Peace Rider on the Road Kantunilkin to Akumal 1/8/13 to 1/13/13

Dear Friends,

I was beat heading out of Kantunilkin mid-afternoon on the 8th after being on the road without a break from the 2nd.  I had decided at this point to return back through Tulum and see Gabriel again.  I bought a quartz crystal in Chichen to give him for the Mayan temple he's building.    But something had to give,  to go north and then a long way south was not going to work for the time and distance remaining.  I was thinking of doing some of it by bus, which would help.  It became clear I wasn't going to make Chiquila on the north coast in the remaining light of day and would have to overnight somewhere.   All this was rattling around in my head outbound.  And this old body was saying give me a break.

So as usual with the sun low on the horizon I began asking the question, where are we going to camp tonight?  I'm trying to do better at feeling my way to a place.  Up ahead in the distance on this very long straight stretch I see a large white vehicle coming at me, maybe a bus.  It feels like I should look in that vicinity if I can figure out where that is.  In a short while I'm at the place where I estimate I first saw the bus.  There are some cleared places along the road for new houses but nothing leaps out at me and says yes.  We are  always free to choose a lesser experience or a greater one.  I came to the conclusion awhile ago I'd rather be wrong even if I think I'm projecting something rather than not honor what I think I'm hearing and feeling.  So I pass up a few places which would have worked.  Then I see on my right side a small palapa raised above ground on wood posts.  That's different, I thought.  Most structures I'd been seeing were of concrete block.  There was a nice cleared area  around the place with a car parked in front.  Hmm, feels right, so I pull in.  It's a station wagon, a Ford Equinox I think,  with an Australia sticker on the hatchback trunk.  I call out hola!, no response, walk around back a ways and again, hola!  A man lying in a hammock responds and gets up.

And that was how I met Pepe a nickname for Jose he later tells me.  I ask if | can put my tent on his property for the night.  Si, no problem he responds.  My Spanish has improved so I'm catching most of the conversation.  There was a kind of coarse grass for a lawn and the alarm bells should have been going off, beware the bichos, chiggers, or garapatas as Pepe calls them that lurk therein.  But they don't and I pitch my tent in the grass, later to move it.  It doesn't help.  The sons of bichos found me. 

Jose as it turns out has an ecotourism business <www.elchorchal.com>.   He and his family own some of the last original forest near Solferino 2km north.   He tells me he's helping a lady build a tree house and asks if I want to see it in the morning.  Sure I say.  Others, including a Mexican biologist and Norwegian man with Greenpeace, have all bought small pieces of original forest here to insure minimal development.  To my question the next day if I might stay a bit longer to rest he says yes, welcome.  He gives me the run of the place which also has a separate shower and toilet, yahoo!  I forget about going to Hol Box, finding this place was where I needed to be.  We had similar interests and my body screamed rest.  This was the place.  

Turns out Pepe had taken a short course in Cuba on Agroforestry.  I learned a lot on a tour of his land the next day.  He showed me rows of Caoba trees he'd planted in the forest, along with bamboo of two different kinds in more open places.   Caoba and cedar are two desirable woods he tells me but the former grows faster, especially if supplemental water can be added.  One land owner has done just that connecting trees to a well with a system of interconnected plastic piping.  Pepe is trying to show by example what is possible for others to do rather than continue the cycle of burning and use of chemicals to perpetuate monocultures.  He also had a couple of fish tanks behind his house raising a spotted predatory fish, whose name escapes me, as an ornamental and for food.  Some were at least five pounds but stayed mostly hidden under the floating water hyacinth.  

I asked him if he was interested in raising and helping restore the native Melipona bees which are rare now.  It produces superior quality honey with medicinal properties that bring very high prices.  He was, but less so for the money than for the rehabilitation of the species.  This was the bee and honey Mayan people used to cultivate.  It was a part of their culture.   I told him I would get back to him with more information from a contact I had in Tulum.  

I told Pepe I should leave the 11th and asked about taking the bus south.  But he offered to give me a ride part way.  That was fine it would get me close enough to make Tulum in a days bike ride.  If we got up early I could get on the road while it was still cool he suggested.  So that's what we did.  I was ready.  The tropical forest is bug heaven and I an easy meal ticket.   

Well,  we managed to get away before sunrise but my green scarf didn't make the trip.  I think it blew off a line after drying the day before.   Of course I didn't notice its disappearance until after Pepe dropped me off, confirmed by a futile search of my bags.   I really needed a scarf to keep my neck and face from getting fried even with sunblock.  

Pepe dropped me at a road junction leading to the ruins at Coba 45 km to the southeast.  As it turned out,  the same distance to Tulum, about 55 miles in all plus another five to Gabriel's place.  Doable over this mostly flat terrain.   I was perhaps 30 minutes into it staying in the shade on the left side.  There wasn't much traffic.  Up ahead I see something lying on the right side.  More often it's road kill but when I pull abreast it's a piece of cloth.  I stop for a closer look.  It's a bandana.  Well, how about that, manna from Heaven!  But it reeks of some kind of petroleum residue.  It's useless for the moment it but I keep it..  The nearest place I could get it washed I'm thinking is Tulum, not much help there.  Time and a few more kilometers pass.  Speed bumps sanely slow car traffic through communities and some even bicycles depending on the design.  This was the case in Pak Naw as I approached it.  It was a very small Mayan pueblo but on my way through I notice a black plastic tube sticking out of the ground spurting water.  Very not usual.  No one's around to ask if I can use it.   Building blocks are piled in front of nearby one story building indicate new construction in progress.  I wait awhile to see if anyone shows up but nobody does.  I lean my bike against a pole, get out the soap and wash the bandanna three or four times and get most of the smell out.  It's usable.  I also soak my shirt.  I'm away again with air conditioning. YO, thank you Universe! 

It's worth repeating, the Universe is here to support you when you align with universal values and are giving of yourself for the greater good in some fashion.  What you focus on grows.  

I turn left at the junction to Tulum but make a quick stop beforehand at the Pemex station to re wet my shirt.  By two, I'm in Tulum heading for the Hotel Don Diego de la Selva to ask about Melipona bees.   Stephane, the French owner I'd met on my first visit, is trying to rescue and revive the culture of these bees. He remembered me.  He had several colonies in capped sections of hollow trunks, the traditional Maya way of cultivating Melipona.  He was in the process of transferring them to boxes.  They are easier to maintain and extract the honey from he tells me.  He was giving a course on their cultivation 2 February in Playa del Carmen.  I passed all this on to Pepe.

From there it was get a few more pesos from an ATM for food, and continue on to Muuchximbal, Gabriel's community.  The next day I was in Akumal by noon.  I stayed at De Rosa's,  Villa de Rosa shortly after I arrived.  An alternative and safe place to come if you're considering a Mexican vacation.  You can contact Nancy at <derosamex@hotmail.com> and also check out <www.saverivieramaya.org>.  She came here 27 years ago when there was very little development along this coast, exploring many of the underground caves and cenotes with her husband.  Now she and others are trying to halt some of the most destructive developments that have been proposed or approved but not yet built.  

Sixto Mazon and family were coming to Las Palmas, another Mayan community, near Muuchximbal on Saturday the 12th.  Gabriel said he'd pick me up on the way back from Cancun that morning.  So Saturday I joined a gathering of friends to honor the arrival of Sixto and Araselli's two month old son.  It was nice to see again these new friends.  Mariano, Gabriel's father, took me, the Sixto family and another couple on a tour of nearby cenotes or springs.  One was a spectacular and extensive underground system of interconnected caves on private land called Mystic River.  So amazingly beautiful and fragile these water carved sculptures.  

Mariano, at 80 doesn't look his age and is doing quite well,  We ate outside with among other notables Gobi, a spider monkey on a long sliding leash suspended between two trees.  From these he hung and swung and climbed using his long tail as a third arm.   A couple of young children got too close and using that prehensile tail grabbed hold of a leg and dragged them prompting a swift adult rescue.

The question of what comes next has been answered.  Fukuko, my wife, asked me to return to help with the house.  Her health remains an ongoing issue and concern.  So from the beach to snow, go with the flow, don't push the river, expect the unexpected.  I leave Cancun for Miami 16 January and Fairbanks not long thereafter.  

For me a wonderful and unforgettable culture experience among my new and very gracious Mayan hosts and other friends.  But in a fitting metaphor the light is increasing slowly in Fairbanks but with gathering speed as the days pass.  In similar fashion I sense building energy for change to take us all in a more positive and hopeful direction.  

As time and inspiration allow will continue with these writings.  Our work is not yet done and many challenges remain.  

Don Peace Rider

   

On the Road Tizimin to Kantunilkan 1/8/13 "Failing First Grade"

Dear Friends,

Arrived Kantunilkan earlier today and taking a break during the heat of the day before heading north to catch a ferry from Chichila to the island of Hol Box.  There are friends of a friend there that I hope to connect with.  Beyond, maybe bus south to Tulum.

I left Ciber Cafe Americano in Tizimin late in the day after the last posting.  Howard, eight years in Mexico from Texas, was very helpful with directions.  He suggested camping in the next town, Kil Kil and asking the commasario for permission.  I  arrived there and it didn't feel that comfortable, no privacy at all.  Continued, asked the usual question.  Rode past Estancia Retiro they were doing something with their cows.  Was this the place?  Turned around and asked Luis the in charge ranch hand if I could stay.  It was okay.  They were moving 30 head of cows gto Belice.  The ranch name means retreat.  It was.  Carlos was the other worker there I met.  Muggy and humid early then cooled off with clouds in the early AM accompanied by heavy dew.  The wind came up, the wind mill spun.  I filled water bottles and soaked my shirt for the air conditioning effect. 

But before all that just after I got up went to the nearest horse stall and just rested my arims on the top boards about head high.  These are smaller horse of Spanish descent.  The mare was a pretty roan color about my  height.  I didn't speak words but gave it my best horse whisperer murmurings.  And she came right up to my face with those big soft nostrils and smelled as I continued with the sweet nothings watching her ears.  Then she did the most unexpected thing and rested her head on my shoulder and left it there for a time.  It would seem communication was made on another level - love - just by being present with that energy.  Way cool!

Well, you should know  when I returned to the ranch late the following day after a foray north to Rio Largatos and Las Coloradas she was away  to the fiesta in Tizimin.  The next AM the lose stallion was hanging around outside her stall with sex on his mind.  She remembered me but with some disinterest.  Go figure!

The first day north I made it to a point short of Las Coloradas on the edge of huge commercial marine salt evaporating ponds.  The wind was blowing hard and salt foam was crossing the pond dike in places.  I found the largest bush to hunker down behind and pitch a tent.  It was dense vegetation over sand.  In the fading light I'm fixing dinner with my bike bag for a wind break.  Eeek,  I saw then a black scorpion crawling on the bag.  Where did that come from?  I managed to flick it off but checked all my things thereafter for its relatives. 

One of the most unique places I visited on my way to LC was Peten Tucha.  Here, subterranean water comes to the surface at a cenote pouring out in two places into the mangroves that form a part of Biosphere Rio Laguarto.  A sign there said no swimming, crocodiles.  I didn´t see any but didn't go swimming either.  I learned there are four species of mangrove, red, black, white and one other not remembered.  Some of these at least grew around PT. 

The maybe plan was to try and reach Cuyo by beach road from LC but the pavement ended there and sand began thereafter.  My skinny tired bike was unsuitable.  I gave up the idea after talking to local fishermen.  One was a Frenchman that spoke some English.  He gave me some bottled water but it tasted funny.  Water here is precious and I kept it for a time.

I have made a determined effort to not put any more plastic in circulation by buying bottled water.  Luis at the ranch gave me one and I needed an extra liter.  The other I brought with me.  It was a discard by the roadside in Montana, as I recall.  Individual choices we make matter.  The same with plastic bags from a store but its not easy. We've conditioned to plastic bags that everywhere here are used to hold purchased goods.   This is a monster we've yet to collectively tame.  You almost get used to seeing the roadside littered with plastic basura, much of it with the Coca Cola label.   Why?  This is clearly intolerable.  We've allowed our Mother Earth to be contaminated with all kinds of trashy things bad for all health and her long term welfare and this is one of them.  Off the soap box!

My water tasted bad.  I wanted to replace it as I headed downwind and south in a few clicks out of LC.  I realize even traveling slow on a bike you can get sucked into seeing more places rather than enjoy the moments as they come.  Peten Tucha cames to mind again, fresh water, a potential bath in an outlet stream during the heat of the day.  Why not!  It was a short bike in.  I climbed the Mirador,, a viewing tower you could never duplicate in the States.  My wet cloths dried in the breeze 41 wide steps later.  I read the sign carefully on the way in, motorbikes prohibited, nothing about bicycles.  I nearly forgot, seeing the red flamingos in the ponds around LC were worth the visit.  I even saw an old "friend" there from the north somewhere, a yellow legs.  And it sure looked like a line of tree swallows hanging out on a power line by one of the ponds.

Saturday night back at the ranch late.  Loud music from the fiesta in Tizimin some clicks away could be heard in the still night air.  It didn't abate until well into the AM.  Ear plugs only partially helped.  That night I sat on a bag of silage fed to the ranch bulls while Luis and Carlos were talking about work and pay and getting nowhere.  I got up to go to bed and felt a wet back side.  My hand came away sticky and reeking.  I washed most of it out.  But in the night air I could smell the silage pit upwind from my new camp site.  A skunk passed sometime in the night.  You don't forget that smell.   A male Tom cat was yeowling for a lover.  All-in-all not the soundest nigh'ts sleep I´ve had on the road.  But then I didn't ask if Retiro was to be my home for the night either but it was. 

Sunday I made my way into Tizimin with a crowd of fiesta goers.  I'm thinking this is thief time.  So I try to be present.  I go to a local shop to buy a belt.  I told Lorenzo I would return to buy one I liked if he got the right length for me.  He had and I bought one.  His handicapped daughter Marcila, I didn't hear her name cleary, helped him.  I asked if he would take less and he said I don't have a tourist price.  I liked that.  In the process one glance across the street at the beginning should have been a forwarning.  A man was sitting on the curb watching.  In getting money out of my pack I failed to put my bag of toilettries back.  With my back turned and distracted, not present, it got nicked.  I didn't notice until several stops later. 

Lessons not learned have a way of returning until we do.  Being both in one's mind and out of it - present and aware of the energy around us is a learning process not yet mastered by yo mismo.  Nothing significant gone, stuff.  In the past I'd have beaten myself up about it but no longer.  All of us are good enough, we make mistakes.  From diapers we're just taking our first  tentative steps into a new consciousness and way of being.  The first person to show love and compassion towards is yourself.  That one has taken me a long time as the chronometer clicked over to 70.

I looked in my bike mirror the other day to look at a nose bleed and was given quite as fright.  I looked my age.  But grateful to be doing what I´m doing.

From Tizimin to San Hippolito and camp behind the house of another Luis and Jose who kindly let me pitch my tent in a place where there was a bit of soil to hold my stakes in this rocky ground.  It was good to be off the road as traffic was intense returning to Cancun from Tizimin.

Time for me git.  It's three hours to Chichila on a bike maybe a little less and it's 3:00PM here.

Onward,

Don Peace Rider

PS Mistakes of editing or omission thoroughly my own.  By the way I met Juan Pablo, he was in Kil Kil and gave me good directions.  To that name I responded he´s in Rome, JP laughed.

Peace Rider back on the road, Ticimin, Yucatan 1/3/2013

Dear friends.

A brief update - maybe.  My guts have been in an uproar since leaving Casa Maya.  The inexpensive oil, of the artery clogging kind, the most likely culprit.  But I'm back on my own fare since last evening. 

I got out of Kaura late in the day, about 1500 which was good.  The heat of the day had abated and I was mostly in the shade of trees east bound.  I went through Valladolid, made a phone call and continued out of town.  As it happened the long way around and ended up backtracking to hit the road to Ticimin.  That´s where I am at, at the moment but going to hit the road again for Rio Lagarto on the north coast then back through here to Hol Box and island off the coast south back to Tulum and Gabriel´s place briefly then north up the Riviera Maya.  All of course, subject to change but the plan of the moment.

In fading light of day I asked my "guide" where are we camping tonight.  Two kilometer ahead on the right.  Never mind there were no kilometer sign posts save one I passed.  I looked at one place earlier before I asked but naw and the fence was locked.  On my right a low sometimes high wall enclosing private property.  I came to an open gate in the high wall.  Probably not 2km but what the hey, worth an ask of the attendant but again naw, nice try Don.

Hit the road to Ticimin, turned right, still nothing.  But in a short distance a nice looking, narrow gravel road to my right.  It led to a locked gate on the back side of the walled Estancia.  This is all second growth vegetation, dense and I saw no openings on my way in.  Still, it had the right feel to it.  Asked again is this the place?  Look for a trail on the right.  Riding slowly now, looking but nothing, nothing then, was that a trail?  I stopped, layed the bike down.  It was a trail someone had cut into the brush.  I walked in, maybe 50 meters.  Not much room to pitch a tent but enough by clearing a bit of brush.  In the fading light I missed the dumped plastic trash.  Vines and branches grabbed at my pedals on the way in but I was home for the night.  It began muggy but was cool by morning.

Some of you are and some of you are not in the same place spiritually/energetically.  That's okay, you may even disagree.   Diversity is the spice of life.  But the important thing to remember worth repeating is that what you focus on grows.  In this year of all years, focus on ending the "insanity."  I´m doing it.  But this isn´t a head trip.  This is heart stuff, the center of Love in your body is your heart, breath into it, breath it out into the world where ever you find yourself.  All positive energy of the highest vibration which Love is,  adds to the total.  We are a culture more into our heads than our hearts - this is bringing balance to both.

Follow where it takes you.  If out of you comfort zone do it.  Your dreams and passion are your song line, as a friend so beautifully put it.  This is heart stuff.   Tough Love is also a part of it but so is kindness and compassion.

We can´t all ride bicycles in the tropics.  Follow you passion and dreams, your greatest hope and not your worst fears.  Many of you are doing just that.   Thought motivated by Love, is the mega engine of creation.  We are human beings, not human doings.  Let your beingness motivate your doing.  There is too much do do we've left all over the plant creating a mess that will take centuries to undo.   

The Universe is here to support you.  From our fears we have created the world we live in.  From our hearts we can begin to heal ourselves and the planet.   We are on the verge of destroying Mother Earth, Pachamama.  Many of you know this.  There is so little time.  This is the year we turn the corner. 

Got to hit the road, p'alante (onward)!

Much love to you all,

Don - Peace Rider

 

More from the Yucatan 1/2/13

Hola Lois and other dear friends following on the blog.

I regret very much that I have not been able to respond to each and every one of you dear friends who have posted comments on my blog with words of encouragement and gratitude.  Your prayers and thoughts are what keep me on the road and out of harm´s way.

You will see on the blog now my responses to some emails I was able to answer and get a flavor for my journey, experiences and hopes for us all. 

I was in such a rush last evening to not be on the road after dark I forgot to wish all of you dear friends a Happy New Year but more - transformation in the year ahead.  

As it was, in the waning daylight two cars, headlights ablaze, came at me on a  two lane stretch out of town with no shoulders.  There was a place to step off, no careening into the brush.  It gets even more ¨exciting¨ when three try to do it at the same moment - that on an earlier journey in Central Am.  I very rarely bike after dark.

The family ran out of masa for corn tortillas after our New Years eve fiesta so Sixto and I and his young son Ismael drove into town last night and bought three kilos.  Sixto knew the lady and we waited a few minutes while the corn was ground into flour - not much fresher than that.  Without it we´d all have gone a bit hungrier.  I´ve grown quite fond of this family over my stay with them but it´s time to hit the road again.  If you want a real cultural experience apart from the tourist trail, learn a little Spanish and come.

Sixto is trying to preserve traditional Maya culture and is living in a very humble way.  When Sixto is working part of the family lives in town and he stays at Casa Maya.  I have my casita (tent) in the shade of some large trees nearby.  Araselli and the kids return in the early AM to fix breakfast for Sixto before he drives off to work at Chichen.  I´m included and accepted as part of the family.

Just as I was headed to my tent after dark last night I looked back to see smoke from an evening fire rising through the fronds of the Casa Maya;  the smoke back lit by a single bulb hanging outside the bano (toilet) - magical - the smoke not the toilet, although this one works rather well, the water gravity fed from an overhead tank. It´s a flush version rather than the dry composting one at Gabriel´s place.  Sixto is doing much better than many with a government job compared to others who have far less here. 

My sense of it at this point is that this is our year to make a major turn, to create a New Heaven and New Earth.  A rising tides floats all boats ready and able to journey forth in a new direction.  Are you ready to follow your dreams, passion and hopes with open minds and hearts or your worst fears.  Your thoughts and mine together are the energies of creation.  There are none higher than Love and Compassion because that is who you/we are.  That is the awakening, the remembering happening even midst the chaos.  The choice remains yours to give it all you´ve got or not.  We sink or swim together.  But most of all we need each other working as one to pull off a very last minute ¨Hail Mary.¨  I am in the game, join me - there really is nothing to lose.  

Don - Peace Rider

 

Responding to an email from J, New Years Day 1/1/13

And I in yours dear one.  It is indeed not so much the words but individual acts of love, kindness and compassion within our sphere of influence and giftedness that begins to transform not only ourselves but others in the process.  What I am learning in this journey is to move out of that head space and more into the heart projecting that out into the world as you are doing through acts of kindness and compassion.  

At the same time I have been wonderfully blessed to spend my birthday and New Years eve with a Mayan family.   I spent most of the day sitting quiet contentedly in the shade.  The family was away leaving me with the doves, puppies and three young chickens.  Overhead, white doves cooed from the rafters of an open thatched roof shed where they roost and nest.  One such is in a plastic tub of the right size, the cooing wonderfully resonating from within.  Another a crate suspended at an oblique angle from long pole side supports.  

I´m beginning to pick up more on the energy/vibration of others in this process of transformation.  I was at the Hotel Diego de la Selva in Tulum for a gathering my friend Gabriel was invited to.  We were listening to a presentation about the importance of a resident bee, melipona I think, to the Maya.  It does not hybridize with the African bee and its honey is of superior quality. But I also noticed a young Caucasian woman listening, dressed in white.  Something was different about her and I saw in minds eye a candle over her head, symbolically a bright light.  It was not long thereafter I was having a conversation with her  (Swedish) to discover that she too was on a similar spiritual path as you and I and many others.  So others of similar energy are drawn to us depending on where we place our focus.  Like energy attracts.

And your light also shines through brightly in your love for L with all the heart opening and pain that comes from that separation.

If this year was to be the last of your life how would you chose to spend your time and energy to help transform the consciousness of this planet?  That is now the question resonating within me.  The number 13 was sacred to the Maya it´s meaning love, in the Mayan language en lak ech (sp),  I am (Love) another you.  The year begins. 

And the burried turkey was just excellent, maybe the best I´ve eaten, so saboroso.  The waning moon rose late but the universe was wonderfully displayed, Venus directly overhead for a time.  At midnight children burned their muneca´s (dolls) made from old clothes stuffed with leave.  This, ushering out the old and in the new year.  A  tradition at least in this Yucatan community.   

We can create a self-fulling prophecy and a New Earth.  There are now enough of us resonating with a higher vibration/energy across the planet (love, compassion, courage, honesty, integrity and kindness) that it is possible if we focus on it.  What we focus on grows. 

Got to get to a blog posting.  I so appreciate your loving energy and thoughts. 

Much love to you and T my dear friends,

Don

On Mon, Dec 31, 2012 at 3:27 PM, Jean Aspen  wrote:

Beloved Don,

Thank you for your beautiful letter. Lucas would have loved your life and al;ways saw beauty in the poor people of Central America. 

Indeed, The biggest gift any of us have is to shine. I keep seeing that in all the great writings, that God flows through each as much as we are able and willing to open. The more we see God in EVERY person and event, the more flow happens through us. It takes each of us to transform the planet. I used to think I could make some BIG difference, but find now it is just one act of kindness at a time. Like grass growing, it is the soft, irresistible power of loving one another that transforms our world. Once you discover your part in it, it becomes more fun than anything else you can do with your own short ride on this beautiful earth. The more I see beauty in those about me, the more they find it in themselves. 

You are an inspiration to me. I am delighted to hear that you are seeing grass-roots awakening. I used to think I could use a megaphone to awaken people, and indeed, my books and our documentary do continue to bring news that reaching this larger audience is possible, but mostly it is the daily kindness  that matters. When I see the local drunk with the DTs at the hospital and recognize his or her beauty, seeing past appearances, I open a profound opportunity for that person to move beyond the agreement that he or she is "a waste of skin," as I have heard it phrased. That doing something is the only bit of value. 

I am so pleased to be able to share this vision with like-minded souls. Thank you for being in my life!

Love, Jeanie

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" -- Mary Oliver

On Dec 31, 2012, at 11:00 AM, Don Ross wrote:

Beloved Jeanie and Tom,

As the world as we know it winds to a close thanks again for sharing your life´s work with yo mismo.   From the place I´m at now I appreciate the courage it takes to step out of the mainstream and follow your heart, to use your creative talents and gifts for a greater good.  The more we expand in consciousness the more light that shines into our world.  And in the end it is not so much the words we say but the example we set that will bring about the necessary changes to create a heaven on earth instead of the one we have created.

While my sample size is very small I am connecting with people, women especially as I may have mentioned before that are awakening or remembering who and what they are in relation to All That Is.  In that there is hope.  Love, joy and peace are energies of the highest vibration which no other can overcome.  The more of it we put into the world the more of it that manifests until wallah, we have created something different, a nonviolent world at peace. 

If there is a Second Coming it is perhaps not the coming of one individual but rather a rising of this inner light within each of us that comes into the world committed to a higher good each according to his or her talents, guided by Love.  And by example inspiring others to also change  In this creative tapestry all threads are important.  Yours must be green, coming from the heart.  

So good on you for being part of the rising tide.  Some thoughts rattling around wanting an exit path even as biting things have their way with this succulent flesh.  

I´m enjoying my multicultural experience in Kaua, Yucatan, a small rural Mayan community west of Cancun.  This gracious Mayan family took me in and has fed me out of their limited resources.  Chickens and dogs run in and out the open doors, eating and defecating from the earthen floor but encouraged to stay out with a fly swatter.  Sometimes their treatment is rough.  One older dog has learned to be wary of humans.  You can see it on its sad face. 

Sixto´s younger wife just had her third child, this one by caesarian section, so far no infection but wears a band around her large mid section.  She´s not supposed to lift heavy things but the work of caring for and feeding her children makes this nearly impossible.  Still she has said to me she loves what she does, the hard work and caring for her children which both clearly adore.   She nurses her child openly without a second thought in front of a stranger which is the natural thing to do.  They both lie in their hammock, usually not together with baby on chest or at their side while rocking back and forth by pulling on a rope tied to a rafter.  They had a fan blowing air towards the hammock until the cheap plastic hub shattered.  Smoke from an open fire set between three large rocks has blackened the underside of the thatched roof and rafters.  A metal grate rests on the three rocks to support pots or a flat metal pan to cook tortillas.  This home is built more the way a traditional one which was the intent.  The vertical log walls are held in place by vines as is every other support.  There are spaces between each pole to allow fresh air to enter.

On this journey I chose to not bring a camera for the distraction it creates preferring instead to continue with a practice of just being present in the moment.  And sometimes this comes easier than others. 

But not all is well here either as it is in many places.  Plastic basura litters the landscape here and at roadside.  Sixto took a bag of plastic crap into the jungle to dispose of it.  Some of it gets burned.  I have seen this many times in my travels.  We have allowed this to happen without requiring that if something stands a chance of being disposed of at roadside or whereever it should be biodegradable.  Ultimately,  until each of us takes responsibility for all of the messes we´ve created, not much will change except the hand wringing and rush to judgment. 

He also said to me that the people feel they are slaves to a government corrupted by love of power and money.  Sounds familiar doesn´t it.  A civil revolution is possible here he said.  Gabriel his nephew expressed a similar sentiment, saying that the patience of the people is not endless. 

Still, I remain hopeful of a turning tide and choose to focus my energies on a revolution of consciousness guided by the way of peace which is Love.

Tomorrow it´s back on the bicycle and head for the north coast then maybe back south again through Tulum, flying back to Miami on the 16th. 

And in that I remain perfect in my imperfection sending you much love and abrazos as we close out the old and ring in the new. 

Don


PS It´s roast turkey, a special treat for this evenings fare.