ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - Admiral Fox and I decided to come down to Arroyo Seco for a week to check on things and decompress from life in the big city of Puerto Vallarta.
It's been, well, great... We are spending days at the beach, afternoons at Luis' restaurant eating shrimp filadelphia and evenings (after puesto del sol) usually reading before turning in. Yes, I am still reading the Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 1. And I will be, into the summer.
View from hotel deck
Our amigos Jim and Vickie are helping the owner of an 11-bedroom house/hotel on the beach rent out some rooms this season. The place is for sale, if you have a spare $350,000 U.S.
Did I mention that the place comes with a heart-shaped swimming pool?
This is the first time in our years in Arroyo Seco that there has been actual overnight accommodations for out-of-town folks.
Adm. Fox and a I grabbed a room on the second story right away and will keep renting it for the season. It has a fabulous view of the entire beach.
In about a week or so, we will move all of our surf and beach gear down there. The place has a big kitchen downstairs and a new refrigerator to keep my hydration supplies cold.
When we have guests in the coming weeks and months, we will put them up down there, instead of having them stay in the Gray Goose Express II here in El Centro.
Over the weekend, Chief Education Officer Laura McCartney Warner dropped off her pooch Mia to spend a few days here in Mia's old stomping grounds. Mia was rescued last year by Sylvia and Laura and eventually went to Canada to live with Laura.
Vickie, Sylvia and Mia
Today, she and several of her former compadre dogs in the village went with us to the beach where they ran, jumped, and, of course, rolled in whatever dead things they could find. A short video of the huge surf - and Mia playing with her amigo pooches - is at the end of this blog.
And the sunsets! Madre mia! In the last few nights, the sun and moon have been putting on spectacular light shows. The first photo below was taken in La Manzanilla, the other here on Playa Grande.
NUEVO VALLARTA, Nayarit, Mexico - Life in Nuevo Vallarta has become as close to routine as life allows here, with most mornings dedicated to exercise (swimming), some writing (blogs and other screeds), planning out of the day (where should we eat lunch?), followed by, well, more exercise, more writing and more planning.
In the past few weeks, we have made a foray south to Arroyo Seco and La Manzanilla, gone whale watching with Roger and Di Frizzelle on their 47-foot yacht, Di's Dream, ran enough errands to run through $100 in gasoline - and helped Dustin get his new home set up here, a home in which we live, too.
How many 30-year-olds do you know whose parents move in with them?
The turnabout is fair play, however, as Adm. Fox and I are helping Dustin find his footing amid the domestic upheaval of separation that too many people reading this have gone through. Divorce is not any prettier among the palm trees.
Still, times are good and getting better day by day.
Di and Sylvia on whale watch patrol
Infinity pool at resort north of La Cruz
Last week we went to a fabulous resort north of La Cruz for the afternoon, where I sipped the best Pina Colada I ever had. And yes, the second one was as good as the first. The place has three infinity pools, each spilling over into the next one.
We only got as far as pool number two for swimming, though Dustin said that ocean waves out front were fine for swimming and/or boogie boarding.
On Christmas Day, we had breakfast with the Frizzelles and Dustin at nearby Paradise Village, then retired to the beach for a family tradition - an Christmas afternoon of boogie boarding and margaritas on the sand. Sylvia and Dustin at breakfast, Christmas 2010
I opted for a Pina Colada during the course of the afternoon, instead of a margarita. Perhaps that will be a new family tradition, too.
How was the boogie boarding? Fabuloso... Just fabuloso.
Towards midafternoon, Santa Claus arrived on the beach, too - in great style - landing via parasailer. Very classy.
Santa Claus on Paradise Village Beach
Life at the beach
Our next adventure will be to head back to Arroyo Seco in a few days with amigas Laura and Christina from Canada. They are staying at Casa Dustin right now and will be spending the winter in Barra de Navidad.
We will also be checking out the situation at Tenacatita, the site of a beachside 'picnic' today that was put together to draw attention of the seizure of the property August 4 - and the eviction of nearly 800 residents. It's a mess. Here's a recent blog on the situation: Beach picnic/protest
New Year's Eve looks like it will be in Arroyo Seco or La Manzanilla at Palapa Joes for Admiral Fox and I.
ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - The dichotomies in Mexico, at least where Admiral Fox and I hang our respective Tilley hats, are striking. Some people have Internet and drive nice new trucks, others live in huts with dirt floors and ride burros for transportation. Some folk are very educated, others have very little schooling.
But perhaps the greatest dichotomy is the ability of the Mexican people to struggle with serious problems, dust themselves off and move on - often smiling as they do so...
Case in point:
Admiral Fox, CEO Laura and I went to Tenacatita Beach Thursday for lunch. Adm. Fox and Laura bicycled (into a strong south wind it turned out) while I drove the support vehicle with the boogie boards and snorkel gear.
And, as always, it was fabulous there, with great food and the water temperature quite nice. (CAPTAIN'S NOTE: Thursday, a bus runs from Melaque to Tenacatita so be ready for lots of gringo company...)
Oscar the vet and Julien with a sick dog
But at 2 p.m., we returned to meet with Oscar the veterinarian from Miguel Hildago. He was there to give distemper vaccinations - and most likely to put down a dog that clearly had distemper. The street-side passion play over whether to put the dog down went on for nearly an hour. The owners weren't sure, other residents (especially those with pooches who had been in contact with the sick dog) were very sure. And after a long conversation with a half-dozen adults and many more children, the vet went into a secluded yard and gave the dog a single shot, while I stood by.
The dog was gone in probably 30 seconds and was buried on the beach by our amigo French surfer-dude Julien, who helped calm the dog while the injection was given.
That would have been quite enough for me, except that another family brought over their sick puppy for Oscar to take a look at, a puppy who seemed to be having serious coordination problems and who had stopped eating.
Yup, distemper, too, the vet said.
And so within another half-hour - and much more talking - veterinarian Oscar took the puppy into the yard (away from the owners' eyes) and gave it an injection to end its suffering. And it was suffering, clearly, I could see.
Puppy with distemper
At that point, with Julien headed to the beach to bury the first dog, I scooped up the now-passed puppy and headed to the beach myself on our quad, shovel in hand to bury the pooch, all wrapped up ingloriously in a black trash bag.
After my experience last year - having to put down our dog Lucky - it was extremely hard to witness the first dog's injection and death, even harder to witness and then take charge of the deceased puppy. But it was obvious that the puppy had to be taken away quickly so the family (including a two-year-old, who obviously loved the animal) wouldn't have the body as a reminder.
Puppy grave on the beach
All of this would have sent me to the wine bottle early, except we had scheduled a night of music for the children in the village. Many of the children are taking English classes from Laura. And all of their much younger siblings were interested in the notion of gringo music.
And so, two hours after working with a shovel on the beach, I was setting up cameras and helping Myranda O'Byrne, Michael Hearn and Adm. Fox get ready for the 50 children (and a handful of adults) who came flooding in the Pink Flamingo gates at the appointed hour for concert and music lesson.
Some of the children (and adults) were the same ones who had been involved in the decisions earlier about the dogs.
But you would never have known it. They listened to the music with pure joy.
Music night audience
Myranda with the children
So what are the lessons here?
Well, for one, dogs need to be vaccinated for distemper. That doesn't happen often here, though with Adm. Fox on the case, things are likely to change in this hamlet.
But the second lesson is that death and life are sooooo close to the surface. There is no sterile vet's office where a dog is put down behind a closed door by white-coat-clad medical staff.
And at the same time, the joy of life is so close to the surface, too.
I have never heard such enthusiasm from children singing 'Bingo' or 'Five Little Ducks.'
Even I was singing Quack Quack Quack by the time it was over last night.
ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - After a torrential rainstorm Thursday night, we headed for the beaches Friday to dry, so to speak.
The rain and thunderstorm was spectacular for about an hour, but the muddy mess it made, quite unwelcome. We did weather it better than the last onslaught which lasted several days.
Still, the rain has made the area sooooo lush and green it is amazing. So are the mosquitos, amazing, not lush and green.
We loaded up the Tundra and the quad and headed to a small protected swimming beach at the south end of Playa Grande where CEO Laura said she saw only a single stingray in the water near the rocks .
One is enough for me, single or married.
Randy, Karen, Sylvia and Laura at Beach Camp Bravo
ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - It rained again Wednesday. Real rain, as in slick-as-shit-road rain but the Pink Flamingo needed propane (for a new gas BBQ grill brought in last week by amigos Jim and Vicky), the gasoline supplies were low for the motorcycles and we needed some plumbing supplies to fix the geysers that have erupted in our sprinkler system.
A quick trip down the highway to the neighboring cities of Melaque and Cihuatlan solved all of those issues, though my neighbor Chon was concerned about my carrying gasoline and propane in the Toyota Tundra in one load.
Chon looked in the back of the truck and declared that with the tanks and gasoline cans, I had created una bomba. Yup, it means bomb. And even though he was concerned, he did hand me a 20-liter gasoline can to fill for him at the Pemex station.
Having transported a lot of propane and gasoline over the years for various boats, I knew enough to keep them quite separated with the propane tanks secured the cab of the truck, the gasoline (and diesel) strapped securely in the back. The propane tanks looked quite cute with their seat belts on.
No seat belts needed here
A celebratory lunch was in order after the solo voyage, and I followed the truck above into La Manzanilla, watching as the younger children leaned over the edge of the truck trying to touch the leaves on the low hanging branches of the trees.
There is a seat belt law in Mexico. The driver has to have one firmly buckled, as least on the highways and in Puerto Vallarta where the city police have discovered tagging people sans seatbelts is a good way to make some revenue.
It's the one place I buckle up all the time.
Better than watching golf. Really
At Palapa Joe's, the restaurant had a good lunch crowded packed in, with all eyes glued to the television where Olympic coverage was on from the Winter Olympics.
And while my first choice would have been downhill skiing and/or ski jumping, the women's curling events actually were far more interesting than I thought they would be. While I wolfed down a club sandwich, it was the Germans vs. the Americans and the yells and grunts from one German team member were wild.
Those Germans take their curling seriously.
Seriously.
Laura with Princess Mia at Tenacatita
Earlier this week, Admiral Fox and Laura and I did take an afternoon off to go to Tenacatita Beach for lunch and some boogie boarding and snorkeling, taking along Princess Mia (I knew Hazel wouldn't stick) for the sojourn.
We met up with friends Randy and Karin from California and also winter Tenacatita Beach denizens Mario and Sharon who were leaving the next day to return to Portland.
But the overcast socked in solid, and it was almost cold (in the low 70s, brrr... ), a big change from earlier trips this winter when we were bobbing in the surf to keep cool.
Some of the tourists even took to jogging to keep warm.
ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - The Admiral, CEO Laura and I barreled out of the Pink Flamingo at 7 a.m. Monday, for a drive across two big mountains to the city of Autlan for an appointment with an attorney who has some documents we need.
At least we thought we had an appointment.
His door was securely locked and a group milling about outside said because it was the end of Carnaval Week, it was likely he could be sleeping off a bender.
We were not amused, but, well, it's Mexico.
The wrong place
We were dispatched to another office by a fellow giving us directions who insisted there was an attorney there by the same name. And he was right. But the senor there - now a dispenser of natural drugs - gave up his law practice many years ago. He seemed like he might have been willing to break out his law shingle again, though. The health business looked a little slow.
What was not slow was the Carnaval, gearing up for its last day and night.
Admiral Fox and Laura were cornered by two horsemen who insisted that they drink a cup of a strange-looking punch, poured from a wooden container to be part of the festivities.
Ready to ride again, with drink in hand
The long drive (nearly 6 hours total) was capped back home by the rescue/adoption of a small black dog that had been wandering about the entrance to Arroyo Seco for several days.
We had seen the dog late Sunday night, sleeping in the middle of the road. Then, Monday morning it was still there, though looking somewhat distressed. When we returned Monday afternoon late, Adm. Fox and Laura donned their capture-a-dog outfits and went out to bring the pooch back to the Pink Flamingo.
So far, the dog, which I have dubbed Hazel (though Princessa Hazel seems to have more traction), has been bathed by her attendants and is working her way through a bag of imported salami we purchased at Costco. I believe she also slept in CEO Laura's condominio last night.
If the Princessa demands to drink some of the Pinot Grigio I bought, we will have to talk.
ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - We were getting ready to head out to the beach today for a fiesta with our French surfer-dude amigo Julien when our welder-dude amigo, Victor, showed up with our new doors for the front of the property.
Victor is a welder, but beneath the goggles and torches, he is an artist.
And so a few weeks ago we commissioned him to build us some big steel doors for the front of the Pink Flamingo. Of course, the doors we ordered were to have a pink flamingo as part of the design.
They do.
They really do.
Victor with his artwork doors
The irony - and there is plenty to go around - is that after we had turned Victor loose on the project, we decided not to build a concrete wall out front this season, where the doors were to hang.
So now we have the doors, and next year will build a wall on which to hang them.
It might take me that long to get used to looking at the Pink Flamingo painted on them.
Julien, Michelle, Maurice and Max
After we got the doors squared away, the Admiral and I headed via quad to Playa Grande for a largely French family fete on the beach with Julien, his brother Max, father Maurice (and his wife, Michelle), Max's amiga Ana and Pink Flamingo Chief Education Officer Laura Warner.
The food was amazing: oysters, platters of barbecued dorado, fresh salads, tortillas, wine, and of course, a lot of Mexican beer.
But the most amazing part, for me, was trying to listen (and speak) English, French and Spanish, almost simultaneously.
It was amazing because years of high school and college French began to come back the more we talked. And Spanish was the default language when we couldn't communicate.
Thank you Jon Giacco (one of my high school French teachers), for drilling something into my head.
And also a thank you to Pink Flamingo Chief Education Officer Laura Warner (fluent in Spanish, French and English) for filling in the many gaps in conversation.
ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - The last few days have been a whirlwind of educational activity at the Pink Flamingo.
First, we had an afternoon and evening cooking class, taught by neighbors Chena and Chon. The couple got four of our gringo amigos working hard on preparing a great taco dinner, with all the attendant sauces and fillings. They eventually fed a group of probably 20 people. And they learned their lessons well.
No one went home hungry Saturday. And not much was left over for the next night's dinner either.
I know that for a fact...
But the classes that started Tuesday were less aimed at the belly and more at the head, as Chief Education Officer Laura Warner began teaching English to a small cadre of Arroyo Seco children. She left her teaching position in Canada - where she taught French and Spanish - to spend the spring at the Pink Flamingo teaching English.
Oh, and she is squeezing in some surfing, swimming, quad-riding, snorkeling trips, too, and, and, and...
ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - For two days in a row (a record of sorts) the Admiral and I all but suspended our work schedule around the Pink Flamingo property to go to the beach.
Saturday, we went to our own Playa Chica here in Arroyo Seco with Chief Education Officer Laura, two friends of hers from Canada (Henry and Maureen) and our amigos Randy and Karin from Northern California. The non-Arroyo Seco folks are staying in La Manzanilla.
We set up a base camp on the beach. (Note to my dermatologist: please check out our shade structure). Henry and Maureen tried surfing, while Randy and I did our best to boogie board without getting pulled out to sea by a pretty strong rip tide. The waves were huge, too.
Base camp at Playa Chica in Arroyo Seco
Maureen and Laura
Sunday, Laura, the Admiral and I met up with the same group out at Tenacatita for snorkeling and then boarding riding. They came by car, we roared in from Arroyo Seco on the quad (a half-hour ride) skimming along the beaches to Fiesta Mexicana.
At Tenacatita, the waves were less exciting, but the boogie-boarding still excellent as the video of Henry and Randy shows.
SACRAMENTO, Calif., USA - The sneezing, sniffling, oh-shit-I-feel-like-I-have-a-fever time is raging here in Central California like a wildfire out of control.
At the university, the health center is diagnosing students over the telephone as having swine flu. And while it's normal at this stage of the semester to have a lot of absence, my classrooms are often only half full, with the other half emailing in that they are sick and will take a pass on coming to school that day.
And if they think they are sick, they do have strict orders: Keep thee away from me. A couple of zip codes would be nice.
This entire flu-mania took on special meaning late last week when a Sacramento amiga invited the Admiral and I to come to her house and have dinner. Sure, sounds great, we said. Plans were put into place to bring the ukulele for a little concert for she and her husband and two young children.
Two children. Two young children.
Uh-oh. Children, much younger versions of walking petri dishes of bacteria and viruses that I teach daily. Good kids to be sure, but what illnesses might lurk in that critical three-foot radius around them? And what if I caught a bad cold - or worse - weeks before the Admiral and I are scheduled to make our way south and east, back to coastal Mexico?
We canceled. I think we are still friends.
Someone once told me that you are only paranoid if you think someone is out to get you and they are not.
Hmm...
So I continue to gulp vitamins and minerals twice a day - prescribed by my Canadian amiga Laura - drink enough water to solve the Southern California water shortage, try to sleep a full 8 hours and I hold my breath in the elevators at the University.
VALOIS, New York, USA - The arrival of our amiga Laura Warner from Calgary meant that Casa Fitz/Fox has had two energizer bunnies in residence for the past week or so, resulting in a long postponed project getting underway: painting the trim on the house.
The cottage has always been kind of Wal-Mart white all the years I have been coming here. And in past years, one side of the house at a time, I have continued with that tradition, slapping on a generous coat of white paint, sometimes capturing spiders and other insects into the patina of the house.
Archeologists will probably thank me for preserving the bugs for study.
Laura and Sylvia painting the blue trim
The effect is dramatic when added to the new open view out the front. With the cutting down of some huge trees that shaded the house (and kept a nice crop of moss growing on the roof), the front of the house is now the focus.
I don't know if the project will continue all the way around (as I put on more Wal-Mart white), but it dresses up the front quite nicely.
Arnold and Laura getting to be good friends
At the same time as Laura and Sylvia have taken up painting as a hobby, the weather suddenly shifted from 70 degree days to 80-plus. And add some humidity into that. The net result is that we have been boating almost every day, including simply going out and letting the Spirit of Louise drift around while we go swimming.
We forgot our float toys the first day out and had to improvise. Laura showed us a Canadian invention that allows you to bob around in the water, and still have a hand free for the beverage of your choice.
VALOIS, New York, USA - The weather forecast called for 85 degrees (gasp!), no rain and light winds out of the south and so the Admiral and I (and amiga Laura) declared Tuesday a SLAD (Seneca Lake Appreciation Day). We were not alone in our decision.
We hopped on the Spirit of Louise and toured some of the west side of Seneca Lake, arriving at The Showboat restaurant with Cousin Ruth aboard for lunch.
The Showboat is the waterside restaurant across the lake from us that has good food - but you better like it fried.
Admiral, Laura and Ruth at The Showboat dock
Slow cruise down the Seneca Lake shore
Such days have been rare this summer - Tuesday was No. 5 by my count - though the lake water has warmed up enough to go swimming if you don't mind a momentary shock when you dive in. We did some swimming at Cousin Ruth's dock at the end of the cruise before heading back up the lake to our dock, where a new swim ladder makes it much easier to get in - and out - of the water.
Last week, we finished a major tree-cutting-and-clearing project opened up the lake view from the house - and also a view of the house from the lake. Now when people drive by in their boats and wonder if we are home, they can spot the car - or us - up the hill. It's changed the orientation of the house back to the lake being the focus.
View from the house, sans trees
Housefrom the lake
Monday, Sylvia and Laura started a painting project - adding trim to the house. The casa has been a solid white for all the years I have been coming here (18 and counting). But with several trees down in front of the house, the front of the house is suddenly, well, much more visible and the paint makes a nice touch.
This video shows the beginnings of the project. If today's expected thunderstorms hold off until this afternoon (80 percent likelihood according to Wunderground.com), more window trim and other parts of the house might suddenly turn blue, too.
HECTOR, New York, USA - The fourth sunny summer day landed at Seneca Lake Friday, resulting in a warm day of boating, swimming and capped with a parade at the Hector Firemen's Fair. Perhaps the best part was that the good weather wasn't predicted. I was battened down for another day of rain.
We did have a windstorm roll through mid-afternoon that sent us scurrying for the dock, but otherwise, a great day all up and down the lake.
And two days ago, our amiga Laura arrived for a stay, escaping the cold confines of Calgary, Canada. Laura will be with us for a week or so. And this fall and spring she will be coming to Arroyo Seco to teach English to the children in the village.
Oh, and to surf, too, to surf.
Laura floats byat Cousin Roger's dock
This weekend is also the big fundraiser for the Hector Volunteer Fire Department, three-days of carnival rides, food booths, a huge beer tent, (ofcourse) and last night an evening parade of tractors and floats.
The parade is all local: fire departments, farmers showing off their new tractors, children twirling batons and lots of waving to neighbors. We camped with Eric and Tina Hazlitt on the front lawn of their casa right on the highway and got a ringside view.
Cousin Brett parades by in his '57 VW
Parade vendor
Tractor 'float'
The Red Cat from Hazlitt's Winery tours in a '65 Triumph Spitfire
ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - Our Canadian amigo Laura Warner ended up her all-too-brief stay here at the Pink Flamingo on Sunday, after a whirlwind week of teaching ingles to 30 (or more) village children and getting involved in the wedding Saturday night here in the village.
Friday morning - at the end of the last session - many of her young charges said they wanted her to keep teaching next week, and the week after, and the week after, and....
There was barely a dry eye among those of us who helped Laura with the class.
Julien gives a group lesson in English, French and Spanish
One of the helpers was Julien, a surfer who lives part of the year in Arroyo Seco, the rest in France where he works on high-rise buildings doing painting and window washing - on the outside. Despite the strenuousness of his French occupation, he told Laura that the time he spent teaching the children this past week was the hardest thing he had ever done.
This from a guy whose first language is French, Spanish is second and English third.
Julien has been helping nephew Nate to learn how to surf and will soon probably be giving some instructions to Ruth Bills' crew, arriving tomorrow, who will be staying in La Manzanilla, but who we expect to see a lot of in Arroyo Seco
Trying hard to see the board - and the English phrases
The students worked very hard and although none of them will be giving any major addresses in English in the near future, it helped spark a lot of enthusiasm. We are cautiously planning on seeing how we can conduct some mini-classes in coming weeks and months. Prospective visitors be warned: you might be teaching un poco ingles.
The next few days are dedicated to reclaiming the property and cleaning up after have seven people around for a week. Everyone pitched in very well, but seven people is, well, seven people.
Oh, and Lucky the dog did his part to make life interesting, too.
She says 'Good Morning' now, each day as she passes
ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - The Admiral and I took a lovely afternoon off at Tenacatita, then launched back into projects at the property, a Jan. 31, self-imposed deadline looming like April 15 for Americans.
Sorry about that reference.
January 31 is when Sylvia brother David arrives and a week later, son Dylan (with two amigos), cousin Ruth from Hector, New York and Laura from Calgary, Canada. Laura is going to be teaching English to a group of village children and the village children are vibrating, they are so excited.
Will the showers and banos be done? The maestro said the main part of that project would be done by next Tuesday. The Admiral says she wants to hear the sound of flushing toilets - soon.
A roof, a floor and then it will be 'voila'
As part of all the chaos, we were able to move the original Grey Goose Express back closer to its new brother (which we dragged down this year behind the Toyota Tundra). After getting the trailer close to its intended destination, we relied on pure Mexican muscle power to lift up the tongue and slide it into the parking spot.
And the miracle? Without touching anything, the GGExpress is sitting perfectly level in its semi-permanent home.
Almost in place
RV park in the making?
But the biggest improvement has been being able to use our now-tiled palapa, though it has taken the Admiral and I - with some young helpers - many washings and scrubbings to get it clean. This morning the Admiral gave it another mopping and it is starting to shine. She's nesting there, and loving it.
As it is Sunday, however, it's almost time to calltime on the projects. The afternoon we are headed to the Grand Bay Hotel in Barra de Navidad to meet some sailing cruisers - and sit by the pool there.
They serve a great drink there called a 'ballena.'
ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - While the surf guides for the two beaches in Arroyo Seco say that surfing isn't all that great at either Playa Chica or Playa Grande, they must have been written by people who have never visited the place, or who want to keep others out.
In the past two days, the Admiral and I have spent time out on the beach, watching the surfers, including nephew Nate Schwartz and our amiga Laura Warner, a Spanish teacher from Calgary who we hope will be coming back later this winter.
Surfer Laura heads out for a run
Laura and Nate were given some surfing lessons by our amigo Julian, a part-time resident of the rancho who surfs, fishes and enjoys life along with his brother Max. When they aren't in Arroyo Seco, Julian and Max live in their native France, earning enough Euros to come back each winter.
We purchased two surfboards from Julian, who threw in the lessons as part of the deal - and he hadn't even met our amiga Laura yet.
Laura, Max, Julian and Sylvia at a fiesta in Arroyo Seco
The surf lessons went well, though we did learn from local surfers that the waves at both beaches can be very dangerous and that whether surfing, boogie boarding, or swimming, you have to beware of the power of the waves.
I wish I had talked with them about that before I took a header into the sand, body surfing on my back.
Yes, now I know, don't try to body surf on your back.
Below is a short video of Nate and Laura in one of their earliest attempts.
Michael J. Fitzgerald has been a journalist for five decades, working as a writer and editor for newspapers, magazines and web publications. In 2014 he published his first novel, "The Fracking War," followed in 2015 with "Fracking Justice." In 2018, he published "The Devil's Pipeline." He has written a weekly column, "Write On" for the daily 'Finger Lakes Times' newspaper in Geneva, NY for 14 years, He contributes stories to the Contra Costa Pulse newspaper in Richmond, CA. He also writes essays on Substack under the title Write On and On.
