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Posts Tagged ‘beaches’

Focusing on the joy

Posted in Celebrations, Churches, Creativity, Culture, Exhibitions, Holidays, Neighborhoods, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 31, 2025| 6 Comments »

As 2025 moves from the front windshield to the rear view mirror, instead of focusing on the (metaphoric) traffic nightmares of speed demons, red light runners, and auto wrecks that can lead to what Reading the Pictures refers to as “carnage fatigue,” I’d like to follow their example and look back at those experiences and sights that brought me joy — my “rebuke to narcissism and the cult of personality [preferring] togetherness as the new order.”

January 2025 – After a one year absence, returning to my Oaxaca community.
February 2025 – El Día del Amor y la Amistad (Valentine’s Day) decorations in my Jalatlaco neighborhood.
March 2025 – Back to the San Francisco Bay Area and a chilly, but stunning day on the Marin Headlands at Rodeo Beach with a best friend since age 12.
April 2025 – Taking part in the nationwide and massive “Hands Off” protests at the Marin Civic Center.
May 2025 – Attending La Santa Cecilia free concert in San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Gardens and being surrounded by enlarged replicas of alebrijes by Oaxacan artisans.
May 2025 – During my East Coast trip to visit family and friends, I stumbled on one of the Newton Artful Pianos in front of the Auburndale Public Library in Massachusetts.
July 2025 – Back in my childhood home watching the fog roll in.
August 2025 – And, then there were the occasional dramatic sunsets — sometimes rivaling those of Oaxaca.
September 2025 – Walking around San Francisco with a Oaxaca/SF gal pal, we came upon a beautiful and massive mural by Lucienne Bloch in the atrium of Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin.
October 2025 – Back in Oaxaca, turning a corner and finding a calenda in honor of el Señor del Rayo filling the street.
November 2025 – Being part of the wedding procession of dear friends in Teotitlán del Valle.
December 2025 – Christmas decorations in the window of Xiguela Café in Barrio de Jalatlaco.

¡Feliz Año Nuevo! My wish for 2026 is that you experience many moments of joy and they help sustain and embolden you through the greed-fueled chaos that tries to engulf and silence us. Muchisimas gracias for reading!

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Back to the beach

Posted in Gardens, Restaurants, Sports & Recreation, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »

A gray, rainy day in Oaxaca has me returning to the beach in my dreams…

Pacific Ocean waves crashing onto the beach San Agustinillo, Oaxaca.

San Agustinillo, Oaxaca.

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.  ― Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca

San Agustinillo, Oaxaca

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.  Dream.  Discover.  — Mark Twain

Coconut tree, Mazunte, Oaxaca

Mazunte, Oaxaca

Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.  — Langston Hughes

Lifeguard tower, Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca

Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.  Live the life you’ve imagined.  —Thoreau

Estrella Fúgaz restaurant, Mazunte, Oaxaca

Estrella Fúgaz restaurant, Mazunte, Oaxaca

Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.  ― Edgar Allan Poe, Eleonora

Sunset in Mazunte, Oaxaca

Mazunte, Oaxaca

Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself.  Go forward and make your dreams come true.  ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Long and winding road

Posted in Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 24, 2012| 1 Comment »

I grew up and lived most of my life twenty minutes from the Pacific Ocean.  I learned to drive on the road up over Mt. Tamalpais out to Stinson, Muir, and Bolinas beaches.  Needless to say, countless trips followed and continue!  So, yesterday I made my regular “Bay Area visit” pilgrimage to the beach.  Even on a foggy day, the sights, sounds, and smells of Stinson Beach are magical…

Alas, it’s 6 hours by car up and over the long and winding roads of the Sierra Madre del Sur to reach Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca’s closest Pacific Ocean beach.  The alternatives:  10+ hours by bus (by way of Salina Cruz) or a short but costly flight.  Still waiting for the long-promised highway that is supposed to cut auto travel time to two hours!!!

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