+30 to 0, BUT IT'S +5?!?

A week ago it was +30C with boaty sunsets. But the R&R was over on tranquil Isla, til next time. Back to the mainland --- but by old ferry or fast ferry or sci-fi new ferry? Hmmm...

Even after hundreds of flights I'm still fascinated by the action on the tarmac. The Cancun strip comes into view on takeoff. Lucky break --- Isla off the port window! The bad news is you can see the buildup. But can you also see why they call this island fish-shaped?

Back at The View the leaves were so thick that the car couldn't get traction up the hill. Red was the colour de jour but the walkway was lined with other colours, like a box of dull crayons.

Sorry to mix species in a metaphor, but my longtime nemesis --- the seed-gobbling turkeys --- were finally the straw that broke the camel's back. The base of the feeder has been rejigged for harder access to Big Bird. In the basement, the winter trapline has been set for those other bottom feeders.

The weather has gone to the other extreme: zero C, dismal clouds with flurries, and short dark days.
All the better to be brightened by memories of +5, as in years ago...

LOW TO HIGH, NORTH TO SOUTH, HIGH WHEN LOW

The porch in Toronto has been GPS’d so we know where we started. But a pre-dawn flight southbound took us to other numbers. Leaving, the temperature was +2C. Arriving, it was (and still is) +29C. You can do that math in your head, right?

Isla Mujeres! 39 years now coming to this speck off the Yucatan with azure waters and skies to match. The sign may be backwards but the locals aren’t. It evolved from a typical sleepy fishing village to a white sand beach covered with daytrippers from the mainland. Good for business but most of the locals, like me, don’t think the change is for the better. Example --- the iconic ancient slow cargo ferry (my ride!) is being displaced by a sci-fi fleet of 3 huge carriers brought over from Greece. So many trucks bringing over so much construction…

Our German friend Pia welcomes us back to her secluded garden inn, the Sol Dorado. As in China, traffic here used to be all bicycles but now we’re the only ones using pedal power. But the veggies and bakery is much better than before!

After the daily walk, bike, or swim those veggies and goodies are yummy right in the room. But the neighbourhood diner Poc Chuc gives a girl the night off from her  kitchen, si?

The locals get their island back after 5 when the daytrippers have left. Kids laugh forming beach pyramids. Mixed basketball teams trash-talk like the best (worst?) of the pros (on-the-spot Spanish street slang lessons: cabron!).  But there’s acres of seaweed to clear from the beach --- residue from Hurricane Michael?

With prosperity comes leisure time, art and creativity. Walls become murals. Jeans become planters. If you’re driving from Argentina to Alaska, don’t miss it!

At dusk the cargo boats glide by, the efficient Ultramar overtaking the creaking but reliable Isla Blanca. Like a glitzy Hummer passing a 1976 Ford pickup. What’s your ride? 

On the historic week that cannabis became legal in Canada, we get our high when the sun gets low...

COLOURFUL

A climate changeable week that started out with heat wave, ominous sunrise, and monsoonish rain.

And strong northwest winds scattering ash and cherry leaves all over the pond, like a custom wallpaper pattern. Oh well, the pond has to be mucked out for the winter anyway. Before and after!

Meanwhile the other guy gives the apple tree a buzzcut. Reward? ---- the last bbq of the season.

A warmish day and the carguy will play. The wax will take if it's above 60F. Then have to add a front plate (not needed in Quebec...). Pat knows how to push my buttons...

All the critters are in transition too. Cattle are chomping on their last field day. Frogs float among the leaves. A young fox snake slithers towards a rock. Adolescent goldfinches load up before their long journey --- no in-flight snack?!?

By the end of the week the sun played peek-a-boo with the October clouds. All roads lead to autumn's paintbox of colours. Makes a girl want to smile...