Airport customs is now corruption-free, its head official has announced. Among measures taken to ensure this are firings, hirings and boxes installed throughout the Puerto Vallarta facility to report irregularities. For me, the test comes in December – not only of the announcement’s veracity, but of my own gumption. That’s when my daughter arrives with a long-awaited care package from my hometown. Last time she visited, a wheel of brie – expensive anywhere, but absurdly so here – the crackers to go with it, and a pound of my favorite coffee were nonchalantly taken by a customs officer out of the carry-on bag she was holding. To say I was annoyed is to put it mildly. But what could I do about it? So, I dismissed the episode with a mental shrug at the time. Besides, I told myself, with several large department stores now in Vallarta, it is possible to find most things here. True, but not the point. After long absences, one or the ways home speaks to me is through a few favorite goodies – hazelnut-vanilla coffee, for example. And I’m telling you now: If it takes a hike again next time, one of those boxes is going to get an earful.

Will they or won’t they? Will the neighboring states of Jalisco – where PV’s located – and Nayarit cooperate to get more tourists to visit the bay they have in common? The sheer beauty of the place half does the job for them, the bay a most deserving member of The Most Beautiful Bays of the World Club. One day their respective tourism boards say they’re a team. Really they are. The next we hear, one isn’t playing fair so the other’s not playing anymore. Human nature being what it is, vociferous self interest is a given and roadblocks to be expected. But this childish squabbling means we all lose, including the tourists who may be deprived of experiencing the best of both. Perhaps those of us involved in tourism – and that’s just about everyone here – should grow up and get real. Banderas Bay may be the whole world to us, but tourists choose where to spend their vacation not only between the two options we’re so concerned about, but an entire world of them. We need to stay focused on our shared desired outcome, realizing there is enough of the pie to go around if we cooperate. Like most things, it’s about balance.

Not too much and not too little; that’s the way I’ve been asked to feed the dozen-plus cats I’m looking after for the next couple of months while their caretaker is up north. Technically they’re street cats, although they live in a 20-acre condo-dotted garden. Over the years, she has despaired of watching her sweet furry friends considered nuisances and silenced. So, a couple of years ago, she pleaded their case to the complex’s property management, stressing how helpful they are in controlling critters much less cute than they, like rats and cockroaches. She got their attention. And she promised to accept responsibility for feeding them morning and night – in a considered way. Scruffy, Sparkles and the rest of the gang now get enough good food to stay healthy, yet not so much that they stop doing the job that won them their reprieve. And with the resources of the Animal Protection Association, she had her feline neighbors neutered and spayed so the situation wouldn’t get beyond managing. Thankfully, today their ranks are stable and their futures optimistic. Her creative solution to a ubiquitous problem throughout Vallarta – where an estimated 250,000 cats die every year through lack of care – shows how just one person can make a difference.

Now, just slightly funnier, but again about life and death. Have you ever tried sitting at one of the recently erected bus stops and seeing if your bus is coming at the same time? It can’t be done. While the benches are a nice touch, giving the illusion of concern for your comfort, don’t let that fool you. Sit if you will, but plan on waving your bus goodbye. Inexplicably, five by eight-foot “ad walls” have been installed at every shelter exactly where they can do the most harm. Blocking views of approaching traffic, they force would-be riders not only to stand, but to risk their necks while peering around them over the street. Then, once people do manage to get where they’re going and gratefully leap off a lurching crate on wheels, they sometimes slam right into one. Have a nice day!

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions about what you’re reading, you’re encouraged to let me know at heather@mexmags.com.