A selfless shout out...

I'm taking a break from my usual snark and carrying on, to tell you all about my friend Henry, who owns a B&B here on the island. Henry has taken it upon himself, to gather together volunteers and go over and clean the beaches of Cozumel, as well as other areas that don't get picked up by the city.

In the month of June, they removed over 1,500 KILOS of garbage! They don't get any government support or funding, and they're just doing it because it's the right thing to do....

Please go over and give Yo Limpio Cozumel a shout out http://yolimpiocozumel.blogspot.com/, the site is in spanish, but once you see all those jumbo black garbage bags you'll get the idea. Feel free to follow the blog, leave a comment, or if you're here on island, get involved!! I know I will be!

Why I love living here in Cozumel....

Yesterday it was oppressively hot. Just sitting outside, and losing three games of backgammon in a row to the Fab Husband, had made sweat run down my face and show through my shirt. So when Fab suggested the beach with the dogs I was all over it.

The beach in Cozumel with my family is my most favorite thing to do in this world. Hands down. I adore everything about it, literally from start to finish.

Starting a trip to the beach involves the application of sunscreen in the upstairs bathroom. Mar, our extremely intelligent black Lab, can Identify the smell of sunscreen, regardless of the brand, and begins barking excitedly from outside. Sol, our adorable, happy, “special needs” dog has no idea what’s going on, but takes her cues from Mar and starts barking and running in circles. And so it begins….

Meanwhile the Fab-man is packing a mini-cooler with a couple of beers, ice and some cozies. Frankly, I don’t know why we bother, it’s so hot that it’s impossible to keep them cold, so we wind up sharing one and passing it back and forth.

Then the dogs pile into the back of the VW Thing, stick their heads out the windows and commence smiling. Sol actually smiles so much that her cheeks flap in the wind. Mar, on the other hand, needs to see everything, and races from left window, to right window, to the pile of towels between our seats, facing forward, urging the car on.
I like to take my dogs to the north beaches up past the Country Club. First of all, it’s only about 10 minutes away from the house, and secondly, it gives Sol a chance to swim, since she’s our “special” girl, she won’t swim if there are large waves, like on the windward side of the island.

Sol adopted us shortly after Hurricane Roxanne. When I say, she adopted us, I mean that she literally started showing up outside our gate, in the exact place where another street dog I had taken care of used to wait for us. Sol is a yellow Lab, however, at the time I honestly thought she was beige, she was that dirty. Our vet now tells us that Solita was probably hit by a car, or kicked by a carriage horse (Fab’s theory, since she has a pathological hatred of horses) which never got treated properly, as a result Sol is gimpy. She’s very adjusted to it now, however, when she first came to us, she would fall over while peeing, and I have literally seen her get herself running so fast she has no control and crash into things, like parked cars. Anyhow, she’s the Gracie Allen of the dog world, and if her gimpy leg is happier without fighting big waves, to the North we go!

When we cross over from the paved road to the dirt path, the dogs get really excited. Mar starts whining, Sol starts barking. Fab and I just look at each other and smile. Their joy is that contagious. We pull the car to a stop, and Mar begins her Jack Russell imitation, hopping up and down, let me out! let me out! In spite of the fact that our car, does, in fact, have no windows and she can easily jump out on her own, however, Mar is our princess dog, and we can’t deny her a regal entrance.

Unfortunately I don’t have children, however, opening the door after a beach arrival is what I’m assuming it’s like to watch your kids race downstairs Christmas morning. They’re bounding up and down the beach. Mar is looking for a stick, for her never ending game of fetch, while Sol charges into the water, only to run back out and start all over again. The Fab-man and I are holding hands, walking down the beach, exchanging amused glances. This is one of the moments, when I love my husband best. One of those special snapshots that you mentally take out and look at when you’re far away or apart.

If it was up to Mar, the next hour and a half would be spent throwing a stick as far as you possibly can into the water. Not to brag here, but my black dog is an amazing swimmer. She has no fear of leaping into the giant waves on the windward side of the island. She times the waves, so she can actually surf back into shore. When the love of her life, her daddy, takes his surf board out, we have to physically restrain her from swimming all the way out to the surf zone, to stand on his board. The most amazing thing Mar does, in my opinion, is that she can actually dive for sunken objects. If you throw a stick that happens to sink, she can actually feel around with her paws, and when she’s located it, she’ll stick her head completely underwater, for a long period of time and come back with a stick, a rock, whatever.

Sol will swim but not as far, oftentimes turning around pretty quickly. She also tires quickly and has intelligently discovered that if she waits, until Mar returns to shore she can grab the stick and run off with it. Of course she looses interest in the stick 5 paces away, but the actual theft part is pretty interesting in her mind. I like to take Sol into the water, give her some dog massage on her bad leg and have her swim around; cozumel improvised aquatic therapy.

Eventually the dogs are tired, we’re out of beer, and it’s time to go home. If the ride is more than 10 minutes, they’re generally crashed out in the back seat. Sol has to first express her gratitude by licking your hand and lookking earnestly into your eyes. The whole car, in spite of being convertible and having no windows, smells like wet sandy dog, which is actually a nice smell. The Fabster and I are still holding hands, passing the last beer back and forth, and we’re both radiating contentment and satisfaction, as we drive slowly home.

This post is a little different, than my normal short, funny ( i think)ones. It was inspired by posts from Ms. Moon over at Bless Our Hearts. Cozumel is her favorite place to be, and I really enjoyed reading about it, and wanted to convey one of the things that I really love about being here, and choosing to make this my home.

Beach Camping!

We just got back from beach camping on the other side of the island. Frankly, I've never understood why we call it beachcamping, since we actually stay in the wind powered hotel, and pitch the tent, just for the kids.

This is generally how it works, Lisa from Rock n Java, (http://www.thaicozumel.com/contactus.html) calls us all and we pack up, dogs, kids, bedding, coolers, ice and way more food than any of us can possibly eat. We then agree that this time we're getting there early, as opposed to all the other times when we skated in just before dark and had to pitch the tent with flashlights.

We still arrive just before sunset on Saturday. Since the other side of the island is completely undeveloped, the hotel is windpowered and cell reception is non-existant, it's a chance to completely get away from everything. There are crashing waves, starry skies, beaches to walk and that's about it.

Activities during beach camping generally consist of building a fire (for the BBQ) using the fire later to make s'mores for the kids (yum) and then telling them creepy ghost stories (with the flashlight under your chin) to scare the crap outta them. One time, Fabs told them all about the "pez roncador"(snoring fish) who only came out at night. It was his turn to sleep in the tent with them, and they were all a little frightened when they heard the noises, though the Pez was coming to carry them into the sea, until they realized it was him snoring!

Sunday you're up with the sunrise, since it's so beautiful and it takes place about 4 feet from your head. I've actually worn sunglasses while in bed. Yesteday, after a yummy breakfast, Nacho loaded up all the kids and his surf boards and took off to Playa Bonita. Nacho, who is the surf champion for many years here on Cozumel, can spot the best place for kids with one eye shut. I chose to remain behind, since I'm a total slacker, and I wanted to finish my book, however, Gary has the photos to prove how much fun it was.

All of the kids, including the 5 year old, got up on the board, and there's even photos of Nacho doing handstands on his short board. Nacho is super good with kids, and not too hard on the eyes, since he literally looks like a pirate. We've been pushing him for years to run a day tour teaching people to surf and I think he's about ready to actually do it.

Sunday generally solely consisits of lounge chairs, beach, water and eating, repeated throughout the day, until it's time to leave. No matter how many times I re-apply the sunscreen, I always come home pink, tired, salt crusted and covered in sand. After taking a shower, washing the dogs, unpacking, and cleaning out the cooler, I always realize what a fantastic time I had "away from it all."

I'm ready to start the week, renewed and refreshed.