mornings at the beach

This is what it looks like here in the mornings. We've had dense AM fog for a couple of weeks, like being in Laguna Beach or San Francisco in high summer. It doesn't burn off until mid-morning, then stays cool and breezy all day, even though the sun comes out. Everything in the house is damp; clothes, pillows, sheets and towels, drapes. The window and door screens drip with salty water, forming corrosive puddles on the floors. We always have a "wet" period this time of year but the fog is unusually heavy.

We survived the frenzy of Easter in good shape. The disco ran five nights instead of four this year. Per usual I fled the house for quiet sleep with friends. Not many campers across the street, partly because two enterprising families staked out space early and set up little snack bars. I watched one of the shacks being built. During the night on Monday before Easter I heard a truck drive up and lumber being dumped on the ground. The next morning a taxi pulled up, flung open the back doors and lifted the trunk lid. A couple of folks started tossing small pieces of wood onto the lot, emptied everything out, got back in the taxi and drove away. Then the cab came back, two men and a woman got out and started building something.

Before long I could tell it was a little shack. I thought it might be just a shelter for a family over the Semana Santa week. Sometime during the next night another truck pulled up and dumped out a load of palm fronds. In the morning the groupff continued working on putting the fronds around the sides and the top.

Then a little awning went up adjacent to the shack and a long table with two big circles cut out of the top, about the right size for braziers. Pretty soon the gas truck arrived and unloaded a tank of gas to fire the braziers. By golly, it was going to be a restaurant.


The little shack had some sort of lighting, whether electricity or oil lamps I couldn't tell but I could see lights on at night. But no plumbing. I have no idea where they got their water. By Thursday, when the crowds were rolling in, the place was in business.

They stayed there for two weeks. Everything was kept neat and trash-free, a move that was very much appreciated in this house. Mr. C had to go out every morning and clean up garbage and trash from around the house, dropped or tossed in passing by revelers. We could smell their cooking, delicious odors of chicken and beef, but we didn't eat anything from there. Even after all these years of living here we are still cautious about where/what we sample.

The party is now over, all the holiday-makers have returned home. The second week of the Easter break is always calmer; no disco, few campers, although lots of day-trippers. The weather this year, however, didn't add anything. The sea was so cold there were very few swimmers or surfers and, fortunately, no drownings. On Sunday the little cafe across the street was abandoned until next year, although my guess is it will not weather the summer storms.



I had a lovely lunch today at El Puesto del Sol down on the beach, a gift from my friend Luly to celebrate my birthday. She's been very active in Mexican politics for many years and is always interesting to talk to. Delicious shrimp (of course). We expect guests on Friday so there's some dusting and cleaning going on. Not so much as to cut in to my siesta time, however, which is right now.