Keith Jackson 1945-2009

Pat's dear brother-in-law finally succombed to cancer this past weekend. We are ending our trip early to be at his memorial service on Friday.

Keith Jackson was born and raised in rural Ontario. By all accounts he had a rambunctious youth in central and western Canada. For a time, he worked as a lineman in all kinds of weather for Ontario Hydro before beginning a successful career in real estate. His ongoing passion was for fishing, which he pursued from shores and boats in many waters. He will be missed.

For the Birds (Part 2)

Here are more pictures of local winged wonders. Which one doesn't belong??

For the Birds (Part 1)

We're lucky to overlook one of the few greenspaces in PV. And because a river flows around it, we see more birds in the trees and pools than we expected. The different hummingbirds and parrots fly too fast for me to photograph, and others like pelicans are common. But there are some birds totally new to us, or just more interesting here.

Yalapa

Along the Pacific coast south of PV are dozens of coves formed by mountains meeting the sea. Large sandy flats are formed in each cove where the rushing downhill rivers smash into the daily tides. The coves are accessible only by bone-jarring wave-slamming small pangas.

One of these coves is Yalapa, with the usual basic dock, palapa restaurant, and primitive jungle scenery. The big attraction here is a 150-foot waterfall, reached by a steady uphill climb. The paths are too narrow and steep for vehicles, so burros are used to transport everything from cement bags to cases of cerveza. If you'd like to stay a while, see Aldo!

Thanksgiving Day

We weren't in PV for Canadian Thanksgiving Day on Oct. 12, but today is U.S. Thanksgiving Day and it is being celebrated among the gringos here. There are more Canadian flags in sight than U.S., and there are no big sales tomorrow. But if you look carefully the U.S. traditions are noticeable.

Restaurants have full turkey dinner menus (but with a topping of hot sauce that isn't cranberry!). Grocery stores have imported stuffing mix and pumpkin pies. Sports bars like the Cheeky Monkey or Dick's Halfway Inn entice with NFL games on widescreen HDTV. And next door has changed their banner from autumn leaves to a Pilgrim Turkey. (Will the banner change to Christmas by Monday?)

So we pause to give thanks for our blessed lives and the ancestors that made it possible. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Peek at Ajijic

Mexico's largest lake is Lago Chapala, about 5 hours drive inland from PV. At only 50 miles long and 20 miles wide, it is small enough to fit into greater Toronto! And the water level rises and falls in extremes because of alternating droughts and rains. Ajijic (ah-hee-HEEK) is a village on the north shore with many gringos living fulltime in its moderate climate and low cost of housing.

This past weekend started the Festival of San Andres, the patron saint of Ajijic. The town is already full of bright coloured walls and colourful street people, but add booming cannons and brass bands and you get a real eyefull and earfull.

And I finally found some classic cars --- a car club from nearby Guadalajara set up in town: about 20 cars and about 500 cans of beer. Thankyou Saint Andrew!

Day of the Mexican Revolution

Today the country celebrates the 99th anniversary of Nov. 20, 1910 when national heroes Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata, and Francisco Modero led the overthrow of 30 years of dictator Porfirio Diaz.

It is a school and government holiday, so the streets throng with more kids and families than usual. Here in PV a parade flowed down the main shore road, hours of colour and energy in the hot sun. But we were surprised that there was very little military display or even flag-waving, considering the violent revolution that is honoured. Instead, dozens and dozens of school groups, acrobats, firefighters, sports clubs, and martial arts passed by. Some of their dancing and demonstrations were spirited, many just looked like the kids were on a holiday walk. By noon, the long weekend was on...Viva La Revolucion!

"Tortilleria" ---The Corner Tortilla Factory

The tortilla is the staple food of Mexico, more common than our breads and more versatile for scooping, wrapping, dipping, or just snacking. Made with corn flour and water, it is simply baked and served as warm and as soon as possible. But not many are made from scratch in homes these days. Instead, neighbourhood shops turn them out in huge numbers.

Our corner Tortilleria La Gloria is the largest in PV, operating for 35 years. Their day starts at 4:30am with the 40 kilogram cubes of dough fed into the two industrial-sized hoppers. Then a conveyor system shapes, bakes, and even stacks them all day long. Restaurant owners and housewives line up early in the mornings to carry away their daily needs.

This one shop alone produces over 1,000kg of tortillas every day. At an average of 17 per kilo, that's 17,000 daily! Multiply that by the average diameter of 13.75cm (5 1/2 inches)and you get over 2 kilometers (1.3 miles).That's over 68 U.S. football fields of tortilla to munch down every day. That should ring your taco bell!

Camera Repaired, Testing on Sculptures

Our trusty little Kodak point-and-shoot had sand in the mechanism! Not surprising because its been in many places with sand in the last 3 years, including the sand and dust in our basement renovation job. At home, it would be cheaper to buy a new camera but because of the much cheaper labour costs here it made more sense to repair.

So walking home I detoured along the malecon stroll to test the camera. PV is full of artists and sculpture is the most prominent form of public art, also serving as landmarks and meeting places.

The Seahorse has been PV's symbol since 1976. The Friendship Fountain (the only one on the malecon) was a gift from sister city Santa Barbara California --- by an artist named Bud Bottoms! Others are creepy or grotesque in my opinion. Some look like characters from the bar scene in a Star Wars movie. And how about The Dancers ---as smooth as Dancing with the Stars on TV but with more clothes on.

VW's and a Windsor Connection

We're still slowly coming back south along the Pacific coast to be at the camera repair shop tomorrow. We´ve been told by a respected PV photographer to ask for Carlos and hope he can fix the digital. Otherwise, these blogs are all in black-and-white!
So today we're in Bucerias, which means The Place of the Divers. There are a lot of oysters and other shellfish at the street stands ---- maybe the divers get them still??
Finally found a car ''cruise'' --- where car guys gather with their wheels to show 'n shine. This one was a VW-only show. The VW bug was made in Mexico long after production had stopped elsewhere, even in Germany! So there were customized bugs, camper vans, and assorted Rabbits, Foxes, and Ghias. The bugs were in the majority, with custom wheels/paint/velour interiors/ and decals that said things like ''Jeans'' (guess what colour that was?) or ''Fish and Dog'' (no idea what that was about). For a car guy missing his red ride at home, any cruise is a good cruise.
Also, I got to talking to the Mexican owner of the little place we're staying --- Arturo. He was able to prove to me that he drove a car carrier for Ford, between my home town Windsor and Detroit, in the 1960's!! It's quite possible that he drove right by me as I walked to school, admiring the shiny new Galaxie 500's or funny little Falcon Rancheros he was delivering. Small world!

Camera Leftovers from a Beach Walk

The camera is still not working but there are a lot of pictures in the memory chip! Here are some from a typical morning beach walk. Most are self-explanatory but others have a story with them:

The wedding couple appeared at 7am, changed into their formal outfits on the sand, then took their own wedding photos on the beach. We've heard that Mexican weddings are expensive --- is this a cost-saver or just more personal

For all you RV'ers out there, note the RV camp right on the beach! Gringos in for the season from B.C., Indiana, Washington, Quebec, etc. Your own home on a Mexican shore, for $300 a month. An RV dream??

And finally, the belly-up blowfish. Dozens bloat up when the fishing nets are brought in. They are thrown back very carefully as the spines can jab you like a saltwater porcupine. But not even the pelicans will eat them..

We're moving down the coast today...for another morning beach walk.

We Remember

No pictures today, our camera has stopped working and no repair possible until we get back to PV next week earliest...

If I could post a picture, it would be of the beach, any beach. Whether you.re an Aussie remembering Galipoli, or an American remembering Juno, or we Canadians remembering Dieppe ---- there was always a beach involved. Always brave men from another time hurling themselves into the fire. Always stupidity among so-called leaders but also always heroism and sacrifice among the common (but not ordinary) soldiers.

So today we remembered on the beach. We hope you did the same, wherever you are.

The Neighbourhood By Day

We're staying in a 1960's walk-up building with a musty department store at street level and mixed-use units above. The next-door apartment for instance is Ali's, where you can fix anything that bothers you! Behind us is the River Cuale rushing to the ocean 4 blocks away. But from the front entrance, the main corner is as near as you can throw a stale tortilla. In fact, that's where the tortilla bakery is, cranking out 1000's of them every day (more in a future blog post)!

Turn around and you'll find a fresh fish market, fruit pie shop, open-air chicken rotisserie, and the biggest family-owned grocery store in town, Rizo's.

Hopscotching over the 2 rickety suspension bridges is like navigating a funhouse of moving floor tiles after too many tequilas. But the reward is a direct connection to the daily lifeguard drills or the nightly sunset. A great base for our time here, but we're leaving this week to bus up the coast for a change in scenery.