Roam With Me! -- Progreso and San Crisanto, Mexico

Hola de nuevo (Hello again). I promised in my last post to write more about my Mexico trip. This time I'm focusing on two towns near Merida -- Progreso and San Crisanto.

Progreso is about a half hour drive north of Merida, and it's a decent sized town of about 50,000 when you take in the surrounding areas that have grown into Progreso. Even though I've been to Progreso often on my visits to Merida, my main experience with the town is simply the malecon area. It's where the people go to walk along the beach, and it's where you'll find most of the restaurants and vendors. A few of the restaurants even have pools, so your kids can swim while you linger over drinks and conversation.

The gulf waters at Progreso tend to be a bit wavy, and there is usually a fairly brisk breeze coming off the water, so in my opinion, it's not really the best place to go for a dip, but it is a nice beach for a stroll. 
As you can see, the beach is a lovely white, and it is really quite smooth on the feet. The long pier you see in the photo is the world's longest pier at 4 miles in length! Progreso is a port town, so there exists a need to allow ships to dock here, but the water is really shallow very far out, so the pier had to be really long to reach the deeper water for large ships.

About twice a month they open the pier for people to go out and stroll on it and enjoy the sunset. We made plans to do this on one of our last days in Mexico, and I had really been looking forward to it; however, as luck would have it for me, I wasn't feeling very well. Let's just say I couldn't get four feet from a bathroom, let alone four miles! So, while we didn't wander out very far on it, we did go a short ways -- far enough to snap a few photos of us on it and the sun behind us.
    
 
Bless the people handing out bags of water! Yes, bags of water. Not only did they quench our thirst on a hot day, but they also made for good fun for my daughter to squirt my boyfriend and best friend with very cold water! Don't worry, they definitely returned the favor!

I'm showing you this picture because 1. -- you can't go to Mexico and not have at least one margarita (and this was the only one I had), and 2. -- this is on a beach restaurant right by the long pier and at the very start of the malecon. Like many places in tropical regions this has a palapa roof, and I love them. You'll find them shading single beach chairs on beaches, covering homes, and cooling diners while they eat. They block the sun but still allow the lovely breezes to flow freely.
 But when it comes to Mexican alcohol, nothing beats a Sol cerveza! I like beer above any other type of drink (except a Bloody Mary), and I especially like Mexican beer. Dos Equis and Sol are my favorites, so when I saw this giant Sol, naturally I had to stop for a photo! Here is a photo of a stroll along the malecon part of Progreso.

Now, the real reason I took the photo was to get a shot of the white car with a toy car strapped to the top of it. It made me laugh, but in the end, I just like the photo for the lighting and the activity it shows (and for the peek at my best friend's tatoo -- ha ha!).


You can't have a port without a lighthouse. This one is actually located a few blocks inland, which I thought was odd, but what do I know about lighthouses!

Not too far east of Progreso is a very small town called San Crisanto that carries a bit of fame in the world of tourism for the mangrove tours offered there. We had been there before, but my boyfriend had not, since this was his first trip out of the country, so we revisited it, and I'm glad we did because sometimes you get more out of a second visit than you do on the first one.

First you have to find the palapa covered building where they sell the tickets to the mangrove, which is called manglar in Spanish. Then, after you pay, a man on a bicycle will lead you down a sandy road to the grove itself and a nice shady place for you to park your car.


The start of the trip down the sandy road.


Getting closer.

When you arrive, you get in very small boats that can accommodate no more than six passengers. We were five, so it was o.k., and one of us was a small child, so that made it even better. The guide then pushes you through the swamp canals with a long pole, so it's sort of like riding in a gondola.

  

As you glide along in this very quiet place, you see what appear to be gigantic globs of poop in the trees.  
These are termite mounds, and they are very prevalent throughout the mangrove. Part of why people like to go through this mangrove is to get to the ojo de aqua, which means eye of water, located in the heart of the mangrove. Apparently, according to our guide (who didn't speak English as most of them do not), there are over forty of these ojos de agua throughout the mangrove, but all but one of them are located in areas where it's just too unstable of ground for people to go into them.

Basically the eye of water is a place that lets ground water come up and make a natural small swimming hole. 
Here my best friend, my daughter, and my friend's daughter enjoy a refreshing dip. She is perched right over the hole, so it is deep where she is. The bottom of the swimming hole is quite slimy actually, and it feels funny on your feet, but the water is very nice. They've built a walkway around the hole, and a palapa covered shady spot for people to rest. The guides just wait in their boats for you to swim and take your time.


The following photo is the road leading away from the mangrove, and I just really like the photo, so I'm going to leave you with it. I'll be back to tell you all about my very favorite place in Mexico, Holbox Island!

Roam With Me! -- Merida, Mexico

Most of my friends think I'm crazy for visiting Mexico in July and August. Well, I am a little crazy, but that's not the point. I go at that time because that's when both my best friend and I are free from school obligations, and she's the reason I visit there so often.

She and I are both teachers. I teach Spanish here, and she teaches English down there. This coming year, her role is changing a bit, and she's now the coordinator of all the elementary English teachers at her school.

Silvia is her name, and she was the first exchange student I ever hosted. She is only ten years younger than I am, and, sadly, her parents died in a car accident a couple years after she stayed here. Since that time, I've spent a lot of time there getting to know the rest of her family since I unfortunately never met her parents, and she's returned to my home to see the family she gained here.

This trip was extra special since she got to meet my boyfriend of one year, and he got to meet her. My daughter accompanied us as well, making this her third trip to Mexico and her fifth trip abroad with me.

Silvia lives in Merida, the capital city of the state of Yucatan. The Yucatan Peninsula is comprised of three states -- Yucatan, Quintana Roo and Campeche. The state of Yucatan is located on the western side of the Peninsula and abuts the Golf of Mexico.

Merida is not widely known in the U.S. despite the fact that there are around one million people living there. I'd say this is mostly due to the fact that the city is not located on a beach; however, those at Progreso are only a half hour drive from Merida.

Most travelers from the U.S. to Mexico want to visit the tourist towns on the beaches in Mexico, but I am not one of those people. Yes, I love the beach, but I despise "touristy" destinations. I want the real life experience. That's what I get when I visit my best friend who lives in Merida.

I also like the smaller international airport in Merida over the larger and busier one in Cancun. This means I have to pay a little bit more for a ticket to Merida, but it also means that I don't have to pay for a bus ride to Merida once I land or for the gas for my friend to drive all the way to Cancun to pick me up. It also means I have to plan my arrival time a little more since there are only a few flights in and out of Merida each day as opposed to the numerous ones in and out of Cancun's international airport, but I'm o.k. with that.

There are plenty of tourists who find their way to Merida, don't get me wrong about that. They just aren't as plentiful as they are in places like Cancun, Cozumel and Playa del Carmen on the Caribbean side of the Yucatan Peninsula. Many of the tourists use Merida as a jumping off point for visiting various Mayan ruins like Chichen Itza.

Since I mentioned the best known site of ruins, let's start with Chichen Itza, which is in the state of Yucatan, too. We didn't visit it during the daytime like most tourists do; instead, we attended the night lighting show which was an amazing feast for the eyes. We were the only gringos in attendance that evening from what I could tell. The tickets are free, but they have to be ordered online in advance, and then when you arrive at Chichen Itza you have to exchange the tickets you got online for the actual tickets. Apparently the online tickets are simply tickets that you have a reservation! Even Silvia couldn't make sense out of the "logic" behind needing two separate sets of tickets for the same show.

The lighting show was phenomenal. I don't have photos, though, because they don't allow photography during the actual presentation as it distracts from the pure enjoyment of just sitting there and watching, and it's also a serious distraction to those around you who are trying to enjoy the show. However, prior to the show, there is a lovely lighting display on the main pyramid (of Kukulkan) where it simply changes colors while you wait.
  

During the show, there is a magnificent laser light show of the history of the Mayans and of Chichen Itza. It is conducted totally in Spanish, though, so if you don't know the language then your enjoyment of the spectacle is diminished a bit, but only a bit because the show is so breathtaking that you don't really need to understand what is being said. I'm glad I did, though, because I prefer to understand the whole thing. I spent the show occasionally whispering tidbits of translation to my boyfriend on one side of me and my daughter on the other side. She  speaks Spanish, but not enough to understand a show like that.

Prior to the show, we visited and swam in the largest cenote in the peninsula. It's very near to the Chichen Itza ruins, and it's called Ik-Kil. Cenotes are sinkholes that form in the ground in the Yucatan Peninsula where the ground is comprised of rock. The water in the cenotes is freshwater, and many of them are connected by underground rivers, which are the only kind of rivers you'll find in the Yucatan Peninsula.

This particular cenote is well-known and very deep. The signs there state that it is 50 meters deep or roughly 150 feet deep! The water is cool because it's essentially in a cavern, and there are hundreds (or thousands) of tiny catfish swimming in there with you. I deliberately tried to touch a few, but I only managed it a couple times because they are speedy little suckers! The only photos I took in there were on a disposable underwater camera, and I haven't yet developed them to even see if anything turned out, so I will steal a few photos from online, so you can see just how spectacular this place is.




You climb up the wooden ladders to get out of the water and down them to get in if you don't want to just jump in from the side. The higher platform is for the more intrepid to leap off of into the deep, deep water. I did it once many years ago. Once was enough as this is a "swim at your own risk" cenote.

Now, let's get back to Merida. Merida is a very old city, having been founded officially by a Spaniard named Fracisco de Montejo y Leon in 1542. However, it is actually much older than that because he founded the city upon a Mayan city, but he changed its name to the name of a city in Spain called Merida. The Mayan language, culture and way of living are still to be seen throughout Merida and in its surrounding communities, most of which still bear their Mayan names. (Thus making them difficult to pronounce!)

We visited the main plaza a few times including once at night to watch a re-enactment of the famous game of "pelota" or the ball game that was once played by the Mayans in their ancient cities. In it, two teams face off to attempt to get a small hard ball through a stone ring mounted sideways on a wall. The players can only use their hips and chests primarily. I've seen a much better re-enactment two years ago during the finale at Xcaret on the Caribbean, but this display was interesting too.

Here are the players preparing to start the game in front of the main cathedral.

The main cathedral of Merida lit up at night.

The cathedral closes to the public at 8:00 p.m., so we had to return another time to go inside. My boyfriend is Catholic, so he especially wanted to see inside. It's not ornate like the cathedrals in Spain and Italy are, but it's still pretty impressive due to its size. 

Looking up!

Mass is conducted throughout the day, and people can just come and go. Around the edges on the floor you'll see engraved stones in the floor -- these are grave markers as the cathedral is also a cemetery.  

While in the main plaza, a person can people watch like crazy or one can visit the main government building and the numerous stores and markets that are in the area. Inside the government building, there are impressive paintings that tell the history of the area and of Mexico.

The interior courtyard of the government palace.

The above painting shows the "conquista" or conquest of the Mayans by the Spaniards, and the painting below shows them being shackled and sold into slavery.

Here are my boyfriend, myself and my daughter in the long side room of the government palace. You can see the above-mentioned painting over his shoulder.

The above painting shows the emblem of the national flag -- an eagle holding a serpent in its talons while perched on a nopal cactus. Now, let's look at the size of this painting in relation to me and my daughter.

 Pretty darn big, isn't it! Now for my favorite painting in the government building. The following one shows the true and authentic liberator of the Mayan slaves, and I love it so much because of the books in it. These show that education and literacy are the mark of true freedom no matter where you are. 

As I mentioned, while in the heart of Merida, you need to visit the stores and markets. Sometimes in the markets you can bargain a bit for a better price, and sometimes you can't. I'll tell you this, though, once they know you speak Spanish, they immediately reduce the price for you. That shows that they appreciate your effort to understand them and their culture. Here are a few photos of the market areas on Merida. Understand that the prices are in pesos and not in dollars. While we were there, the exchange rate was roughly 15 pesos per every U.S. dollar.


  


The one shows a tortilla making machine, and the other shows a variety of fruit you can buy to which you add chile if you like it that way.

Here is a view of one of the streets in the heart of Merida later in the day.

Surprisingly, belly dancing is quite popular in Merida and has been for many years now. Two years ago, when I was last there, we attended a belly dance performance in a small square. This time, though, we went to a two hour performance of dances done by the dance school where my friend's daughter goes for belly dance lessons. Here is a photo of many of the performers on stage at the end of the show along with the main teacher, who is dressed in the pink outfit.

While in Merida, we often ate "sorbetes" or sherbets at branches of the well-known store called El Colon. 

"Elote" is corn. Yes, that's right. Corn. It is the favorite of my friend's daughter, and it wasn't bad. I preferred the lemon one myself, and I also liked the pitaya one. That's a fruit that is common and popular there at this season. 

From Merida, one can easily get to the towns along the coast for some adventures. I'll share those in my next post.

Host and Be Hosted! -- Roam With Me.

I'm about to embark on my 16th trip abroad. Eleven of those trips are directly related to the fact that I have hosted seven different exchange students over the years. All but one of those were for full-year programs. Of those seven, I've visited four of them in their native countries, and I have plans to visit the other three next summer if all goes well.

My hosting began at an early age before I was even out of my twenties, so that first girl is only ten and a half years younger than me. She lives in Mexico, and over the years since her return to Mexico, she has become my very best friend, so she is the one I visit the most and the one I am about to go visit again.

The others who have graciously and enthusiastically welcomed me and my daughter into their homes live in Spain and Italy. As a high school Spanish teacher, I have taken four trips abroad with students -- two to Mexico and two to Spain. Three of these trips were prior to my hosting experiences, so while I was in Spain on those two occasions, I did not know anyone who lived there.

The contrast in the experience between going to a country where you don't know anyone and going to that same country when you do know people there is a night-and-day sort of difference. Nothing beats the authentic quality of a trip where a local is showing you around over the highly structured touristy quality of the organized student trip. I haven't led another student trip since I came to realize what I was missing out on.

Exchange students commit to the exchange programs to get the real deal. They want to immerse themselves in the culture of the country where they go to study. When those same kids and their families take you in and show you around, you get a mini-version of that immersive experience.

I teach, so that means I have limited financial funds. Not only do I not want to fly all the way to Mexico just to remain at an all-inclusive resort and never really get out and see the true Mexico, I also cannot afford that kind of trip. I can, though, every now and then scrounge up enough for plane tickets, meals and souvenirs.

Originally, I traveled to Mexico alone to see my friend, but for my last few trips, which have been to Mexico, Spain and Italy, my daughter has accompanied me. My son went on one to Mexico, but world traveling just isn't his thing. However, my daughter loves it, and I love having the company and someone to share those wonderful experiences with when we get back home.

That company is expanding for this next trip as my boyfriend is about to embark on his very first trip abroad! My two best friends -- female and male -- are about to meet, so I'm really excited about that.

When people learn I'm going to Mexico, they immediately ask me where I'm going. When I tell them that I'm heading to the Yucatan, I'm surprised at how many of them ask me where that is! First of all, it's one of two pretty well known peninsulas in Mexico, and secondly it's a state in its own right within the peninsula that bears its name. You can bet that if I said I was going to Cancun, most of those same people would know immediately where that is, so why don't they know that it's on the Yucatan Peninsula?!                       

I'm actually heading to Merida, which is the capital city of the state of Yucatan, and it's a really big city in its own right of two million people, yet when I say I'm going to Merida, I'm usually met with blank stares followed by the next question asking where that town is. Then I say it's in the Yucatan, and the circle starts all over.

Granted, there are a lot of people around here who, first, can't understand why I go to Mexico, and, second, really can't understand why I'm not going to an all-inclusive resort on the Caribbean. So, when their mindsets are blocked by an unwillingness to go to a country that has been sullied by both the war on the drug cartels and by the media coverage of said war, and when their only idea of a good time in Mexico involves white beaches, massages and every conceivable restaurant type all within the same compound, then they really aren't going to understand why I go to the part of Mexico that I go to.

In fairness, I'm a lucky person for a couple of reasons. First, I speak the language and I've studied the people and culture both in school and up close and personal, so I have a leg-up on the average non-Spanish speaking American. Secondly, I have personal connections in the country, and no travel agent or resort can beat that.

Since I've traveled to Mexico more often than any other country, I've had opportunities to see and do some pretty great things, but I've also relished my trips to Spain and Italy in the company of former exchange students and their families.

Let's see . . .

In Spain, we went to a really small and ancient town in the Gredos called Amavida where we stayed in a house that was over two hundred years old and owned by the family of the girl I once hosted in my home. The ceilings were low and wood-beamed, and the staircase to the small upper floor was windy and narrow. The streets of the town were crooked, and there wasn't a single store to be found in the whole town; instead, trucks came through every so often selling things like shoes, meat, ice, etc. I loved every slow, old-fashioned, clear-aired moment of it.
     

In Italy, we stayed in the long, narrow apartment of a friend of the family's in Napoli (Naples to we Americans) on the sixth floor of an older building with no air conditioning or screens on the windows. The four of us had to cram in two-by-two inside the smallest elevator I've ever encountered in my life! Anyone with even a smidge of claustrophobia wouldn't have dared to set foot in that elevator, but we made the trip numerous times. We also got to eat the best pizza in the world in the very city in which it was first invented, and while I still love pizza, Italian pizza has put all other pizza to shame for me because it just can't be beat.

                       

We also drove the Amalfi Coast, and we stopped to visit a family friend in Ravello, a beautiful city perched high over the Mediterranean with views to die for. Most tourists stop in Amalfi or Positano which are both gorgeous port-of-call cities, but they miss out on the gem that is Ravello by not venturing upwards
                                 .

In Mexico, my unique experiences are far too numerous to share here, but I'll try to hit a few highlights.

When my friend lived in Xalapa, she took me to an isolated fishing village that we had to reach via a rutty dirt road that seemed to stretch on forever and which rattled my teeth until I thought they'd crack. However, the drive was worth what awaited us at the end. A beach that looked like it was made of chocolate! She actually hated the brown sand since she said it looked like poop, but I loved it. Best of all, it was a Saturday, and we were the only two on the beach as far as the eyes could see. It was glorious.

                                             

When she lived in the actual town of Cancun, not the resort part, we took the ferry across to Cozumel after we drove to Playa del Carmen. There we rented a convertible red Volkswagen bug and drove completely around the island to the side that tourists don't really visit because it is rocky and windy. We also stopped at a lesser known beach and swam in the calmer water. I swam out quite a ways and discovered that there are things put out there at the bottom of the sea for people like me to "discover." There was even a small pyramid out pretty deep. I was swimming around it, and then my young son's pre-departure admonition started playing in my head: -- "Mom, don't get eaten by a shark." The next thing, I heard the damn theme music from "Jaws" playing in the background, so I beat a hasty retreat back to shore since I'm so blind I wouldn't have known if a shark was in the vicinity until he was too close for comfort!


Ironically, my favorite Mexico memory involves sharks! Whale sharks, that is. I'm returning on this coming trip to the island of Holbox to once again swim with them. This time, though, I am taking a prescription snorkel mask to get a better view of them than I did two years ago. Holbox is a treasure. Some tourists know about it and visit it, but they tend to be more like me because there aren't any all-inclusive resorts on an island whose streets are made of white sand and whose mode of transportation are golf carts used as taxis. The main thing that brings tourists there are the whale sharks themselves for a few months each year. During the rest of the year, the two small towns on the island are primarily just simple fishing towns.



As to Merida itself, the heart of the town is very old and retains a lot of its Spanish charm. However, the city has grown outwards from there into a very large metropolitan place. One of my favorite places, though, no longer exists. It was a really small, dumpy restaurant that served the most unbelievable and delicious sopa de lima (lime soup) I've ever had. I was really disappointed on my last trip there to learn it had closed down. My friend took me to a restaurant that also served lime soup, but it just wasn't the same.

No matter what we do, though, while I'm in Mexico, the primary reason I now go there is to see my best friend. I can't even begin to explain and describe all the crazy, fun, wonderful things we've done together and all the great places I've visited with her, but every one of them has improved my understanding of the Spanish language, the Mexican people and my outlook on life.

And to think that my trips abroad would probably have been limited to structured educational tours and travel agent arranged resort packages if I hadn't hosted exchange students and then taken the time to go visit them. After Mexico, we hope to get to Germany to visit two more of them and to the Czech Republic to see a third next summer.

If you've ever hosted an exchange student or know anyone from another country personally, but you haven't yet been to his or her country for a visit, pack your bags, book your ticket and get out there and see the place for yourself. It will change your life!

Read With Me! -- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

I'm a reader; always have been. My fondest childhood memories involve me sitting on my front porch reading a book for hours. I write a bi-monthly column about books, I own thousands of books, I keep a reading journal of books I've read and of those I want to own/read, I collect the fiction Pulitzer Prize winning novels, I teach a reading class, I read every single day even if only for five minutes (otherwise I view my day as being wasted) -- in other words, reading is my passion.

 



I also love to ride my motorcycle, so what better fit for me than to read a book called "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsig. This isn't a new book, as many of you will surely know, but it is a book I just finally got around to reading.
                                                                        
 I say "finally" because I did pick it up years and years ago, but I wasn't reading ready for it at that point in my life. It's a deep book, and when I first tried to read it, I was still pretty young and not ready for the deep stuff. I am now.

The secondary title of the book is "An Inquiry into Values," and that's exactly what the book is about. It's not really about motorcycle maintenance in a strict sense even though there is a smattering of discussion related to that topic. It's a metaphorical journey into the self and our deep philosophical pondering. As Pirsig says, "The real cycle you're working on is a cycle called yourself." Mmmhmm, that's so true. We're always just fine-tuning ourselves to keep ourselves heading down the road as long as we possibly can.

I'm going to share the quotes from the book that most resonated with me and some thoughts about them.

**"You see things vacationing on a motorcycle in a way that is completely different from any other. In a car you're always in a compartment, and because you're used to it you don't realize that through the car window everything you see is just more TV. You're a passive observer and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame." --- So true. Even with the car windows down, you don't feel the air the way you do on a bike, you don't sense the openness of the area through which you are traveling, you don't tune yourself into the road and your surroundings the way you do on a bike.

** "Paved county roads are the best, state highways are next. Freeways are the worst." --- I hate, hate, hate, hate interstates. Even in my car I avoid them whenever I possibly can, which is most of the time. What is the point of them? To get you there faster, that's all. But life isn't about getting places faster. Life is about enjoying the ride while you're going places. I love heading down a road I've never been down before. And for pete's sake, slow down, people. When you go a little slower, you see a whole lot more. "When you want to hurry something, that means you no longer care about it and want to get on to other things." 

** "The best ones always connect nowhere with nowhere and have an alternate that gets you there quicker." -- He's referring to the best back roads, and it's so true. I've found that often when we are heading "nowhere" we find "somewhere" pretty damn cool.

** When you ride, " . . . you spend your time being aware of things and meditating on them." You're out in the open with just your thoughts because "You can't really think hard about what you're doing and listen to the radio at the same time." -- Or the TV, or Pandora, or videos on YouTube, etc. This is something I'm always harping on my students about when it comes to doing their schoolwork -- shut the damn noise-making things off! Listen to your own thoughts, give your own brain an opportunity to work for you, and stop letting the garbage pour in every moment of every day. When you do this, you will be amazed at how the world opens up for you inside of yourself.  "Mental reflection is so much more interesting than TV it's a shame more people don't switch over to it."

** "Sometimes it's a little better to travel than to arrive." -- I love to travel. Absolutely love it. But often when I actually get to where I was going, I'm disappointed because the trip is over. The best riding days are the ones where we just set out to ride and let the roads take us where they will. This is actually a concept that kind of goes against my nature because I'm a planner, but the older I get, the more inclined I am to just go with the flow and see where it takes me. Usually, I'm much more content when I do.

** "Technology presumes there's just one right way to do things and there never is." -- Oh my, yes! I'm a Luddite, I admit it. Yes, of course I use technology. I'm writing this on a laptop after all, but I feel that our society, and especially our schools, have become slaves to technology, and in doing this, far too many people have become close-minded. If Google says it's true, then by God, it must be true and the one and only truth! That has become my reality as a teacher, and I'm tired of it. More and better and newer technology is not the answer -- using the very best computer ever created called our brains is the answer; however, knowing how to use them correctly is a dying art because of society's enslavement to Technology with that capital T.

** "Like those in the valley behind us, most people stand in sight of the spiritual mountains all their lives and never enter them, being content to listen to others who have been there and thus avoid the hardships." -- I'm not religious, but I am spiritual. I have my own way of seeing things and believing things that isn't based on any religious tome or doctrine. In fact, I've fought the spiritual side of myself because I thought to be spiritual meant that I needed to follow some religious path that I just couldn't do. Then, to find a little peace inside of my horrible marriage I started "talking" to the higher powers, and things started to change for me and inside of me. Eventually, I got divorced and kept "talking" and my life kept changing and improving every single day. I used to sit in that valley, but now I ride out in the open and cross whatever mountain comes my way.

** "To live only for some future goal is shallow. It's the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top." -- This is so true, yet how many of us don't really pay attention to the road on the way to the top because we're just so fixated on "getting there?" When you think about it metaphorically as a mountain, it brings a new view to the whole thing. The top of any tall mountain is pretty void of vegetation while the sides are rife with it, proving once again that it's so much more about the journey and less about the actual goal, and on the same subject as goals, here's another quote to ponder: "Any effort that has self-glorification as its final endpoint is bound to end in disaster." Something that most reality TV stars would be wise to consider.

** "Most horse people are antimotorcycle." -- This one just made me laugh and laugh and laugh. For me, it works both ways. My ex-husband is a total horse man, and I used to do a stand-up comedy bit about why motorcycles are better than horses. There are many, many, many reasons why motorcycles are better than horses, but my main one is this: when you are riding a motorcycle, you don't have to worry about any other motorcycle suddenly getting the urge to mount your own motorcycle and proceed to fornicate while you are on it!

** "That which turns its back on this inner calm and the Quality it reveals is bad maintenance. That which turns toward it is good." -- We must stay tuned into our inner selves and keep them running correctly, and the way to do that is to find peace. I do that through reading and riding and roaming. The more of those things I do, the happier I am. It's not about owning lots of things or being "better" than everyone else or building yourself up while stepping on others to do so. It's about being true to yourself by listening quietly to yourself and the universe.


** "We do need a return to individual integrity, self-reliance and old-fashioned gumption. We really do." -- Boy, oh, boy, oh, boy, don't we ever. And let's consider that this book was published in 1974. I was a little kid then. From what I remember, it seemed that the adults I knew then were full of these qualities. Nowadays, though, I find it harder and harder to find people who exhibit all three. I do, though, feel a slow turning in our society as if there are a lot of other people like me out there who are fed up with the greed, the arrogance, the entitlement, and the laziness that have permeated our country for quite some time now. It's only when people get fed up with something that things change, so I'm optimistic, guardedly so, but optimistic all the same.