Friday, January 15, 2016

Living on the beach not for the faint of heart

Sparky - checking out the weather situation
Yesterday history was made.  An out-of-season hurricane, Alex, was named as the first storm in the 2016 hurricane season, which incidentally doesn’t officially start until June 1st.  

Historical!  

Who needs it?  Or wants it? 

The good news is Alex is a long way out in the Atlantic, more of a problem to the American Eastern Seaboard than it is to our tropical paradise. 


Sparky & Perla getting loves from Lawrie - M.Watt photo
The possibility of lots of precipitation in the form of snow and high winds is a big concern for anyone living on the eastern side of the USA and Canada. Living on a tropical island in Mexico, on the other hand, we have our own challenges.

There is the ever-present sand sifting across the floors, sticking in hair, collecting in clothes and beds.  The two dogs, one cat, Lawrie and I have sixteen paws or feet between us.  We track sand into the house, car and even the golf cart.  The space under our computer desk is always gritty with sand, left behind by Sparky who likes to nap at our feet while we write.


Big scary iguana .... snacking on cat food
Critters like scary iguanas and hermit crabs surround us as soon as we appear on the beach; mooching for food.  

Okay maybe we are to blame for that as we like to feed the critters.  

Then there are the beach dogs and feral cats who move in at any opportunity.  Yeah, they like food too, but want love and attention more.  

The more serious stuff is the salty ocean spray, called salitre in Mexico.  It sneaks in to everything; oozing into computers ports, appliance wiring, light fixtures, door and window lock mechanisms, and the sliding wheels on patio door. 

That damn sand is everywhere!
Eventually the salt spray causes the demise of anything electronic.  It coats stationary objects including, much to our surprise, our inside Christmas tree.  

When we took the tree down this year the branches, lights and decorations were wet with salt and condensed humidity.  

Everything had to be washed and dried before storing for the next Christmas season. 


Lawrie - suffers from Beach-Inertia Syndrome

However one of the biggest challenges with living on the edge of the warm, salty sea, is Beach-Inertia Syndrome, the desire to never live in cold climates again.  In the advanced stages of this condition you lose the desire go back north to visit family and friends.  It’s just so much work to find real clothes and real shoes, besides the shoes just won’t fit after wearing sandals for months. 


And the final challenge of living in paradise, the ever-present salitre will taint your wine unless you drink it quickly.  Okay, maybe it won’t happen that fast, but it might!  So, you see just packing up and moving to a tropical island should be thought out carefully, without alcohol involved, or you might find yourself a victim of the dreaded Beach-Inertia Syndrome. (BIS)

A tourist - thinking happy sunny thoughts!
As for Alex, that grumpy weather system that is threatening the Atlantic Coast of America and Canada – maybe we can all think happy sunny thoughts, as our new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau likes to do, and make the hurricane go away.

Hasta Luego
Lawrie & Lynda




The beautiful illustration below is by Diego Medina, from our children's book written in both English and Spanish: 

The Adventures of Thomas the Cat / Las Aventuras de Thomas el Gato   
$15.00 USD or $250.00 MX pesos

Beach-Inertia Syndrome, on Isla Mujeres Mx

4 comments:

Life's a Beach! said...

BIS. Love it! Lawrie really appears to be suffering. LOL I suffer from CIS. Cold inertia syndrome. We're back and I have no desire to be here because it's freezing. I'm also getting blisters from wearing closed toe shoes.

Diego's illustration is priceless. Hope you have it on a wall in the house!

Lynda & Lawrie said...

You're right. I should get that illustration enlarged and framed. But I am holding out for one of his new ones for our second book ... happening soon. Fingers crossed. Cheers L

Unknown said...

Buenos dias. I follow your blogs in Mexico News Daily and thoroughly enjoy them. My name is Rick Kranefuss and I am the new president of Amigos de Bucerias (a charitable AC in Bucerias, MX). We have a website that I update/publish on the 15th of each month. I currently have one blogger publishing and would love it if you would consider being a contributor. I can give you your own column/byline, with direct posting (upon admin approval). Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks,

Rick

Lynda & Lawrie said...

Hola Rick: Thank you for your interest in our blog. It's a fun thing to do each week. But I think we have enough going on at the moment as far as writing goes. I am working on my second book for children, plus am attempting to write a novel. I still have to leave some time every day to enjoy being retired; sunsets and wine. LOL. If you every want to use one of our previous blog articles, just let me know and I would be happy to email a word document to you.

Best of luck with your Amigos de Bucerias.
Cheers Lynda

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