After many years of going to La Manz in doses of one week to two months, I’m committing to three months this year. I think that makes me a local, or perhaps an apprentice local. I love this little town on the west coast of Mexico, a few hours below Puerto Vallarta.
The photo prompt this week is “Local.”
There was still more to discover at the beach on Prince Edward Island, including one big surprise. (Different day, different beach.) If you want to read the captions to share the plot of that day, you’ll need to click on the first photo and then follow the arrows.
And now, to answer the questions:
Have you ever owned a rock, pet rock, or gem that is not jewerly?
Yes. I have owned tons of rocks! We used them to make art lamps and I have always loved collecting rocks, including the ones I used to make creches the year before last. I was a jewelry maker before I moved to Mexico and so also had trays of unset gems. You are barking up the right tree with this question, Cee!
What is your greatest strength or weakness?
Chocolate! Guess it qualifies as a weakness. Definitely not a strength.
What makes you feel grounded?
Writing or creating art.
Would you rather never be able to eat warm food or never be able to eat cold food?
I actually prefer most foods cold so would choose to eat cold food over hot. Ice cream!!!
Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
I was so grateful for time spent with Dianne and Andy, my wonderful hosts on Price Edward Island. now I look forward to eighteen more days spent with Forgottenman as well as other friends and family members. Then I’ll be grateful to go home to see Morrie, Frida and Diego–and hear the tales of my house sitters Ian and Pen, for whom I am also grateful.
https://ceenphotography.com/2016/09/12/share-your-world-2016-week-37/
I love this photo and I’ve been saving it because it has never quite fit in to any challenge..Then it occurred to me that this is the purpose of the odd-ball challenge! I love it because of everything that is going on. The little boy “shooting” his brother with water ammo, the stance of the little girl, the fishing poles of the fishermen repeating the lines of the water guns and the other swimmers and fisherman in the surf. One thing I love about the beach is that there is always something going on––a fact perfectly represented by this photo.
https://ceenphotography.com/2016/05/15/cees-odd-ball-photo-challenge-2016-week-20/
(Click on first picture to enlarge photos, then on arrows to view other photos in gallery. When finished, Click on X at upper left of screen to return to this page.)
They’re saying on the message board that this is the coldest spell they remember for La Manz. If you need any further proof of it, here are some shots with Daniel in first a shirt and then a hoodie! May be your last chance to see that phenomenon which ranks right up there with David Dagoli’s amazing shot of the agave field covered with snow or very heavy frost this morning. This is the first time in 6 years that I’ve seen Daniel in a shirt, much less a hoodie.
Duke and Daisy accompanied us to Tenacatita. After the rains and high winds we’ve been having, it was too choppy to snorkel, so we all roamed the beach. I picked up three bags of coral and shells from the beach and totally sliced open one water shoe. But, how could I be blue? I left that to the ocean.
(Click on first picture to enlarge photos, then on arrows to view all photos. After viewing, click on X at upper left to return to this page.)
http://jennifernicholewells.com/2016/03/09/color-your-world-pacific-blue/
If my bedroom were to open onto the beach side of my rental, this would be my early morning scene:
(Click on first picture, then on arrows to enlarge photos and view. When you’ve viewed all four pictures, click on X on upper left of your screen to return to my posting)
The only sounds I would hear? Gulls, the wash of waves on the shore, Bobino’s mute plea to be fed. But, in fact, my bedroom window which must be kept open for circulation, faces onto the street and at 8 o’clock, my reality is this:
No Perfection in the Universe
After only four hours’ sleep,
my slumber should be sound and deep;
but very early in the day,
mufflers seem to be passé.
My window opens to the street
to try to beat the daily heat,
so the sounds of ATV’s
enter freely with the breeze.
When motorcycles rev and roar
just outside my bedroom door
and trucks come rumbling two by two––
there is nothing I can do
but grab my computer and write my blog
when I should be sleeping like a log.
It’s true I might be way less surly
if I got to bed more early,
but you see it’s not to be
for when the bars all close at three
the motorcycles are just as loud
their drivers young and motor-proud.
They shout and roar and spin their wheels.
Their music beats and thumps and peals
as they do one pass or more
right outside my bedroom door.
Outside the other side of my rental
all the sounds are elemental.
The surf’s loud roar is more relaxing,
but here the engine roars are taxing!
So when you picture my vacation,
just think of the daily ration
of engine angst that I confess
and perhaps you’ll envy less.
The parade of mufflerless motorcycles, cars and revving trucks begins at eight a.m. Here is one minute of traffic passing in front of my house. The blue wall with the open door and window is mine.
(Click on first picture, then on arrows to enlarge photos and view.When you’ve viewed all 11 pictures, click on X on upper left of your screen to return to my posting.)
Painting with Photos
Sometimes when I have a photograph I really can’t use, either because of the subject or the aesthetics, I Just play around with the editing tools. In this case, I came up with two abstract paintings gleaned from the plume and the gills of a roosterfish that a fisherman had left lying on the beach.
(Click on the first photo to enlarge all photos, then click on arrows to see all.)
http://ceenphotography.com/2016/02/28/cees-odd-ball-photo-challenge-2016-week-9/
Iguanas in the Sand
One thing I’ve discovered after six years of time spent in La Manzanilla is that it is never going to be the same experience two years (and often two days) in a row. One year the beach was covered by thousands of crystalline mounds of jellyfish that looked like snow globes that had wound up in the wrong climate. Another year, the beach was covered with coral, yet another with stones. One year we couldn’t swim because of a red tide and another due to all the sea lice (miniscule jellyfish larvae) in the water. Last year, three different mantas and a large sea turtle beached themselves, I found a blue-footed booby washed up on the sand and helped to set out hundreds of tiny sea turtles to make their way out into the ocean. There was also a month of feeding frenzy as hundreds of pelicans, gulls and other sea birds dived like kamikazes into the ocean around me and this ritual was repeated day after day.
This year, for the first month I was here, there were practically no birds–a signal as sure as the vanishing of fish tacos at Pedro’s that the fish had moved elsewhere due to those same warm waters that had caused Hurricane Patricia. In this fifth week of my stay, the fish have come back, although not in the numbers of former years.
But as in other years, there have been a number of rewards that compensated for days I couldn’t (wouldn’t) go into the ocean due to the opening of the lagoon and its drainage into the ocean. The resultant dirty water and odor caused me to walk farther up the beach than I have recently and those journeys led to the three different adventures involving iguanas that are pictured below:
(Click on first picture to enlarge photos and then click on each arrow to advance to the next photo.)
Today I was fortunate enough to meet the man who created the iguana sculpture. His name is Mario Gugnon, a retired hospital maintenance coordinator from Quebec. He says he found the large driftwood piece several years ago and to him it looked like an iguana with it’s left hind foot caught in a trap. He added the palm fronds and has been doing so each year since. In between Mario’s visits, the manager of the campground puts it away in safe keeping. When I asked if he worked in other media he said no, he was not an artist. He just likes decorating things. In illustration, he pointed out their tastefully appointed and comfortable little terraza under the canopy. But that is the subject for a different posting. (Update: I’ve now made that post as well. You can read it HERE.)
La Manzanilla is the perfect town and beach for someone who dreads repetition. It has been a new adventure every day this trip and I can’t type, edit and post fast enough to keep up with the stories. Another day, another saga. Thanks for joining me as I try to take it all in.
*
http://www.buysafesea.com/sea_lice.php
are actually the microscopic larvae of jellyfish and other ocean stingers which contain the same nematocysts (stinging cells) as mommy and daddy. In many areas of the Gulf and Caribbean the primary culprit causing “sea lice” infestations is the larvae of the thimble jellyfish.
In La Manzanilla, every year around this time, a trench is dug between the laguna that houses the crocodile and bird sanctuary and the ocean. This allows the somewhat stagnant swamp water to run freely into the ocean, clearing out the still water and freshening the laguna. For those of us on the beach, however, it creates a few days of foul odor and tides we have no desire to swim or fish in. It is a small price to pay for the freshening of the mangrove swamp, but still, a yearly process no one looks forward to. Yesterday was the first day I witnessed the water running free this year. I took a walk down the beach, and this is what I saw:
(Please click on first picture and subsequent arrows to see enlargements of photos and commentary.)
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 