Plenty of time to drag out my ukulele

   POINT RICHMOND, Calif. - More than a decade ago, I set out to achieve three goals, not necessarily in the order listed below.

     • I wanted to become comfortable speaking - and understanding others speaking - a foreign language.

    • I wanted to publish a novel. (Publish, not just write)

    • I wanted to learn how to play a musical instrument.

     On the foreign language front, I am relatively comfortable with Spanish, though the longer I am away from living in Mexico, the weaker it gets. Still, two weeks ago I had a lively conversation - all in Spanish - with a mechanic who was fixing a dent in my Toyota Tundra.
     My novels (The Fracking War, Fracking Justice and The Devil's Pipeline) are all out there circulating.
     And the musical instrument?
   Well, after giving myself a frozen shoulder learning to play a full-size guitar, I was advised by a music pro to take up the ukulele. He said the best thing about a uke is that if you aren't that skilled on the strings, you can always just sing louder and cover up your ineptness. He was soooo right.
     The ineptness is more pronounced now, largely because I have barely tuned my eight-string in the last few years.
     But today I was encouraged by the video below featuring Neil Diamond. He performs a Covid-19-inspired remake of his classic "Sweet Caroline." It's great.
    And given that I (and probably you) have at least several weeks more of "sheltering in place" it got me to pull my uke down off the wall. Perhaps I can come up with a few parody numbers myself.
    Don't look for me on Youtube anytime soon, however.
Or for a reunion tour of The Four Headlamps.

Learning the language via the immersion process

EMILIANO ZAPATA, Jalisco, Mexico - It was during lunch Friday that I realized I am living with the poster child for why immersion in a language works so well, when compared to classroom learning.

The Admiral and I were discussing our earlier horseback ride around Ranch Cuixmala (more on that in another blog when I can sit down for a longer period of time to write about it) and I realized that as I was chatting in Spanish, she could understand nearly every word I said.

And earlier in the day, she had asked a question in Spanish of our horseback riding guide using a full sentence, her first since we moved here in December.

Madre mia!


Admiral at taco shoppe in Emiliano Zapata

I started my study of Spanish in the mid-1980s when I was lucky enough to land a spot with a team of five faculty going to Spain on a Fulbright. We had to give our lectures there entirely in Spanish, even though one month prior to leaving, none of us spoke a word of Spanish.

The question and answer sessions were pretty hilarious.

Since then, I have studied Spanish on and off (OK, mostly off) trying to memorize phrases, verbs and vocabulary, but it has only been in the last five months that I have been comfortable speaking Spanish.

The Admiral on the other hand had no prior experience with Spanish but clearly has a ear for it already. Next winter and spring the majority of our time will be spent in Arroyo Seco where Spanish rules completely.

Given the speed at which she is learning, maybe the Admiral will be able to translate for me.


Fishing spot in la laguna

In our travels back from the horseback riding expedition we drove a back road past El Tecuan where a huge, mostly freshwater lagoon borders the sand dunes. The birds and wildlife back there were incredible and we found a half-dozen interesting fishing holes that I hope to show to Scott Noble when he makes his next foray south. Sadly, that probably won't be until Christmas next year.

The fish were so close to shore it seemed as if you could almost walk out and just grab them - which I was quite tempted to try.

Then I remembered what two French amigos from Arroyo Seco had mentioned to me a few weeks ago about that laguna: There are crocodiles in the water there. Max and Julian know it's true because they ran into a couple of crocs while they were doing some snorkeling.

I think I'll stick to rod-and-reel fishing for now.


Croc in La Manzanilla

The Four Headlamps debut in La Manzanilla

LA MANZANILLA, Jalisco, Mexico - When I turned 55, I set three goals that I wanted to achieve before I pull up - or actually have pulled up over me - a dirt blanket, as my amigo Michael Scott of Chico State says.

In no particular order, the three things were: Become fluent in a foreign language, learn to play a musical instument, and finish one of the novels I have started.

Last night, playing the ukulele in front of a bar full of people with my amigos in The Four Headlamps, I'm there with the musical-instrument goal.

The Four Headlamps

I have a looooong way to go before I will consider that I am any good on the uke, but playing in public was a big deal because it's one thing to sit at home and test your musical abilities, another to test your tonsils in public.

We chose a funny song, "I Think I'm Dancin' With A Man," which went over pretty well, even with my delivery being a little soft.

And the other goals? Well, my Spanish is improving poco a poco and it's possible I'll start hacking away on one of the books again soon.

Or maybe a start a new tome, about a retired college professor who loves Cuba Libres and hangs out on the beach.