An evening on the beach

Our friends the Nelsons had a beach dinner tonight. There were about 18 of us there, all gringos. This is the whole Norte contingent, minus two. Well, acutally minus one. One has moved up to a town outside of Mexico city. The Patient got an ovation when he arrived; everyone was happy to see him and he was very happy to see them. We had a lovely sunset, looked for yet another green flash, then sat down to a delicious dinner, potluck style. The Patient looked forward especially to dessert: Tres Leches Cake, a very moist and sweet concoction made with fresh, evaporated and condensed milk. He had a big slab and said it was delicious. The evening was warm, the breezes soft. It's good to be here.

Fernando began his repairs on the house today. He showed up at 8 AM, right on schedule, sledgehammer in tow, to knock out holes in the walls where cracks have appeared, to demolish a cement banquette and shelf on the third floor that have begun to fall away. By the end of the day he has the forms made for the new shelf, had the wall patched and the shelf poured. More tomorrow. We anticipate it will all take about two weeks. Then painting, and it will all be good as new.

There is nothing sweeter than climbing in bed between sheets that have been washed in Ariel, a floral scented detergent, and dried in the hot sun. White, crisp, fragrant. Buen sueños.