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Bubba

Jan 10, 2007, 11:02 AM

Post #1 of 20 (5268 views)

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Rainy Season? What´s That?

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My darlin´ wife in in Chiapas and it´s raining intermittently with cloudy skies. It was raining with some regularity in early December as well. Isn´t this the dry season? Maybe I´m beginning to understand why it´s so green down there.

sfmacaws

Jan 10, 2007, 11:17 AM

Post #2 of 20 (5262 views)

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Re: [Bubba] Rainy Season? What´s That?

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Well, over here "dry season" just means it doesn't rain EVERY day. We've had a series of nortes go through this last week, much cooler temps and yesterday was a deluge. So much rain that there was 2" or more on the highway just because it couldn't run off as fast as it was coming down. Lots of flooding which is pretty normal, I went through a couple intersections in Playa that I wasn't sure my toyota pickup would be OK. One, the bus ahead of me had water over the axles. The pickup hummed right through them though, water up to the bottom of the doors.

So, I imagine that our nortes become your nortes the day after they leave here. Good news! It's calm and beautiful today. Bad News! There are ominous dark clouds to the north.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

Bubba

Jan 12, 2007, 12:11 PM

Post #3 of 20 (5195 views)

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Re: [sfmacaws] Rainy Season? What´s That?

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Well good news , it is beautiful today here so you will be back in he sun, soon
Brigitte

sfmacaws

Jan 12, 2007, 12:52 PM

Post #4 of 20 (5192 views)

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Re: [Bubba] Rainy Season? What´s That?

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Yes, we have sun and white caps on the water but the wind is still blowing from the north so, who knows?

It's good fishing weather for pelicans ;) Don't know why they seem to do better when it is raining or the bay is ruffled with white caps. Perhaps the fish can't see them coming as easily. There are about 15 of them diving right off my deck now, in about 3' of water. They barely get airborne before diving again, they are catching fish too, I can see them gulp them down.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

Bubba

Jan 12, 2007, 5:22 PM

Post #5 of 20 (5169 views)

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Re: [sfmacaws] Rainy Season? What´s That?

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(This post was edited by Bubba on Jan 12, 2007, 5:23 PM)

Ron Pickering W3FJW

Jan 12, 2007, 5:40 PM

Post #6 of 20 (5163 views)

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Re: [Bubba] Rainy Season? What´s That?

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In Reply To

I can't believe it. Bubba's speechless.......jeje
Getting older and still not down here.

Bubba

Jan 13, 2007, 11:22 AM

Post #7 of 20 (5126 views)

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Re: [Ron Pickering W3FJW] Rainy Season? What´s That?

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Don´t get your hopes up, Ron. That erasure was because of technical problems. Bubba be lurkin´.

sfmacaws

Jan 13, 2007, 11:43 AM

Post #8 of 20 (5122 views)

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Re: [Bubba] Rainy Season? What´s That?

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Well, now I'm curious. Was it the pelicans or my new avatar you were responding to? maybe even the rainy season?

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

Bubba

Jan 13, 2007, 12:16 PM

Post #9 of 20 (5118 views)

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Re: [sfmacaws] Rainy Season? What´s That?

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Well, Jonna, I´m a pelican freak. For about 10 years we lived smack dab on the ocean in Moss Beach just below Devil´s Slide (just south of San Francisco for you unitiated) and this was a place where the ocean was wild and had almost constant enormous waves beating the cliffs below and often generating salty sea spray and this was heaven for me (except for that damnable fog) and the pelicans were a source of endless pleasure for us as they remained stationary in the wind and hunted and then dove straight down like bullets into the froth for the catch and I´ll never forget that.

You, likewise have a great perch on the sea at Akumal and you reminded me of the immense pleasure I gained from sitting on my deck watching the churning Pacific and the pelicans and seagulls and other sea birds always seeming to fly north toward the magnificent cliffs at Devil´s Slide. When the sun shown brightly and the surf was up there was nothing like it anywhere else. We had no tourists and the cliff trails with their gorgeous cypress forests were not to be believed. During the week we had it all to ourselves as we do the beaches at Lake Chapala where we live now. Not as exciting but that´s OK. I´ll take it, thank you. And, after all, we have wonderful pelicans during their season which I enjoy on my daily walks.

The thing about living on the sea that one can only know by living there is that the daily and seasonal changes too subtle for the occasional visitor to see, are profound and endlessly fascinatiing.

I think Brigitte and I must seek a similar environment on the Oaxaca coast.

I guess that is what I was trying to say but who knows.

(This post was edited by Bubba on Jan 13, 2007, 12:18 PM)

sfmacaws

Jan 13, 2007, 12:56 PM

Post #10 of 20 (5111 views)

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Re: [Bubba] Rainy Season? What´s That?

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I understand. I grew up on small cliff on the Pacific ocean just outside Santa Barbara. I don't remember pelicans but the seagulls were endlessly fascinating and the whales that came by every year. When I first moved away I couldn't sleep because it was too quiet ;)

I can sit here and watch the birds and the ocean endlessly. Watching rain move across the sea changing the colors and looking like a grey veil swept along is mesmerizing. Whenever we think about selling this place I sit here and reconsider, I probably would never have another beach front home and this is hard to give up.

I feed raw oatmeal to the grackles on my deck and they are endlessly entertaining too. I've got one now sitting out there giving me dirty looks because the post is empty. It's hard to keep the oatmeal from blowing away on days like today.

There are terns that dive from very high and hit the water like a small white bullet. The pelicans dive from much lower usually and kind of slide in sideways. There is one osprey that fishes here although I have never actually seen him catch anything. Of course, my favorites are the Magnificent Frigates and there is one pair that appears in the afternoons. Sometimes the pelicans come so low over the deck while turning that one once had to swerve at the last minute or hit our satellite dish. We have this ugly dish farm going on one end of the deck as we are dubious about mounting them on the roof with the wind. I guess it wasn't on his flight map.

Have you ever been really close to a pelican? I was, in a vets office in Petaluma years ago. It had a broken wing and the rescue organization was bringing it there for help. They have to hold them with their hand inside the bill as if they close their bill, they suffocate. Gorgeous huge bird but did it ever smell bad! Whew! Eau de rotten fish! Not fun in a closed room, the whole place reeked minutes after they brought it in. Still, a fantastic chance to be so close to one.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

sfmacaws

Jan 13, 2007, 1:02 PM

Post #11 of 20 (5110 views)

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Re: [sfmacaws] Rainy Season? What´s That?

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I just realized why I don't remember pelicans from my youth. There were a few, very few, that hung out on the pier in Santa Barbara and were fed by the fishermen but it was during the time when they almost became extinct due to DDT use in farming. For awhile, there were updates in the SBar paper whenever more pelicans were seen and at some point, they rebounded after DDT was outlawed and now they are numerous. What a wonderful thing that we didn't lose these great birds.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

Bubba

Jan 13, 2007, 1:47 PM

Post #12 of 20 (5102 views)

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Re: [sfmacaws] Rainy Season? What´s That?

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Whenever we think about selling this place I sit here and reconsider, I probably would never have another beach front home and this is hard to give up.

Well, here is our experience. We were sick of the coastal commute and found an apartment with a spectacular view in North Beach where there is a lot of sun.. Our mind set was that we were sick of the foggy and overcast climate on the San Mateo coast so we just wanted to get rid of our Moss Beach property. We didn´t have to sell. We paid an outrageous $111,000 for this dilapidated shack on the sea in 1978. We sold it in 1988 for $205,000. Today it is worth at least $1,000,000. Probably more like $1,500,000 before the recent real estate market collapse.

I guess what I´m trying to say is, sell your footprint on the sea after careful consideration. You´ll never get it back.

I don´t even want to consider what that 600 sf apartment on Russian Hill we sold for a pittance is worth today. Oh well, we are just pleased to be in Mexico. Those of you unwilling to sell because you may make a large sum of money someday should just move on.

(This post was edited by Bubba on Jan 13, 2007, 1:50 PM)

S & C

Jan 14, 2007, 11:39 AM

Post #13 of 20 (5069 views)

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Re: [Bubba] Rainy Season? What´s That?

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Speaking of Pelicans....
My place is on the Caribbean just north of Tulum and a 10 minute ride from Jonna's place. I always see Pelicans either perched on "my Rocks" or diving for their food. The attached photo was taken in November during a good rainstorm. 2 Pelicans were just enjoying the rain but the one in front kept opening his mouth to drink the rain water. I watched him do this for several minutes before I took the photo.
First time I've ever seen it...
Stan

S & C

Jan 14, 2007, 2:58 PM

Post #14 of 20 (5053 views)

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Re: [S & C] Rainy Season? What´s That?

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Just noticed the photo didn't work. I will post it if I knew how.
anyone?
Stan

sfmacaws

Jan 14, 2007, 3:13 PM

Post #15 of 20 (5051 views)

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Re: [S & C] Rainy Season? What´s That?

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From the advanced editor, use the picture icon on the right. The picture has to exist on the web somewhere, you can't upload it to MC from your harddrive. and yes :) I noticed it wasn't there.
....................

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

S & C

Jan 15, 2007, 7:48 AM

Post #16 of 20 (5018 views)

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Re: [sfmacaws] Rainy Season? What´s That?

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Here's my first try at uploading a photo on MC
The pelican drinking rainwater I mentioned yesterday. Hopefully this will work.
Thanks for the help Jonna.

Stan

S & C

Jan 15, 2007, 7:52 AM

Post #17 of 20 (5017 views)

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Re: [S & C] Rainy Season? What´s That?

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sorry about this but it just doesn't seem to want me to post a photo.
I'l figure it out one day...
Stan

sfmacaws

Jan 15, 2007, 10:11 AM

Post #18 of 20 (5003 views)

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Re: [S & C] Rainy Season? What´s That?

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Hmmm. I looked at the html and it looks ok. I wonder if it is flickr - in which case I apologize as I sent you there - or is it that you linked to the thumbnail and not the larger pic. Here's a link to the larger pic, let's see if it works.

seems to. Hey Stan! There's your picture!!

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

sfmacaws

Jan 15, 2007, 10:15 AM

Post #19 of 20 (5001 views)

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Re: [sfmacaws] Rainy Season? What´s That?

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Yes, that was the problem. You had linked to your album on Flickr. You need to click the thumbnail of the picture on Flickr, when the larger picture opens, right click (ctrl-click on a mac) it and pick copy link location. Paste that address into the photo window on MC.

You were almost there Stan.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

S & C

Jan 15, 2007, 11:24 AM

Post #20 of 20 (4993 views)

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Re: [sfmacaws] Rainy Season? What´s That?

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Thanks a lot, I did like to a thumbnail.

In any case the photo may look bad bu it was raining like crazy and I took it from the protection of the house. The Pelican in the middle is actually opening his mouth for a time while facing into the rain. He then swalowed the water and kept doing it repeatedly.
Bubba, I hope that brings back some memories of Pelicans for you.
Thanks again Jona.
Stan