Update on litter in Bucerias, Mexico

The day of our departure from Bucerias, Mexico (Feb 22) we were walking home from the Sunday market. We need to cross the highway via an underpass. The litter in the underpass has always been extreme. We had commented on it just the day or so before.

Lo and behold, as we walked back to our unit yesterday there was someone sweeping up the litter. Wonderful! We’re noticed a real improvement in the amount of litter in some parts of the town. So along with the recycling (see prior post), more and more pride in the overall surroundings seems to be taking hold.

Certainly in the commercial/tourist areas there is a always sweeping the sidewalks and streets every morning. It’s good to see the extending to other parts.

Saving our planet in Mexico

We love Mexico.

But there is one thing we have never understood about the towns we visit on our stays in the Nayarit Riviera.

People litter.

There is garbage everywhere in public places and plastic bottles are littered all over the place. Last year our granddaughter Skye (then aged five) said, “Why do they throw their bottles on the ground? Why don’t they put them in the garbage cans?”

Good question.

Well, a few years ago one man in Bucerias decided to tackle the problem. Barry Munro, an Amigos de Bucerias member, used his network of friends and acquaintances to start The RECYCLERS of BUCERIAS.

Volunteers sorting bottles and cans at Bucerias recycle center

It’s a not for profit program run totally by volunteers. The group recycles plastic bottles and aluminum cans. They have purchased large wire baskets and placed them throughout the neighborhoods of Bucerias to collect the recylables and they are educating the community about recycling.

Early every Thursday morning volunteers drive through Bucerias and collect recycling from homes and businesses. It’s all taken to a sorting and storage lot where volunteers sort and bag materials for transport to the recycling center.

The blue go here, the green go there...

It’s catching on. The community is NOTICEABLY cleaner. In the past year they have recycled almost 10 tons of material and donated over $7,000.00 pesos back into the community thanks to all of the recyclers in Bucerias.

The group is also working to place recycle baskets in areas of the community that do not currently have containers. Other future goals include involving local youth in environmental activities and helping to alleviate problems that negatively impact the environment such as trash in vacant lots.

On Monday we spent a few hours helping sort bottles and cans (as shown in the photos). It was great to be able to help out and we look forward to volunteering again the next time we come to Bucerias.

90 Year Milestone

I’m in Ottawa this week to celebrate a milestone… my mother’s 90th birthday.

What’s most remarkable to me is not that she is celebrating 90 years (although that in itself is a wonderful milestone), but that she is up and walking… and walking very well, thank you!

The reason for my amazement is that mum fell and broke her hip earlier this year. Now when an 89 year old breaks her hip it is normal to expect that person’s overall health to suffer a decline. It’s also very common for that person to not walk again. Indeed we thought it very likely that she would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life.

Heading out for lunch.

After Mum broke her hip, the physio staff at the Manor told my sister they would have her walking again. We were doubtful, but to their credit, they have achieved this goal.

As you can see from the photo above, mum is very mobile with the aid of her walker. And even without the walker, with a cane and an arm to lean on, she managed very well.

To coincide with my visit we had our annual meeting with the care team at the Salvation Army Grace Manor, which has been her home for the past four years. I am delighted with the caring attitude of all the staff at the Manor. From the activity director to the nursing staff to the support staff, they all show a great deal of care and affection for Mum.

An indication of this was the staff person who we encountered at the elevator on our way out. She stopped to chat and reached over to straighten Mum’s collar, then gave her a gentle pat on the arm and wished her a pleasant lunch. Small gestures, but indicative of this overall attitude that seems to pervade the place.

Two of my siblings and I had a delightful lunch with her.

A delightful lunch out with Mum a few days after she turned 90.

I will see her a few more times this visit… tomorrow my brother and I will pick her up and take her to my brother-in-law’s birthday dinner, then the next day we’ll all have a 90th birthday celebration at the Manor with other family and friends.

She is doing much better than I imagined she was. This is very heartening. Some of the credit goes to my brother, a lot of it goes to the caring staff at the Grace Manor, and a great deal of it goes to my younger sister who is most actively involved in her care.

Surrogate for the Lodge

Now that we have closed our country lodge for the winter, we need to get our country fix in other ways. Fortunately we live very close to a large nature reserve and wetland.

There is a winding trail that makes a great walk. I took Jed, our beautiful black Boxador, out for an hour and 20 walk this morning.

Jed the beautiful black Boxador.

He’s come a long way in terms of his training. I didn’t take his leash, instead preferring to use commands to keep him under control. He did really well. At one point there was a couple walking towards us with a large German Shepherd on leash. They crossed the street when they saw us… and I soon understood why. Their dog got very excited and almost out of control when he saw Jed. Jed, on the other hand, responded really well to my command to stay. He watched the other dog, but never tried to make a run for him.

Soon after we saw three women joggers coming towards us. I told Jed to sit and stay, which he did while they ran past. They were most impressed with how well behaved he was!

And so it was as we continued on our walk. We passed several other dogs and Jed was very responsive to my commands.
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The small river that flows into the wetlands is starting to freeze. You can see in the photo below the cracks forming on the ice surface.

Ice cracks on newly frozen surface.

This next shot was taken looking back towards the wetlands.

Looking towards Big Lake.

The air was crisp and just below freezing, but the sun was out and we kept up a brisk pace, so it was a glorious walk. The only downside is, this is the weekend, and we’re not at the lodge!

The sign…

Snowplow sign

This fluorescent orange flag, attached to our address sign, will keep our driveway clear all winter.

Well not literally of course. It’s the indicator for the grader operator to clear our driveway when he or she is doing the county road. It’s one hell of a deal. For a fee of only $100 (going up to $150 next year) the county will plow our driveway with their grader whenever they are doing the county roads. This is great! Especially given the length of our driveway.

In the past we rarely went to our lodge in the winter… only once or twice to check on the place, but snow prevented our access… we could not get up our driveway. I think that with this snow clearing deal we should be able to get up the driveway and thus be able to use the place a few times in the winter.

Of course we have winterized the place… turned off the water and drained the lines, and put antifreeze down the drains, so there will be no running water which means no toilet. We’ll have to work that part out!

We went to our lodge last night to do the close-up. This morning we awoke to a winter wonderland.

We awoke to find a winter wonderland.

Jed, our beautiful black Boxador, loved the snow!

Jed looking out at new fallen snow.

There was a freezing rain warning, but we got this snow instead. By afternoon some of it had melted as the sun came out and the temp crept above freezing.

We were on the road by about 5:15 after putting the lodge to bed for the winter. It was a pretty easy close up, made the more so by the close-up check list on our website.

While winter close-up is always tinged with sadness, that feeling was lessened somewhat by the knowledge that we can come up occasionally during the winter for a weekend retreat.

A near perfect walk in the country!

This afternoon, while spending our last weekend at our rustic retreat for the season, we went for a walk. We’d spent the better part of the day, and most of the previous day, working on our websites, Rustic-Lodge-Lifestyle.com and Smart-Heart-Living.com, so we were feeling in desperate need of fresh air and exercise. The previous day had been extremely windy and cold. It was just plain nasty out… so we stayed inside!

We thought we’d just go for about a 45 minute walk today. And we decided to explore some roads and trails we’d never been on. It turned out to be about an hour and 45 minutes! Why? We got lost!

Pause for self-timer photo while on country hike

Jed the boxador checking out the scents.

Not totally lost… we knew approximately where we were and what direction we need to get, but we followed some beautiful winding trails through the woods and eventually realized we didn’t know exactly how to get back! Not that we were in the least bit concerned… we were in farm country, so the worst that could happen is we would come to a farm and ask for directions. Or we could backtrack if we were really stuck.

But like I said, we always knew the general direction we needed to get to… it was just challenging at times to do it given the terrain and obstacles we faced along the way.

There had been a light snowfall a few days earlier. In places the snow was still evident.

Our black boxador, Jed, and our granddog, Haidyn, had a wonderful time running ahead and back, sniffing the air and the ground, chasing each other, and just loving being outdoors.

The trail ended and the field began.

The trail through the woods eventually ended at a farm field, so we continued our walk through this field. We knew we needed to get to the field beyond the trees on the right, but this wooded area was impassable… far too dense and down a steep gully. So we simply followed the tree line knowing it would have to end eventually!

Hiking through countryside on a crisp autumn afternoon.

Huge round straw bales dotted the field. I propped the camera on top of one, aimed without being able to see through the viewfinder, and took another self-timer shot. Those bales are much taller than me! You can see in these photos that it is a gray day and a gray time of year. The shot above gives a sense of the rolling hills and great views!

We came upon a huge stockpile of straw bales. Hundreds of them!

Hundreds of straw bales.

Straw bale close-up.

We eventually came to the end of the trees and headed toward the road. We had to cut through a farmer’s yard, but no one asked us what we were doing there… we just carried on to the road and completed our walk… much further than anticipated, but a wonderful outing. Beautiful scenery and a huge variety of terrain with different forest types including pine, birch, poplar (the biggest poplar trees I’ve ever seen), and spruce.

And to top it off, we got lots of fresh air and some good “heart healthy” exercise!

Building/Teaching Internet Business

One of my passions is rustic living… which is why my wife and I started our rustic living website, Rustic-Lodge-Lifestyle.com.

Rustic Lodge Lifestyle home page

We also have a site about living successfully with heart disease based on my wife’s experiences after having a serious heart incident in late 2004, Smart-Heart-Living.com.

Smart Heart Living home page.

Both sites were created using an Internet business building platform called SiteBuildIt, or SBI.

The websites, created in early 2008, are growing steadily. Traffic is steadily increasing and revenue has started to trickle in and is growing monthly. And after months of believing in the process, we now see solid evidence that the idea of online businesses using the SBI approach can actually work!

The biggest difference between SBI and many, if not all, other online business building tools, is that SBI provides a complete suite of tools that work whether one has extensive computer and Internet experience or is a complete novice. That, to me, is a remarkable feature.

One of the most significant aspects of SBI is the 10 Day Action Guide that takes you step-by-step through the entire online business creation process including deciding on the best topic or niche for your website, a powerful brainstorming tool to research the most effective keywords, guidance on building keyword focused content pages, tracking site stats, a massive library of books and articles relating to just about every aspect of the business, an extremely active and supportive user forum, and so much more!

SBI has recently begun teaching a course called Building a Successful Business Using the Internet. Instructors are recruited from amongst the thousands of successful SBI users. Given the success of our sites I applied to be an instructor and to my delight was accepted. My intention is to be teaching the first course in the spring session of 2009.

My wife and I both love working on the sites… the building of the online businesses has become another passion in our lives! The reason is simple… both sites are based on things we are passionate about, so writing content and creating these new entities is an exciting endeavor.

For anyone thinking of building an online business, I highly recommend checking out SBI… it’s a remarkable, all-in-one tool that just keeps getting better and better!

First snow of the season at the lodge

Driving to the lodge last night, I could see signs of snow along the side of the dirt road as we got close to our destination. For 120 km there was not a single sign of snow, but about 15 km out, there it was, a wet dirt road and, in the light from the headlights, a bit of snow along the sides. As we got closer there was considerable snow buildup along the ditches and in driveways we passed.
I commented that we would have snow in our driveway and yard… it’s always the last area to melt in the spring! Sure enough, enough snow to see tracks from a vehicle that had been to our lodge earlier that day.

This morning we slept in! We got up as the sun was rising… and here is what we saw:

Sunlight filtering through the trees on fresh snow

Here’s the snow on the breakfast table I built.

First snow of season. Note dog foot prints on table!

Not a lot of snow, but a stark reminder that the lodge season is fast coming to a close for us! Since the weather forecast is for reasonably moderate temperatures for the next couple of weeks, our shutdown will be in two weeks. We’ll follow the advice and tips on our prepare for winter page and say goodbye for another year!

The Power of Mother Nature

Last weekend a terrific wind blew pretty much all over Alberta. We had gone to Calgary for an event and it was windy there. We heard wind warnings for areas further south – Lethbridge and Fort McLeod. And we experienced the strong winds driving home along highway 2 on Saturday afternoon. We were in a small vehicle… a Honda del Sol… which was buffeted by the winds pretty much the entire drive home.

When we drove up to our lodge (about 130 km NE of Edmonton) last night we were greeted by a large tree across our driveway. It was dark by the time we got here, so we couldn’t tell exactly what things looked like. Here is what we saw in the morning.

Tree across driveway as seen from front door of lodge.

From the other angle… the drive in, this is what we encountered:

Tree blocking driveway at entrance

Here is another shot showing the base of the tree at the break.

Base of tree at the break.

We were fortunate the wind was blowing the direction it was as there was the potential for this tree to have fallen on our truck, Fitzgerald, or onto the shop.

A few hours later, with the help of my trusty Husqvarna and my good friend Paul, the driveway was returned to normal.

As we cut the stump it became clear why this tree succumbed to the forces of nature. A parasite of some sort has been eating away at the inside… possibly carpenter ants? Here is a shot showing the internal rot. There was still a substantial amount of solid wood around the trunk, so it was obviously a terrific wind. We heard reports of gusts just over 100 km/h (60 mph).

We were fortunate in that this was the only damage. We heard a news report about a woman passenger being killed when the car she was in was struck by a falling tree. There were lots of other reports of damage as a result of the wind. So a tree falling across our driveway is a minor inconvenience in comparison.

Lodge for sale???

Going to the lodge alone provides a different perspective. Because my mother-in-law just came home from the hospital (see Infected-pacemaker-leads) and there were things at the lodge that needed attention, I headed up there on my own late Saturday morning.

In fact, one of the compelling reasons for going was that a good friend is interested in buying our lodge. She was coming up later that afternoon with her brother, whom she is possibly going to go together with to structure a purchase.

My wife and I have seen a log home on an 80 acre parcel of land that we are very interested in. There are many reasons for this. First, we have always thought that we would eventually find a permanent log home to retire to. Our current lodge, while a wonderful weekend and vacation retreat, does not fit this bill. It is not fully winterized and is too far from a major center for our liking. Mainly, it is too far from our families!

The property we are interested in is actually a 20 minute drive from where one of our daughers will be building their new home… and that is a huge plus for us.

The other major attraction is that this is, or has the potential to be, a year round home we could live in full-time. That simply is not an option with our current vacation lodge.

So… we let it be known to a few close friends that we might be interested in selling the lodge. Thus the visit this weekend. We had a wonderful visit with this friend and her brother and his wife. It now remains to be seen whether this is a property they are interested in pursuing together.

Our take on it is quite relaxed. If it is meant to be it will happen. If not, something good will happen at the right time. We feel no pressure. In fact, the timing right now is not good to be looking at a sale and move. With my mother-in-law having just moved in, and her health being less than optimal, it might be hard on her at this point. Plus she LOVES the lodge and cannot fathom why we would consider selling it!

So… it may or may not happen. If it does, great, if it doesn’t, great! How good it that?