Day is done.

Gone the sun.

#100HappyDays

Same Time Last Year

Where were you and what were you doing on May 30, 2014?  I have no special powers, but I remember exactly where I was.  (I've got files!)

We started the day on Isla Mujeres with a walk from Luna Turquesa to Barlito for some brunch.

Along the way, we encountered the Tuggui man making his long daily walk into El Centro.

We always step around this little dog in Salina Chica.  Don't linger because someone doesn't like attention.

I photographed this beautiful little shrine along the way.

She bought a nice plant and this young guy was making his morning rounds selling juice?  (or tortillas?)  

I stopped to say hola to the guys at Kash Keken Chuc.  They were preparing for a busy day!

Looks like a painter's advertisement to me!

Local tacqueria.

They sell ice!

At Barlito, the ladies were having a brunch for breast cancer.

The day that started with a walk  

Ended with fish at Muelle 7 (muelle = dock).

#100HappyDays

Lazy Friday

This video popped up in my Facebook feed this morning.  It's a good one!  If I'd never visited Isla Mujeres, it might make me throw my clothes in a suitcase and get on a plane.

Isla Coloring Book

#100HappyDays

Not Just National BBQ Day

A friend had a good Facebook reminder for this weekend.  Memorial Day -- Not just National Barbeque Day.

Before we moved far from family, Memorial Day was spent in cemeteries placing wreaths and flowers on the graves of loved ones who'd died.  And honoring relatives who'd served our country and passed on.

I've written about him before in my blog, but the dashing guy in the hula skirt with the cigarette hanging out his mouth is my dad.  He served on base at Pearl Harbor during WWII.  While he didn't see much combat, he saw the devastation from battle everyday at the hospital there.  He joined the Navy his freshman year in college shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Memorial Day's also for remembering better family times.  As kids, Memorial Day was opening day at the public pool.  It always rained, so we spent a lot of time in swimsuits on the driveway whining for parents to drive us to the pool which in reality was NOT opening due to the cool rainy weather.

As adults with a young son, we'd drive to the Washington or Oregon beach for the holiday weekend. And in recent years, Craig and I have been on Isla Mujeres enjoying the solitude there.

This year, we are going to a barbeque.  I'm bringing the potato salad and pineapple guacamole, and in reality, even though it's Arizona, it may be too cool for the pool.

Wherever you are, hope you spend a nice Memorial Day with memories, family and friends!


#100HappyDays

More Grab Bag Pics

Maybe I already posted this one, but it's my fave photo from May 2014.  

Sometimes I stump myself.  I'm guessing this guy stands out Sac Bajo way?

This truck looks cartoonish.  I'd like to take the ape for a spin!

I've failed the hip and cool test.  I thought Kokonuts closed years ago.  

This has to be Miguel's front porch.

Tree of Lost Souls?

Once again I'm stumped, but I'm thinking Mogagua?

I water walked this morning, lunched with friends, trimmed shrubs, ate leftover pizza for dinner, took a walk, saw a large coiled rattlesnake in the road, and watched three more episodes of Grace and Frankie (check it out on Netflix for laughs). Just one more of  #100HappyDays

Do Not Close to the Cliff!

I didn't heed the warning sign -- Do Not Close to the Cliff.  Last June I fell off and it's taken me almost a year to regain my sassy, but I am so over it!

Today it suddenly hit me that I have a month's worth of barely used photo files from May/June 2014. I found a big grab bag full of surprises!

Notice all the mojitos lined up on this counter at Varadero?  They're waiting for my summer return!

#100HappyDays

Island Funk

I'm up late listening to the roof blow away, so that somehow inspires me to edit old photos.  (Guess the weatherman was right!)

These free online magic photo wands and the sound of rain make me happy!  Another one of my #100HappyDays (nights).

H2O

There's nothing the locals love more in Arizona than a storm -- with lightning, thunder, and rain. According to the weatherman, this weekend's supposed to be a big event -- which translates to a chance of precipitation.

Last September the national news waited and waited in Tucson for a hurricane to hit and finally left with tails tucked between legs.

Soooooooo. Bring in the patio cushions, but don't hold your breath!

Personally, I like my water rather salty.  I'm not into countdowns, but my #100HappyDays photos resembling this should be posting live in a lot less than one hundred days!

Mayberry on Acid

One of the joys of visiting Bisbee is the small town ambience.  I was born in a small town (John Cougar Mellencamp?), but that's where the comparison ends.  They call Bisbee Mayberry on Acid and that slogan is dead on.

One visit we ran into a Texan who'd recently moved to Bisbee thinking it was a conservative small town in Arizona.  The man was highly frustrated.  After buying a cottage, he soon discovered Bisbee was a liberal enclave full of artists, free-thinkers and what he deemed as nefarious types.

Wall murals throughout the town signal Dorothy isn't in Kansas anymore.

But an adorable dog at the cottage gate reminds you that Bisbee truly is Small Town, U.S.A. straight out of J.A. Jance's Joanna Brady novels.

Then you stroll past another mural

before passing the Sea Shell cottage, formerly a miner's home.

Early 1900's cottages dot the town alongside murals with peace, love, and Eastern religion.

The Mimosa Market up Brewery Gulch carries organic fruits and veggies along with an impressive wine selection and home-baked goods.

You'd never see street art like this in my hometown.  Don't pee on the retaining wall!

You know it's a village when you see the 5 mph speed limit sign!

This mural serves as a reminder that Bisbee's just miles from the border and was part of Mexico once upon a time.

Brightly colored cottages line the town's lanes   

While young counterculture hipsters stroll Main Street.

Bisbee, Arizona.  Mayberry on Acid!

#100HappyDays



Fat Bastard

After all these blissful days of happiness I come home to Fat Bastard fouling my pristine courtyard.

While I love taking photos of things like this in the tropics

THIS is not your living room Fat Bastard!

The man promised to remove him from the Mexican bench at my front door before he left for pickle ball (don't ask) this morning.  His idea of Fat Bastard removal was chasing him through the drain hole in the courtyard wall.

As Arnold says, he'll be back.

#100HappyDays#DayofTerror