Stuck in Paradise

Poor planning and a false assumption on my part has forced an extension of my stay in this tropical location. Since the cost to extend my stay is far less than booking a future trip to complete my dental work, I will be staying an additional week. Chris will be traveling home today and I will be moving from the Airbnb where we have been staying to the kids' place. 
Sacrebleu!

There are worse things in life.
Although it is an inconvenience and there is an associated cost, being here in November isn't the worst thing that could happen.

While the stay here is very much a departure from the quiet routine of home, I have kept up with some of my normal practices. I get up and go to bed at around the same time. I begin the day with a couple cups of coffee and time on the Chromebook. I read and enjoy an occasional cigar.
There are way more people encounters each day than I am used to -- probably as many each day as I would have had in the entire month at home! It is much louder in the city than it is from the quiet, rural setting of Highlandville MO.

Still, I am able to adapt and find a comfortable routine.
I am walking and moving much more than I do at home. I am managing to read about the same amount of time and really haven't watched more than a few minutes of TV. I am keeping up with a bit of blogging and have managed to post daily for the first three weeks of November. 

While I do believe that happiness is a choice, I also understand that privilege can make that much easier. Both our home in rural SWMO and spending time in the tropical beach area of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico are pretty easy places to be happy. 
But one could also find plenty to complain about either place and make themselves miserable. Oftentimes, changing our state from misery to happiness is just a matter of changing our attitude.
I do realize that's not always easy for some people.

I'll manage to be happy in the additional week here. 
I hope that you will be happy wherever you are in the coming days. 
It's a choice.

John

Community

On several occasions in the past, I have mentioned the overall feeling of community that I sense here in Puerto Vallarta. The more I think about it, the more I wonder what it would take to duplicate that feeling back home -- or if it even could be.

Unfortunately, I think that most of it is cultural and would take a generational shift in how we take care of one another. Also -- and I fear this for my Mexican friends -- I can see or sense that capitalism and its evil characteristics are making slow progress into the culture. While still a generational shift that will take time, I hope that they will see the signs from the corruption in the US and take great precautions to prevent such things in this country. I have hope that the strength of their communities will stand well against the few individuals that will wield power and wealth to attempt to overtake and control them.

On a much smaller scale, I am again realizing that I have a very small personal community of people. I also realize that I bear the responsibility for that. However, I am unclear about just how I feel about changing that. I may need to take some time for self-evaluation. 
Or maybe it's something that will take a little outside input to determine just how important a personal community (is that an oxymoron?) can be. 

In the past, church has provided most of the community for me. Church as I once knew it no longer exists for me and I really haven't found a community to take its place. I thought something more progressive might work, but I have found that, in many ways, even more progressive churches are still church. I just need to figure out how many allowances I can make between what I want and what I can accept.
Perhaps I need to be more purposeful in my search for community.

I don't think it is unusual for older men to have little or no community. That doesn't mean it is a good nor a healthy thing. It's mostly just a typical thing, but a thing that needs some attention. 
Hmmm...
Maybe a winter project to work on.

John

Wednesday Wisdom

Why do we listen to people with a platform but no credibility?
Why do we give opinions the same value as facts or science?
and Why do we let people get away with that shit?

John

Today is the Day

Today is the day I came here for -- to complete the dental implants I started earlier in the year. 
My dentist was on a nearly month long vacation in Japan so I scheduled the appointment for today, the 18th of November. But I really wanted to be here for the Day of the Dead celebration, so we came earlier for that. Getting to spend time with the kids and having some overlap with my nephew's time here has been a bonus.

Medical tourism is really becoming a growing industry for many countries that decide to meet the needs that the US healthcare system fails to meet at a reasonable price. For anyone needing dental implants and wanting to vacation in a tropical beach town -- I was able to pay for my two implants and two roundtrip airfares for less than the cost of the implants back home!
And I can recommend a fine dentista here in Puerto Vallarta!

Elective surgeries are also big on the medical tourism front. Many cosmetic surgeries, gender affirming healthcare procedures, and other things that are not covered by many insurance plans in the US are much more affordable here and in other countries that have learned to capitalize on our healthcare failures. 

I'm going to go out for coffee this morning and then a morning walk to begin the day. My dentist appointment isn't until this afternoon so I imagine another easy day in the life of John.

John

¡Feliz lunes! (Happy Monday!)

I am a little bit sad that this will be my last Mexican Monday for some time. We will be back home later this week. I know that I will enjoy the comfort and familiarity of our own home, but I will also be missing both the physical warmth and the social warmth of life in Mexico.

I have certainly had some meditative moments while sitting on the beach or floating in the ocean, and there is a peacefulness that exists in spite of the sound (noise) that permeates the city, but it is hard to beat the quiet meditation that I am able to have sitting on our deck with just the sounds of nature. 

The first time I experienced the ocean I felt the energy of the earth pulsing in the waves. It was something I could see, hear, and feel. And while you can't really smell or taste energy, you can smell and taste the ocean and be reminded of the earth's energy. I remember mentioning that to a farmer when I got back home and was sharing my experience. They said that they felt that in the earth; in the land.
It made sense to me as a young man, but it wasn't something I had experienced -- yet.

Today I do feel the earth's energy and life in its land. I love contact with the earth and believe that walking barefooted or working in the soil holds life giving value. I have learned to be sensitive to the energy of the earth from our landlocked home in Southwest Missouri (SWMO). It's weird how learning to sense energy from the land can help one sense energy from other living sources like plants, animals, and even other people.

Did you know ...
That the earth has a pulse-like beat that happens roughly every 26 seconds? While we can detect it seismically, nobody knows where it comes from nor what exactly causes it.

Just things I'm thinking about on my last Mexico Monday.

John

People

 

...or why they've been taught that.

John

Beach Day!

Again!

I am looking forward to today.
All summer I saw pics of a beach that the kids were going to with their friends on the weekends. It's not like the area of the beach that we've been going to. This one doesn't have the restaurants and drink service, but it also doesn't have the large numbers of people. The temperatures today are expected to be a little cooler than they have been and it should be a beautiful day. 

It is hard to believe that our short stay here is almost over. I'll be back to typing out my blog from the deck in just one week from today. Although it has been a warm November back home, the cooler temps will seem much colder as we return from the tropics of Mexico.
Being at home is always nice, but I could also be at home in a much warmer climate!

In spite of having the same free time to be connected to the internet and news of the political bullshit that has become the norm in the US, I find that being around people that are not as invested nor impacted by US politics to be refreshing. While the expats living here are certainly aware of and appalled by what is going on, they don't dwell on it the way it is back home. Even the remote and isolated life on the deck doesn't compare to the remoteness of being in another country.
Unfortunately, there is an overall kindness and caring about community that is present in Mexico but is very much missing in the deeply red populations of rural SWMO. There is both community and kindness in our area, but it is often limited to people that look, think, and believe the same way. I have become much more aware of just how exclusive kindness is in our rural area and it is pretty disgusting.

However, I will not be thinking about that as we head to the beach this morning. 
I will love being with our kids and their friends.
I will be enjoying the beauty and power of the ocean.
I will sense the rhythmic pulse of the earth.
I will absorb the warmth and life from our local star (the sun).
I will read my book.
I will live in a kind world

...at least for today.

John

 

Friday Fun Facts

Did you know there's a flat spot in the curvature of the ocean?
Okay, no scientist really describes it as a flat spot, but that's how my own pea brain pictures it.
The Indian Ocean Geoid Low is a place where the earth's gravity is much lower than the surrounding area so the water of the Indian Ocean is pulled away from the low gravity area making the surface of the ocean nearly 100 meters lower at the center off it than the surrounding ocean.

Because of the size of the area, there isn't really a perceptible hole in the ocean, just a gradual decrease and increase in the actual sea level versus the mean sea level.
Over 100 meters; nearly 350 feet!

I wonder if you measured your vertical jump from the deck of a ship at the center of the geoid vs outside of it if your jump in less gravity would increase.

Our little planet is pretty amazing, isn't?

John

Thursday Theology

Something simple for today's theology post.
I truly believe that the best theology is simple and easily understandable, while still giving us something to think about.

Live life well today.
Be kind.
Be grateful.

John

Wednesday Wisdom

I thought that a traveling themed meme might be appropriate for a Wednesday Wisdom post while visiting Puerto Vallarta.

May all of your journeys be good ones.

John