What’s your thing? Yoga? Surfing? Painting? Fishing? Writing? Photography? Hiking? Well, you’ve come to the right place: Baja California Sur. (Southern Baja California) The Pueblo Magico, Todos Santos, and the surrounding area is rife with artists and outdoor enthusiasts. That’s what drew us here. (Well, to be completely clear, Greg did not come here for the art. Or the yoga. He came here for the surfing. I came here for all the other stuff). It’s what draws a lot of people here, mostly in the high season which is around November-May. The summers are hot and humid and there are bugs galore, so the faint of heart “go home” when it heats up. Not a bad thing really, as it is a lot more quiet and peaceful without all the part-timers and tourists. We must be getting old. We like the tranquil, serene times. Queremos que sea muy tranquilo.

Our fans have been going steady for six months. This was a particularly horrible summer if you are adverse to humidity and high heat. Los Mexicanos we know who have lived here their whole lives say it was one of the worst in recent memory. We must have consumed 25 big glasses of ice water a day. Maybe more. The sweat literally dripped from our entire bodies, so we had to keep pouring el agua down our throats. During the last six months we bought a big bag of ice every couple days, and I even made ice cubes in our freezer to keep up with our demand. Oh Lordy, it was a hot one.

But summer is officially (and realistically) over now, though the bugs have not read the memo. They are still here. I have heard of many cases of Dengue Fever too. So far we have not succumbed. At least the humidity is down and we don’t have to use our fan at night for sleeping. Whew! Still no blankets though. The lowest it’s been in the middle of the night is 71 degrees F. I know this because we have a really cool clock that projects the time and outdoor temperature onto the ceiling.

See? No more curly hair from the humidity!!!

Art, Art, and More Art

I have no pretense of being an artist myself, but I love to play with all things art. There are lots of art galleries and artists of all types congregate here. If you are looking for pottery, jewelry, oil or water color paintings, sculpture, mosaics…you name it, it’s here. There are opportunities for classes too. I have taken two classes with the popular artist, N.E. Hayes. She is a multi-talented woman who offers two different classes, and to begin she serves Mexican coffee (with Mexican cinnamon) with homemade bread, and later she prepares an extraordinary lunch for her participants. She is an artist mostly known for paper tile mosaic works has been residing in Todos Santos for over 23 years. Besides sharing her talent for visual and culinary art, she is an interesting person who cares deeply about the earth and the community. She’s a giver. Being in her presence is a gift. Check out her website: http://www.nehayles.com

N.E. Hayles puts on a wonderful art class complete with a delicious meal.

Bowls waiting for the homemade ice cream!

Making my paper mosaic…tearing paper into tiny pieces.

My Paper Mosaic Creation!

If you don’t look at anything else, please go to her poster page. You won’t be sorry. http://www.nehayles.com/new/posters.html

This is one of my favorite posters by N.E. Hayles. A portion of the proceeds from my purchase went to charity.

“Our Mother is happy when we care for Our Planet”

–well said, don’t you agree?