Uncensored and Uncovered

And Four More To Go

As I write this entry, I am in Lisbon, Portugal. As I suspected before we left for Europe, there are no options for nudity outside of our accommodations. Since it was expected, my focus has been on enjoying our travels as much as possible. Madrid was all that I had hoped for with more than enough to see without having to leave the city.

We had basic accommodations in Madrid – clean and functional – in a nice, quiet neighbourhood where we soon became familiar faces as we went out for breakfasts and such within a two block radius. It helped that I knew enough Spanish to function in the city. Any ideas of a day trip out of the city soon disappeared. We walked an average of 12 kilometres each day, not too stressful.

I have to mention one particularly interesting place to visit in Madrid – the National Museum of Archeology – MAN. It dealt with the history of Spain, and Madrid in particular, tracing back to the first human forms. I wasn’t surprised to see a lot of nude statuettes, but was surprised to see an uncircumsised small statue of Jesus Christ.

We finished off our stay in Madrid with an evening out to enjoy Flamenco music and dance. It wasn’t on our agenda, but it was so worth the time and expense.

Then it was on to Porto. It was a long bus ride with had us arrive late in the afternoon. Our accommodations were a significant improvement, not that what we had in Madrid was a negative experience. We had a lot more room in the suite and we were able to prepare our own breakfasts.

It didn’t take long once we woke up the next morning to take a long walk into the city centre. The first thing we noticed was a sharp difference from what we had experienced in Spain. Portugal is different. Though the language appears to be similar, the sounds are foreign.

Then I saw something very atypical, a statue of a priest and a nude woman in his embrace. At least, that is what I thought. The statue is another Romeo and Juliette story set in Portugal. She is sent to live in a convent and he is sent to sea where he dies. No priests.

Talking about religion, that was a dominant theme we noticed. Religion, old religion still present and alive. After five days in Porto, it was time to move on. Next stop, Lisbon.

It is morning here in a small town on the Canadian prairies. I woke up early, as usual. It is 11 Celsius [almost 52 Fahrenheit] and the wind is from the south at 20+ km/hr. It is supposed to go up to 30 degrees Celsius by this afternoon. I just checked and the temperatures in Madrid for the four days we will be there are forecast for highs of 27 and lows of 14. It sounds perfect!

I have one more morning to have coffee on my back deck before I leave my home for the next six plus weeks. It is a quiet Sunday morning with a few birds appearing to break the silence. My wife and I cherish these moments, these mornings when the temperature is just warm enough [read at least 10 Celsius] to invite us to have our coffee outdoors.

As we looked around our yard, we talked about the day’s plans to put away those things that will be stored until sometime next April. Then we talked about having the right connectors to charge our electronics on the plane and in Europe. Of course, I had all of those connectors already packed with easy access.

I am writing this while she is on the phone — well, audio Messenger. Yesterday, we cleaned up the garden with me helping to prepare the carrots and beets for storage. We left one row of carrots in the garden until our return in October. It’s an experiment with the idea of having those carrots better able to be stored until the end of March when we return from Mexico.

In a couple of hours, we will be having grandson number two and his wife at our place for a pancake brunch. It’s his favourite. All leftover pancakes will be taken to their place. Now, it is all about waiting . . .

It is still gently raining outside. So far this spring, we have had more than four inches of rain, more than the whole of last spring and summer. Other bit of good news, I got to enjoy some free-hiking yesterday afternoon, only the second time this year. And, as with the first hike which happened during the last week of April, I hiked with my wife. I blame the lack of free-hiking on the weather. The wind is insane this year, and the month of May was the coldest on record

About the image below, I used Fotor AI with the photo taken yesterday [cropped of course to hopefully avoid issues with readers on Medium]. I don’t want to offend too many people, especially my readers. That said, simply by existing, we all offend others simply because we exist. I am including the original photo at the end of this post. Please let me know which is preferred. I have to admit that this AI version is more flattering for this 74 year old man. LOL!

On a side note, I am busy planning a six-week adventure in Europe for the . We will be spending almost two weeks in Portugal, followed by another two weeks in Morocco, finishing up with slightly more than two weeks in Spain. which has been on our bucket list for the past eight years. This is my 75th birthday present from my wife.

It was such a nice day for April, we just had to go for a hike. We had parked our truck a suitable distance from town and ended up walking fourteen and a half kilometres. Once in the hills, I was able to hike without wearing the shorts. I ended up walking almost six kilometres au naturel.

Why didn’t I walk the whole thing while clothing free? The majority of the distance was walked on public country roads which has enough farmer traffic to make it too risky. Now, if I had been alone, I would have risked perhaps another few kilometres – maybe. After all, I don’t want to have our farming community become offended.

When walking with my wife, she has a need to know that we have left the road and are safely in the prairie hills where we won’t meet up with a farmer in a truck or on a tractor. It has happened in the past. I don’t want to have her not join me while I free hike, so I honour her need for safety.

It’s Friday morning, a chilly morning at 16 Celsius for where we are in Mexico. We have just returned from our weekly walk to the Market where bread and Italian sausage was purchased — six sausages weighing in at 2.4 kilograms. Yes, they are big sausages with one making a meal per person.

Yesterday, we again went on a hike to Playa Patzcuarito which is turning out to be our go-to destination for the most part. Like the day before, there were too many people on the beach with some of them claiming my privacy corner among the rocks. There was no sunbathing time, but it was okay as we saw families out enjoying their Christmas holidays. On Tuesday, the kids will all be back in school. Even the gringos will be heading home as their Christmas vacations come to an end.

I did manage to get in a bit of forest-bathing while hiking on the way back to Sayulita. There is a stretch of about 400 metres that rarely has any hikers. In the past month, we have passed only one couple. Horse riders are a different story as the path is theirs.

Today, it will be mostly sunny so we will be walking the main, crowded beach before taking a detour through the jungle to reach Playa Malpaso where we will walk as far as possible before heading back the way we came. Will there be a sunbathing event at the northern end of Playa Malpaso? Maybe, maybe not. After all, it is still Christmas holidays and other people like the serenity of not-crowded beaches.

Feliz año nuevo!

It’s hard to believe that it is already December 26th. The sun is shining and the air is warm and Christmas done and it is now Boxing Day. So far this month, we have walked 200 km, not bad for two old people.

This morning we went again to the market for a few needed supplies. Well, it was one of our stops as we wandered a bit more in search of a few other places we had heard about. On Friday we will go to the Community Market about 800 metres from our apartment.

We went back home with our purchases and then went out again to check out two more stores. Finally, we found rice noodles. There are some soups that just need rice noodles.

Then it was time for me to make guacamole for lunch.

Corn taco chips with avocado, garlic, onion, poblano pepper, red pepper, fresh squeezed lime, and salsa sauce which is just a bit spicy. There, lunch was made.

The plan for our afternoon is to go to the beach and take advantage of a bit of scattered sunshine. We typically walk the full distance in both directions, just over four kilometres in the process. Tonight, the plan is for roasted chicken from one of the vendors in town.

Now, it’s time for some lunch. Hasta luego!

We began the morning as usual with coffee on the deck. It wasn’t long before we got a video-conference call from our son — it was time for the grandchildren to open their presents from their grandparents. This is Christmas.

Next, were an assortment of photos from my children, grandchildren, and siblings who find the need and desire to connect with us, and us with them. One daughter sent a photo of her grand-dogs [no grandchildren yet, but her children all have dogs]. This is Christmas.

And then we had another video call from our neighbours in Canada who will not be joining us in Mexico this year. The talk was about the lack of snow — a brown Christmas — and sharing stories of our children and grandchildren. This is Christmas.

When all of this was done, I checked in here and saw notifications that told me a number of you have visited while I slept. Thank you for being in my life. This is Christmas.

It’s Christmas Eve here in Mexico [and yes, I know, there where you are as well]. We went for a nine kilometre walk which involved some time spent at Playa Patzcuarito. The trails had spots where it had become soft because of the rain we had the night before last.

There was a lot more debris on the trail because of the storm that had passed through the region. I was surprised that very little of the trail had been washed away.

Once we were at the beach, the last 150 metres of our walk to the north end was done without my wearing a swimsuit. This was a first for this beach, a risk I took because there was no one within sight. At the north end, protected from being seen by newcomers to the beach, there was no thought of putting on the swimsuit.

We stayed wandering among the rocks and then sitting on them to watch the sea as the waves grew in intensity. About twenty minutes later, we saw a young man watching from the rocks to the north, a section where there was no beach. Uncharacteristically, I didn’t rush to put on the swimsuit. He had already seen what there was to see.

He then decided to scale the very steep cliff face as if he was at a climbing wall. Only thing was, he didn’t have a safety harness. Once at the top, he took photos with us included. About ten minutes later he reappeared and walked passed us, his eyes on the path of sand that meandered between large boulders.

With a final swig of water, it was time to head back to our apartment. I had guacamole to prepare for our Christmas Eve hors d’oeuvres.

on the beach,
clad only in sunshine
feeling the world
is truly mine
the warmth of the sun
on my skin
breathing in the moment
taking it all in

each stone stacked,
marks my presence
and the beauty
of life’s sweet embrace
the sound of the waves
create a symphony
while I build my tower
with stones in my hand

the ocean’s vastness
beside me, behind me
the endless horizon
a canvas reminding me
of life’s wondrousness

feeling the breeze
blowing through my hair
a feeling of freedom
with nothing but
the sun on my skin

stacking each stone
thinking of all I hold dear
of the people I love
and the moments
that brought me here
with each stone
I mark this moment in time
and celebrate being alive

on the beach
clad only in sunshine
grateful for this moment

The month began quietly. We were able to enjoy being outdoors in the evening as there were no mosquitos to deal with. Unlike our time spent on the Caribbean coast of Mexico where the approach of evening meant being swarmed with biting insects, were we retreated into our suite to get a bit of relief, here in Sayulita, being on the deck in pleasant temperatures meant we got to appreciate the deck even more.

We lived on the deck when we were awake and not away from the apartment on one of our innumerable outings to hike or to walk the beach or enjoy pueblo life. Because of the short wall around the deck and the fact that we were on the top floor of the three-storey building, I didn’t wear clothing. There was no chance to offend anyone. Naturally, I did my writing and editing on the deck as much as possible though I did do some writing inside the apartment when it was too sunny outside for my laptop. I was busy putting posts on my Medium site and getting Nightshade Publishing Company ready for publishing.

In February we walked / hiked 200 kilometres through the jungle and along six beaches. My favourite beaches were Playa Patzcuarito and Playa Malpasos as they were the longer beaches with the exception of the more than two kilometre long beach fronting Sayulita. It wasn’t the fact that the beaches were longer but because of their distance from the town, there was always an opportunity to spend some time on the beach without the need for a swimsuit.