ANOTHER belated Christmas Blog: some of the favorites of the final quarter of the year….

As the football season winds down, academy awards beckon binge movie watching and Valentines Day is just around the corner, it is time to get our annual Christmas card. All our paperless newspapers get to post the most interesting photos of the year so thought I’d do the same….and limit myself to the last quarter! You can always scroll back if you want more.

So here is my “greenest” picture. After about a 2 month trip it is wonderful to return home to a jungle after leaving it as a dry desert. The mountains looked like folds of green velvet …beautiful

This took second place for greenest:

Best butt picture of the year. And 2 butts are better than one. (a reunion snorkel class with the Curso de Verano kids)

Best “laid back” photo. In October until December turtles sprout out of the sand every day….and the numbers increase every year 9thanks to the hardworking folks that dig up the eggs and protect them until they hatch)

And there he goes! (I didn’t want anyone to be worried)

Best paddle pic of the year! This is the witches paddle. Not as photographically impressive as doing it in a black wool cape in the middle of Lake Ontario but much nicer. Especially when it’s a spectacular day and you can actually find the garage sale hat you bought 6 months earlier. A great event to share with friends and a bit spooky when the northern contingent of witches appears on the horizon and converges with the southern witches. I think about a 100 this year?

Best family Halloween costume photo. There were about 5 in this family of black sheep. Or should I say flock? (The devil in the red dress says I have a pitchfork and I know how to use it). Every year there are more trick or treaters. And every year we stand on the street passing out candy and running out too soon.

And here is scariest Halloween costume pic. I tried to ask what he/she was but the their speech was a bit muffled.

And here are a few of the many deserving honorable mentions as well the patient parents who seemed to enjoy it as much as their kids:

Best bug picture of the year. Yes that bug is killing the other bug.

Best Catarina (tap to open)…. So these are I believe 6th graders. We were invited to the school to see their Dia de Muerte celebration. We felt very fortunate to be there .

… and here is the fastest Dia de Muerte costume. (No face make up required)

….and a favorite float picture (very talented singers we learned later). I’ve come to like the mix of dignity, love, kindness (but of course sadness) mixed with the colorful ritual and ceremony of this holiday.

Pics of favorite activity when not in the ocean:

It is hard to leave the Baja in November (best month of the year) but a group of us traveled to Oaxaca to attend an international watercolor conference. Six of us stayed in a spacious home downtown just a 4 minute walk from our class.

Here is the saddest picture. Mexico has become more vocal about stopping the “disappearances “ of the young . There are now gatherings across the country to try to fix the problem… and there has been some improvement . That night in the square of Oaxaca was the only time we saw lots of men holding large automatic weapons guarding the square… as well as the attendees carrying a great deal of sadness. But the discussion has begun, and perhaps change will be next.

Best happy hour pic of the year. (Happy hour is best when you sneak away between classes). We spent a wonderful week in Oaxaca in this terrific house with 6 terrific (and artistic) folks.

So happy we got to return for a breakfast visit with Sally to our favorite inn, the Lodge at Huayapam. This is where we stayed on our last visit. (Best pointesettia pic of the year.. yeah I know that’s pushing it)

…. And had my favorite breakfast of the year at that Inn … oaxacan hot chocalate, papayas and pan dulce to dunk in the chocolate

… but this is why we were really here. We got to have classes with these amazing watercolor artists. Intense classes that made me want to go back to school…. But only for art classes.

Here is best reflection photo of the year (botanical gardens in Oaxaca)

… but this a close second. Oaxaca and the surrounding area is very photogenic.

At this restaurant , I had the best lunch of the year. Not to be missed….

A few of my best bird pics. The bottom right corner is a bird happily devouring my delicious pitaya!

So here is one of our favorite Chilean family pics! So happy our former exchange student, Fran and her parents came for a visit. So wonderful to see them.

And further immensely adding to our happiness: Maris and Gabe joined in for Thanksgiving …as well as 25 others . Another great rooftop Thanksgiving!

Another successful Rotary Taste event! 18 restaurants organized under one cancha giving out tastes to couple hundred or so folks …

…. And do I look happy it has gone well and is done for another year? (And I’m not even a rotary club member)

The weather in November and December was perfect for bike rides…. So many butterfly pics but this is only one with ocean in background
!

… and this is the only one on a bed of limes

… there are rivers of these yellow butterflies (thousands) that flow down the beach in the fall.

We’ve had several rain showers and beautiful clouds. This is one of many favorite pics … taken after a couple hours of rain

…. A new favorite food, curricaines! Thanks Sue. (Keto friendly)

Below are a few pics of one of our favorite events of the year…. The winter solstice. A drum circle, music, dancing, a beautiful reading then the very artistic effigy is set on fire … with those thoughts and problems we want to get rid, written down and tossed into the fire. It never works for me but it’s still fun to do. Note the moon rising over the margarita/pizza tent.

Here is my favorite Christmas light pic of the year. Neighbors organized a progressive Christmas party and it was great fun to wander the neighborhood eating and drinking

Another wonderful beach party on New Years with Gatos Pardos.

My favorite music event of the year (I suspect Brant would say the Eagle at the sphere for him). This is a Latin jazz group that travels around the americas in this bus which I believe runs on corn oil? Music you can’t not dance to! (Especially on the beach). Look them up on you tube.

Here is where our love of the Baja started. In 1987 we stayed in a hotel on the side of the hill. The Finisterra and the Solmar (a tiny boutique hotel) were the only major buildings. No marina, a couple little restaurants surrounded completely by sandy desert. And of course no paved roads.

Sometimes imagination is better than a pic. Imagine riding a camel down this beach while watching whales spout and roll around in the water. A magical way to celebrate a birthday with about 50 other camel riders. (no cameras allowed)

The picture just above this can count as my most illegal pic but in my defense I did not climb over the barrier as per the signage… I just walked through the open gate to take a stunning sunset photo. (Brant decided to document my illegality).

I kept trying to figure out how they were going to get a saddle on him! Thanks to a tall husband we got the tallest biggest camel, truly a fun weekend with a fun loving group.

Just love this pic. This was at a fashion show. Zoom in on her beautiful face. I questioned whether I would enjoy a fashion show but honestly it was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. So many talented designers… along with great food, drink, music and friends.

My favorite cloud pic…. Lots of sheep to count.

Best vine pic of the year. Really annoying too because my vine does not look this. (Terry Naylor’s gate with a South African vine). (pic taken at the annual studio tour)

And as always many margaritas (my favorite drink) to celebrate lots of wonderful things.

This is my best pic of the belt of Venus… along with Mar y Sol gathered for a pot luck. Such a beautiful spot to gather with a terrific group of folks

Most clever use of gift bags, we will see if it keeps the birds out of my tomatoes

…as we did not have a hundred gift bags to go on the tomatoes we resorted to this. Many thanks to Brant for his persistence.

Most unique cloud pic of the year.bows and flows for sure….

The nicest mah Jong players … with the best views. Of course it’s my first and only mah Jong group but I can’t imagine it gets better than this.

Garden harvest photo…and now a freezer full of margarita-ready limes

Buffy the feral cat has become brave and likes coming in for breakfast on cold mornings

One of my favorite moonrises, but so hard to choose from

Best action shot! This is Nicole and Nixon dancing at the annual tamale contest. The tamales were not the best this year, but fun to watch the Queen (or maybe that’s Princess) of Los Barriles dance with Nixon. (She is the daughter of our gardener and housekeeper and I’ve enjoyed learning about the intense schedule of the Queen. She is kept busy throughout with many events and community service projects. A great learning experience for a high school senior. Yes Nixon is a bit short but I think is only a 6th grader)

It is suprising and fun to look back on how much we have done in the past 4 mos. Life certainly has a rhythm here. I enjoy capturing the unique beauty of this place but sometimes it’s even better to just remember it. One smooth as glass night we headed out in our kayaks after a rainy afternoon. I did not take my phone to increase the chances of a whale breaching next to us. No whales but instead the sun began to set behind the rain clouds in the mountains. Perfect conditions for a brilliant rainbow out on the ocean. At times its reflection made a circular rainbow. The bottom of the rainbow seemed to plunge into water with colors reflecting out from the base of it. So beautiful my eyes filled with happy tears.

So fortunate we are to have these moments and the time to share them with each other. It has been a year of overwhelmingly sad, depressing, shocking, disappointing and polarizing news. I continue think we are better than the news stories… or perhaps hope is a better word.

Here’s to another year of hoping … hoping people can stay true to their values. And that those values are ones that recognize humanity, and dignity for all. We have not gotten off to a good start. In fact, I was too depressed to write this blog at the first of the year. I hope it can be a year of listening to each other and unpolarizing a bit. It’s never too late for New Year’s resolutions. It’s never too late to learn about our world. I believe by talking, listening and believing in each other, that we can solve most of our problems. We are traveling now(yes we were nervous about being here in the US). I saw this at Penn Station:

Brant and I hope everyone had great holidays with family and friends! My New Year’s resolution for next year is to complete my Christmas card blog BEFORE Valentine’s.

Here is to keeping our doors open because you never know what beautiful things are on the other side.

Oops… forgot my best sourdough pic of the quarter

With love, from Wendy and Brant (though the opinions expressed are my own and may or may not reflect his)

2 thoughts on “ANOTHER belated Christmas Blog: some of the favorites of the final quarter of the year….”

sarahdyer2022 says:

February 16, 2026 at 2:56 pm

Great photos…so glad you’re having fun times and delicious food!

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chesca411 says:

February 17, 2026 at 2:16 pm

Awesome Wendy. Great to read about your adventures. 👋 to Brant. Miss you two. Hugs

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