I tucked the Polley into bed, supplied with a large supply of Kleenex and we turned out the light. Too much fun, time to recharge!

 

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Friends, Family and Fair Skies

Dear One and All,

Well, I am back to a bit more regular schedule. The cold seems to be moving on -- to Polley, I believe. Sorry! I will say that recovering from a cold is more enjoyable down here than it is at home. Sun power is a remarkable thing! So, with my energy back, I thought I would go back and catch everyone up with last few days.

Thursday evening we had the pleasure of taking our waiter friend, José, and his wife, Esperanza, to dinner. We took them to one of our favorite places, Naranjo. It actually is near where the Flores live, but is a very different setting that the one they would normally go to. It was a very nice evening and we seemed more successful this time to include Esperanza, who has nearly no English. But where there is desire, there can be communication. I caught the two of them and Polley as we left our meal,

Esperanza had had a birthday the weekbefore, so the plant was our belated gift.

In my title to this blog, I mentioned family. My brother, Dave, and his wife, Katie, arrived on Sunday. They will be in PV for a month as they try the extended vacation. We always enjoy them and after meeting them at the airport and getting an over-priced cab into town, along with letting them settle in, we met on the Malécon for dinner at Vitea. A good meal and a inice time watching all the tourists and locals wander up and down the Malécon.

I will admit that this photo is not too flattering. My brother looks jet-lagged, Katie is lifting margarita #1 to all of us, and Polley appears been sneaking a few behind our backs. Anway, it should be a fun March with those two in town. It also was nice, that after two months of bragging and blogging about sunsets, that we wintnessed one of the most spectacular on their first night here

The colors in the sky were marvelous, but as the sun went down, as so often happens, the real show began

As I often preface my display of photos, these were not re-touched in any way. It was this intense

Another Turner painting in the making

If you look closely, you see the moon beginning to appear in the upper center of the picture

It just seemed to go on and on. I would take a photo and then sit down, only to be forced to take another. Quite a first night for the other Bowens.

 

Monday we got back into the routine. We headed down to the beach. On our way across the island, we ran into my favorite PV dog. He belongs to a gardener on the island. They are best of friends

Very handsome and playful with a great set of ears. I will try for a closer picture in the future. When we arrived at the beach, the tide was way up and the waves were incredible (and a little scary).

It is difficult to capture the scale, but we had a couple that broke and came all the way up into the restaurant. We have learned to keep all our belongings on chairs and the table, as you just don't know when another rogue wave will strike.

Last night, with the routine firmly re-established, we were down at Roberto's for some wine and another sunset. Dave and Katie wandered by and joined us

and we waited for nature's sky show

It wasn't bad, but was much softer and less intense than the previous night. As I tell Polley, that's why you come down. It is nearly always a good show, but with a certain amount of variety.

It was nearly a perfect evening. Very little breeze, warm, balmy temperatures, just delightful. Polley and I wandered up to El Patio for another of those delicious, very flavorfu Minerva beers -- this one called ITA. Had a nice talke with Ivan and then headed up the hill. I had made some arugula soup and we had that for dinner. It was really delicious. So, life has returned to normal. It is fun to have some family hear to pal aorund with, but it was also nice to return to our comfortable haunts. We have a surprise birthday party for José tomorrow. I hope at give you a feel of that fiesta when next we connect.

 

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Checking In

Dear One and all,

For three blogs in a row, I find myself apologizing for making it a three day famine. The truth is that I have been hit with a doozy of a cold and have been very limited in my activities and, thus, in our having much to share. In fact, yesterday, for the first time since arriving in PV, I did not get a walk in. Unheard of!

So, this blog is primarily to let you know that we are alive (a couple of days ago, just barely) and all continues well except for my health. It is not serious, but it is annoying. So, I think today, I will leave you with the sun, one setting from two nights ago and another from last night. This was Friday night.

And, this was last night

Enjoy and will be in contact soon

 

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