Chacala, My Favorite Place

Chacala has warmed up again, after several weeks of cooler than usual nights. It's back to shorts and shirts in the evening after a period of long sleeved shirts and long pants. People are still enjoying campfires on the beach, in front of their motorhomes.

One of the young women who lives right near my camp, ánd who is the daughter in law of Esperanza, and two babies, also has a lovely little dog whose Spanish name I don't really understand. But the little guy, with white curly fur and very small, is still a puppy. He has been a little ball of weeds and seed pods and has been dirty since I moved here. But a few days ago I spent a couple of mornings cleaning him up. He would happily lay on my lap while I picked stickers and twigs and gum and god knows what out of his fur. I ended up trimming him a little because some of the crud was not removable by finger. Anyway. Esperanza suggested I wash him. So he took a shower with me, and I sácrificed my least favorite towel to drying him off and then brushed him out with a little hair brush I found. He looked cute as can be, curly and white and clean.

And a day later he disappeared. I asked every I could find if they has seen him, and two different Canadian couples told me a family has just driven off with him. After playing with him on the beach. I went around again this morning looking for him, but he is gone. I feel really sad and also guilty. If I had left he filthy dirty no one would have wanted to steal him. He was clearly an owned-dog, with a new collar. Oh well.

I am really appreciating wheelbarrows again. When I used to live on a farm, for many years, I used one all the time. And I am starting to use them again. I have been wheelbarrowing my 24 empty glass bottle / plastic Coke carriers up to Dona Lupe's restaurant, where she trades them in for me for a crate of full bottles. The Coke truck still doesn't come south on the beach road, but this works out okay.

I have been "decorating" my campsite with shells and rocks and stuff, plus some beads I brought with me from the US. I like how it looks, and probably the people who walk on the beach think I'm nuts. The chickens come around all the time, so I don't have to worry about bugs because they work pretty hard at digging things up. The dogs wander thru too, but never stay long. Except for Jose Enrique and Carmen's dog, Jose Carmelo, who often spends the morning under my table, resting his head on my feet. A nice dog. And if I needed my feet warmed, I'd hire him for the job.

This is Monday morning, and I had an errand to run in Las Varas, and didn't want to take a cold shower at Esparanza's. Her shower is warm from about noon on. So I went to Las Brisa's and had a steaming hot shower for 15 pesos. Definitely worth it. Then I rode into town with the school kids on the 7:30am collectivo ride, and took care of business and caught the La Penita collectivo back to the Crucero de Chacala (the turn off the highway to Chacala, where all the fruit stands are) and then caught another ride back home. It took an hour and fifteen minutes. A record for a Las Varas trip for me.

The town is really quiet early Monday mornings, and just a few people on the streets until later than usual. Today they are removing the metal framework for the roof on the newish restaurant across from the Deposito. I don{t know what was wrong with it, but they are removing it piece by piece.

Dona Lupe has been renting here downstairs room, where Luis, her son, used to live. It is a shared bath, private room with private entrance. $100 a month. A couple has been staying there the last couple of months, but they are leaving today.

The new town garbage truck is zipping around town most days. It was own in the trash contest. The garbage situation continues to improve. The driving little vehicles on the beach, and jet ski s has been happening, but there is talk of inforcing the ban on beach driving, and maybe banning jet skis. Alot of other towns are doing it. Maybe Chacala will too.