Roaming Through Retirement




October—Full of COVID Opportunities
COVID-19 has been laced with fear and has resulted in untold misery and threats to countless people. However, it has also offered up opportunities, including those of us in the high-risk category. Physical or social distancing is the main requirement to reduce the spread of this virus. On our outdoor ventures we maintain social distancing on our sunrise and sunset walks, our bike rides, and in our car on day trips or the mini-vacation we took in October. At home, we take advantage of opportunities to use our time on things we would not have done otherwise. The result included volunteering (behind the scenes), trying out new recipes and writing a book (just in time for the holidays).

	Knowing the Deepest Happiness We have been fortunate to explore many new things in retirement. For Larry, the most significant is unquestionably the practice of mindfulness, which he is deeply humbled to share through his newly published book, Knowing the Deepest Happiness. Knowing the Deepest Happiness is a beginner's guide to mindfulness, which combines the principles of ancient Buddhist teachings with the virtues of modern-day positive psychology. It is also a workbook with exercises to help the reader incorporate these principles into their day-to-day, moment-to-moment life. Lastly, this book allows the reader to create a personalized roadmap for their journey into the deepest happiness. We are forever grateful for all the activities we have enjoyed here on the shores of Lake Chapala Mexico, and especially the Everyday Mindfulness discussion group where Larry’s journey began. Thus, one hundred percent of the proceeds from this book's sale will go to Lake Chapala charities, such as the Lake Chapala Society and FoodBank Lakeside. The book is available through: Amazon, Amazon MX, Author House (Highest Proceeds), Barnes and Noble, and Indigo.
We took a mini-vacation and spent our first two nights in Tamasopo in the state of San Luis Potosi.  It is a small village, supported mostly by agriculture, tourism and home to two awesome natural water parks.	The city plaza was spectacular, but cordoned off due to COVID.  We met a Mennonite family from the state of Chihuahua who were vacationing here.  They are dairy farmers who specialize in making cheese.
The hotel we stayed at had free bicycles, which we used to tour  the village of Agua Buena (good water) and the Rio El Trampolin. The water was a beautiful turquoise color.	These trees with Spanish Moss reminded us of our trips through Florida and Louisiana.  The big difference is there were no alligators here and the water is crystal clear.
Our second day took us to the Puente de Dios (God's Bridge), appropriately named for one of the best experiences of our lives.  Here we parked our car and got our life jackets.	These waterfalls are a part of the Escanela River that flows over thick limestone stalactites along narrow gorges from an elevation of 5,000 feet in the Sierra Mountain range and the reason for the color.
We met up with a hiking group from Tijuana who invited us to join them in our next adventure. Several spoke English, so we knew what we were into. Click here to watch what came next.	In addition to water being really cold, the waterfalls came in from all directions causing this pool of water to be very turbulent.  We used the ropes to pull ourselves to this spot where we used our goggles to enjoy the formations below, along with the fish swimming along the side of us. When we left, we swam through an archway into a narrow cavern that led to some white-water rapids, which were too rocky to float.
After drying off, we joined our new friends on a hike along this river.  You can see why we didn't float this river.	In route to our next stop we enjoy some sugar cane juice that Glorine squeeze using this machine designed for this specific purpose.
Our next stop was Cascadas de Tamasopo (Tamasopo Waterfalls) is a natural water park with mostly shallow waters for kids and adults to play in.	The park includes three waterfalls tumbling about 65 feet into deep pockets of water with swings and diving platforms. These parks were well worth the time it took to travel here.
In route to Texas, our Honda overheated and we eventually figured out it was the thermostat. We spent the night in a honeymoon suite at a small hotel in the town of Jimenez.	The mechanic drove 60 miles one way to get the parts, which we thought would take all day. But shortly after our free breakfast, they delivered the car to the hotel. The cost was about $100 USD.
Port Isabel is a sea port where Texas and Mexico share the Gulf of Mexico. This lighthouse is said to have guided both fisherman and pirates to safety back in the days.	The Queen Isabella Causeway that connects the main land with South Padre Island is 2.37 mile long, making it the second longest bridge in Texas.
At the southern tip of the world's longest barrier island, sits South Padre, a resort community known for its beaches, calm waters and destination for snow birds.	We arrived at our hotel to find that our care-package Carmen sent had already arrived.  Included is this Rowanda wrap Carmen crochet.
The island is over 110 miles long and up to three miles wide in places. We walked several miles on the ocean side early one morning when few people were out and about.	The island was first discovered by Spanish explorers in 1519  who named it Isla Blanca for its white sand beaches. Other than the few resort towns, the island was designated a national seashore in 1962.
After a day of shopping in Brownsville, we toured Port Isabel, which has several peninsulas with homes that have a street on one side and a canal on the back side to park their boats for east access to the Gulf of Mexico.	This home stood out with an awesome view of the lagoon.  The down side is there are a couple of trailer homes sitting next to it.  Their zoning laws appear to be pure Texas!
South Padre Island sits along a migratory route for hundreds of species of birds that make their annual trek from as far away as Alaska to the tip of South America.	Early October is perfect timing to take in this migration. As we toured the bird sanctuary, they had counted 84 different species of birds in one day.
On the tip of South Padre Island is a statue of Christ the Fishermen on top of granite stones, dedicated to `the lost souls of these brave fisherman who have sailed through this pass and never returned`.	Our last night in Texas, we treated ourselves to fine dining at a restaurant with a sunset view. To keep safe from COVID, we had mostly take out from McDonalds or Subway.  All the stores mandated masks but the beaches were full of people with no regard to COVID regulations.
In route back to Ajijic, we spend a night in the city of San Luis Potosi (population of 800,000) is known as the City of Gardens. .  The main plaza had to have been six square blocks with statues, ponds, fountain, flowers and trees.	There were 16 walkways that began at the main statue leading to the streets on all sides of the plaza.  While the plaza was open to the public, COVID kept people taking advantage of its spectacular beauty.
San Luis Potosi has over 30 Catholic churches, many near the city center. Iglesias del Carmen (Church of Carmen) built in the years 1755 to 1768.  It sits across from the Plaza del Carmen, another large park in the middle of the city.	The architect that directed the construction of the Church of Carmen was an illiterate indigenous man who followed a Spanish art historian from Spain with the most exquisite and intricate details in both the stonework and woodwork.
The Basilica Sanctuary of Our Lady of Guadalupe was having a face lift.  The steeple on the right was sandblasted and work will begin soon to get the left one done.  Just awesome.	The order of Augustinians arrived in San Luis Potosi in 1599 where they started a convent. The Templo de San Agustin was built in 1503.
If the outside of these churches did not take your breath away, the inside architecture would.  And this is a side alter.	Another church, another side alter with exquisite art work.
The National Museum of Masks is said to have the most diverse collection of masks in Mexico. Glorine's mask does not count.	This museum has three floors housing more than 25,000 indigenous masks and dance costumes, most originated in Mexico.
While jumping into the waters of God's Bridge, Larry lost his original wedding ring. He had lost some weight and his fingers shrank. A jeweler in Ajijic fixed us up with this silver set for the next 50 years.	Our solar panels at work. This is our electric bill for two months, ending October 25.  It is 49 pesos. The current exchange rate is 20 pesos = $1 USD, that come out to be $2.45 or $1.23 per month.
We have maintained our weekly rituals of bike and car tours.  This one is east of Chapala, which reminded Larry of shocking wheat and oats bundles as a kid.	Nearby the field of shocked corn, are these new housing units. Housing is still more lucrative than farming.
One Sunday morning bike trip, we stopped to take this picture of this villa in the foreground with the grand villas on the mountains in the background.  It is both the good and bad of the impact foreigners like us have had on these communities.	The temperatures in late October are in the upper 70s as a day time high and the upper 50s as night time low.  No doubt, fall is in the air and these temps are about to change.  However, we would not trade this place for the buttes of western North Dakota!

October's web page includes October 1 through October 31.