TRANQUILLO
This season is very quiet and calm. COVID was already keeping many tourists away. And then the new edicts from Canada, along with airlines stopping flights, encouraged many of the few Canadians to depart for the north ahead of schedule. So we have seen more internal tourists and a few US visitors.
We feel for the local business people who are dependent upon tourists in a short season for their livelihood. Many of these are vendors that are almost strictly seasonal and cater, some literally, to tourists. Others are year-round, mostly hole-in-the-wall, stores that look to 'the season' for concentrated income. Unfortunately this year is going to be a crash course in how to do more with less. We do our best to help out, but we cannot support the entire economy.
One thing that has not slowed down has been construction. For those of you not familiar with the area these comments will not mean as much. Bucerias has become a northern exurb of PV. Condominiums and apartments are going up like crazy, including the units directly behind us. The pictures will be relevant to those who know our city. The orchard/goat yard project is going up. The banner on the corner announces Coradiso - apparently a made-up word combining heart and home. The tower across the street has residents. And these are projects mostly just around our block. We are becoming urban for certain.
Rebecca has persevered in working on puzzles with a little help from Edgar and Jose. One particularly interesting puzzle is included in the pictures. After the puzzle was finished, secret instructions told how to exchange two corners, and, voila, the puzzle now had a hole in it. Extra pieces were included with the secret instructions and another puzzle ensued. Very clever.
Mrs.T's health has improved approximately to the point she was physically before October. She is off her oxygen except at night. She can manage routine activities. She is still challenged cognitively. But she is working on that, including taking Spanish class three days per week. Which brings us to her story for this newsletter.
This past year has been a year of disappointments. For me there was my health; I am not as invincible as I had thought. Dear friends had moved to a higher plain. And on top of this there came this dratted virus. It was not only scary; it was extremely annoying. (When out we always wear our cubrebocas. -dt) One bright spot in this mess was Dan. Dan was not only brave he was intelligent, analyzing our world and our life and calming my fears both rational and irrational. (Thank you! -dt) Then just when I thought I might be able to cope the world turned sideways. One of the foundations of my world collapsed. A mob of misguided idiots attacked the capital. These people, often white supremists, wanted to overthrow our election. I was shaken. I was very angry. I was afraid. Dan was overwhelmed as well. (Mostly disgusted. -dt) For the last month I have been sulking and mourning and then it happened. (Definitely in a 'down' mood. -dt)
I am at home finally. No, not in Mexico. I am at home in my second world. I am diving. (In Mexico -dt)(We needed to wait on her health and boat repairs. -dt) The Pacific was slightly cold but the visibility was good. At first I thought it was going to be a desert dive - all you see is sand! But then, cautiously, the little sea people began to creep out. The shells were what I noticed first. Tiny limpets shaped like Chinese hats creeping along the ocean bottom, You hardly see them move but then they do, eating tiny bits of garbage and moving on like tiny vacuum cleaners. Now I notice bright red and white crabs scuttling back and forth on lots of legs. Waving their claws threateningly at I- don't-know-what. I think they should be more cautious; the sand is littered with tiny crab remains. Then suddenly the crabs rush to tiny holes and stuff themselves and all their legs into safety. A medium sized - maybe six-inch - fish cruises by. It is a good sized Sergeant major.
Everybody except me was concerned about my return to the underwater world. I knew I would be fine and I was. My trusty divemaster Alex clutched my hand firmly just in case. (Mrs.T has been diving with Alex for 10+ years. -dt) This occasioned a few tug of wars as one of us wanted to watch the morays - there were a lot of pink tiger eels with brown spots - while the other wanted to see the stingrays. But we managed to work it out.
As we approach piles of rocks we see more and more fish. They weave in about and behind and under; they dart and they glide. There are several of the same kinds of fish but they are not really schooling. Most of the fish are familiar. I do not know the names of a lot of these fish and I have forgotten many names I once knew. But still the fish seem like old friends. (They probably were wondering where Mrs.T was. -dt) Around and upon the rocks we see corals, sea urchins, and sand dollars. Conches are attached to rocks and the sea floor.
When Alex and I dive we like to do our part to help clean up the ocean. So while we dove we collected trash. Most of it was fishing line, weights and lures, with the occasional beer bottle, tennis shoe, and cell phone. We both collect it and Alex wraps it in a neat bundle. (There is especially a lot at Mismaloya. -dt)
So we were swimming along looking at fish and collecting trash when suddenly Alex stopped. "Stay here for five minutes", Alex signs. Under water we communicate with each other with hand signals. "I am going to try and catch an octopus." (Dinner for Alex. -dt) Well, fine by me. Alex gives me our package of trash to hold. When we pick up trash from the sea floor there are little corrals and plants growing attached to it. Just the perfect tasty snack for a Parrotfish to munch on.
So here is the thing. The octopus lives in a cave under a big rock. Alex sticks his hand in and tries to get a hold of it. The octopus, hereafter referred to as Legs, retreats to the far side of the cave. Alex goes around to the other side of the rock and sticks his hand in the back door. Legs retreats to the main entrance.
I am watching this and a small Parrotfish approaches me shyly. He looks at the corral and plant life dripping from the package of trash. 'Would you mind if I had a little of that?', he seems to ask and takes a tentative nibble. I am surprised but hold the trash out and the fish takes another bite.
Meanwhile Alex is lying flat on the ocean floor so that he can get more of his hand inside the cave. Legs starts chucking shells and small stones at Alex's hand. Then he retreats to a hiding place behind a large stone. Meanwhile the Parrotfish has finished one string of fishing line and is starting on a second one. Alex starts excavating the main entrance so that he can see Legs. Legs peeking over his hiding place inks Alex. The Parrotfish has finished eating coral from the second string of fishing line and is looking to see what he should start on next. Alex gives up. Legs just did not want to be caught, Alex told me later.
You may think it is sort of mean to eat Legs. But we must remember that Alex and his family are fishermen. This is how they live. This has been a very bad year as there are few tourists to take diving or deep sea fishing. For a while they even closed the port and the guys were forbidden to even catch fish to feed their families. I am in fact a very valuable commodity for Alex. When we were making our way down to the boat one of his friends called out to Alex, "Who is that? Your grandmother?" "This is my customer", Alex replied proudly. (Mrs.T essentially is Alex's business. -dt)
On the way back to the dock we caught two goodsized Spanish jacks so that was supper for Alex's family last night. When you are raising two teenagers it takes quite a bit of food and Alex's son, though he is very skinny, eats an incredible amount.
Howsomeever, we go back to swimming around underwater, picking up trash, and looking at the plant and animal life. We are followed at a distance by the Parrotfish looking hopefully for more handouts. I am happy to note I am quite competent, equalizing my ears, maintaining my buoyancy, and controlling my position with one finger tip stuck in the sand or on a rock. There is not a lot of current here today. All too soon Alex signals it time to go back and we slowly make our way back to the boat and up.
Our day of wonder is not over yet. We cruise around to see what we can see from the top of the water. The sea is pretty calm but as we look out we spot several small boats gathered in one area. We know what that means: whales! As we approach we see a couple of whales surfacing. The animals are so huge; they are impressive even from a long distance. The whales are generally cavorting about on the surface and blowing and making shallow dives. Before we get very close they go down. We know they are going down because when they dive they go vertical and you see their whole tail sticking up in the air. These whales are probably mating. When they dive they usually stay down for about twenty minutes. We will hang out and wait for them to come up.
While we are waiting Alex tells his family about Legs. Of course like any good fisherman story, Legs grows bigger in the telling. Now a couple of dolphins show up. They are playing, jumping in and out of the wake of all of the boats. The whales resurface and we watch them jumping and playing together. I never get tired of watching the gentle giants. After they dive again we start back to the dock. We are cruising slowly back when just ahead two hugh mantas rise majestically out of the water, float gently through the air, and disappear beneath the waves. Our day is over and I am replete.
By the time you read this Rebecca will have completed several more dives; she could even be diving now. Alex has started her out slowly but each time she is down a bit longer and a bit deeper. She is going twice a week and will have most of a normal season's worth of dives done by the time we leave in April. It is obvious that diving makes her very happy..
Some photos as promised: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmUc9ryW
At the time of this writing we observed the snow and plunging temperatures to the north. Sorry folks, we do not miss it.
And we hope the vaccine situation has been unscrambled by the time we return.
Keep warm.
Keep healthy.
Dan and Rebecca
www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com
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