Happy New Year!!

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita, Mexico

Well 2021 has come and gone with a lot of fanfare.  I won't even go where my thoughts could take me about the events of the past 12 months other than to say that I feel truly blessed to have spent the last 3 months away from the drama and restrictions of Canada.  Don't get me wrong, Canada is my home and I am proud to be Canadian, but they have fallen so short of providing good leadership in the recent past.  While I was checking the -34C temps back there, I also felt blessed as I stepped in the pool to cool myself from the +27C sunshine here. 

Archie and I headed down the beach for a little walk for him.  He is still very interested in all the things along the way that he has never seen before.  One of them is the little puffer fish that wash up on shore.  They are like an aquatic porcupine except their quills don't come off, they just poke and are very sharp.  Archie actually found a way to pick this one up and very gingerly carried it for a little bit before giving up and dropping it.

There is a little site swap happening today in the park.  Our neighbour next door is moving up a couple sites for the next month.  I think they are sort of relieved that they won't have Archie near them.  Archie has not been the best neighbour to them and they have been wary of him since the beginning.  They have a dog that is the exact opposite of Archie disposition wise, so his aggressive spirit can be overwhelming to them 

I had to dash up town to get some last minute provisions to get us through tomorrow.  We are getting like the Mexicans in that we kinda just get what we need to eat for tonight's' supper and up to tomorrows supper.  Today was a loaf of bread and a pineapple and a bone for Archie from the Carneceria.  If I walk to town on the streets, I have to go over a walking bridge across the estuary, and sometimes there are some neat things to see.  Today I saw an alligator (about 6ft long), an iguana, and a squirrel.  I watched a lot of fish jumping right in front of the alligator, but he didn't seem interested.

After I got back from the town we spent some time at the palapa watching all the action on the beach.  There are actually quite a few people on the beach and a bit of boat traffic as well.  

Every time I take a picture through our security fence I can hear Johnny Cash singing Folsom Prison.  Pictures make it look like we are in a lockdown, when actually the fence is not that bad and it keeps the people on the beach from wandering in and out of the park.  You don't really see it as much just sitting there, but a picture really brings it out.  As soon as you step back, you can see that it is tastefully done.

I must admit that I like to find weird things around me that make me chuckle and they stir up the story teller (Sue calls it BSer) in me!!  I wonder if this oddity was done on purpose because of something in the wall that prevented the pipe from being centered, or if it was just one of those, "its close enough" sort of things. When they tried it first and it splashed all over the counter, I can hear the guy say "hold my cervaza" and grab it and give it a twist!  There!!  Does it work?  It works perfectly well but it would drive an OCD person crazy.  The Mexicans are true craftsmen with wood and cement and stone, but obviously plumbing is just a means to transport water!!!  Our friends Todd and Tyler Gill of Gill's Plumbing back home, would have a fit if their guys did this!! LOL

We had a little bit of excitement tonight when Pat and Harolds dog Murphy started to vomit and couldn't walk and was almost non responsive.  He is just a tiny Yorkie.  Very scary.  Jeff and Suzanne here in the park got some hydrogen peroxide into him fairly quickly to clean out his stomach.  Then we took him to Pats friend Heather and she had a charcoal concoction for him.  All of their quick thinking obviously was great if this was a poison or something he had ingested.  A big part of the problem was two things.  Number 1- it is new years eve so finding a vet would be hard even if there was no language barrier and Number 2 - the language barrier.  Between Pats friend Heather and Kenia, they came up with a vet clinic that would look at him.  A young vet gave him IV and did some tests and said she thinks he will now be ok.  Whew, that is good news.  He looked a lot better when we got him home.  My theory is that he picked up a butt of a marihuana joint and ate it.  Like I say, only my opinion. Whatever the cause, the little guy is up and running so we are thankful for all the people who chipped in to help.

When we got home they had started a fire down at the palapa. We were going to ring in the new year down there.  As it turned out everyone went their separate ways shortly before midnight.  We all brought in the new year with the people we love.  

Happy New Year everyone.  Hope you experience everything you need in the coming year.