Category Archives: Loreto

repair/replanting

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Rigo replanting the edge of the walkway

It’s taken 10 days, five city officials, two layers, one environmentalist, extraordinary patience, and strained relationships with neighbors, but at last, the city has blessed our ‘replanting’ plans which beautify the community walkway, provide a modicum of privacy to my home, and a support a fledgling bird habitat.  And along with the blessings was an agreement to keep the plantings no higher than the ridgeline of the house, and the neighbors ‘trim’ permit was rescinded.  The costs were large by any standards, the emotional upheaval and grief ridiculous, and all of it unwarranted and stupid.  Acts of deception and lies led to the wholesale chainsawing of a lovely 13 year old tree – which all had agreed to trim – not chop down.

I’ll say it again .. the only thing I find to fear in Mexico are Americans who want to transplant their complicated lives to this lovely serene town.

I sat by the sea this afternoon trying to figure out why this happened?  What precipitated acts of bad judgment?  In the end, I have to accept that I’ll never understand.  Instead, I’ll watch as new plantings slowly fill the space that their predecessors once occupied, and thrill as the bird population rediscovers a habitat and sanctuary.

As I finish that sentence, a stunning road runner leaps onto the garden wall, flicks his head side to side, spies the grasshopper he’s been chasing and takes off into the remaining tall tree.  Yes, another wonder filled day.

Stillness and bird chatter begin the day ..

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Morning Light

Morning Light, Loreto

sun rises. dog snuggles.  hunkered down in the patio with laptop and laprobe.  cool crisp clean air.  the chatter of bird talk as finches, wrens and orioles flit tree to tree.  in the palm above me, the cooing of rock doves.  gentle splash as calm seas surge over beach stones.

pongeros head out for a day of fishing.   the loreto fleet of pelicans crash lands in front of me.  buster longs to catch one. ha ha ..

yes .. this is why i come here. …  coffee’s cold .. i must have been lost in thought ….

Lunch at Picazone

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Picazone!

YUM YUM YUM .. and what a setting!  No trip to Loreto is complete without a stop at the tony beachfront restaurant owned by Alejandro and Imelda Igartua.

Relaxing at Picazone

The food is amazing – or did I say that?  My favorite are the tacones – wraps with fish, shrimp, chicken or veggies.

The two came from Cabo 10+ years ago looking for a better place to raise their two sons – Alex Jr and Diego.  They found some property way to the north of town down a long dusty dirt road.  Starting with a tiny 2 burner propane camp stove and a few tables, they have grown the property to include upstairs living quarters, as well as an expanded restaurant.  Alejandra has a full bar, is the most gracious of hosts, and makes each visitor feel completely at home.

Boaters drop passengers, then anchor just offshore.  Schools of fish add snorkeling opportunities, and Alejandro offers windsurfing lessons in his spare time!

A must stopover.  Ask anyone in town for directions ..

Relaxing at Picazone

Trouble in Paradise

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Doves' Nest in shelter of palm outside my window

Wow .. Knock me over with a 2×4.  I’ve just experience the worst of gringo hubris

While away, my neighbors – Roger Calvin and Susan Gordon – went to the Municipality and got a permit to clear cut the narrow canopy of foliage that had been planted in the community walkway next to my house.  The foliage was a bird habitat, provided a modicom of privacy and shade.  The reason for their permit (as presented) was to access the beach with their boats – while there is a new, wider, smoother, firmer access 1/2 block to the south.

The act was vicious and cruel, and taken while I was in the United States.  I replied to an email request to trim the tree on the front, that I would arrive on Friday and would take care of it – bring it down to the roof level of the house.  Knowing that I would remain absent, they rushed the process … and now, all is gone ..

Hubris ..

To them I say :

Without understanding the value of habitat – shade, oxygen, shelter and food sources, you clear cut a narrow habitat.

You never saw the doves nest, repeatedly, and the tiny birds fledged from the tree outside my bedroom window.

You never heard the finches and sparrows as they fluttered inside the tree to keep cool under the burning sun.

You never saw the cardinals dance on top of the branches, their flashy yellow bodies like golden arrows in the morning light.

You never witnessed the ruby throated hummingbird flittering from golden flower to golden flower.

You never experienced the woodpeckers chattering, bouncing, tree to tree.

You never saw the butterflies, the mariposas, fanning themselves in the shade .. again, shelter from the brutal sun.

You just arrived, stripped away a greenbelt, and  removed a narrow canopy of privacy.

Rough Day at the Office

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Hard Day at the Office

It’s a challenge, but somebody’s got to do it!  Love seeing my neighbors gather on the sand spit, revealed only during lunar dragged low tides.  All it takes is a beach chair, a cool drink and a gathering of friends .. and voila!  A new version of the office water cooler.

We should all find ways to spend more time like this.  It feeds the soul, the heart, the mind .. and rejuvenates our energies for other challenges.

Hard to Leave

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It’s like pulling teeth .. the yanking me from the shores of the Sea of Cortez as business calls me back to the States.
Leaving the seabirds, the undersea life, the winds and the small waves … my friends. Biz is biz .. but each trip I learn more of what is truly important to me. Exquisite lessons …… life as a work in progress.

El Rey del Taco

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El Rey del Taco

El Rey del Taco – The King of Tacos .. for sure!  I can eat “El Rey’s” fish tacos day after day and never grow tired of them.  Fresh, succulent pieces of – currently yellowtail – four different sauces, a fat tin foil rapper of salad mixings …

Of course, the to-go means I can savor his food sitting next to the water, watching the shenanigans of the sea birds.  Life is good here, south of the border.

seaside feeders

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Egret Conference : Sea of Cortez

Stately centuries in the morning light, the egrets – white and fluffy – bounce from fishing ground to fishing ground searching crustaceans and tiny morsels.  They mingle with the gulls, terns, grebes, herons, cormorants and pelicans in a noisy cacophony that breaks the otherwise silent air.  These quiet mornings, when the Sea of Cortez is mirror like, and stillness slides into a zen-like presence, nourish everything in me that begs for peace.