Random thoughts from paradise

Headed our way!

It’s a random thoughts kind of day; thoughts of weather, knees, a novel, and a dog.  

Connected right?  Only in my mind.

It’s the tail-end of hurricane season in the tropics and we still obsessively check the weather forecast, to ensure we don’t get caught unawares.  Zero percent chance of rain, the webpage stated, as we watched a huge black cloud slowly slide towards our house.  When the curtain of liquid hit we scrambled to slam windows and patio doors.  Fortunately our casa was designed as a beach house, tile floors, outdoor Sunbrella fabric covering cushions on concrete sofas, and a wooden dining set that was originally intended to be patio furniture.  Even our artwork is photographs printed on waterproof canvas.  So other than a few puddles to wipe up, rain inside the house is nature’s way of washing our floors.

Zero percent chance of rain  ..... 

Several parts of the island got the same deluge, while it completely missed other neighbourhoods.  One friend said she encountered flooded intersections where the water was half-way up the large tires on her Jeep.  Others had small rivers running through their homes, leaky windows, and flooded pathways.  Fifteen minutes later the rain stopped.  The sun reappeared, heating the freshly washed air.  Just little tropical tempest to keep us on our toes. 

A short time later the rain returned while I was walking Sparky, our Mexican-lowrider rescue dog near Playa Media Luna.  As I dashed along the beach headed for shelter, my foot landed off-kilter in the sand.  By the time I returned home the knee was swollen and not functioning.  I must say, I am particularly fond of wearing a black knee brace paired with large clunky-soled athletic shoes.  It is such stylish look in a culture that worships thin and lofty stiletto heels.

One caring friend, who has had several knee operations, suggested that I should not do stairs with a sore knee. Good suggestion, except our designed for outdoor-living home has a stairway leading from the living/kitchen/pool area to the two bedrooms and upper patios.  Nineteen steps up and of course nineteen steps down.  Need a cup of morning coffee?  Feed the dog?  Let the dog out for a pee-break?  Make lunch?  Answer the door?  Glass of wine for sundown?   Lawrie has been an absolute sweetie doing the fetch and carry thing, but I occasionally need a break from the computer.  

Photo for cover - Tony Garcia

Which segues into the novel part of my random thoughts.  

I started writing a book, called Treasure Isla, a few months ago.  It’s a fun adventure set on present day Isla involving pirates, buried treasure, and islanders hunting for the loot. 

Creating a community populated with fictional people leaves me preoccupied with ideas, descriptions and phrases.  Occasionally when chatting with friends, my thoughts drift away, as I wonder how my characters would react in a similar situation.  

What would he or she say?  Feel?  Do?  These other people have invaded my brain. 

When do I get to paw-print books? Photo by Tony Garcia

And, of course, there is a dog in the story.  

A pure-breed Mexican-lowrider rescue dog, by the name of Sparky.  He is the doppelgänger for our little mutt.  

After Tony Garcia did a photo shoot for the back cover of the book, Sparky has become an impossible divo.  He is anxious to have his own book signing party.  Hopefully the book will be ready for release as an e-book in mid to late November.  The printed version … well, we’ll see. 

Cheers Lynda & Lawrie

& The Sparkinator

I' want to be more famous than Thomas the Cat 

Some things never change

Longer days - beautiful weather

Huh!  I’ll be darned!

Scrolling through 20,472 photographs of Isla Mujeres that we have taken in the last few years, I realized that there definitely is a repeat pattern to life here on the island. 

June is prime time for the boisterous political parades.  The campaign for Governor of the State of Quintana Roo was in June 2009.  The campaigning for Presidente of Isla Mujeres occurred in June 2010, and it is happening right now in June 2013.  Typically the state and federal elections are every six years, while local elections are every three years.  The mandate for our local Presidente, Hugo Sanchez, was a bit shorter as the election officials wanted to synchronize the dates, statewide.

2009 State elections

The political parades are entertaining so we don’t mind the noise of the various campaign slogans and accompanying music.  PRI party seems to like rap music similar to Pit Bull, and the PAN soundtrack sounds like One Night in Bangkok, or maybe it’s Putting on the Ritz – one of those.   I find myself humming along as the boom-box golf carts pass by our house, again and again and again.

June is also the time for torrential rain storms interspersed with silky smooth seas and brilliantly sunny days.  In June 2011 Tropical Storm Arlene paid us a visit flooding many parts of the island.  

This year a storm sat overtop of Isla for about a week, before grudgingly moving on to Florida, where it became Tropical Storm Andrea - the first named storm of 2013.  Andrea set records for the amount of rainfall in various parts of the USA, and probably here on Isla.  I have seen reports of up to two feet of rain for the week.  That’s a lot of water!  

2011 TS Arlene flooded streets in centro

So much water that two separate sightings of crocodiles swimming on roadways were reported; one in the hotel zone in Cancun, and one in the area by the Hacienda Mundaca Park on Isla.  

Strange areas such as Captain Tony’s front yard at the higher southern end of the island were turned into lakes.  He and his dog went kayaking - on the front lawn.  

We were wet and cranky, experiencing a bit of cabin fever as we huddled in our house, staring out the rain-drenched windows as sheets of rain obliterated our ocean view. 

 

Lawrie - clearing street drain near our house

And predictably every year the heavy rains cause migraine-sized headaches for store and restaurant owners in the busy centro area of Isla.  Even though we are an island made primarily of sand and coral, the water doesn’t dissipate rapidly enough.  The various pumps just can’t handle the flow.  This time there was also a problem in the electrical panel for the pumps causing a further delay in reducing the water build up.  Many drainage trenches were clogged with sand and trash.  

In the summer months we frequently check the two large drains a few hundred feet south of our house.  We have on occasion been out there in the pouring rain, rakes in hand, clearing the debris, reducing the accumulating water to a few inches instead of a few feet.  I wonder do we qualify as city workers?  Maybe we will get an invitation to the annual Christmas party?

Swimming with Whale Sharks June 2009

On the upside of June, it is one of our favourite months because the ocean is teeming with sea life.  It is turtle mating season, and the beginning of their nesting season.  June is also in my opinion the best month for enjoying a swim with the Whale Sharks, those graceful forty-foot long submarines that are in truth neither whale nor shark, but the world’s largest fish.  Fewer tourists equal a better experience when swimming with these gorgeous creatures.   In June most Canadians, Americans, and Europeans are enjoying fine weather in their own home-towns.  Later in the summer, when crowded cities heat up, we will see another up-tick in tourism, particularly from European countries.

Turtle tracks in front of neighbour

June is also the beginning of the migration season for various species of ray including the Golden Rays and Manta Rays.  We were fortunate a few years ago to watch as a large group of rays passed our house on the east side of the island.  The females leapt high into the air, contracting muscles, and expelling a cylinder-shaped live baby ray.  The babies’ wings unfurled as they entered the water, and away they sped following the family group.  Pretty darn cool to see!

It’s comforting to know that some things never change.  Next year we’ll be doing most of the same things again; viewing the turtles’ mating season, swimming with Whale Sharks, watching for the migration of rays, and enjoying life with our friends and family. 

Ah, June - beautiful peaceful June.

Hasta Luego          
Lynda and Lawrie

Easing up to the end of summer

Brisas Restaurante - a favourite place for a cool dinner.

This week has been hot and sticky, with high humidity that spikes just before the rain showers hit.  We are moving slower and spending more time hiding in the shade, or floating in the pool. 

If we are eating out my main criteria is - is there a breeze at that location? 

The various car and passenger ferries are still busy bringing tourists to the island. Travelers come to enjoy the beaches, deep sea fishing, the release of baby turtles and whale shark tours. 

Hundreds of tourists from Cancun

This week the municipality hosted drag races, held on the Navy airport runway.  It was amusing to watch as the scheduled start time of Saturday morning became Saturday afternoon, then Sunday morning, and finally around noon on Sunday there were some races.  Apparently the problem was that some of the contestants were not able to get across on the car ferry in time.  T.I.M. This is Mexico.


We are just a few days away from the first of September the slowest month of the year for tourism.  A few friends that operate bars or restaurants are closing for the month to give everyone their annual holidays, and to do a general cleanup of their properties.  Most students are back in school, and there aren’t any important national holidays until Independence Day on September 16^th. Despite this being the slow season, the real estate agents have been doing a booming business selling building lots, and a broad spectrum of houses in various price ranges. 

Dragging drag races

This is also the time of year that we look around our house making note of various small repairs that need doing.  And then we say; “Let’s wait until hurricane season is over.”  In other words, we are putting it off until the weather cools down, but blaming our laziness on the possibility of storms undoing our repairs, or painting.  The trouble with waiting too long is all the good repairmen will be busy as the returning North Americans arrive in October and November for the winter.  Even houses that are boarded up for the summer need repairs.  Things rust. Corrode.  Stop working.  Then it’s a scramble to get all the repairs done before the social season revs up. 

Rain showers coming !

So at the moment we are lazing around and enjoying our slothfulness.  Lawrie is blissfully floating in the pool, and I am about to join him.  Ah, summer. 

The Benefits of Nasty Weather

We had an unexpected visit on Saturday night and all day Sunday, from a tropical storm, that according to all the weather and hurricane forecasters had only a 10% chance of developing into nasty weather.  I suppose no one thought to inform the gods in charge of the event.

So glad I washed the windows yesterday!

We had a restless night listening to the winds batter the house, and the rain squeeze in between the window casings, dripping onto the floors .  I lay awake, mentally cataloguing all the things I had left outside mistakenly thinking we were only due for some rain; things like sofa cushions, the solar pool cover, and other assorted light objects that would make fine missiles in the wind.  It would have been fool-hardy for us to attempt to retrieve our things while the wind raged.

Our two cats disapproved of the wet floor.

In the morning we were greeted by running water, cascading down two levels on our inside staircase from the rooftop to the kitchen below.  The rooftop drains were clogged, and the water had breached the doorsill.  When we opened the door into the kitchen, our two cats were perched on the furniture, meowing at us, convinced that their lives were in imminent peril.  There was an inch of water on the floor and they couldn't get near their food dish without getting wet feet.  Oh my, such a tragedy!

In Centro - rain, rain, rain on Sunday morning.

When most of us think of tropical storms or hurricanes we think of terrifying winds, torrential downpours, flooding, power outages, property damage, and unnecessary loss of lives ….. not good things.   However, many meteorologists believe that tropical storms may more than offset the damage they cause by the good they do.  

Scientists already know that in such places as Japan, India, Southeast Asia, and Caribbean−even in the southeastern portion of the U.S.−tropical storms provide up to a third of the annual rainfall for drinking water, as well as refreshing wetlands and tidal areas behind the barrier islands.  In the Yucatan peninsula – where we live – most of the domestic water supply comes from the underground rivers running beneath the limestone.  This source is refilled by tropical storms and hurricanes.  The rainfall associated with hurricanes also benefits the farmers in the hilly and remote areas of Mexico – providing much needed water for their crops, unless the rain becomes excessive, and then the farmers’ fields and homes can be washed away in the onslaught. 



Big waves rolling in on east side of Isla Mujeres



It’s a pretty fine balance between good and evil.

Tropical storms are also a crucial factor in maintaining the planet's heat balance. Meteorologists believe that the tropics will become warmer and warmer if some of this heat is not transported away from the tropics.  Fortunately, the earth has some handy methods for carrying heat from the tropics toward the poles; about a third of this heat is distributed by ocean currents, a significant amount is transported by movement of the atmosphere, and a large portion of heat is picked up from the sea by tropical storms.

So, there are a number of benefits to nasty weather – but, I’m not sure it is the easiest way to get a kitchen renovation.  At least we only had a bit of water in the kitchen, no harm done - and it was a very novel way to wash our stairs.



Lawrie clearing street drains!