May this holiday season be free of strife and full of love and happiness for all. Blessings abound and as this year ends we are reminded of how much we have for which to be thankful.

Jingle all the way!

 

The Baja is a special place for sure. I’ve written many a time about the splendor that is The Baja.  We haven’t been the only ones who have known this, but it seems that now the entire world is looking for a cool spot to settle in and enjoy retirement or a second home or some such thing. Not just us. Sigh. Oh, I know what you’re thinking. What a selfish person I am.

I guess if you are thinking that, you are somewhat correct in your assumption. I would prefer that nobody else moved here. I loved how “sleepy” our little area was when we moved here eight years ago. But, time marches on and things change. A lot. Okay, so I get it. I don’t have rights to say it should stay “sleepy” and I can’t afford to buy up all the land to keep it natural. After all, I bought and built. Why can’t other people do the same? Well, they can. And they are.

And no wonder. It is beautiful here.

 

The turtles aren’t having as good a year this year because the ocean washed most of the nests away. But I’ve seen two hatchings and got a video of a couple of the babies (out of about 100) on their way to their ocean life.

 

 

It’s always a thrill to witness these babies heading into the sea. Like watching the sunset every night, I never get tired of it. Early this morning the moon was over the water and dipping into the clouds. The moon show was worth being out at 6AM.

The simple pleasures of living here give me reason to be grateful for this place. But now we’ve been discovered BIG TIME. Once we were the only people on our road who were here in the summer months. It gets humid in July through September (September is pretty horrible). But we love the summer because it’s so quiet again when everybody goes on their merry ways back to their “other” lives. This summer was anything but quiet.

There were five places being built at one time…all within ear shot and sight. There were more than five places being built in our area, but some of them I can’t see from our house. The growth that was once gradual, has exploded.

The construction this summer was relentless. The noise was bothersome, as was the construction debris all over our roads. We had two flat tires from it. The number of vehicles parked all over our neighborhood doubled and tripled on occasion. It all took away from the peaceful, easy feeling I usually have.

Guess I have a lot of growing to do myself in order to embrace the population growth. I do a lot of work on myself, but sometimes I let it all out. It just gets to me. Selfish? Want to keep it to ourselves? Yup. Guilty on all counts.

So I have to start teaching myself about what’s truly important and how I can remain grateful for everything.

Watching the whales breach and blow can help. Seeing the rays jumping out of the water is always a treat too. Often we spot a pod of dolphins and lots of baitfish in the water. We are treated to gorgeous sunrises and sunsets and we have many wonderful friends.

 

 

 

I’m going to end today with a photo of a little kid who was playing on the rocks at the beach. If I had grandchildren I know they would love it here like this little boy does.

I’ll keep focusing on the natural beauty, and what I can learn from all the new people who are coming here to enjoy paradise too. The more things change, the more they stay the same.