Under The Mexican Sun

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Yesterday afternoon Carol, Linda, and I were in our condo and the plan was to spend time down at the pool. I was tired, expected the ladies to take a little while to get ready, so I lay down in a spare room where I fell asleep. The ladies, believing I must have already gone to the pool, went down themselves. Carol saw I was not there and phoned me to ask where I was. I picked up my cell phone, told her what happened, and said I'd be down soon. At this point a detail about our door enters the story. Only with the key can we lock or unlock our door. The above photo shows the key on the inside of the door where we keep it. When I approached the door, as you probably guessed by now, this is not what I saw. But, hey, no problem. I just have to call Carol back on her cell phone and ask her to come up and let me out, right? I did this but got no answer. It became clear Carol and Linda had entered the pool and her cell phone was not clo...

Before I describe our time in Zihua today, here are a couple of photos from yesterday. First, a little more komorebi through our patio doors. Next, a rather nice portrait of Linda ... Carol was with Linda and they enjoyed a cold coconut milk drink together. Carol took the above portrait of her sister Linda enjoying hers. We had errands in Zihua today and I submit the following collage to convey random street scenes. (You realize of course that you get a bigger view when you click on the photo.) Among other things, I needed to renew my cell phone service, a better bargain in Zihua than in Ixtapa. Most things are a better bargain in Zihua. Three weeks of cell phone service providing unlimited phone calls and unlimited text messages, to anywhere in Mexico, USA, and Canada, is a pretty good deal at $6.70 Canadian. 300 MB of data included. We wanted to have supper in a restaurant recommended as serving the most authentic Mexican cuisine you can get anywhere and, of c...

We have an island near the beach that may possibly be a home to birds. It's difficult to get a sharp telephoto image with a cell phone camera but here is my attempt ... ... or maybe not. But those sure aren't patches of ice. Speaking of birds, we often see hawks in the sky. In our neighborhood they seem to have chosen a favorite building to circle, which is the one next to ours. When the sun is in the right position they cast interesting shadows on the wall which I have been trying to capture. The video below is the best I've been able to do so far. Maybe they get hopeful about the odd tourist lying on the beach in the broiling sun. No, those would be vultures, right? Speaking of the strong sun that pours down here, when we get groceries we have to take a taxi back to our digs. The taxi drivers are very good at helping us put our bags in the trunk. One fellow kept a white terry face cloth that he put on his head while outside the car helping us. Yea...

Yesterday the Bullocks paid us a visit giving them a chance to see our digs. Justin, Becky, and Paige left today for home. Here's a parting shot before they walked the beach to their place. All of us in the one photo thanks to Photoshop. The two on the left are Linda and Paige. Justin, Becky, and Jack are to the right. A few minutes later a couple of fishermen appeared on the beach. Their efforts met with no visible success but they persisted. On the way back to our condo I photographed this rather colorful hedge, of which there are many on the property. They are trimmed with hand clippers every second day. No complaints about maintenance at this place. The lawn looks as smooth as artificial turf ... but it's not. The bird shown above is common here. This morning I watched as two of them approached one another on the lawn. Then, while facing one another at close range, they both looked straight up as though something compelling was going ...

Mucho reading today, including the Bible book of Ruth as rendered in 'The Message' translation. It's only four chapters long but the story packs such a wallop and I enjoyed reading it in this translation. I also finished reading "The Elephant Whisperer," about far more than elephants. I was sad to learn just yesterday that the author of this book died of a heart attack in 2012, age 61. Reportedly two herds of elephants appeared at his house shortly after his death, to mourn for two days. It is also reported that the elephants return every year on the anniversary of his death. Here's one of several links to the story  ... https://theearthorganization.org/lawrence-anthonys-elephants/ And here are some of today's photos: Flowers out our front door. Photo by Carol Flower on our way to the beach to view the sunset. My lady walking on the beach.   Me.   You knew one of these would be included, right?     Sun...

Saturday's supper was with Linda and Jack, Justin, Becky and Paige at their Bayview condo almost next door to our building. Elizabeth came with us too. Alas, I forgot to take a group photo but here's what I do have: First, a video view from their 17th floor balcony ... ... and a few photos, the one below with the group in it but unposed. Looking at the sunset of course. The sunset itself. A nest of lower level condos. Photo from inside looking out. Today was meeting day and while waiting for the bus we got picked up by Jerry and Diann, friends in the congregation, going by in their car. On the way my cell phone rang. I said, "Hello" and some fellow asked me something indistinct in Spanish. I said, "Hello? Who am I talking to please?" He barked at me, " Hablas español? Si o no!" It sounded like it might be army headquarters so I promptly replied, "No hablo espa ñol" and the fellow hung up. Nice to know my M...

A few minutes before leaving for our mid-week meeting we were sitting in our living room on upholstered chairs when we realized we were swaying on them. The initial puzzlement was brief. Three hanging lights over the kitchen counter swung to and fro. A heavy-framed mirror on the wall wobbled back and forth. But there was not a sound.  No, I didn't catch it on video so you'll have to imagine these items bobbing around. Recognizing this was an earthquake we promptly ambled to the door and left the building to catch our bus to the meeting. The earthquake's center is shown on the map below as a red dot. Follow the west coast upward to Zihuatanejo to see how far away, or close, we were to it.  I have been in minor earthquakes before but they rumbled and vibrated. This one was silent swaying, mild for us but a serious 7.2  on the Richter scale in Oaxaca. Here's a link to a news story:  https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-quake/powerful-72-qua...

There's no MacDonald's in this place but that's fine by us because I believe we make much better Egg McMuffins than they do. But of course one needs English muffins to do it right. Can you buy English muffins in Zihua? Answer: Sometimes. The other day we found a modest supply had arrived at the supermarket so we obtained a small inventory. We enjoy our mornings munching those at our balcony dining table. Speaking of food, we haven't seen leaf-chomping Jorge lately. But we did see a relative today. Note the tail - about twice as long as the beast itself. Cool color scheme too.  For lunch we enjoyed guacamole in the dining room that's part of this complex. Did you know the word guacamole is from an Aztec word, "āhuacamolli," that means avocado sauce? I didn't think so. Today it was served with heated tortilla chips, so hot we had to let them cool down for the sake of our fingers. It's the first time we've had that and it's pretty g...

Back to Zihua today to complete errands we just were too hot and tired to do after service yesterday, among them a haircut for me. The temperature rose to 92 F today which tends to press in on a person especially at sea level. The haircut was administered by a sister in the business. It rendered me more presentable for the ministry and for my pending Sunday talk. Actually that's still a little way off and will be on our last Sunday here. Our stroll through Zihua brought us by a restaurant we had heard of. We plan to have a meal there one day. Don't you love the chairs? We had opportunity to visit a condo higher up in the building today, giving me an opportunity to photograph an overview of the property. The grounds are remarkably well maintained. Workers are out tending to it early every morning. Speaking of maintenance, at the entrance to this complex there is a rock formation about ten or twelve feet high with a waterfall splashing down over its l...

We were out in the public ministry today, under a nearly cloudless sky, with temperatures peaking at 94 degrees F. I wore my straw hat so instead of my scalp getting dry-toasted it got a steam bath instead. One merciful thing about the work here, the brothers do not wear ties. It's just not Mexico ... for very good reason. In this heat it would mean doom. Let's hope this practice catches on in the rest of North America soon. Before we began the brother caring for the arrangement read 1 Timothy 2:4 that says God's "will is that all sorts of people should be saved and come to an accurate knowledge of truth." He reminded us that, for this reason we speak to everyone without prejudice and don't neglect to speak with someone just because he happens to be rich. :-) We didn't meet any of those today but we did come across one outstanding house that was barricaded more securely than Fort Knox. Scenes from today's territory. In the above photos, the ...

Sunday was meeting day of course and we enjoyed the lesson on the resurrection and how the scriptures have been referring to it in one way or another for so many centuries as being central to God's purpose. The "gates of hades" will not stand in the way of that. The public talk was a detailed examination of scripture to show that, contrary to Christendom's teaching, Christ is not God himself but the son of God. The speaker, a friend of mine, is quite intellectual and he drilled pretty deep into the details. This is a brother who, if you name any Bible translation, will say, "Oh yes, published in ..." and give you the year. When we first arrived we spotted a couple of brothers giving the building a fresh coat of paint. To my surprise they also covered the lettering and the JW.org box. They must have a skillful sign painter to re-do the lettering. Maybe we'll find out tomorrow when we go there for the service arrangement. Sunday evening, when I des...