The (Belated) Christmas Blog: ….Traditions and resolutions…both worth keeping!

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One of my New Years resolutions is to learn how to paint mountain shadows….

Time for another Christmas Card Blog that sadly won’t be set to music as Brant did for so many years, but it does instantly become part of our running blog aka our digital photo album. Some traditions change…

The Sendera sisters…. Or the gender neutral Hiking Hermano/as hit the trail again. Or this day it was just the 2 of us, but it never takes long for everyone else to show up from the north. In the meantime, Christy and I got to enjoy that bright green foliage leftover from the summer rain.
The group once again tackled the several mile trip over the mountains to the town of El Triunfo where excellent food always awaits us! Yet another tradition worth repeating each year. And many thanks to the drivers who make this one way hike possible.
When you hike in our desert you can see how the dramatic landscape has helped shape the magical/mystical art and the literature of Mexico
I love living where there is plenty of music and dancing with lots of friends who enjoy the same.

I went back and reviewed my old Christmas entries in an effort to not be too repetitive. Life here definitely has a rhythm. And, please note that I will only update you from October 2024 on as you can just scroll back as far as you’d like. (Our trip to Portugal and France was best ever!)

…but despite the repetition, some traditions bear repeating over and over…Salud from Tios! Dan traditionally closes his eyes for pictures so I did not feel the need to delete this.
…and once again…cheers from Tio’s (about 20 years of our first night margarita toast continues)

This is our third Christmas to celebrate in our home here in Los Barriles (possibly fourth but not sure I count the first year). Our third Christmas without the stress of getting back to work….and yes, we are still not missing it.

After last year’s late season hurricane, we did not rush to get the storm shutters off our house after our gluttonous trip. (For this trip I lost 5 lbs in preparation for it and gained 7 pounds along the way, pregaming at its best. )It was nice to come back and rejoin friends eager to play pickleball, paddle and swim…post gaming it?

..yes I think our new tradition will be to enjoy a couple weeks of beach time before we take off the shutters.

It was a summer with only minimal rain and very hot days so our backyard was not quite as green. It was exciting to get back and see our completed palapa. (Once again we broke the rule of always being present for construction but for once it seemed to work out ok….and thanks to the friend who took care of paying him).

Our beautiful old palo verde died which made the bougainvillea very happy (more sun)! So happy that we needed to build a new arbor to hold up the bougainvillea.

I was excited to have my new Mar Y Sol SUP at the ready for the witches paddle. (I now have a house based and condo based SUP—what every girl needs). Sadly though, we are wise witches and opted for a beach walk when the waves and winds came up.

I apparently need to seek out a witch’s hat…not easy to find here in LB!
Nor is it easy to do a group witch picture with these wiley witches! The Northern contingent of the wet witches made it—-despite wind waves and nice warm water to fall into now and then. Hopefully it will be calm next year so we do not have to continue the tradition of walking instead of paddling
Practicing for next year!
And there is always room to embrace new traditions. Halloween has become more and more popular each year here in Mexico. We love the tradition of taking a big bowl (but never big enough) filled with candy to handout to the princesses, mummies, ghouls, Disney characters, etc etc as they wander down the Main Street…..
…with a few other strange creatures on quads (note the bare leg)

As always we have met many new friends of friends. October and November are our favorite months here and they always seem to attract those who love this beautiful ocean.

There is no need to make a resolution to go to the beach more….it is a magnet especially with so many willing participants

It’s hard to resist a good trip with friends…and why should we? We got to explore Playa Cerritos and I loved getting the chance to do some boogie boarding. The power of the ocean is amazing. To feel the waves yank me into the shore has a wonderful sense of freedom and you are reminded of the power of the earth.

Sunsets into the ocean are a definite west coast positive…..
..like minded friends all trying to capture the sunset
I was thinking perhaps too many people are embracing the sport of surfing but it sure was fun to go out and watch them while awaiting my perfect boogie board wave.

While I have been able to fit in more time for art, Brant has been very busy with Rotary. This will need to be it’s own blog entry at the end of the year as there is far too much to discuss. The Taste of East Cape was a great success that we hope will pay off with a new playground, soccer field lights etc.

Here is our “Día de Los Muertes” Float for the rotary parade. Our very creative and kind friends, went to our home and decorated our ATV while Brant and I scurried around town finding a boot and crutches for him after a pickleball injury. Thus the woman (yup me) who really is somewhat uncomfortable with this holiday and really doesn’t like driving the ATV found herself driving the ATV through the streets of LB dodging little kids all while blaring music from our speakers and tossing handfuls of candy to the kids. We made it to the cemetery where there was great food and very beautiful presentations/ shrines. Yes, I still feel a bit like an intruder at times like this but it is my own thinking…the Mexicans of the community does everything they can to make us feel part of this poignant holiday. I will be back next year——if only to get more tamales at the cemetery.
…Each year the parade gets bigger…
…and more beautiful.
…gringos are strongly encouraged to participate (face painting etc)and not just observe. Wonder how she gets that headdress to stay on?
..and more complex. This skirt was made with hundreds of yards of crepe paper…each tier is hand pleated and glue gunned together.

And while Brant was busy putting the finishing details on the Taste, I attended the wedding of one of Maris’ college roommates in Austin, Texas. I so love seeing her roommates “grow up”. It is special to see the bonds they have formed. We enjoyed getting to know them as they made their way through Berkeley and are now so happy to see them maintaining those relationships even from a distance and even as they pursue different paths. We have had the opportunity over the past couple of years to reconnect with our old college friends and it’s just amazing how easy it is to pick up where the conversation left off. I think shared values insure a lifetime of friendship. I feel sure it will be the same for Maris….definitely a resolution to be made and tradition to be kept.

This dress (and that bride) is of course even more stunning in person…….
..I was proud of the way these very busy women took the time to learn their dance to perform the bride and groom. It is so nice to be trusted to respect another’s traditions and in turn get the joy of being part of that tradition.
I was pinned and repinned a dozen times by expert “pinners” but my sari was still not quite right here, yet, I still felt so fortunate to be a part of this beautiful ceremony. I was a bit exhausted after a couple days of dancing, eating and drinking but there was no time for rest on return as the Taste was less than a week away when I returned…..
Supposedly there are some good pics of Brant and I out there somewhere but we were too busy (with many others) helping to set up 15 restaurants for tasting, seating for 200, a huge silent auction, a dj, a slide show, a Photo Booth….etc etc. I think all those Bollywood moves got me in shape for this.

As always there are many projects around the house. I am too lazy to find all the before and after pics so just come down and check it out. There are new gates, palapas, fountains and as always much painting.

This year the winter solstice was not as exciting a program but the effigy was beautiful and the sentiment remains the same. An evening to think about new beginnings and renewal. And a perfect event for my tie dye tshirt from Huey’s in Memphis. The namesake for our cat and our former favorite hangout back in college ( a perfect gift from Maris).

The ceremony began with a drum circle then a reading then the Pheonix was lit on fire.
And some people take the term white elephant gift a little too literally…. Besides it was not a white elephantS gift party. A rotary party that was so much fun that it may need to become a tradition here. I’m game as long as the rotarians keep chipping in for the caterer.

In the category of life moving along too fast, Sarah and EB and Maris and Gabe all came to LB for Christmas. SO very good to have everyone together. We know it’s getting more difficult for Sarah and EB to travel and Gabe and Maris were right in the middle of a big move so it meant even more that everyone put the effort forth to get here and celebrate together.

…and at last I know where Maris gets her avoidance of pictures from…that’s EB behind that stocking. Note the spray painted agave bloom that serves as our “Christmas Tree”
It gets chilly at night in the winter here so the fire table is well used.

And in the category of tradition, so happy to have our friends here for New Year’s once again. The Baja Midnights (Lonnie Mark and Alison) had their best ever performance at the Tiki Bar followed by some beach dancing to Gatos Pardos.

Here is Linda displaying her prowess of getting all 4 bags on the board at Lonnie Mark and Alison’s famous corn hole game where they served a New Year’s Brunch in their beautiful home. Maybe a new tradition begins?
The Baja Midnights (Lonnie Mark and Alison’s band) playing on New Years Eve. This is their second New Years performance and hoping we have yet another new tradition.
Sarah and EB… on the day before their 68th anniversary! A kiss picture… I may not like group pics but I love those kiss pics.

Last night I arrived home after a wonderful trip to Oaxaca, and as much as I loved where we visited it truly felt like coming home as I pulled into our driveway, I still struggle with Spanish and while I’m still frustrated by many ineptitudes with desert gardening and art I think I am learning to enjoy the struggle.

The tradition of fundraising grows bigger every year (as does the wealth of the community) and while we would prefer the growth to stop; we are happy to be with people so willing to give…. Give to the children, the dogs, the turtles, the orphaned, the schools, the hungry, the homeless,… I believe their are over 20 non profits in this fairly tiny community. Most gringos are well aware we have driven up prices and made housing more unaffordable. We can’t fix that but maybe we can help in other ways to make up for it at least a little bit? In the meantime we have a lot of fun while donating to many causes! (This is our neighbor Shelley who despite having a humeral head fracture continues to sell blinking turtle pins for the big raffle).
This was a turtle fundraiser and these folks are watching the little turtles make their way to the ocean. They say it takes 10-50 years for a sea turtle to sexually mature and return to the beach to lay eggs. This program had been going on at our beach for over 10 years so we are hoping they begin to see it pay off. Definitely a tradition that we hope continues….

We are proud to be living in a country filled with art, music, excellent food, and a love for family and friends as well as many beautiful traditions. Most of all, Brant and I feel so lucky to be sharing this somewhat chaotic crazy (but most definitely fun filled) life by this beautiful sea together (true most of the time, but he’s in Vegas at the moment). We hope that President Claudia Scheinbaum continues to make it an even better place while maintaining many old traditions. So glad a tradition was finally broken in Mexico with the election of their first female president!

And Buffy (our feral cat) wants us to continue the tradition of daily feedings and perhaps give up the tradition of travel in September.

I will try to message and email this card to everyone and I apologize to those of you who already subscribe to the blog as this will be a duplicate. Several have asked me how to subscribe and I didn’t know until a friend showed me the trick. You go into brantandwendy.com then in very pale print in either the top corner or bottom in pale writing (that I formerly did not see) you click subscribe. I get way too much junk in my email to ever notice a blog coming in so I will assume the same for you.

I hear from the young that we shouldn’t be curating our lives but I for one love hearing a bit from everyone. SO very good to know what folks are up to in their lives. And remember Nuestra casa es tu casa…Hasta luego y pronto!

I wanted to get this done so I could get the Oaxaca blog done. Everyone needs to go to Oaxaca…asap before it changes much more!

I was going to make a resolution to take less bird pics….but hard to do with these beautiful Xantu hummingbirds that live only here in the Baja….
Or these graceful fellows that seem to show up at the prettiest sunsets.…
…and it’s pretty hard to resist these pelicans.
And I’m definitely resolving to take less pics of food…. Except when you see a lobster sticking out of a pizza! (There could be other exceptions).
BUT I will never give up the tradition of a photo of the full moon when it rises at the same time the sun sets.
So here is to another year of putting our best foot forward and marching into another year ! (If we can figure out which is our best foot!) Good luck with the resolutions everyone and keep those traditions going.

3 thoughts on “The (Belated) Christmas Blog: ….Traditions and resolutions…both worth keeping!”

  3. thanks for sending your blog…interesting life down south. Love the hummingbird & crane picture! The moonrise had such beautiful pastels. I’m sure you will do fine on mountain shading…just squint your eyes.. 🙂

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