Our Winter

Soon our first winter in México will draw to a close. Spring as arrived in the tropics and soon summer will follow on its heels. The days have grown longer and warmer; the whales have left on their migration north with their new calves to the colder waters of the North Pacific. The birds that all flew south during the winter have now packed in their last shrimp and are flying north once again. The endless line of RV’s from both the US and Canada leave in caravans daily from seaside towns. The markets have started to be much smaller, without the hustle and bustle of gringo dollars. And we too are winding down our first season of retirement here. It seems like it was just yesterday that Paul and I crossed the border of Arizona with a full Suburban and our three mutts, so excited to finally be “living the dream”.
December brought the kids for several weeks. Christmas is busy in this small village. There are parties to attend, foods to be cooked and gifts to be wrapped. Of course, the fact you are doing all of this in summer attire is new to us. Our home of over 20 years would normally be a foot deep in snow by then. We spent mornings with the windows open and gentle ocean breezes lapping over the white sheets. The sound of each wave crashing against the shore was magical and exciting. Christmas would come and go and we would see the kids off at the airport with kisses. We would rush back to our seaside home and just listen to the waves crashing and have another cup of tea. We knew we had become the “lucky ones”. More visitors would come and renters as well. It was nice to know that there are still some not swayed by the “danger of México”. We spent countless nights laughing with our British neighbors and looking at the stars. All the time, the waves still crashed against the shore, an ever-constant reminder of the magic of the tropics and living on the ocean.
Crop after crop of fresh vegetables would make their appearance in the markets and the roadside stands. Watermelons, strawberries, avocados, beans; all local produce that comes to us in the winter months. Everything was so incredibly fresh and beautiful. We watched the planting of the fields and were amazed as it seemed to grow overnight. Fields and fields of crops stretched out for miles. Some of the smaller fields were still worked with a harrow and horses. Farmers still tend to their crops from the break of dawn till nightfall, here in this part of México. Having grown up in the San Joaquin Valley of California, I could not get enough of the sight. The entire valley is ringed by the Sierra Madre mountains, just like in California, although here they are much closer and the pine trees are replaced by palm trees.
The fishermen also still leave the shore of our village like clockwork every morning. In small boats, they make their way to the shallows about a mile out. The day will bring them food for their tables and their restaurants. Sea Bass, Corbina, and shrimp, caught daily, grace our tables in this region. I wish people understood this part of México more. Not just the land but the people as well. Nowhere in sight is the sleeping guy under the cactus with the sombrero, or the narco’s shooting people. It’s really just a quiet, laid-back, safe and family-oriented part of the world.
Our mutts too soon adapted to the ocean and the beach. At first, they were cautious of the water, but soon they were jumping in to retrieve their Frisbees and following us in. They soon learned that a day at the beach also meant a bath at the end. They have gotten really good at baths! Jasper, who was at what we thought was the final season of his life, has gained weight and scampers about the beach like a new pup. Actually, we think it has more to do with dementia, but we’ll take what we can get. Whatever the reason, he’s still with us. Bucket and Biscuit have come to love their new home and their silly antics make our days happier.
We made the trip to Guadalajara several times for a couple of days inland. It is such a great city filled with the colors and noises that are México. People smile at you and seem to love their lives, families, and culture so much. It is so refreshing to see their happy faces. Hardly ever do you encounter a person not willing to help you and share their knowledge of their country and its history. Guadalajara is the second largest city in México and every trip brings new and exciting things to experience. Some of the best meals of my life have been consumed in this city. They have wonderful restaurants and B&B’s. We also made a trip in Ajijic , south of the city and on the shores of Lake Chapala. What an amazing place. Chapala is a lake two and half times the size of our Lake Tahoe and home to over 30 thousand gringos. The weather stays spring-like all year at over 5000 feet in elevation. This also has become the home for Paul’s parents as well. Their new digs in an assisted-living facility seem to be a good fit with great twenty-four hour care for his mother at a reasonable rate. My father-in-law could not be happier. Every time I speak to him, he says, “These people are so wonderful”, and “They not just care physically for my wife, they hug her and talk with her constantly too”. And he tells me the food is pretty great too. They allow him to live there with her, and take care of all the cooking and day-to-day chores that get pretty tough for older people. I think more and more Americans will make their way to these places as the health care costs in America still continues to climb. For our family, it was a great solution.
But in case you might think that our winter was too relaxing, you don’t know Paul very well. He kept very busy with many projects around the villa. Replacing ceiling fans, putting up new walkway lights, helping friends build solar heaters for their pools, replacing the pool pump, having a new cabinet built for the casita, and new slider windows for the main casa bedrooms are a few of the more significant projects accomplished this winter. Living in the tropics takes its toll on a home and Paul makes sure to battle the effects, keeping this place in tiptop shape. I too kept busy with new dishes to cook and the afternoon siesta (I do what I can).
Overall, I will tell you our first winter here has been nothing short of wonderful. I think the only thing I would change is that we wish we had done it sooner. It is not for everyone; in fact there are very few people that are willing to step outside the box for a minute, let alone for good. That has never been our style, and I feel so lucky to have married a man who, like me, is not afraid of the adventure of life. We have never followed “the herd”, and I am happy about that. Our time here together has been magical and exciting. After all these years together, it is still on honor to wake up next to such an amazing man.
So now we will wrap up our time here and head to Italy, a place we have been lucky enough to have visited a couple of times already. But now, we will head to Naples in the south and spend a month with our daughter Jill and our grandchildren. We look forward to spending the days experiencing the sights and sounds of Italy. We can’t wait to see the coastline of this beautiful country and all it holds. Then, we will come back to México and plan our journey back to the states. It will be bittersweet to lock our casita door and load the mutts in the Suburban. But new adventures await us…