Puerto Vallarta Hot Points

November 15, 2003 - The tenderness was palpable: I live in Mexico because I resonate with its earthiness, life here more primal and soulful than up north. Despite that, it’s taken me a while to really appreciate how Mexicans remember their deceased family and friends on the Day of the Dead, celebrated the night of November 1.

October 15, 2003 - Just kidding!: Following a three-week hiatus in California enjoying refreshingly cool weather, creature comforts and the love of my family, I am so relieved to be back in Vallarta.

September 17, 2003 - We keep our heads in the sand at our peril: For me, Vallarta is as utopian a place and way of thinking as I’m likely to find in this world. I love it dearly and feel fiercely loyal for all it’s given me. But I’m not blind to its pressing problems. So why do the powers that be act like they are?

August 13, 2003 - Summer’s when the real Vallarta shows itself: Gringos who’ve never experienced a summer here probably assume they’re not missing much. But the visiting nationals currently having a fabulous time with friends and family on the bay’s 100-plus beaches know better.

July 16, 2003: Demonstrating an astute sense of occasion, Vallarta’s Canadian Consulate made an upward move on Canada Day to a larger space in the Hotel Zone with more convenient parking. And, as a Canadian, it occurs to me that the July 1 shift might have been sparked by the desire for more independence.

June 13, 2003 - I blinked and it’s the rainy season again: I blinked and it’s the rainy season again. There are fewer people around, yet the invigorating thundershowers that began June 9 have perked up the place, refreshing everything animate and inanimate and ending a string of nearly 500 forest fires that were reported in this area in the past four very dry months.

May 09, 2003 - At least the world’s united about one thing: At least the world’s united about one thing: the importance of mothers. Where would we be if not for them? You know, those people who share their DNA, outlook on life and much, much more with their “chips off the old block.”

May 02, 2003 - Up north I’d look several years older!: Well, I saw my first facecloth of the season on the bus this morning – and it was mine. I couldn’t put off using this sure sign that summer has arrived any longer.

April 25, 2003 - Yet another reminder to make hay while the sun shines!: As the flurry of send-off parties for snowbirds wind down, a confluence of fast-approaching events makes it just about imperative that I, too, head north real soon for a quick visit. A beloved friend is getting married in my hometown of Toronto mid-May, and my daughter’s moving to the states in June – unable to drag along the personal possessions that I stored with her when I moved here several years ago.

April 21, 2003 - She’s kicking herself!: A woman from Seattle I’ve recently befriended, who has been coming here a couple of times a year for the past 16, joined me on an Art Walk last week. Surprisingly, it was her first. And now she’s kicking herself! She says she just can’t believe she has “missed out on it all these years.” Well, like most things, better late than never. And the good news is that she’ll be able to catch the first one of the 2003-2004 high season when she returns in October.

April 11, 2003 - Caveat Emptor!: A big part of Mexico’s charm is its relative freedom from government interference. The flip side of that, however, is that you can’t safely make certain assumptions – like thinking parasailing operators would never do business when its too windy to do so, for instance.

April 04, 2003 - I’m feeling a little numb: I’m feeling a little numb. And walking around taking the pulse of the town, I’m not getting much of a reading these days. Is it just me? Or are others experiencing the same thing? Is it because we’re betwixt and between the high and low seasons? Or could the uncertainty and quiet despair generated by the war have something to do with it?

March 28, 2003 - How can we justify being bored?: Already it’s that time of year when the snowbirds begin winging their way back up north to file their taxes, make medical appointments and catch up on the grandkids – dreaming all the while about returning as soon as the air turns crisp.

March 24, 2003 - It was exactly what the doctor ordered!: The annual Spring Solstice celebration at Terra Noble, Jorge Rubio’s pre-Hispanic architectural gem high on a hill privileged with soul-inspiring vistas of Vallarta and the bay, was exactly what the doctor ordered for March 21.