Rain! It's been raining off and on for a week. Sometimes those torrential tropical downpours that sound like someone is pouring water from a bucket, sometimes just a steady drum on the roof. A couple of mornings I was able to spend a few minutes on the deck in the sun, trying to find my lost tan.

I don't think I've been this pale in many years. It was so hot the last couple months that I spent as little time as possible with the sun hitting me. Now, with the rain, it is cool and fresh. I doubt the temp even got up to 80F today. Not much sun though.

The weather has matched my mood as I watch the train wreck in progress up north. I've had moments of panic as I get more and more financial bad news. I'm a pretty optimistic person though and so far I've been able to put it all in a better perspective. I live in paradise, I have a roof (or 2), love, so-so health right now but nothing imminent, music, and I can laugh... so I am. All I can really control is how I react and how I live, right now. Change is in the air though, some of it may not be on my wish list but we'll make it work.

Don't worry, Tita. We can keep buying cat food!

But, will it stop a hurricane?

Back in 2005, our condo was hit directly by 2 huge storms, Emily and Wilma. Emily moved over fairly quickly but Wilma's eye wall sat over Akumal for 48 hours. The storm surge did enormous damage including to the retention wall of the building. It was broken in pieces but most remained in place.

Then, last year the northern surge from Dean came through and popped those pieces out and obliterated the wall.

This is the wall that is supposed to keep the storm surge from underwashing the foundation, tipping or perhaps collapsing the building. Important stuff. Also, required for hurricane insurance. A key point.

The building is closed in September along with our sister building next door.

All that means is that there are supposed to be no rentals and no hotel services for the tourists. Owners are unaffected, at least we are.

In fact, Sept has become my favorite month in Akumal, even with all this construction going on. The whole town is almost empty, there is no traffic, lots of places are closed, it has the feel that perhaps it had long before we came. Almost everyone you see, you know. There's a peace and long exhale happening. Even though most have one eye on brewing storms in the east Atlantic, it is calm and relaxed. The ocean is flat and warm, everything seems to be taking a deep breathe and waiting for the oncoming season.

But, back to our new wall. It has been interesting watching them build it. There is a base of concrete about 5' wide at the bottom and then the forms and wall rise from that. They even have an air tamper device that presses the wet concrete into the forms eliminating bubbles, the walls when they pull the frames away are not pitted but very smooth.

Everything has been dug out by hand, by shovel and pick. The only 2 machines used are the air tamper and a small electric concrete mixer off to the side of the building. Ramps of plywood let the wheelbarrows get over the sand in a zig zag path.

Once complete and cured for a couple days, they backfill with the sand and coral. Then a mason comes and covers the top with coral.

You'd hardly notice it. But... will it stop a hurricane?

Clouds... I love big dramatic clouds.

One of things that has always puzzled me is why so many cultures develop religions and prophecy based on chicken guts and stars, lines on your hand and torn out beating hearts but I never read of one that is based on clouds.

It seems like such a natural to me. What do you see in that cloud? Are the Gods sending a message? Why no cloud based religions? Makes a lot more sense than most of the ones we have around today. I guess I could start one, but nah, too much work and it always seems to end up badly for the founder.

So, I appreciate them without the trappings of religion which is probably better anyway. Just think how it could ruin it if there were rules and candles and special things to say. Bleh! I'll just take my clouds straight and with lots of natural lighting.

Now rain, it gets a lot of play with religion. Waters the crops you know. Still, without clouds rain would be a dull buddy.

What I really love here in the tropics is that you can see the rain coming. It is a curtain that sweeps across the water and standing on my deck I can watch it come ashore. I stand there dry and watch the line hit the sand and then in a moment, it covers me.

So, last night as we were falling asleep Mimi says "you know it is our anniversary". Ooops.

We then have this hysterical conversation about how many years is it. I date by the fact that the February after we got together, we went to Pto Vallarta for my 45th birthday, a raucous and fun week. She dates it by saying that it was 2 years after her brother died.

By her recollection her brother died in 1989 so it would have been 1991 and we have been together for 17 years. Except, even she agrees that if was my first birthday after we got together that we went to PV. OK, well, I am absolutely sure what year I turned 45! No doubts at all, I know my birthday. She may or may not have her brother's death year right but it seems to me that if there is one thing I know for sure, it is the year I was born. So, I am sure and she is sort of sure that we have been together for 18 years yesterday!! Woo Hoo!

I'm feeling better, I think I'm over whatever it was. Mimi is off getting a massage because her back is hurting. I decided to call it her anniversary present, aren't I nice?

Fiddling while Rome burns. I'm sitting here with a cool ocean breeze, typing on my laptop while Manuela washes my dishes and cleans the condo. The more I read about the economical situation in the US the more worried I get. Yet, life goes on and while we are on tenderhooks wondering about our investments, we still eat well, live in a place of stunning beauty and enjoy our life. I think that is the only way, what is going to happen, will happen. But these moments of beauty and peace are here now, to let them go unnoticed is the real loss.

We've left the hurricane curtain up on the deck. It still lets the breeze through, stops the direct sun and I can still see the ocean. There are at least 2 more possible storms out in the Atlantic, forming and moving west. Until the season is over, we'll just keep this up. We've pulled it back at one end and there is room on the deck for chairs in the sun plus room to stand in the shade as well. These hurricane curtains have worked out really well, I'm pleased.

It's Monday night and I just had my first solid food since Thursday, a cup of noodles! This was a tough illness. Of course, this is a 4 day holiday weekend in Mexico. It's as if the 4th of July fell on a Tuesday in the US, how many people would take that Monday off? Double that for Mexico.

I was getting really dehydrated and I know that's dangerous, plus the regular meds for run of the mill traveler's diarrhea were not working. So, yesterday we called the local servicio al domicilio doctor. It was that or go to the ER at the hospital in Playa, which I almost had to do anyway. This is one of the really wonderful options you have here, call and within an hour on a holiday weekend the doctor arrives at your house!

The first thing he asked is if I live here. When I said yes, he told me that the bad news is it wouldn't be traveler's stomach but something more serious. Like e coli. Joy! We also discussed some of the gorier details of my affliction and that confirmed it for him. He had his little doctor's bag and took all the usual vitals. He gave me the option of going to the hospital for fluids or he would give me a combo shot and 3 scripts and I had to drink a LOT of water and call him in 4 hours. If I wasn't better he wanted me in the hospital.

I took the home care option. He also told me the horrible headaches were like "the worst hangover you could ever have" because hangovers are mainly dehydration. Oh great and I didn't even get high. So, I got a pain shot mixed with antibiotics and stomach calmers. Mimi went off to fill the scripts and I started forcing myself to drink a lot of water. It was almost nauseating. All I'd consumed in days were bottle after bottle of electrolit solution anyway, he had me double those and add water in between. I was pouring it in one end almost faster than it could come out the other.

I'm grateful that I could get a doctor to come to my house on this big weekend and thought his charge of about $60us was really fair. I know Kathy complains of paying $28 for a clinic visit. First, no clinics were open, we did try and call one first. So the ER was the only other option. Second, I didn't have to get dressed and ride in a car for longer than my usual gap between bathroom visits. Shoot, that alone was worth double the cost. I paid another $30 for the triple whammy shot. So, less than a hundred US and I didn't have to leave the house.

It wasn't a miracle cure, I called him in 4 hours and said I think my stomach feels better and he said OK but call me anytime, night or day, if it gets worse and keep drinking the water and electrolit.

So, that was 24 hours ago. I've been a little better today but the headache didn't go away until tonight and I still have the runs. Not as bad though, I can go several hours now. I'm taking 3 kinds of drugs, 2 stomach and 1 antibiotic. I finally decided to try eating and so far that cup of noodles that I almost finished has not killed me.

I missed El Grito tonight that celebrates Mexican independence from Spain and includes lots of fireworks and a great party. I didn't hear more than a few fireworks and about an hour ago a huge thunderstorm came in and the thunder would drown them out now.

Poor Mimi, she doesn't eat if I don't either tell her we are going out or put something in front of her. I don't think she's eaten more than a couple PBJ's in 5 days either. I'm sure she will lose weight and I won't, life's not fair.

So, I got all these pictures today from Henry. I don't think they know I went by that last day and took a few myself. I thought I'd put a bunch up so I can talk about it with my blog friends.

First, the thing I'm very happy with is the Crema Maya stone that is in the bathrooms and in the floor of the terrace. The floor and bench in the showers are made from it and the solid piece sink and counter top for both baths.

I was hoping I'd feel this way, I do like that it is all one piece of stone. I don't know what kind of stone, perhaps limestone?, but it is from this peninsula and is used a lot. It's really not expensive compared to other stone like marble or granite.

I wanted a wide sink but not really deep. I throw water on my face pretty often and need a sink wide enough not to flood everything. So, the shape is good. All in all, I'm really happy with these.

They sandblast or somehow rough up the part that is on the floor of the shower so you don't slip. They polish the part that is on the counter, I think that has already been done at the shop.

Nice simple style in the front, I don't know what this double roll shape is called.

OK, Now the doors. All of the doors downstairs are original but they are not as old as the house. They are probably from the 1920's to the 1950's somewhere in there. The door man took them away and refurbished them and stained them. He left the glass that was in them in place.

That glass is a bit of a problem for me. There have been quite a few places that Henry suggested we use pebbled, frosted glass like is in these doors. Every time I said no, that it looked too much like a dentist's office to me. Well, I'd forgotten that I had a bunch of it in all these doors.

For years I went to a dentist on Sutter Street in downtown San Francisco and I swear that walking down the hall of that old SF building looked just like this.

OK, not exactly, most of the doors were single doors and not double and the floor was a really disgusting linoleum they had probably laid over beautiful marble. Plus, when one of the panes broke, they replaced it with even creepier pebbled, frosted plastic!

Here's another example. City Hall in San Francisco has some of these same type doors with the pebbly glass only the floors are still marble. It just reminds me of work, I spent too much time there when I was working for the City and feeding at the public trough.

Maybe I just need to get over this aversion to pebbly, frosted glass. Tell me you like it or that it reminds you of something good, all my memories with it are not of the good variety. Tell me you wouldn't feel like you were walking into a large, old, dental building when you come in my house. I need something for this to be OK.



I like the ones going from the kitchen to the terrace better because they have the iron grill for air flow. I don't need that in the other doors but it does eliminate the need for pebble glass, less light though especially when they are closed.



I don't think there is any answer for this other than for me to just adjust and get used to them. I suppose I could spend a lot of money I don't have to replace the old pebble glass with newer... what? I can't even think of what kind of glass I would use if money was no object. Arrrgh! I just have to adjust my brain on this.


To get my mind off pebble glass, here's a pic they sent of the pond. Interesting. The rock remains, and there are rocks going in around the edge for a coping. I hope they leave space for plants between them. I'm kind of exhausted though and feel like just letting them do what they have in mind and seeing if I like it.

Back in Akumal

It's been a trying few days. We didn't get everything done Tuesday so we stayed another night in Merida. Wednesday we had an appt with an attorney, like him a lot and think he will be a good resource for lots of things. Then we had a bunch more errands to run. We hadn't eaten and it was late and we were grouchy so we stopped at Vip's for dinner. Suspect #1.

Vip's is like Denny's, a coffee shop owned by WalMex and usually located near a WalMart or in this case a Sam's. Everytime we eat there I think I'll never eat here again, and then I do. For one thing, meal times in Mexico are more set and if you aren't in the right time frame then you can't get what you want to eat. I find that difficult and kind of disorienting as I can never figure out when I can have what. So, a coffee shop like Vip's means I can have anything I want (well, except breakfast) at any time. I just wish I could find a place that served bacon and eggs at 5pm.

So, Thursday morning I took off to do a couple more errands like return a book to Theresa and pick up some more nicorette at Costco. Since I was down by our house at Theresa's I went by to have one more look. It was cool, the water was in the pool and the pump was on (and it wasn't really loud) and we have doors and stone counters and sinks in the bathrooms. Since I knew Mimi had already taken down the internet sat, I took a pic and emailed it to the blog from the iPhone. I get a message, sending of picture failed. Ah well.

We finally get out of dodge around 3pm and drive to Akumal. I cut up a watermelon quickly before we left and I didn't wash it first. Suspect #2. Can you see where this is going?

The only thing I ate all day was watermelon. By the time we got to Akumal I didn't feel so good. I felt like I had to sleep, had to sleep, right there standing up if necessary. I managed to stay awake until Mimi tried to set up the internet sat but it didn't work and I hit the bed. I woke up around 1am with cramps and the runs.

I came out to the bathroom and Mimi says, you really hate coming back to Akumal, have you noticed you get sick every time? No, I don't think so. Hmmph!

Truthfully, everyone including me thinks I never get stomach upsets and I very rarely do. This time though, whooo wheee! Not pretty. The good news is I wasn't nauseated. I started taking Treda, the wonder drug, and took 2 every 4 hours all night and all today. It really didn't seem to be working. In between, I slept. Like, I slept from 10:30 last night until 8:30 tonight! Oh, and I had a headache from hell and a low fever. Misery. I would get up, drink a couple swigs of Pedialit, wait 3 minutes for it to come out the other end, go back to sleep.

During one of my up minutes, Mimi says "I'm really mad at you. You got me addicted to the internets and now it drives me crazy if I can't get on". Heh! I'm sure I would have been climbing the walls too except I was sleeping. Finally at 8:30pm I stayed up for awhile, my hip was killing me from sleeping on it so long and my brain was finally awake. The body was not following so well. I helped her and we tried again to get online. She couldn't find the bird, very frustrating.

I called Kathy in Paamul to see if there was a problem with the sat, nope. She was wonderful and offered to bring her modem and cables up here for us to try. Just after I hung up, Mimi went out to try one more time and discovered that her tripod was off kilter and not level. Leveled it and Wah La! We have the internets!

Oh, when I called Kathy, she told me that was a great pic of the pool. Then she read me all the comments, I was so happy it posted and that I had comments and I felt so cut off from the world. It is really only a day and a half. Yes, I think we are addicted to the internets.

**So, now it is midnight and Mimi just said she was getting cramps. That blows my suspects away since she didn't have the same thing at Vip's and she didn't eat any of the unwashed watermelon. It's so hard to tell the cause, it takes different times to hit different people. I've been washing my hands like Lady Macbeth and so has Mimi. It's a puzzle.

Yay!!! We have pool - without leaks!

This is such a beautiful spot, the RV park where we live when we are in Mérida. The dogs love it because they can run for blocks, chasing iguanas. Now Tita loves it too because she has experienced her first tree and grass and bugs.

She does wear her halter and leash, just in case a strange dog comes along and we have to get her quickly. Or, when she goes up too high in the tree and Mimi has to climb up after her.

We're staying here until Wednesday when we will know for sure whether Ike is coming this way or not. It doesn't look like it, he is due to continue the length of Cuba and come out north of us in the Gulf. Still, he could hook left at the last minute and that would put him off our coast.

We've got the condo buttoned up as tight as it gets and we don't want our RV caught in a hurricane. You know that saying about trailers and RVs attracting tornados? I think it works for hurricanes too. They just aren't built for that kind of wind or pressure.

We've been over at the house several times. I finally took the camera to get a picture of water in the pool, except that apparently the pool is leaking. Also the water is a decidedly unappetizing, algae-filled, green. I took a picture anyway. They are letting the water go down until it stops so they know at what level it is leaking. Benjamin told me yesterday that they think it is around the skimmer. The rocks for the coping were delivered yesterday so it might start looking better soon.

The door man's workers were there working on the original door jambs. They burn the old paint off before treating it. I like this picture of the guy working with the torch. He's even wearing a mask!

I've also been visiting nurseries and falling in love with all kinds of palm trees. There are some beauties here, I never realized how different some palms can look. Now I'm spending time cruising garden forums to figure out what they need and which ones can live in pots. Growing up and living in California, palms are everywhere but they are all pretty much the same. Well, maybe they weren't and I just never noticed? Anyway, I've found some gorgeous ones with blue fronds and some webbed ones from Cuba and fluffy round ones... who knew?

Doesn't it look like Mimi and Husband from Theresa's blog are on an arctic roof? In their shorts? heh!

In fact, we were all up on Theresa and Husband's roof catching the evening breezes and the sunset. They have their roof painted with an impermeable white coating to reflect heat and keep water out. It's a beautiful roof garden, really a wonderful place to hang out. No snow at all.

We spent all afternoon over there and really enjoyed it. Betsy, another friend from Merida Insider, came by and we all ooh'd and ahh'd over the new kitten. It's so sweet and so lucky to have fallen into their yard.

~In other news, the dentist attraction that I suffer from seems to have spread to my dog. Hombre's face blew up the other day and he's been on antibiotics for a few days. Today he went back and they discovered a big abcess above his molar so he had a tooth pulled. We took Chica too and had her teeth cleaned. He has another cavity on his other molar and they say it will get infected at some point too. Doggy dentistry is still of the pull it variety, although they said they would ask at the vet school to see if it is possible to fill the other cavity. Great, me and the dog can spend the rest of our lives hanging out at a dentist. His excuse is that he was a homeless street dog living on garbage for his first 9 months, I have no excuse.

Mérida Sunset

We felt like we spent a lot of money at the vet for this but when we broke it down, it looks better. Two dogs knocked out and teeth cleaned, one dog's tooth pulled, both dogs spent the night, several months of frontline for 3 dogs, 40lbs of French dog food, 10 lbs of French cat food, nails clipped really close on both dogs while they were knocked out... about $200us.

I've decided to give up the bones and raw food for now, I just can't keep up. We are living part time in a small RV, part time in a condo and whatever I need to do something or to cook something is always in the other place. I don't have room to store more than a couple days of food so we are always driving off to the store for meat and bones. I can't buy in bulk for the same reason. I just give up. I still believe in it and I will decide again when we are in the house with more storage and prep options. So, we are buying the high end French dog food hoping that it is not as polluted as the US food. It is probably just that I can't read the label as well, anyway food in French always sounds better.

~One of the results of the narco killings here, besides all kinds of increased police presence and road blocks, is that the state quickly passed a law against heavily tinted windows in cars that prevent the cops from seeing inside. I think most people didn't take it very seriously at first but now, they are believers. The cops are pulling people over right and left, handcuffing them while they check their car and then issuing tickets with a $1000 peso fine ($100us)!! This has definitely gotten a lot of people's attention. As we were driving down Av Itzaes, which has a lot of car window tinting places, they were all packed with cars getting the tint removed.

See all the crumpled up stuff on the ground by the cars? That's old tinting that's been scraped off. Dark tinted windows are everywhere in Mexico, I don't think there has ever been an enforced law against it as there is in California. I can't say whether they will continue to enforce this law but they are doing it now. We were at a friend's house today and 2 of their neighbors have been stopped and issued the ticket. In addition to paying it, I think they have to prove they had the tint removed. Booming business for the polarizados and if enforcement stops then they get paid to put it back on again! Actually, it looked like all of the cars were getting a lighter tint installed. Tinting is a good thing here in the heat, it's not just because it is hip or that they are narcos. Regular people have all their windows tinted dark as well to preserve the dash and to keep the interior cooler. Change is in the air, not just big things but these small things too.