I'm sitting here writing this on my laptop by candlelight. Yes, the lights are out. The wind is blowing and has been for several days, perhaps that is why, perhaps not. I can see the whole bay and it is all dark except for the small flicker of candles and the torches at the beach bar. The placement of candles becomes rather crucial. If you close the deck doors and cut off the wind, they stay lit. But, it becomes hot and humid in here very quickly. So, I've just spent some time finding the perfect, feng shui spot for them so that I can have breeze and light.

We took our friends to the airport in Cancun today, it's been an exciting 2 weeks. I think all 4 of us are exhausted, but we had fun.

Yesterday we spent the whole afternoon in Playa del Carmen. The friends wanted to buy souvenirs and so we walked the length of 5th Ave. I surely hope it will be at least another year before I do that again. Holy Mother of Trinkets! I try to just enjoy the wit and expertise of the hawkers as they call out and try and entice you into their store. I try to ignore the insults in Spanish when you walk on by. I also try to look interested in one more turtle with a bobbing head or wooden mask of a Mayan god. I help with the bargaining, I compliment the purchase. I advise on the quality. My feet hurt. I have the urge to tell everyone that I live here, I'm not on vacation, but I resist.

Sneaky me, I suggested we walk down and look at the beach. It's beautiful I said, it's sand all the way out and there are waves and other wonders that we don't have on our bay in Akumal. Of course, I knew that the lure of a seat in the shade on the beach and a cold beer would overwhelm the shopping urge. I'm so clever.

While sitting at Mimi's Bar (yes, I'd love to get one of their signs) I discovered that Mimi (not my Mimi the bar owner Mimi) was sitting next to us with her bird in a cage on the sand. A beautiful bird, a yellow naped Amazon, who talked and sang and clearly loved Mimi over all others. I started talking to her about birds and importing birds and she gave me the name of a guy in Cancun and the area in which he lived. She said everyone knows him, just ask at the gate, he lives in a gated community. She said he knows everyone at the govt agency that controls bird imports and that he had tons of macaws.

Wait!! The electricity just came back on for more than a minute.

One must use these moments quickly, it sometimes is a fake and will go out again in a minute or two. What did I do? I ran in the kitchen and put the mamey and mango I'd cut up by candlelight into the blender, added some rum and quickly used the electric juicer on 4 oranges. Hit Liquify and pray the power lasts.

OK, I'm back and have my Tropical Hoo Ha and don't care if the lights go out again or not.

So, tomorrow I'll regale you with our journey to visit this wondrous bird man. Tonight I have to take advantage of the power that is still on and upload this.