Category: Bodie

Sunday, October 19, 2008 - 08:30 PM

Over the past couple of years, I have refrained from opening a Mexican bank account for several reasons. One of which is that every time I have gone into a local bank, the size of the crowd and the length of the lines made me think that they must be giving away large bags of money. Needless to say, the massive presence of the banking public dampened my enthusiasm for establishing a financial footprint in Mazatlan.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007 - 12:31 AM

Winter rolled into Mazatlan early this year and weather conditions deteriorated under a steady north wind that had daytime temperatures struggling to reach 19 degrees centigrade. For many, my self included, this was a serious cold snap that drove us into extra garb, with multiple layers for mornings and evenings. I have had on long pants for four days now and willingly seek comfort in the warmth of an evening barbecue. However, the newly arrived Canadians are finding the temperatures down right balmy and are cruising the Zone in shorts and tee shirts.

Saturday, August 25, 2007 - 08:55 PM

It’s the dog days of summer and even the dogs are relentlessly hounded by the heat and humidity while the days just seem to run together in a sweaty continuum of time. Depending upon the day and the location, the temperature’s hover around 90 degrees and moderate to about 84 at night; unless the wee hours are cooled by the rains. The humidity can be a tolerable 75% or shoot up to an oppressive 90% just before Mother Nature unleashes one of her tropical thunderstorms. These monsoon type storms will build huge thunderheads over the mountains throughout the day and then descend on Mazatlan and disgorge their moisture late in the afternoon or during the night. The lightning spawned by these tropical storms is very spectacular and will sometimes stretch across 120 degrees of horizon with thunderclaps lasting as long as 15 seconds. As the storms move down from the mountains, the increasing reverberations from the mighty peals of thunder will invariably set off every car alarm for miles. One huge bolt from above is enough to create a horrible electronic wailing that is ear splitting at street level. You would think that when this happens, people would turn off their alarm systems not simply reset them for the next thunderclap. However, this is Mazatlan where common sense is sometimes lost in the cultural shuffle.

Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 04:16 PM

Subtitled: Living on the Hill

The angle of repose is the incline at which various materials can maintain a state of rest. The angle of repose differs from material to material; you can stack square blocks to form a steeper incline than if you attempted a similar action with marbles. However, there is a point where the angle of the incline becomes so precipitous that eventually all materials will succumb to the forces of gravity; their angle of repose has been compromised. I believe that there is something akin to an angle of repose within the living and social communities of this planet that wholly govern both individual and group limits and their appropriate responses to the impending forces of psychic gravity when these limits are exceeded. Many things in ones life are governed by the angle of repose, both physical and emotional and we all respond in different ways to the inevitable tipping point.

Thursday, July 26, 2007 - 06:35 AM

Traveling the streets of Mazatlan can be exciting, frightening, enlightening, appalling, loads of fun and at times incredibly exasperating, all during a single outing. The safest mode of transportation in town is the omni-present city bus and the riskiest obviously being the ubiquitous motor scooter. The buses are numerous, cheap and cover this small city with a practiced efficiency that makes them the preferred mode of transportation for most of the locals. The bus system can place you where you need to be or get you within an easy walk; Mazatlan is not all that big. The copious quantities of motor scooters that ply the city streets move amongst their four wheeled cousins like gnats about a sweating face; always moving, always positioning and sometimes getting swatted. Given some of the astonishing maneuvers I have seen executed by Mexican women driving SUV’s, riding a scooter around town with shorts and sandals is an act that most certainly tempts the fickled finger of fate.

Monday, June 18, 2007 - 12:49 PM

Summer has descended on Mazatlan like a fat, sweaty wrestler smothering his opponent with the sheer audacity of his presence. The heat and humidity seem to be in constant competition for the high number of the day and it’s still only June. The resorts are almost empty and the cruise ships are rare, even the time share and condo sales people have only themselves to converse with. Soon the spectacular tropical thunderstorms will light up the night sky with their piercing bright tendrils of lightning randomly stabbing the landscape. We have already had our first rain that flooded a few streets and flushed scattered pieces of trash and debris to who knows where. The deciduous jungle is starting to leaf out in anticipation of the coming monsoon, the vines are adding inches per day and the mangos are ripening nicely. The flowering shrubs and trees are starting to put out colorful displays that will never be seen by the seasonal residents. The perspiring Pulmonia drivers are vainly searching the streets for small herds of souvenir laden tourists and some restaurants are closed for the summer.

Thursday, May 17, 2007 - 12:49 AM

Martha Armenta, the president and driving force behind Conrehabit, has initiated an unprecedented and incredibly bold outreach program to fundamentally transform certain cultural aspects of daily life in some of the more remote villages in the mountains of Sinaloa. Working proactively to educate the villagers, both young and old, to the virtues of living with nature as opposed to seeing the natural world as something that needs to be dominated, feared and exploited; she is making surprisingly quick progress.

Monday, May 14, 2007 - 12:00 AM

I rolled into Mazatlan last May thinking about spending a few days before heading further south into Nayarit; my initially perceived, first real stop on the west coast of Mexico. Then after 3000 brutal miles, Mazatlan loomed before me like a palm studded sanctuary and besides; my 18 year old son had acquired the haunted look of a caged animal, time to take a break. At that point in my life, the last place I wanted to be was within the teeming mass of humanity that comprises metropolitan Mazatlan, so we kept our distance. We found a very pleasing little RV park on the beach in Cerritos, parked our travel trailer, rolled out the awning, broke out the lawn chairs and cold beer and declared ourselves camped. I didn’t realize at the time that just how long I would be camping. Never a long term planner, my conceptual strategy for retirement in Mexico had not progressed past the RV phase; would I ever want a house?

Sunday, April 22, 2007 - 09:30 PM

When I volunteered my time to help Conrehabit expand their reality, I really had no idea what I was getting into, nor any clue as to where it would lead. Now, with more than 9 months into this relationship with nature, I am truly overwhelmed by the shear volume of encounter and adventure I have experienced in such a short time, everything from Bramadors to very big snakes.

Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 04:25 PM

When Martha told me she was returning to the village of the Bramador I immediately volunteered my truck and my time, for this was clearly going to be a high quality adventure. Not being real sure just what a Bramador was or did, added to my sense of participatory anxiety, which is requisite for any decent adventure. This impromptu trip would go from Mazatlan to San Ignacio for a late lunch and then on to the village of Tacuitapa, where we would spend the night out among the folks and experience the unique talents of the Bramador. I asked Martha about the accommodations and with a wave of her hand told me “The people in the village will take care of us. I’ll let them know we are coming.” In the face of her overwhelming confidence, I thought to myself “Well, this is certainly the easiest B&B I have ever booked.” Martha went on to elaborate about how this place is not on any tourist itinerary and that the people were ready to share some of their natural treasures. Well, so far this looked to be a trip as charmingly spontaneous and unpredictable as the woman herself.

Saturday, January 20, 2007 - 02:10 PM

Last month, the perpetually churning cogs of nature’s celestial time clock flipped the switch that propelled us into winter. It was as though the weather gods were timing their moves to correlate closely with the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. As the lunatic fringe that lives above 60 degrees north were experiencing over 20 hours of night, we here in Mazatlan were dragged, kicking and screaming, into the first days of this frigid season. As if somewhat precisely cued, on December 20th the sky became overcast and the daytime temperatures plunged into the mid seventies. Sporadic showers of 71 degree rain hounded the natives and drove the sun seekers to cover; winter was upon us.

Saturday, December 02, 2006 - 12:30 PM

When My 18 year old son and I arrived in Mazatlan it was the height of the dry season, however the only thing dry was the jungle, we were both drenched, natures sauna cleaning your pores. The heat and humidly this time of year required any and all outdoor activities to be conducted only in areas where you were wafted by the constant ocean breezes or actually submersed in the water itself. We spent our time between the water, beach front cantinas and air conditioned comfort, it was in the beach front cantinas we replenished the liquids that continuously flowed from every inch of our skin.

Thursday, November 30, 2006 - 12:50 PM

After completing my most recent foray into the English-speaking world, I discovered that I have had a complete shift in my personal reality. Six months in Mazatlan is the longest period of time I have immersed myself within this open and friendly culture.

Saturday, November 04, 2006 - 02:08 PM

Well...Snickers the Wonder Dog actually managed to catch a rather large Iguana today. We were on our afternoon bicycle ride, I on the bike and Snickers following along behind; she doesn’t have her own bike yet. I am not sure how she managed to corner and capture the damn thing, but it was (and still is), about one meter long. When I realized she was not right next to me or even close behind me, I stopped and looked back to see her in the lizard hunting mode, about 50 meters away.

Saturday, October 28, 2006 - 03:32 AM

Since Snickers the Wonder Dog is half Coyote, I have worked very hard with her through the years to keep her from wanting to chase and eat, either small crawly things or large running things. All the time has paid off and she has become a very well behaved dog, willing to do as told; most times. Her transformation from the frozen north to the tropics has been a bit of an adjustment, to say the least. The most evident change has been the loss of about 10 pounds of hair off a 45-pound dog. Always willing to dive right into any northwest river, either winter or summer, she has always seemed very accustomed to water; except here. I think because this water makes noise, doesn’t taste like water and also chases her, the ocean is still a strange thing for her to comprehend. However, the principal thing that has caught her full and complete attention, are the Iguanas.

Thursday, October 26, 2006 - 02:45 PM

When thunderstorm Paul rumbled through, the rains left large puddles and some small ponds in various areas. I spent Wednesday morning doing some clean up, for an eventual dump run, out at Conrehabit. About halfway between the gate and the casita I came across a section of road with water running across and down about a 75-meter stretch. Being somewhat familiar with this particular section of road, I wasn’t too worried about getting mired, however, given past experience, a good look would be wiser than a blind charge. As I carefully viewed this flooded track, I noticed a little island about 30 meters away, with a small stranded female.

Sunday, October 22, 2006 - 05:00 AM

I think being retired in Mazatlan will turn out to be more work than work back in the so-called first world. My fate was sealed after my first turtle encounter on Playa Bruja and successful rescue and rehab of a very wild Greyhound. The turtles were easy, they just needed a little help over and through to obstacles to the beach. The Greyhound was another matter altogether. When I discovered that my wild dog had bonded with Martha, I knew I was no longer just passing through Mazatlan. After several in-depth conversations about the needs of the natural world surrounding this growing area, I thought I might be able to do some good with all this time that retirement had bestowed on me. I was becoming mired in Mazatlan without even knowing that it was sneaking up on me

Wednesday, October 18, 2006 - 07:23 PM

The first turtle encounter happened two days before hurricane Lane hit Mazatlan. I was walking myself, my dog and my dog’s friend, along a beach known as Playa Bruja; the shaman. This is a section of sand rarely seen by tourists, in summer on foot; most are on 4 wheelers and horses. From a ways off, I noticed a small squiggly thing at the waters edge and went to investigate. I found a baby sea turtle making its terrestrial journey across the hot summer sand to the edge of the sea. I watched as a wave washed ashore and spread it’s long, foamy sheet of water and engulfed the tiny creature and carried it into an uncertain future.

Saturday, October 07, 2006 - 10:03 PM

This is a story of the first day that Kalin, my 18 year old son, Snickers the wonder dog and I entered Mexico. We had started from the far north end of Idaho, visited friends in Mt Shasta and then departed for Mazatlan on June 15, 2006.

Saturday, September 16, 2006 - 10:20 PM

10:00 AM. Hurricane Lane, now a cat 3, is a few miles off the coast of Mazatlan and the leading edge is pounding us with 100 mph plus winds. The wind gusts buffet my little RV like the breath of the devil him self. The heavy winds and rain began in earnest at about 3:00 am and are building to their eventual crescendo, hopefully, some time latter today.