I can't tell you how excited we were to walk into our house in Mérida and see total chaos and piles of rubble! It was the best! Finally, work has begun and we can see things happening.

For those of you who have seen the 'before' pics, things are changing. I love the openness of looking from the kitchen straight into the yard without those little 1950's rooms in the way.

There is one wall still standing on the left that will go but it is supporting the roof so until the columns are in and the roof supported it is a shell still.

I had to transfer a sizable amount of money this week and discovered that Homeland Security is paying attention to folks like me. Boggles my mind. How is it that international drug cartels can move millions of dollars around with seemingly no problems but I have to provide utility bills in my name to move a few thousand?

Whatever! It is a slight problem as the electricity is not on at the house and won't be turned on until later in the project. Makes sense to me, they don't want it on until demolition is over and the majority of excavation is done.

The water is on though and now I just have to figure out where to go to get a copy of the water bill in my name.

They are doing more than demolition, some of the rebar is in for the 2nd floor and they are laying concrete.

Neither of us have been on the roof, there was no way to get up there before. So, it was exciting when Henry told us that we have a gorgeous view of the Cathedral from the 2nd floor. He says we can see the whole front of it and that since it is lit up at night, it will be an even better view then. I will brave the ladder sometime next week and take a picture.

Because we are in the Centro, the middle of a busy city, they bag all of the debris and store it until they have enough to fill a big truck. Then they haul it out in the evening.

They have about filled the first room with these bags of debris. We have our truck in the garage, we needed a place to store it while we were over at the coast. Our current issue is that the RV park here wants to charge us for every car we park here so we don't want to bring the truck over. We need to pick it up though as they are running out of storage room.

The plan is for Mimi to take the truck over to Akumal on Tuesday. Her brother is flying in then and they will stay in the condo for the week.

I've signed up to take a week of spanish, 3 hours a day, and will stay here in the RV. They will come over on Friday so Scooter can see the house and then we will all return to Akumal on Saturday.

One added element is that Carnival starts this coming Thursday and runs through the weekend. Good in that it is a wonderful event, one of the largest celebrations in Latin America. Bad is that streets are closed and traffic is horrible.

This excavation is for the foundation of the stairs, the downstairs half bathroom and the pantry.

This is inside the main part of the house, can you see the long, tiny roots coming down from the ceiling? I guess it leaked.

This area is not going to be covered by the 2nd floor, but it will have a propane tank, water tank and other stuff on it. It needs some work!

There are 2 of these old pineapple shaped, glass light fixtures in the house. We asked the guys to save them for us. Some of the other ones in there don't look as old and I am going to let them go wherever. I don't know if or where we will use these but I didn't want them destroyed.

We've also saved some of the old hand made hammock hooks and rings. We'll put them back when the walls are redone.

At the end of the first week of work, I'm pleased.

Oh Internet! I miss you so much when I don't have access to you. It's scary how disoriented I get after a week of not being able to go online whenever I want.

After Mahahual, we went to Calderitas, near Chetumal down by the Belize border, to clean up and see our friend Kathe and decompress. My first request was to set up the sat dish so I'd have access all the time. I can't believe how much better I felt once I could get online whenever I wanted.

Since we were last here, Kathe has almost completed her house and it is gorgeous. The wood especially, is deep and rich and I had major cabinet, door and furniture envy.

She got a lot of the wood however, when hurricane Dean blew down the trees on her property. That's not such a great way to acquire furniture.

This is the view from her deck, the missing jungle is now covered in grass and I find it beautiful.

I don't think Kathe likes it as much though, she liked the privacy and dense jungle and trees. I'm more partial to open vistas and the view of the water.

Many of the trees that blew down though were rare hardwoods and she had the trunks cut and milled for furniture, doors and decks. The results are stunning.

She is off the grid with a complete solar setup for electric. The house has one unit on the right and one on the left, mirror halves. They are simple but exquisitely finished. For now, she will rent out one and live in the other.

Eventually there will be an entire compound here called Maricasa with other options for lodging and living. It's a grand plan and I'm thrilled to see this first part completed. It's been a long and painful road to get this far. You may remember last year, Kathe's partner Colleen died after an accident working on the land. That Kathe has gone on and completed this vision that they had together is a tribute to both of them.

While we were in Calderitas at the RV park there, a birding caravan came through. Among them were a couple in a green Lazy Daze, much like our Tortuga. Plus, I've been reading the travel logs of the leaders of the caravan, Bert and Shari Frenz, for several years.

It was great to meet Mike and Kay, fellow Lazy Dazers from our Yahoo group, and I wish we had been able to spend more time with the whole group. One thing that was kind of cool, one of the rigs had a water pump problem and they had replaced it and still not solved the problem. Mimi went over and messed around with it - probably to the dismay of the guys - she fixed it! Heh! I love stuff like that.

On Thursday, we headed back to Mérida. It felt like we were going home. Quite an odd feeling for fulltime RVers who have their home on their backs all the time.

Quarentita (little #40)

One of the dogs brought in by the Marines in Xcalak really caught our eye. She was gorgeous, she was healthier than her siblings, about 4 months old and she had the cutest face... So, we took her home instead of sending her back to the Marine base.

We had some friends who were thinking of getting a dog and we were going to take her to them.

She had been #40 at the clinic so we started calling her Quarentita. She stole our hearts as fast as she stole Cuba's stuffed bunny.

She only spent 4 days with us but she changed so much in that time. At first she was afraid of people and didn't like being touched. Within a day, she was meeting me at the door wagging her tail along with the rest of our pack. She got braver and showed more personality every day.

When we found out that our friends wouldn't be able to take her after all, both Mimi and I wanted so much to keep her. We knew it was not the best plan though, we were really getting crowded in our RV with 4 dogs.

So, when one of the volunteers at the Mahahual clinic said she wanted to take her, we reluctantly agreed.

I gathered up her toy shark and her bowl and her medicine and took her down to the clinic. It broke my heart.

Sarah is a wonderful person though and she loves her. She has an Australian shepard so Quarentita won't be alone. I know she is going to be loved and have a better life in Mahahual and I feel good about that.

I really miss her though.

I was a little harsh about Mahahual in my last post. I admit that I found it rather depressing.

Still, there was great beauty there as well and we met some really wonderful people who live there. Even in the middle of rebuilding their lives and their homes they showed up to help with the vet clinic and to make sure that all of us had a great time.

We set up in a house in a neighborhood called las casitas, it is concrete block construction and farther away from the ocean so there was damage but not total destruction. A lot of people are living there while they rebuild their houses. It's got a neat, funky air to it, there are coffee shops (one of which had free wireless and was my first chance at getting online in almost a week) and friendly neighbors and a lot of construction and repair going on.

This is Kelly, always in motion. She is the incredible organizer, coordinator and work horse for these clinics. She is always upbeat, always looking at the glass half full and truly a joy to know.

She tells me there will be a web page soon for the organization, I'll post the URL when I get it.

It may seem amazing considering that the places these clinics are held are not designed for surgery or sterile conditions, but there really is an order to it all.

I think it is eye opening in many ways for some of the vets who come down for the first time.

Keeping infection down and maintaining a sterile operating environment is part of it but keeping sand out and keeping your patient from falling off the unstable plastic tables is another part. It's also difficult for them because they are dealing with animals that are in worse shape than any they see at home.

They were a great group though, caring and kind and taking time to reassure and talk to the owners. I am so proud to know them.

We had enormous logistical help from many people in Mahahual.

They had beach houses and hotel rooms available and even a great spot across from the ocean for our Tortuga.

We ate every night at one of the best restaurants I've been to anywhere. It's owned by a Dutch couple and the food was simple, wonderful and interesting. We had a fondue night with cheese and meat and vegetables and fruit - it was the best meal I've had in a long time. If you are ever in Mahahual, be sure to eat at the Travel In'

I didn't do much at this clinic. My knee and my back were not good and walking was painful, bending down was impossible. I ran some errands, drove people around, and tried to make sure Mimi ate occasionally.

I wish I had been able to help Linda more, she is amazing and does the really hard job of sorting out people and animals and keeping them all in order and documented.

I have been jonesing for cigarettes and the internet this past week, I'm not sure which I missed more.

Mahahual, Quintana Roo ...after Dean

What happens when the eye of a category 5 hurricane hits a thin flat strip of sand backed by mangroves? That's what hurricane Dean did on August 21, 2007 and it wiped out the town of Mahahual.

This is the only gas station as it looks today. We bought gas there, you just drive around the chunks of metal.

Forty foot storm waves washed over the entire area, pushing up under the concrete pier built for cruise ships and breaking it into chunks and throwing them far inland.

But for me, the most devastating view was the endless vista of dead mangrove. The storm surge went miles inland and the salt killed the mangroves. I suppose they will come back, everything down here seems to rejuvenate, but I have no idea how long it will take. Meanwhile these miles of dead branches are haunting.

Most buildings were stripped of everything but some of their concrete block wall, those that were not built of concrete are just gone. Everyone lost a lot, many lost everything.

This is a current view of the main street in town.

Mimi and I drove up the coast past the turn off to Mahahual a few weeks after Dean and we could see the flattened jungle but we didn't go over to the coast. There was a lot of damage even up in Akumal, a hundred miles north. Our friends Kathy and Jaime and their kids brought food down and told us how bad it was but I don't think I could imagine it until I saw how destroyed it still is over 4 months later.

There is a lot of construction going on, they are rebuilding the town including a boardwalk along the ocean with newly planted palm trees and a buried retention wall.

It's clear that this is (and was) set to be the next big resort on this coast. Some are saying that Dean taught them not to depend solely on the cruise ships and there are hotels and resorts being built now as well.

It was around 8 years ago that Mimi and I were last in Mahahual, we were on our way to Xcalak and it was before they built the road that bypasses this town and heads south. At that time, there was a military base and about a block of run down houses. Once they built the road, we bypassed it on 2 other trips to Xcalak. So, I missed it during its recent moment of change into a cruise ship port and tourist destination. I never saw the during but I've seen the before and after.

Of course, I prefer the before and I could be one of those who bemoan the commercialization of what was an isolated and in some ways idyllic spot.

I know though, that I wasn't living in a rickety house on stilts with no schools for my kids and no doctor or store or hope that the future would bring anything better. I hope that the new Mahahual will be beautiful and that it will bring hope and prosperity to people living there. Other than that, I'm really glad I don't live there.

The best laid plans... we haven't set up the satellite so I didn't get to watch the MacWorld speech of Steve Jobs after all.

We were parked in a beautiful spot but we were all day at the vet clinic and then exhausted and asleep. What an experience! Mimi has done a lot of these clinics but this was my first time working at one and it wiped me out. My back, my joints, my knees.. my whole damn body was screaming at me.

Xcalak is a very small village, isolated on the tip of a peninsula down near the Belize border. There is no vet closer than Mahahual and usually none closer than Chetumal. That's a 3 or 4 hour trip and expensive in gas if you have a vehicle, the bus will not allow dogs. The people there are poor, so there is nothing they can do for the dogs and cats. Most of them will develop erlichea from ticks and mange from the heat and humidity.

The first day of the clinic we lost 2 dogs in recovery. Mimi and I were not there yet but it devastated the vets and the volunteers. Both dogs were in bad shape before the surgery and when they have erlichea they bleed profusely.

It was a hard start but these are some great people and they came back the next day determined for it not to happen again. Because of that, they turned down some dogs that were in such bad shape they felt they would not survive. It's a difficult decision, the females especially will probably die if they have another litter. So, they took females that were very marginal but turned away the really bad males. This is one that was turned away. He is in very bad shape. They vaccinated him, gave him a shot for the mange and for worms.
This is his sister, in surgery, who was in the same shape. She scared us a few times but she did survive the surgery and post-op. Some of the vets checked on her the next day and she was ok but then we had to leave.

There were quite a few dogs that were in better shape, and they had owners who clearly cared for them. It's amusing to see all of these dogs standing around with numbers in duct tape on their foreheads.

This is Mimi in the post-op recovery room.

One of the men whose dog died the first day, brought in her 2 puppies the 2nd day. That was a show of faith in the vets and really effected them.

His father came with him because he didn't want his son to be there alone if something happened to the puppies. He was an old man and he stood in the sun almost the whole day, just being there.

This was the first clinic Kelly had organized in this area, she has done a wonderful job of involving the local government up in area around Akumal. The municipality (which is similar to a county in the US) there donates medicines and surgical supplies as well as sending a vet who not only works the clinics but functions as a liaison to the government.

Down here in the south she didn't have the same connections but she invited them to participate. They sent a vet and some other employees to observe. At first they were clear that they would be coming back soon to destroy as many strays as they could and they didn't seem very interested in any other solution.

They got friendlier though by the second day and they were tattooing the ears of the dogs that were fixed and vaccinated. By the end of the 2nd day the vet offered to go to Chetumal on the off day and get supplies we were running short of for the clinic in Mahahual. It was a really important first step in establishing the same kind of relationship here.

Over 90 dogs and 2 cats were seen, around 50 were spayed or neutered and the rest were vaccinated and treated for worms. This is in an isolated town of about 300 to 400 people.

I'm attaching some more photos from the clinic in Xcalak.

We're excited, demolition and construction starts on our house on January 21st! Finally, it is beginning.

We're leaving here tomorrow to go over to the coast at Xcalak to volunteer at a spay/neuter clinic for a week.

We'll put the sat dishes up but there is no cell service over there. So, if you need to get in touch with us, send email.

I rarely get nostalgic for San Francisco and my old life, I have good memories but I'm happy with where I am now. This is the only time, when it is MacWorld time and I remember how exciting it was to go every year. So, I'll be online downloading Steve Jobs opening speech on Tuesday but from an idyllic beach on the Caribbean! How cool is that?

Thanks to all for the encouraging comments. I'm doing ok, chewing nicorette gum until my teeth hurt. I even went outside today! All the way to the Chedraui for, of course, dog food. I especially want to thank you Kathe for that image of me dragging around the rolling oxygen tank, I'm hanging on to that one.

There's been another development that has also greatly improved my outlook on the world. You might have noticed that I haven't mentioned our house here in Merida for a long time? That's because nothing has happened with it, nothing. We had a snag getting the permits. We needed several because it is in an historical district so the INAH which handles all that had to issue one as well as the usual from the city. It seems that they did not think there was enough green space in the plans. It didn't help that they don't count the fish pond or the pool as green space.

The architect kept submitting revisions and they kept sending back the same form letter. He made an appointment, sat there for hours and was told the guy had forgotten the appointment and wasn't coming in. Then, of course, the office closed for several weeks for the holidays. At that point, I was thinking there was something else going on. Well, probably, turns out he had had a dispute with this guy a year ago about another place and he won. Payback.

Anyway, he called today and we have all the permits!! We're meeting with him tomorrow and hopefully demolition will begin next week. I can't wait to get pictures of piles of rubble and dust. So, I'm pretty perky today and not just waiting around until I can go back to sleep.

I have another cool thing to share with you. A friend of ours in Akumal co-produced a documentary on the Mayan Curanderos or healers. It's incredibly well made, I was very impressed. It's high def so can take a bit to download unless you have broadband. It's free, you may have to install the viewer if you don't have one. I think it is worth it, check it out. Curanderos - Healers of the Maya

Have I missed anything? Except 2008 so far? Because I have missed this year almost completely. I've kind of spent the year taking to my bed, reading hours of idiot blogs posted every few minutes from CES about electronic gadgets I'll never get, watching some stupid TV and mainly, sleeping. What's notable is what I have not been doing, which is smoking. Yes, I know, isn't it wonderful and all that. Well, right now it does not feel particularly wonderful and if I think about it too much I could destroy a week of suffering. Thing is, I like smoking. I've always liked it. I miss it, it irritates me to no end that I have to quit but quite honestly, I just can't breathe anymore. So, as my old friend Rikki used to say "There you have it!".

Oh, and I haven't killed Mimi and so far I've only yelled at her once and hit her with a pillow. Not bad, eh?

I may get up and out and about soon, perhaps tomorrow.

Brrrrrrr!!!! New Year's Day was cold, gray and rainy. It was not a good day for the big party here at the park. I really wish I had gotten a picture of the giant, 2 story, bouncey house they had as it tried to escape the ropes and sail away. They held on and got the air out of it in time.

Mimi and I spent most of the day holed up in the RV. I went out once to go to the store and get pork to make some New Mexico green chili with corn, a version of pozole. I made that, really hot, and some corn bread and all that cooking kept the RV warm. The wind was blowing so hard as I came home that it was blowing the grackles out of their nesting trees along Av Tecnología. Lots of squawking as huge clouds of the black birds would be blown from the tree, circle and try to land again.

The party didn't quit though, at 2am they were still out there singing karaoke. It was clear that a lot of booze had been consumed, just to stay warm no doubt, as the singing had gone from pretty bad at around midnight to really bad by 2am.

Today, we got up early and took the truck to the mechanic along with the parts that Dupre brought for it. The wind was blowing so hard that the jeep was bouncing around on the highway as I followed Mimi in the truck.

It is bloody cold! Even the dogs are cold and huddled on the couch with their blanket. I checked the weather and it lists the high today as 68°F and the low as 51°F - damn! That's winter!

ps. My NY resolution is to get through my email inbox, please be patient if you have sent me email in the last couple weeks, I'm working on it. I got overwhelmed and when there are too many new emails I just don't open it. Not good, I know.