Everywhere I turn adventure beckons me. This morning (as a writing prompt) Steve randomly opened two magazines and laid a finger down. In the local magazine the finger-point found Total Body Care Spa on Ocampo. I know this place. One of a gazillion body care establishments in Ajijic, or more broadly speaking, “lakeside”, However, it is one of a few that I actually know something about. If you mention it in a room of 10 expats 6 will give you a first-hand account….
Best Spa Ever.
I haven’t tried it, but maybe I should.
The second magazine was National Geographic where Choco Canyon laid out its history before us. Amazing. Again, around here it’s easy to book that adventure. And find many people who can share stories and pictures and words of encouragement for making that one of our next adventures. We tend toward random, not booked.
I’m not much of a group tour person. But there is something wonderful about shared experiences. The sense of community and inter-dependence. When you strike-out into the unknown “together”.
My absolute favorite adventure is bringing together groups of friends that don’t know each other and watching the exchange of life stories. Listening as the conversations become more lively. This type of “community building “ sets me aglow! In this endeavor I am abundantly blessed. Good people with open hearts are perhaps my greatest natural resource.
We spent this past week with a collection of friends from North Carolina. Some knew each other well. Some, not at all. They were staying in 3 places. It was the week of Fat Tuesday so festivities were evident. Some folks arrived without money. Others without phones. And most without basic Spanish. We were a band of gypsies! Graced by good fortune at every turn. By the end of the week we had great stories to tell. And some pretty hilarious adventures.
I love this. For me it’s reminiscent of having young children and getting to see everything through their wonder-filled eyes.. The things we do every day become magical. The bus rides, thermals, restaurants, murals, parades, music and yes, some fireworks! Playing pickleball with other folks from just about everywhere. It’s a big playground!
On the closing night of the Northern Lights Music Festival we were fortunate to have tickets for dinner and music under the stars at Ajijic’s oldest hotel, La Nuevo Posado. Randomly seated at our table were couples from South Carolina, North Carolina and Toronto. Everyone at the table talked freely with everyone. People even moved from seat-to-seat so they could enjoy one-on-one conversation. Life experience flowed like water. And with what is no surprise to me we found we have much in common.
Random? I don’t know.
Chance? Maybe.
Whatever it is that happens when Steve opens a magazine or book and picks a page. Or we drive our camper across countries without a map. Or we sit down to dinner with strangers that quickly become friends. I love it! The crazy adventure called life.
So what will I do tomorrow? I don’t know. But I think it will be a random encounter with an amazing world. I need to go hug a tree. Or maybe climb it and nap in the branches
And from Steve, Past, Present, Future
Too dry, too cold, too hot; the great sweep of southwest mesas in the 4 corners area, gauged by Canyons seems marginal for human occupation.
The Anastasi were pueblo cliff dwellers and when archaeological‘s and historians make up stories about them, they talk about their architecture, pottery, lifestyle and mysterious disappearance in the 1400s leaving behind beautiful pottery and baskets as if they just went out for a morning stroll.
What will they write about us in 1000 years? When skyscrapers stand empty and they encounter junked computers and smart cars. Will our cities be ruins of buildings and empty heaps of concrete broken up with vegetation pouring through the cracks?
Will we be victims of a meteor crash that wipes out human civilization, or maybe an alien culture from somewhere in the universe will be living in our condos.
We are temporary caretakers and inhabitants of the earth. We have survival-wired brains that keep us alive, adapting to the changes in life and imagining that we will never die. Our most popular politicians tell us we can return to the past, all the while our cultural landscape is changing at warp speed
70 years ago in small town North Carolina. I didn’t know there was such a thing as gay people. At 25 I was living in a house with a gay couple and at 65 I was helping to run a camp for teenagers… many who claimed they were androgynous in nature.
Like the Anastasi, our version of the human tribe may disappear and we will be lthe dinosaurs,
what is sometimes bizarre for me as I age is the question “what do I do next.”
By 70 my bucket list was magically complete
relationships ….check
children …………check
grandchildren ..check
great neighbors check
lots of fun ………check
I sometimes feel like the musicians where every day is another curtain call and encore. Or is it more like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day? You Keep living each day until you get it right.
I read from an Indian guru about letting go of attachment to this life and then I wake up and it’s another day. Debbie sometimes asks what shall we do today, and I think for a moment… and then I say “I don’t know!!!”
Steve & Debbie’s Grand Adventure 