ICY RECEPTION BUT BUNNY APPEARS

As this headline says, Vallarta was 100% full on our last days there. Perfect storm of Mexican Holy Week holidays, northern Spring Breakers, and dozens of major events all at the same time. Big crowds for a free concert on the beach featuring top-notch Latin Jazz singer and clarinet. But we were ready and eager to go home after 98 days away. The only thing we're bringing back is colourful tablecloth fabric. At the apartment, the Sports Bar had hung out banners for all the Canucks arriving. Not hard to choose my Saskatchewan heritage over Winnipeg! Nice of the Canadian Navy to protect our bus to the airport...

After a couple of flights and a long drive we arrived up the hill at 4a.m. last Wednesday. Cold house but no snow on the ground. Crocuses (croci??) bravely popping above ground. Crisis in the basement; mice had chewed through a plastic birdseed bin and gorged all winter. Shells and droppings throughout the place. Payback has begun.

Water, electricity, and elusive propane eventually return to normal. All the foods we've been craving are now available for the making! But then a massive snow and ice storm hit the region --- here's the winter we supposedly avoided? Trees, windows, and deck all coated like chrome on the bumper of a '66 Valiant. Actually very beautiful and calendar-worthy scenes in every direction.

The forecast is for the ice to melt in a few days. (I lost my footing going down the hill and have painful swollen fingers and wrist from hitting a tree to stop sliding.) But it's wonderful to be home and breathe clean fresh air. Sunrise brings Oscar-worthy lighting to the woods. Three male turkeys (Tom, Tom, and Tom?) strut for a beleagured female --- hey girls which would you choose? Groceries come up the hill by Poles with poles. And it's Easter Sunday --- bible or Bunny, both are a big Welcome Home. Thanks, angels.

BUSIEST WEEK OF THE YEAR

We are in the peak of peak season, with multiple events, Break Week and special occasions every day. The annual Pat-Rick Day was overshadowed by the commemoration of Benito Juarez. He's the Mexican equivalent of Abraham Lincoln in freeing peasant serfs and uniting the country in the 1800's. Their greatest and most beloved leader, he has towns, streets, schools, and statues all over the country. A more contemporary  celebration was Earth Day, also this week. Thousands of students competed to clean the beaches, promote clean water, and ---duh--- party!

To beat the crowds and heat you take an old bus up to the mountain village of San Sebastian. It was looted of its gold and silver mines by the Spaniards in the 1600's and then abandoned until recently. It has been officially designated a "Pueblo Magico" (Magic Town) because it has kept it's authentic identity. No new buildings, no electric signs, no junky souvenir shops, and only small local places to eat. Ancient curved bridges, narrow lanes, a typical oversize church, a town square with gazebo. Quaint and charming but you also notice how quiet and almost deserted.

Two unusual sights on San Sebastian day. First were dozens of military checkpoints and inspections. Seems there had been a shooting in the area and a manhunt under way. Guys with full gear and automatic weapons came onto the bus every mile or so. At one point all the men (gulp!) had to come out into a lineup like in the movies. You can guess who stood out in shorts and sneakers.

The other amazing thing is that the altitude of the town is ideal for all kinds of crops that won't grow closer to sea level. One back yard had roses, lettuce and carrots but also bananas, oranges, avocados, and coffee beans!

Today is the first day of spring (yay!!) but also Palm Sunday which begins the holiest week of the year in Mexico. Busloads of the new middle class unload hourly as the whole country takes holidays at the coasts. This morning the faithful took up palm fronds and followed in procession to the church. The bells will ring all week until next Sunday's Easter rising.

It's also our biggest week of the year because we'll be going home! More to say about that next time. We count down our last days with sunset strolls and smiling singers. Did you know today is also International Day of Happiness? Ours will be Wednesday....

DEATH UNDER THE RAINBOW

Most of Mexico does not follow Daylight Saving Time, so we are now 2 hours behind the time at home...

Routine life here includes a lot of walking, and buying fruit on the street. Local cinemas are a 50 cent bus ride away, then charge only C$2.50 for first-run like "Brooklyn". Remember the movie "Red Violin"? Do you think they'll remake it to "Red Tuba"? Dozens of musicians stroll the shore and streets. And now that the equinox is a week away, the sun sets directly east-west, grazing the balcony. 

The weather changed drastically this week. While Toronto had record warmth, here we had record cold (50F) and it actually snowed nearby; as the astonished headline said "this is not Russia"! We had to put on the few warm clothes we carry  --- even to do the dishes. Then heavy rains came too, flooding the streets and creating streams of garbage.

The pounding waves have not let up for weeks. Awesome to watch, but shore businesses and walkways are being swept away. That familiar gringo helped out but ultimately rows of palapas also were destroyed. The wild surf even slams the famed malecon boardwalk --- is this a shoal-in-one?

The massive undertow also swept away a teenager (17) who thought he could handle it. The body washed ashore a mile down-current, right in front of a popular restaurant strip along our walk. Nothing the police could do except the paperwork. A group of women ---- mother? sister? aunt? --- were inconsolable at the scene, with an ironic rainbow in sight. But incredibly, the shroud on the stretcher was left alone for an hour. A reminder that in the end all of us are alone?? A very solemn morning --- much easier to contemplate the birds and the sea....