Once again, the pictures can tell the story. This is a collection of photos taken on Thursdays when we go in to Chapala with the dog to play on the "beach". For Thursdays, this is usually the "One Thing" (see my previous post), although I do go to jewelry classes in the afternoons sometimes if it fits into the schedule without adding stress. Chapala is just a few km east of Ajijic and I thought it served as the capital of the state of Jalisco, but I couldn't verify that on Wikipedia.

Fishing boats in Chapala

Old fishing boats and White Pelicans

Tour boats off dock in Chapala

Beautiful gate to Chapala main dock

As we wind down our time here in   Mexico, I am already missing these walks on the edge of the lake. The weather is wonderful and our time with our adopted dog may be short. Although she appeared to be pregnant (and justifiably so) a month ago, it now looks like she crafted a "false pregnancy". She is a young dog and they do this sometimes. Suffice to say she would have given birth by now if she actually was pregnant. Now we think it might be worth a try asking the owner if he will let her go home with us. Gregg will do that, and the answer we get will determine what direction we take in a lot of ways, not the least of which is that we will have to continue to drive to and from on our visits to Ajijic in the future.

 Pictures this time are from the Ajijic Carnaval parade annually held on Fat Tuesday. To many this may look like Halloween costumes but these guys are "Sayacas" and this is part of a long-time tradition in the Lake Chapala area. It amounts to some pretty wild fun for the local boys. Please see my post from Feb 23, 2012 for a full explanation of this bit of folklore.

I want to share something I have learned since retiring in December 2011 - it's the "Do One Thing" philosophy. A new friend (one of our neighbors) used this phrase in conversation a couple of months ago and now I use it all the time. It's a mantra for me! As there are SO MANY things to do when we are here, and it is Mexico so things frequently don't go on a set schedule,  many of us believe that it is not realistic to plan to do more than one thing every day. For example, if the Carnaval Parade is today - that's it. You can fill in grocery shopping, laundry or cooking in addition - but not ALL of those things. Don't commit to multiple other things as you will just be frustrated and stressed, and let's face it, we did that for too many years before we retired. Another example of what can throw a day into the dumps - you have your one thing planned and your car has some unexpected minor issue that you must take it to a garage/mechanic to fix. Now not only can you not get to your one scheduled event, you are without transportation for an unknown period of time because that is common when minor repairs are needed in this area. Places may be closed when you had every reason to believe they would be open. This can throw a monkey wrench into your whole week as well. Maybe you can't get a part for your computer - ANYWHERE nearby. You need to copy and scan a document that you promised to hve ready for someone today. Who knew, until you are in that predicament. So, rather than it being the choice of a (lazy?) retiree to just plan One Thing, perhaps you are getting a feel for why it is the sensible thing to do. I will return to this theme as it is so relevant to our daily lives here...