POOL PRINCESSES
Since her Hurricane Irma story Rebecca has been low key on the newsletter front. Between American Thanksgiving and New Year it is tranquilo in Bucerias before the hordes of turistas show up for either New Year or Christmas. We have emphasized many times that we are not on vacation, but just in our winter location. So the climate is better, especially for our health; hope you are enjoying your white Christmas season. But life basically follows the same routines. Here Mrs.T does have her SCUBA - she has been out a half dozen times already - and she can enjoy the pool; as many of you know, your editor does not do water. And the jigsaw puzzle activities have been in full swing. (Right now Dr. Puzzle is back in B.C. visiting family.) As she relates below, R has had some difficulty lining up horse riding but that seems to now be under control. And starting in a few weeks our Airbnb will be in full swing with many welcome visitors. Here is a between-the-holidays update from the resident muse:
Well we did it. We finally got solar heating for our condo pool. This means that Brenda and I spend a fair amount of our time lolling about. Some renters a bit earlier were fairly athletic. ('Athletic' has a different meaning for the editor. -dt) We generally frown on this but we let them stay anyway. They took advantage of our generosity by showing off in the pool doing a thing called synchronized swimming. This seemed to involve standing on their heads in the pool and kicking their legs about. While it is theoretically possible that Brenda and I could put our heads underwater, we did not want to ruin our hair. (We are still waiting for this theory to be tested. -dt) After a bit of this I had had enough. So I invented a new water sport: SYNCHRONIZED FLOATING!!! I got long blue foam floating tubes which Brenda and I put under our necks to stabilize us a bit. Then on my command we stuck our right foot out of the water. We continued with: Left foot out, both feet out, kick, right hand out, left hand out. But when I got to the next command - tubes up - the troops rebelled. Brenda, unfortunately, thought I said 'boobs up'. She not only was unsure exactly what I meant by this command but was also unsure if she wished to participate. By the time we had gotten this straightened out our audience had who had been watching with bemused curiosity wandered away. (Waiting for the second show -dt)
I was unsuccessful at trying to connect with the place I rode horses last year. I decided to try to ride one of the horses who frequent the beach giving rides to tourists. (Western style is better for R in any case. -dt) Of course when I went to the beach there were no horses in sight. I waited and waited, I had put on my boots so even standing on the beach hurt my feet. Eventually when I was getting ready to go back to the condo in the distance I saw horses riding up the beach. As they came closer I saw that they weren't really horses. It was two little boys racing ponies through the surf. After they passed me I realized that I should have asked them about horses. Well I thought, if they rode up the beach they should ride back eventually. I waited and waited. Finally when I had almost given up I saw them in the distance trotting slowly back. "Vaqueros," I called to them. When they rode up I told them that I would like to go for a ride. They looked me over assessingly. "You will need a bigger horse," the older boy said doubtfully. I assured him that I knew that I could not ride one of their ponies. I suggested that perhaps his father had a bigger horse. "You wait here," the boy replied. I thought he was about 8-10 years old. "You wait here," the little brother, maybe 5 years old, parroted. And the two of them galloped off down the beach. Again I waited and waited. Some time later the two little boys rode up on their ponies leading a larger horse behind them.
I looked at the horse. He was a tubby unenthusiastic looking horse but he looked quite healthy and was considerably larger than the boys' ponies. "I need a chair to get on the horse," I told the little cowboys. They were confused. I had hoped that some adult would come with the horse but alas not so. I demonstrated my inability to get my leg above my head to the stirrup. This puzzled the boys as they had never before encountered such a disabled individual who still wanted to ride. But they did understand the problem. We lead the horse over to a nearby beach chair and I clambered up. I could then get my left leg into the stirrup but was not quite able to throw my right leg over. Fortunately Mauricio, a beach jewelry vendor, hurried over and gave me a boost in the butt and soon I was sitting in the saddle. (Sorry, no picture of that -dt)
The elder boy attached a rope to the horse's bridle and started leading the horse down the beach. After awhile of this somewhat embarrassing travel I asked the boy if he was getting tired and suggested he might try riding his horse. I guess he decided that I was not going to fall off even in my advanced state of decrepitude. We went back to where the younger brother was holding the ponies and we all traversed the beach at a very slow trot. I was trying to converse with them in Spanish. They were very enthusiastic but talked too fast for me to follow. They knew only a few phrases of English so after a while we just rode. It was a very pleasant ride even though my horse seemed to be loping along at his ease. I tried to find the boys on other days but did not. Now I have an arrangement with some older cowboys who bring a little white horse to our condo once a week for me to ride. Life is good. (You will find pictures of that below. -dt)
Pool, pasada, puzzles, and more:
https://www.flickr.com/gp/9151458@N07/rh43o4
And courtesy of Brenda - who provided the stepstool - we have some short videos (be patient while they load):
https://1drv.ms/v/s!Ar_LTkWEqhbYkGTe314H14SWwhbi
Gerry from Manitoba also decided to ride:
https://1drv.ms/v/s!Ar_LTkWEqhbYkGXLaWCezY5l_eqs
https://1drv.ms/v/s!Ar_LTkWEqhbYkGIcvmGv3G1XiTGb
As mentioned at the onset, we know many of you had a white Christmas and some are still in a deep freeze. Stay warm.
Best wishes,
Dan and Rebecca
www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com
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