El Cedral

On our way back to town, Tommie took us to El Cedral. I hadn't been there for at least 20 years. What I had remembered was a small Mayan ruin, a small church and a woman with a monkey and an iguana. To see the ruin and the church was free, the pictures we shot of the animals, however, were not!


This time at Cedral, I saw a very different place. Old hacienda style houses line the dirt road that winds its way behind the ruin. Our friend, Edwin, had told us that his extended family has a house down there that they open for a festival that's held at the end of April each year. They together with several other "original" families of the island help make this festival of food, music, folklore dancing, horse racing, and bullfights happen. The festival is over 150 years old!


The place together with the festival made me curious about its more ancient history. Apparently, Mayans settled the island with El Cedral as their hub about 2,000 years ago. In addition to being a commercial trade stop, the island became a sacred shrine. Women came by canoe to worship of the goddess of fertility.


Cozumel was found by Spanish explorers in 1518 and it's thought that the first Catholic Mass in Mexico was held on the island. Hernan Cortes came in 1519 bringing smallpox and a disdain for the Mayan culture. The Mayan population shrunk from about 40,000 to 30 by 1570 and their temples lay in ruins. By 1600, the island was uninhabited.


In 1848, several families from around Vallodolid fled the mainland during the War of the Castes and settled in Cozumel. These are the "original" families I mentioned above. Most of these families continue to own both land in town and land in Cedral where the farming was done.


After our visit and my limited research, I have definitely added Cedral as one of my favorite places on this island of special places and people.

The other side

Our friend, Tommie, took D. Ann and I to the other side while Ed and Jim were trying to nurse their colds at home. It was a perfect day - nice and cool with enough waves to make for some excitement. This is the first time I can remember wearing a scuba mask in surf. It was a kick to see the curl of the wave and the fish getting tossed as much as we were. D. Ann took so many great pictures - thanks D.Ann for letting me post them here!



Tommie brought his dogs, Al and Lily. D. Ann caught one of the few moments that Al wasn't moving. Nothing better than a personal hot tub and a favorite toy - the lid to a paint bucket.

A study in blues, grays and shades of white.



Beach orchid.

Cedaredge Friends

Our friends Jim and D. Ann from Cedaredge came to visit last week. We taught D. Ann to dive after she retired from teaching. It has been so much fun to see her excitement with all Cozumel has to offer both below the water's surface and on land. On this, her fourth trip, she continues to seem to love everything about the place - the food, the traditions, the kids, the fish, the flowers and the pelicans.



To help with some struggling families here, Jim and D. Ann brought down a big suitcase full of clothes and shoes. A major stumbling block to attending public school is that all kids need to have 2 pairs of shoes. Many kids have never owned 1 pair much less two. D. Ann is the consumate shopper and bargain hunter. She purchased several pairs of shoes at thrift shops and a going out of business variety store in Cedaredge. Their purchases will help make the dream of going to school a reality for several kids. D. Ann already has plans to start hitting garage sales this summer for more "valuable" items for needy Cozumel kids.

The down side of their visit was that D. Ann had a cough and both Jim and Ed developed some nasty colds. So, Jim and D. Ann didn't get in the water as much as they would have liked. But D. Ann took a ton of wonderful pics (see upcoming post) and we got spoiled by some special treats like one of the best fish dinners ever at our favorite, Casa Denis.

The only time my camera came out of the bag this week was just as Jim and D. Ann were about to leave! A photographer, I am not!

Happy Animal Farm

I just experienced the most heartwarming thing. I met Lilliana. Lilliana grew up in Mexico City and then spent her adult life in England. I don't know just how Lilliana came to Cozumel but I've met several horses, chickens, dogs and cats who owe their lives to her. Although Lilliana lives in town, she spends her days in the jungle taking care of these gentle souls. It all started when she found a horse tied up in the jungle. The owner had gotten fed up with the horse and was making a last ditch attempt to break his spirit. The owner was thrilled when Lilliana offered to take the horse off the woman's hands. Out of this, a jungle sanctuary has been created. Instead of being abandoned, many horses who no longer can pull carriages full of tourists now have a safe place to live out their days happily. Horses who have had bridles permanently disfigure their mouths are learning to trust their human angel and her helpers. A resident dachsund is the unlikely sheepdog who reminds the horses what the command "stable!" means. I've always known that little dogs don't have any clue just how small they are!



Lilliana has been doing everything to care for these animals for almost 10 years. Finally, she is starting to receive help. My friends, Laura and Jodi have been going out each Tuesday and mucking stalls and feeding the animals. Laura is hoping to get 6 other duos to commit to helping the other days of the week. In addition, Laura is figuring out how folks can get money directly to the feed store so that the financial burden on Lilliana can be lessened.



Ed and his friend, George, to help onmay go one morning each week and I'm hoping to find someone to do the same. What a wonderful way to spend a morning! An added bonus is being able to visit a hydroponic organic tomato place on the way home. Yes!

The Pegs in My Life

I love having two Peg1's in my life! In our last post, we talked about my lifelong friend, Peggy Pascal, flying into Dallas for one night to celebrate my birthday. When Peggy and I were growing up, it felt as if we lived in the same house. Although our mothers weren't friends, they often cooked the same thing for dinner because they both shopped the sales at our local grocery. When our parents went away, we would stay with each other. The first time I got drunk was at a Passover Seder held at the house of one of Peggy's relatives. We shopped for our after-prom outfits together, sunburned ourselves in an effort to be gorgeous for prom, and routinely dared each other to do stupid stuff. The worst was taking a my family's canoe out on Lake Michigan without my parents' knowledge and getting stuck in a huge storm that came on, at least to us, unexpectedly. We were rescued by another friend's father in his motorboat.



The other Peg1 in my life is Peggy Davenport. Peggy came into our life 13 years ago because she was seeing a good friend of ours, Charlie. Since then we have sadly lost contact with Charlie but Peggy has become family. She has the most generous spirit who loves her friends, her friends' human and animal families and her own family and animals with a special ferocity. Our dog, Rusty, came into our lives when Peggy was living in Cedaredge. This wonderful dog showed up on the doorstep of the farmhouse she was renting. His human companions had moved several miles from the farmhouse long before Peggy arrived. Rusty had apparently decided that the farmhouse was his true home and made the pilgrimage back more than a few times according to the neighbors. Anyway, we'll always be thankful that Peggy allowed us to share him for the rest of his days.



I didn't get a picture of Peggy P. but Jamie was able to get a pic of Peggy D. on my last visit to Broomfield.

Update

Alex, age 4 and Aubrey, 10 months, getting bundled up to face the Colorado cold.

Alex is ready for school!

Aubrey has developed a growl to go along with this grin.



Charlie at 17 months is such a happy and BIG boy.

Unlike her mom, Ellie thinks snow is pretty fun. In small doses, of course.

It is a challenge to get a picture of the Hirst kids. Their constant motion and still shots don't go well together. This is the closest I could come!

Peggy is back to Cozumel after a two week trip to visit the girls' families. She had great fun with all of them - playing, doing crafts, swimming, going to the movies. She returned to cloudy and cool weather in Cozumel. But, nothing like the snow and cold in Plano and Broomfield.

December 30th was Peggy 60th birthday and she arrived in the US to several surprises! First, she was presented a DVD of photos and birthday greetings from family and friends. Jamie and Adrienne did an amazing job of putting it all together. A wonderful gift apparently almost 6 months in the making. As this is written, a new enterprise is being launched . The girls are putting together a internet business that will create DVD's for birthdays and other occasions. More info to follow.

While in Dallas, Peggy's lifelong friend, Peggy Pascal, flew in from Chicago for a surprise overnight sleepover. Peggy P. had made reservations at a hotel near the airport. They had a four hour dinner and spent the night together. What fun. And what a surprise! Adrienne was incredibly convincing in the story she fabricated to get Peggy to the airport hotel. The little sneak!

During Peggy's absence, Ed visited his surgeon for a final checkup. All was perfect. No restrictions. Doctor said in 90 days there will be no evidence of the repair other than the scar. Peggy still continues to check it out several times a day!

It has been very dry here for the month so we were pretty happy to have several nortes blow in. The much cooler temperatures and wind were fine, but the rain was most welcome. Grass and garden look much better after 3 days or so of off and on again rain showers. Today, the cool weather has broken. The temperature has climbed and the skies are blue with a few clouds. Warm enough for Peggy and her friend Lynn to walk down to Blue Angel and swim! Yippee! Ed took down the laundry that has been hanging out for several days trying to dry and did a couple of small projects. Now, hammock time!