daily life in Zihuatanejo

Sorry, I’ve Been Lazy, but also busy

I’ve become quite lazy and have ignored this blog too long. I will try to do better in this new Year of 2025. I think I will work from yesterday and go backwards over the past several weeks, months.

Christmas and New Years were spectacular especially as my eldest son Shawn came to visit for two weeks over the holidays. So I wowed him with dozens of parties, parades, and fireworks. I don’t think any town could decorate better than Zihuatanejo for the holidays, it glitters and sparkles every where.

New Years Day we celebrated with our 3rd annual “Polar Bear Swim“, where the only thing cold is the ice in your Margarita. Each year we get more and more participants to brave the waves at the rousing hour of 11:00 am.

I had decided that New Year’s Eve fireworks might best be viewed from our favorite infinity swimming pool/ restaurant Escollera, so I made reservations for Shawn and I, but before the big night came 4 more friends choose to join us for a full table. The food was excellent, after dinner, while waiting for midnight and the New Year display we enjoyed card games.

Shawn, who is a DJ by profession, treated a group of friends to a karaoke evening at a friends house. Where we soon discovered not many of us are singers, but these gals did a great job on Dolly Parton’s Jolene

Parties and dinners almost every night what a wonderful season of fun

30 friends gathered at Mikes’ Diner for Christmas Eve dinner

We went swimming at Escollera

I even got some work out of him while here, he cleaned my curtain rods, installed a couple of screws and nails where I needed them, helped me with my Christmas lights. Unfortunately he took out my folding step ladder but were able to complete the tasks with the landlords ladder. It’s been kind of nice to have a man around the house.

The city/government has restored the building dubbed the “Partenon” to it’s original glamor from it’s dubious past when it was a playground for a very dishonest Police official from Mexico City. Now it is a lovely event center for the people of Zihuatanejo. I attended a fashion show there and was impressed with the finished project. The fashion show was fun too, but I am amazed that in Mexico they say it will always be a alcohol free establishment. Quite a surprise as everywhere else the booze flows freely. Part of the culture it seems.

Partenon before restoration when the steps (replaced by bleachers) went down to a swimming pool (replaced by a stage.)

I’ve now been a full time resident of Zihuatanejo for just over two years, even in the humid summers when I suffer from heat rash I know this was the very best decision I’ve ever made. Getting to live in this warm friendly place where everyone talks to everyone, friends, shopkeepers, neighbors. It’s impossible to walk a block with out meeting people you know. My son was quite surprised to see when you get on a bus every one greets you with a “buenas tardes” or “buen dia“. Strangers will stop you on the street to pay you a complement. It’s still affordable to live here, but long gone are the days of Mexico being cheap. Somethings are far less expensive, medicine for one, and labor is quite cheap. I have no need for a car here, buses and taxi’s are plentiful an very inexpensive. I live quite simply here after having shed myself of 60 years of collecting stuff, and only have just enough for my personal needs.

I do have some wonderful things to look forward to in 2025. In the spring I am going with friends to ride the train through the Copper Canyon in northern Mexico, about a 10 day trip. Then in late July I am going to take my first luxury cruise on a very large (3000+ passenger) cruise ship through the Greek Islands. Every day is still an adventure here in warm sunny Zihuatanejo. Signing off KO

LIFE IN THE LOW SEASON

Somehow I seem to be just as busy as ever. Just not quite so much going out. I”m still working my way through my list of “100 books to read before you die”. Most are great reads, some not so much leaving me wondering how they ever got put on the list. And I get distracted by other books that are recommended by friends or other articles I read so I’m not only working on the list and am reading whatever I want. Several books I have read have referred to two of the classics “Great Expectations” and Moby Dick. I did read Great Expectations and through enjoyed it once I got into the rhythm of the old English style of Charles Dickens. So my next book will be to tackle Moby Dick I read in the daytime and watch TV only at night. I do enjoy binge watching Netflix series.

I”m in the process of breaking my last tie with my life in Washington state, selling my much loved little car. I’ve had many cars in my life but only two I have loved. My very first car of my own a red 64 VW and my last car an 08 Smart Car that I ordered on line with a $99 deposit a full year before they were imported to the US. In selling this car also comes the reality that I’m pretty much giving up my driving privileges. At my age it becomes very expensive to rent a car for the occasional visit home to visit family, but certainly not worth storing a vehicle for a year or two at a time And of course here in Zihuatanejo I have no desire to drive. Taxi’s and busses do me just fine. I guess the good thing about it is I’m making the decision about ending my driving days, not my family or the police telling I am no longer allowed to drive.

My lovely little smart car taken before I headed to eastern Washington for some kayaking.

I have finally acquired a housekeeper thanks to the recommendation of two friends. What a difference it makes to have someone really deep clean every two weeks. Every crack and crevice has been cleaned and organized. Now it is so much easier to keep it up with minimal effort. I don’t know why I stalled for so long. I guess I was waiting for just the right person to be recommended to me.

My attempts to capture a couple of the local feline community and deliver them to Spaz to have them neutered has turned out disastrously. The first kitten escaped while I was trying to deliver it to Spaz but fortunately it ran right into their compound where he still is but still too feral for them to capture. But at least it’s safe and getting food and water and slowly getting socialized. The second one made his daring escape just as I had left my apartment with him securely (?). Then his weight shifted as I started down the stairs and it bumped the back of the trap and little Houdini came flying out the back door running and howling. 2 days later he is back on my balcony sleeping afternoons in my garden under the shade of plants. Mean time my little black momma cat comes regularly for meals. Wanders through my apartment like it was her own. Has even spent whole days cooling herself under my bed. But she still won’t let me near enough to her to even pet her. I really want to get her spade but it will have to wait until I can tame her a bit. She is too smart to go in the trap, I’ve tried that wit zero success.

My moma cat I call Pearlie Mae enjoying a meal in my apartment

Everyone is complaining about the heat, for some reason I’m not bothered by it. Temperatures are in the 90’s and with the humidity factored in they say it feels like the high 90’s and this has been going on for weeks. I’m managing just fine with my 3 ceiling fans, I have yet to turn on the air conditioner. I also don’t go out from noon till about 4 O’clock unless absolutely have to. I’m not walking any distances as I perspire so heavily that I would be drenched by the time I got to where i was going. Siesta’s really make sense in this weather. Did get an hours worth of rain the other night, or I should say morning as it started about 3 AM. It’s the most rain I’ve seen since arriving here in October. Life goes on as usual during this hot summer, just everything is slower.

Some fun things have been going on such as learning of a fun Pozoleria in the La Noria area. Went there with a lively group and soon our waitress had us up and dancing. House parties with friends to see their new home and even have a July 4th event to attend. Enjoying ladies lunch days at restaurants that have pools. Life is still quite social, just at a much slower pace.

I’m still going to Spanish class 3 mornings a week. After todays lesson I finally feel I have made progress. I’m pretty much of the opinion I will not be having serious conversations with Spanish speakers, but what I want is to have enough skills to be able to ask the question and under stand the answer. To be able to read signs and labels, follow basic instructions.

My garden is thriving all except for the thankless tomato plants that I have so lovingly cared for. I nursed them from seeds to seedling to starter size plants, transplanted the 5 hardiest ones to a large trough type pot. Watered them faithfully watched them blossom and then watched the blossoms fade with out setting fruit except for one tiny tiny tomato. Then they quit blossoming, and wilted in spite of the fertilizer I added and on going watering. They drooped until I couldn’t stand looking and the dying mass so I cut them down and disposed of them. Thankless plants. I don’t know what I did wrong. I need to read up on growing things in Mexico.

Signing off KO

SOME OF THE MANY PLEASURES OF “LIVING THE GOOD LIFE” IN MEXICO

One of my many pleasures I enjoy in Zihuatanejo, Mexico is the freedom to read. With so little responsibilities here I have no problem waking up in the morning rolling over and grabbing my book and laying there reading for a couple of hours before I get up. But then I am prone to waking up around 5 AM. At home I can’t do that, I have to get up as soon as I wake up. It seems like there is always something to do, places I must go, work to be done, schedules to be kept. At home in Washington I feel like I’m lazy if I just sit around reading. Like wise with the TV. It can’t be turned it on until the evening. Here I no longer feel compelled to be “doing something”. Here the living is easy!

Eating out and socializing friends has become one of my greatest pleasures. There are so many interesting people here from all walks of life and from all over the world who have done so many interesting things and traveled to interesting places. I’m finding I can do more of this since I now check out my books from my home library to down load to my kindle. I to purchase them of from Amazon. Sorry Amazon, but this has saved me a bundle as I read 5 or 6 books a month. And I love the dictionary feature that the kindle offers. I miss that when I do read a “book book”.

Swimming is one of my pleasures. I lap swim at the community pool where there is rarely more that a couple of other swimmers. It’s an Olympic size pool and because it is covered, it is cold in the morning at 9ish when I like to swim. I’m only doing about 10 laps which is about a third of what I used to swim and the pool is laned crosswise. Covid stopped me from being able to swim on a regular basis and now that I’m not training for anything I just swim for the pleasure of it. I also swim in the bay where the water is warm and salty. You just float like a cork.

Signing off KO

Snow-bird Migration North

We know it is time to go as the weather has warmed up, not so much the temperature, but the humidity is rising. This gives us a taste of what it might be like during the summer season. Too much for us, “snow-birding” is the way for us. Most of our “snowbird” acquaintances have headed back already as we will in a week.

Since December I have not worn any clothing with sleeves, nor shoes with laces. I have eaten at least two meals every day out side and regularly swam outside. I have become accustom to mangoes and little 3 inch bananas for breakfast and fresh fish for dinner. Life is good! Returning to Washington with it’s dreary spring weather will be a period of adjustment, but we will be busy. Only two weeks to get my tax information together, Doctor, dentist, eye exam appointments for both of us are scheduled as we resume the rat race. I look forward to visiting with my sons, both my girls live out of state and those visits will have to wait. It will be great to see our local grandchildren and of course trying to make amends to Denzel our cat for our long absence, even though he was well spoiled by my oldest son who house sat, cat sat and even took care of our chickens.

Last night we enjoyed Coconuts happy hour, followed by a great dinner at

Don Memos with friends Faye and Paul, and new friends Rick and Shelia. We are all headed out to Troncones for a last couple of R&R days before we tackle dreaded job of packing up, what go what stays and saying our last

The girls making my green papaya salad and spring roll

minute good-byes.

Today was my last “Saturday Market” My green papaya salad from the “Eco Tianquis Sanka” aka the “Saturday Morning Market” was the best I have ever had, The Senor always has me get him a Championes Tamale, but today it was Tamales vedura which he ate with no complaint.

While enjoying cold drinks at the waterfront and people watching a young man dressed in medical clothing asked us if we would like our blood pressure taken. We agreed and both of us had low blood pressure.

The young man explained to Doyle that he may not need to take his blood pressure medicine during the months he spends at the beach and he should talk to his doctor about it once he gets home. Of course we gave a “small donation”. A new interesting way to pan handle or was It a young medical student gaining experience? It doesn’t matter it’s all part of the Mexican experience. Signing off KO

DEAR FAMILY, FRIENDS AND FOLLOWER

When I started this blog I flaunted it as a daily blog, and pretty much it is. But don’t set your clock by it. I’m on vacation, and I write as the mood strikes and events happen. Thus said I headed out on my morning walk at daybreak with a bag of kitchen scraps for the flock I feed. At home the Senor is the “chicken meister” with a flock of about 20-24 chickens, so I am in the habit of saving kitchen scraps for chickens. I have adopted a small flock of chickens just over the bridge to La Madera where the “coco man sets up”. I think they are his chickens. He taught me how to call them, not here chick chick chick, but something like adow, adow adow,. Anyway this morning they were still in bed when I arrived and I had to call them down from their tree limb. I wish our chickens and one rooster at home would sleep in that late! Chicks are fed and I head back to walk along the beach.

Here I encounter a street dog with big sad eyes. It’s his lucky day I have a steak bone and meat scraps for him. He is very thankful. street dogs in Mexico are sad, but very sweet tempered, they don’t bark or bite and appreciate anything you have for them. I was once chastised for “encouraging their begging. I never see them beg, but just stand around looking hopeful, and my answer will always be. I choose to feed them directly rather than wait for them to root through the garbage that is set out each night

I continue on to the other bridge at La Noria and up the cobblestone roadway, where I encounter a dad walking his young sons to school. This is one of my favorite scenes and it is the way most young children arrive at school each day, hand in hand with one or the other parent. You can’t help but think what one to one special time this is for both.

On to my quest for my morning newspaper, as there is an english language paper produced out of Mexico city which is neither republican or democratic, enroute I see a young boy, he can’t be more than 10 wielding a very large knife scraping cactus thorns from the leaves to be sold in his parents stall. Then on to the Mercado to get 2 avocados “un por hoy un por manana” One for today and one for tomorrow. A good vegetable stall will help you pick them out that way.

Our afternoon quest is to replace our broken micro wave platter and replace my watch battery. With help from the local web message board, I’m off to find the “electric repair shop that deals in ‘Micro ondos”. The senor and I find it and he backs off to let me manage the deal. I tell him I need a microwave turntable. plate, which comes out ” yo necesito un plato por micro ondo” surprisingly enough he dug through his many old microwaves and came up with a turntable plate. I asked how much I was told 10. So I got out 10 pesso ,about $1 no, he said “cien” meaning $10. Now some one else would have bargained, but we were happy and paid and took our prize home.

Now onward to the “batteria” problem. I’ve already been to a half dozen places which all indicate many blocks away at what now seems like a mystical watch shop. The senor and I head that direction and with only 2-3 false stops and inquires we finally reach the “Relojeria” where a young boy about 15 or so appears to be apprenticing a watch maker. That problema is now solved and we are on to cena (lunch) at a new coffee shop that gave us a promo brochures. Good lunch, but too much food for us and we are back to the apartment for a well deserved siesta.

We will dine in tonight with a big chef salad, call it a day while watching the lightening storm that is brewing tonight through the clouds. The senor is insisting I come in off the balcony. I might as well as I’m just not quick enough with the camera to catch the flashes. Noisy but beautiful.

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