manana, manana, manana.................

Hola.

Senor and I came back on Thursday. The drive back was uneventful and quiet. I suppose we might have both been thinking about our visit with the kids. There's no way to describe it all.



But our three day trip to the beach is truly worth sharing.

It brought back wonderful memories of all the Thanksgiving cabins we visited as a family when KD and Ian were growing up, from the first cabin, in 1988, on the Washington coast, to the last cabin, in 2007, on Hood Canal. Always rustic, no tvs or phones, no cd players.



As we pulled into the drive at this beach house in Las Bocas, both kids exclaimed, "Oh, a Thanksgiving cabin!" We did a lot of this................reading.

We did a lot of this.............changing from one propane tank to another.

We did a lot of pondering, thinking, wondering and watching the waves roll in and out.................................

We did a lot of this when the propane finally went out completely.......cooking outdoors on the sand.

We did a lot of this.........photography of waves smashing against the rocks................Ian is focused on using his new digital....................

We did a lot of this............the traditional hanging of the colored Christmas lights and more...............reading......................

We watched a lot of this.....................

we did this......................and caught fish.................and got tanned at the same time...............

We really did a lot of this.................and usually stayed in the boat.......................

we did this............dropped a pump into the cistern when we ran out of water.......................and got about a gallon of water....................



A lot of this went on....................gin rummy.............................

this was good...........................especially when the tide returned the balls to us......................

It was all good........................



I seem to have done a lot of this................................photos of the kids walking ahead, walking away, off to somewhere.

Even when we got back to Alamos, from the beach, I still saw a lot of this.

I know, when the holidays come, I seem to start bringing this up........aren't they still just little kids...................maybe these shots are a sign.................oh, maybe my taking these shots could be the real sign?

Well, I do not intend to end this post thinking about that. I only mention it really because I took 303 photos while they were here and at least 30 are like this...........great photos.

I do want to end on a very festive note, because that is certainly what Alamos is right now, festive. This weekend has been the celebration of the Festival of Judeo. We are talking about 16 piece, incredible bands that begin at 8pm and end at 4:30am. Laughter, singing, fireworks, uhm, yes, gun shots, parades, lots of activity all night long. lots of naps for us in the afternoon.

The big top circus should be packing up and leaving town tomorrow, taking away the elephants, the llamas, tigers and pygmie goats. All the people who came from the big cities should be leaving tonight to make way for the new people who will come tomorrow for the next celebration......... Dia de Muertos.

The Alameda is full of flowers and gifts for sale. The altars have been put up, some at Casa de la Cultura, others in the Museum, and even others can be found along the roadside.

I have some great photos of the preparation and a couple of good stories to share.

So, manana, manana, manana........................