Chapala - Snapshots

​In this town of Chapala
color exists everywhere. 
The flowers bloom bright pink
on a barren hillside,
all the markets and stores
have colorful fronts
inviting you in,
everyone has a smile to give.
Even the staircases are covered in color.

I sometimes forget how
kind people can be...
The tension I feel in the States
doesn't seem to exist here.
Or there are tensions here
that I cannot feel, not yet anyway.

Yesterday, on the way up a gravel
road to the doctor,
we were stopped by a family
of cows. A bull, a mama,
and a baby. Just walking on the 
​road, like it was their road. It is. 

I make a Rusa drink,
a local drink made of 
salt, lime, and carbonated water.
Its funny how you can 
crave something that 
you've never had before.
I made it myself, 
a kind friend told me the recipe
and so, I am here in my casita
squeezing the fresh lime, pouring the salt,
mixing it all together.
I have never tasted anything so refreshing.

Tonight, I will walk by the lake
watching the bugs, birds and fish
finish their day, the action that
happens at dusk.
The sun sets behind
the hillside on the right,
it reminds me of the sun rising 
on the beach of Tiahura 
in the south pacific. 
​
Here, I am hoping to see a 
crocodile, or an egret, or
a family, all watching as 
as the sun sets on another day.
I am grateful for another day.