Day of the Dead

People all over the country were carrying bundles of marigolds to their homes and cemeteries for decorating shrines.

Brian standing next to some Day of the Dead decorations.

Oaxaca

Another scene from Oaxaca. Ladies selling flowers for people to decorate their Day of the Dead altars.

Nube

There's an American woman that gives free yoga classes near the marina. I try to go twice a week. It's held in an empty store front of a hotel owned by an American lady named Liz. Liz comes to yoga. So does Nube, her little white poodle. (Nube means "cloud"). Today, Liz placed her mat in a different location than usual and Nube, whose eyes aren't nearly as good as the rest of her faculties sat on the yoga mat of another lady who was sitting where Liz usually sits. After a few minutes, Nube realized her mama wasn't next to her and wandered around approaching each yogini, sniffing and appearing more and more distressed after each wrong one. Finally, Nube approached her real mom, Liz, sniffed her and started jumping up and down as Liz petted her. Really. She jumped up and down twice and wiggled and wagged her tail, laid down against Liz and relaxed.

The beauty of belonging to someone. I don't appreciate often enough that I belong to my Creator. That I belong to my husband, as he belongs to me. That I belong to each of my friends and family and am part of their lives. If I could not find them, what would cause me to jump up and down?

I'm feeling grateful today.

winter in tropical latitudes

In Santa Cruz, I can always tell winter has arrived by the shadows.  They seem longer, at steeper angles than the rest of the year.  Then there's the obvious colder weather, rain and early darkness.  I keep forgetting it's winter down here!  The weather is comfortably warm.  There is no rain, only some clouds many afternoons.  The day is dark by 6pm but that has crept up on us slowly.  Today, however, I noticed the shadows.  Even though it's not cold, the winter shadows are here.  Long and stretched out at acute angles, winterizing even the palm trees.

cooler weather and starting a business

Huatulco is enjoyable this time of year!  the breezes are cool, and there's plenty of them.  Bright yellow butterflies and monarch butterflies swirl around and the humidity has dropped considerably.  As an added bonus, there's good swell around for Brian when he isn't working too hard.  Last week, Brian mentioned to a captain on a sailboat that I was getting ready to repair our mainsail.  Within an hour, I was hired! His sail had ripped and he needed to leave town right away.  So, I spent 3 days sewing his sail and earned a nice bit of cash and, in so doing, I've accidentally started a sail shop.  I've received more work than I could have drummed up than if I'd advertised!  People walk by, see me sewing, and bring me my next piece to repair.  I am using an empty room at the marina so I'm quite visible.  This work, and selling a few things we don't need, is just what we needed to bolster the bank account.  Brian is re-doing our cockpit with sanding, puddying, and painting.  Despite all the work, we're taking time to meet and visit with people in the mornings and evenings.  Tomorrow, we're going bird-watching (Carol, I'll tell you all about it) with a couple that is quite knowledgeable about birds.  We are also reading and quizzing people about El Salvador and Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.  We're headed to those places pretty soon.  Take care, Friends! Megan

Megan's Sail Loft

A week ago, Brian and I were starting to wonder how to supplement our bank account without having to fly home. After some brainstorming I decided, well, I'll pull out our mainsail to start repairing it. Might as well start on the list of chores.

Brian off-handedly mentioned my impending project to a sailboat captain that had just pulled in to the marina. Within 24 hours, I had a room (loaned free of charge from the marina manager), a large ripped mainsail in front of me with my tools and machine arranged around. I had a job. ... I have a job. Even though I finished that sail on Friday, just sitting in front of a machine sewing, has attracted a lot more work.

Lucky me.

Alban

Here's a couple of my favorite views from Monte Alban.