The Televisa Spin

The concert in Puerto Vallarta was a production of Televisa, and they went all out on the staging and publicity, if not porta-potties. Conversation around tables here in Jaltemba has revolved around "where we were" during the concert. Several good reports, but the most lousy experience goes to Cate and her crew who were out on one of those little boats in the choppy, choppy waves.

Here's Televisa's take on the whole thing. It's long, but you only have to watch a few opening minutes to get the flavor of what was going on in and around a concert production they said attracted between 80,000 and 100,000 people. Check it out here.

The hurricane that didn't happen

And we're so glad it didn't! Larry and I stashed patio furniture cushions, strapped down hammocks, collapsed umbrellas and evaluated which potted plants might prove lethal if left on walls or tables. In Puerto Vallarta, windows at the Liverpool center were either boarded up or taped with big crosses. Sandbags were strategically placed across doors and drives. If we know anything in Mexico these days, it's how to respond publically to a crisis.



But it was officially beautiful yesterday with the remnants of what turned out to be a benign tropical storm swirling through the sky. There was enough rain over the last few days that the river behind our house broke through the sand bar which builds up across its mouth each year during the dry season. The green waters have escaped and we now have a tide-sensitive estuary. The egrets have returned, and the setting sun which broke through the lead belly cloud cover for a few brief glorious moments before sliding below the horizon gilded their white breasts as they veered up and over our heads. Sort of breathtaking.



There's still quite a gringo contingent in the Jaltemba Bay area, and those that are left are using the quiet time to throw themselves into creative efforts. Lin is building another suite in her bed and breakfast while a local artist is covering her walls with murals. Roberto and Ann are painting, painting, painting, except when Roberto is cooking, cooking, cooking. Eddie is showing up like clockwork at Xaltemba, as if it were an office job, coming up with new restaurant concepts for next year. Dennis is putting his talents as a former baker for Sara Lee to good use -- we love to have him show up early in the morning with fresh bread or sweet rolls. Chuck is in the home stretch on the house he's building on Sol Nuevo -- it gets fancier and fancier with every new design concept Wendy comes up with. And I have more and more pages to print out and punch. My loose leaf binder manuscript is growing at a slightly faster pace than the six two foot high Italian Cypress I planted last month in hopes that they will shade our pool by next summer.



So saludos to our friends up north. Hope you'll have as much to show for your summer time as we here in Virgin Territory.

Been there, done that

So there were masses of people, lots of rain, a starting time that was an hour and half late, and a sound system that would dissolve cobblestones. And Larry says I don't know how to have a good time. I could go into detail, but do you really want to know?? Maybe it's an age thing (ya think?), but I don't believe I'll be going to many more mega-star-all-for-TV-and-live-audience-be-damned productions. One in a decade or two is plenty. The company I was in, however, was delightful. The borrowed condo down near Mismaloya sublime, Friday night's dinner intimate, air-conditioned and delicious, and Saturday's outing to the botanical gardens a little piece of heaven. Happy to be back home today. Back to writing tomorrow!

Musica!!

"I'm so grateful you have friends to go play with." This is my husband over fresh orange juice this morning. He's referring to my heading off to Puerto Vallarta this weekend to participate in a mega event designed to boost Mexican tourism.

Alejandro Fernandez, resident of Puerto Vallarta, is bringing a few friends (Gloria Estefan, Enrique Iglesias, et. al) to give a free concert on the Malecon Saturday night. Click on his name to get a little taste of what you can hear as background music in most romantic mood restaurants in Mexico. And here's another sample of a wonderful way to learn the more complicated Spanish verb forms -- Si tu supieras (If you only knew.)

Oh, and what the heck, here's one more -- En el jardin. Que les guste! Enjoy!

Welcome to Virgin Territory

I'm launching this blog to support the book I will have written by the time I turn sixty. That is next month, July 21, 2009. It's almost done. I'm calling it Virgin Territory. Let me tell you about it. In February, 2006, my husband and I sold everything we owned in the States and moved to the Pacific Coast of Mexico just north of Puerto Vallarta. It was a decision made in a burst of either madness or inspiration, a precipitous plunge into retirement -- and renewal. For us, like thousands of other gringos making this move, Mexico represents a new beginning. In that respect, where we now live is definitely "virgin territory." But Mexico is also the home of Our Lady of Guadalupe, "Goddess of the Americas," an indigenous icon that has been growing in presence and influence both north and south of the border. Her image graces more rearview mirrors, notebook covers and shopping bags than it does church altars. The Virgin of Guadalupe represents a popular religiosity unconfined to any institution, and now, in a time when institutions of many kinds seem rather shakey, she provides a spiritual perspective on what is lasting and important. She is a current symbol of an ancient ethos, a direct encounter with what is colorful and primitive, free-flowing and spontaneous, yet constant and sustaining. It is my hope that Virgin Territory will speak particularly to women who are ready to move – if not physically, as in Eat, Pray, Love, then mentally – to consider new ways of being present with God, with themselves, and with others. Like Barbara Brown Taylor, they may be Leaving Church. Like Sue Monk Kidd, they're looking hard at religion's traditional authority figures – and often finding them lacking. Like Anne LaMott, they may cast a sardonic eye at social norms and politics, and find refuge in a more primitive Christianity full of grace and humor. After our move to Mexico, I found myself taking a fresh look at The Virgin of Guadalupe. I'd first had contact with her when I was eight years old and I visited Mexico City with my family. She'd made a lasting – and largely erroneous – impression on me then. Now, over fifty years later, I find she represents far more than I'd ever imagined. To me she is the archetypical feminine spiritual ideal featured in Mary Baker Eddy's major work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, an archetype which I now feel impelled to "unpack" and bring forward to the twenty-first century. The Virgin embodies qualities that humanity needs now, a fresh model of divine expression that goes beyond the confrontational and competitive our-God-is-bigger-than-yours prototype. What provides the story in Virgin Territory is that the spiritual perspective I've gained from this feminine model has proved practical during our time here. We renovated a house bought on a whim. We had personal health crises and coped with the fraudulent loss of our retirement nest egg. I came to terms with a long-suppressed childhood trauma, discovered talents and artistic inclinations I never dreamed of, and regained a sense of life-purpose and identity beyond a religious denomination, a family name, or a particular nationality. Through it all I became more intimately acquainted with an underlying gentle Mother presence, and began seeing myself as Her reflection. It's made a huge difference in my life, and I think my experience might be helpful to others.