If you are interested in seeing our benches in person, you can find us at the San Jose del Cabo organic market every Saturday.  We also presently have two benches at the Casa Dahlia Gallery in the historic art district in San Jose.  


see    http://www.casadahlia.com



 
 
 
The photos above are of water trucks coming and going to Los Zacatitos and further communities out the coast daily.  Each load costs 800 pesos equivalent of $62 usd. for us here, and the cost can double if you live further away.


 Water conservation is important, but living out here off the grid makes us realize perhaps more than most. 

I remember my Mother coming to stay with us for the first time, she said something like....." I didn't realize where the water went until now".  That may be because when we do the dishes we have a bucket outside to collect the water, when it fills up we toss it onto the plants w...along with the bowl in the sink gets dumped after doing dishes a few times.

When we do our laundry we save the last cycle water in a seperate barrel, as well as bath water for the first cycle of the next load of laundry.  Hmm sounds crazy...but it works.  After the laundry is done we spray our plants with the grey water from a little home rigged system utilizing a small water pump to get the presssure.

These past 6 weeks we  were able to do 31 loads of laundry, take our showers, flush our toilets, wash our dishes etc on one load of water from a truck delivery stored in our systerns.

Once the garden gets going it's a whole other story...perhaps one load a week.  Hmmm.  Sometimes it's hard to justify it.  But then again we have folks nearby that go through a load a week just to water their palm trees and they aren't even here. 

 
VIVA MEXICO 11/20/2009
 
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Not only is today Mexican Revolultion Day but it is also our son Fort's 6th birthday.  How did that happen...it's hard to believe.  Every year there is a parade in La Playita to celebrate the Dia de Revolution these past 3 years Fort has participated in the parade, this was our daughter Ellie's first year at 4 years old. Afterwards the entire community gathers to celebrate with food, song and dance.  Tonight we had our traditional pinata, cake and presents.   Feliz Cumpleanos mi hijo!  Felizidades!  Con mucho amor y respecto.... su Mama.
 
 
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A few days ago I found myself passing this site, turning around in the car to take this picture...at the time I didn´t exactly know why but I was compelled to get this photo. 

What was that saying in the messiahs journal in the book ILLUSIONS from Richard Back  ¨¨WHAT THE CATERPILLAR CALLS THE END OF THE WORLD, THE MASTER CALLS A BUTTERFLY¨´¨

Classic, perfect it fits.  Mother Nature has a way of taking care of herself.  This dead horse is turning into soulfull food in the desert for these hawks and buzzards, most likely coyotes, mountain lions and then turns back into earth...the circle of life.

Early this morning I stopped to look at a dead torote, it too was turning into soil, nurturing the plants around it.  So if Mother Nature can do her thang, I figure we too can do our little part by utilizing our organic household waste, turning it into fertile soil by having a compost...this also reduces the amount of trash going to the already saturated landfill.

Above photos from archives 2007 and 2008 landfill burns, the last photo is of a local contractor burning jobsite trash here in Los Zacatitos today.

At times like these, I reflect on a TV commercial back in the early 70´s of an old Indian with his headress, on his horse on the side of the road....as a car drives by throwing out trash... I will never forget as the Indian turns and you can see a tear running down his face...

Funny how childhood memories stick with you...¨¨Give a Hoot Don't Polute¨¨
Makes me realize the importance of educating our children, for they are the future.
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Richard Bach goes on to quote in his simple readings ¨The best way to avoid responsibilities is to say I´ve got responsibilities¨.

Living here somehow has made me realize that We All Need To Be Responsible For Ourselves.  It´s such a simple thing, yet it takes a lot for us as individuals to figure out what needs to be done and do it.  It often doesn´t cost money, it´s just time and energy.

I believe that we need to be responsible for ourselves...our environment, our community, nation, planet...our Mother Earth.  IT ALL STARTS AT HOME, yet it´s all connected.  Together we can learn from one another, and find the best solutions for our problems.

In seven generations we will be the ancestors...what we do will either honor or discrace us.

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A little history............

Our community has experiences toxic smoke from the Palo Escopeta Landfill, this is the location where all of the San Jose del Cabo trash goes.  Los Zacatitos and surrounding communities have united together to take care of ourselves by being a part of one of the first recycling programs in all of Baja California Sur.  We have also gathered together meeting with the Municipality to strongly encourage the Mayor, Ecological department, Public Services and others to stop the landfill burns and incorporate a recycling program for all of Los Cabos. 

 It is sometimes a slow and painful process, but we are being heard...Our efforts are being united with other organizations throughout our communities.  Ojala!  See www.loscaboscontaminacion.com and www.loszacatitos.net click on news, and community issues and you will find a lot of history.

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A few ideas............

1. We can compost our organic wastes.

2.  Don´t burn dead tree, leaves etc instead let nature work her wonders creating a good rich soil for the desert land.

3.  Educate ourselves as to how we can Use Less Water....

4.  Avoid plastic bags.

5.  If we do buy plastic bottles, and can´t recycle, we have put them into every other cell of cinder block when building our walls, not only does it reduce burning plastic but it insulates walls....green building.  We have also utilized them for seedlings..best to avoid purchasing drinks in plastic bottles, but we are not perfect, we´re human.

6.  Always open for ideas, we are all different and have our own ways and I have so much to learn.

7.  Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

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In seven generations, we will be the ancestors.  Today we are the Courageous Children......of all ages.

I have no doubt, if we HUMANITY can´t figure it out that Mother Nature can put us in our place.  She has been extremely patient....ojala!  Thankfully..But I feel we need as a whole to educate ourselves and one another as to how we can mend our own doing making a lesser footprint...instead we have created overflowing landfills and a sea of trash (see PROTECTING OUR WATERS page on this site).  We have done so much damage in such a short period of time.

In seven generations we are the ancestors...what we choose to do is up to us...doing nothing is also a choice.




 
 
Where do I begin?... 

The leaves of the lomboy trees are starting to fade, the desert is loosing it´s luscious velvet green sensation. The colors of the flowers are starting to fade.  I guess you could say Fall is in the air.  The folks are returning from escaping the intense heat of the summers to enjoy the sunshine, blue skies and clear beautiful waters of the Sea of Cortez.  Only a few weeks ago, if a car drove by it was a major event...who was that?  An extremely quiet summer, it was beautiful!

As the local folks on the East Cape say, the magical date is October 15th.  It´s  as if there is a light switch to turn of the heat, humidity and turn on the paridise for tourists and part timers to come down and escape the intense colds of the north.  A little slice of paridise.

In the early morning walks you can feel the cool offshore winds, the big surf has melted into a soothing lapping of water onto the shores edge.  No longer do you have to escape the intense heat of the day....what a treat, you can actually work outside all day without the need to find shelter from the sun.  The boats have been parked off of punta gorda catching big wahoo and tuna.  This past week a 381 pound tuna was caught by a local from La Playita!!! Gene says it´s been years since we´ve had big fish like this...beautiful. Saving perhaps the best for last, we saw our first whale spray two days ago...hopefully we will see an abundant return of the humpback whales...they are incredible creatures.

We are hoping to get our redneck princess out soon, Gene is recovering strong and our family is anxious to get back out on the water and do some fishing. I hope to share some of our family experiences out on our panga with you in the near future... ohala!
 
 
Today in La Playita Maestra Vickey and Maestra Bernice were educating the children of the signifigance of the altar during the Mexican celebration for The Day of The Dead.  Today we were celebrating the life of Maestra Vickeys Mother who had passed 6 months ago. 

Each piece at the altar has special purpose for being there... each element is incorporated into the altar....  wind, fire, water and earth.  All of her favorite foods and drinks are there as well as a few personal items.  

This is a very beautiful tradition and I am thankful to be a part of it.  

 It´s common to see the munchkins dressed up like the dead.  Ellie is the little pink kitty princess...hmm.  Luckily they accept our family in the community, we just keep on learning, and roll with it.

It has been custom for the children to each take home a skeleton and dress it up resembling a family member that has died.  These you see below hanging in the tree..some are pretty classic. 
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this one has a garder belt
My apologies, experiencing technical difficulties on downloadig the visuals on this video, imagine that  :)  but you can hear the music and festivities load and clear.  enjoy
 
 
 

November 2 here in Mexico we Celebrate THE DAY OF THE DEAD 

It´s a beautiful celebration where families honor their friends and relatives that have passed on making special altars with their photos, candles, putting out their favorite foods, drinks and even playing the individuals favorite music...it´s festive...it´s a celebration for that individual's life.

This is where they say it´s the thinnest vail between the worlds where those who have died can come back to visit. That I have heard from various parts of the world.

Oddly enough growing up in the states halloween time was for ghosts and gobblins and scary movies like ¨[night of the living dead] after living here..that seems crazy, on the contrary.

..This Mexican custom doesn´t make one fear death but celebrate their spirits.

The first year my son Fort was in kinder we were asked to bring a photo of someone that had passed on in our family to school...we brought a photo of grandpa Hurlie Reed and grandpa Cotton.  These photos were placed amongst others with offerings of food and drink and it was a very joyous special occasion and I was proud to be a part of it. 

Last year the La Playita schools had a competition with various altars from each school.  At the kinder we celebrated the life of Maestra Lluvia and her 3 year old daughter that had passed on the previous year.  It was a beautiful gathering.  Very festive where the community gathered like one big family

This year the public schools are closed for the celebration, but tomorrow their will be a alter at school,  with a little luck I will add a photo or two..manana.

So...the way I see it, it´s all in your perspective...today,...I choose to celebrate the beauty my friends, family and ancestors brought here in their lifetimes.  Their spirits live on.