Saturday Night Thoughts

I live a few blocks from one of the central gathering places in Ajijic, two huge fenced in fields with bleachers on the sides.  On weekends they usually have a band playing in the evenings and soccer in the afternoons. It is also for the cowboys and horses. Exciting place. I had no idea when I moved here that I would have so much free entertainment. All I have to do is take the ear plugs out of my ears.  I wear them at night so I can sleep. Mexico is noisy.

There has been so much excitement these past few days. Sometimes when I know something is happening, especially if I can hear it in the distance, I have this sense of longing. I want to be there and see what is going on, take photos, meet people. Like right now. I can hear drums and singing. What is going on up there? But it is late and I am tired. That is the difference between being thirty and over sixty. I have to conserve my energy now. When I was younger I had more. I thought about that today when my street was in a brown out. Of how much we depend on electricity and how electrical energy is a lot like the energy in a living body.

We take both kinds for granted until they are gone, or browned out. The older I get, the more energy brown outs I feel.  I didn't realize I was in an electrical brown out until I tried to microwave a cup of tea. The microwave sounded like it was really straining and the water was lukewarm. That's how I sometimes feel. I have the mental desire to jump out of bed, dress and walk the three blocks up the street to see what all the noise is about but my body says no. It is too much of a strain.

I think this is why I went through my birthday depression. It was a reminder that my life is mostly already lived.  My big ideas and ideals have had to be modified greatly. I am happier with simple pleasures now. I am happy if my knees don't hurt when I walk and my back doesn't hurt when I get out of bed. I am happy to have friends, even if it is just to share a walk with the dogs. My needs are fewer now. My desires too.  What I want and what I need are pretty much the same these days.

One of the advantages of getting older is a better sense of perspective. If I feel depressed for a few days, that is okay with me because I know it won't last. I know that soon I will be feeling happy again. Everything changes. Everything changes all the time.

I was asked today the reasons why forty percent of the people settling here return to the States within the first two years. Maybe they forget this simple rule. Nothing is forever. If you don't like the way things are going----wait. They will change. Mexicans seem to have this principal down pretty good. I have a friend who was chasing a bus once with her Mexican friend. She was irritated with the Mexican (a healthy thirty year old) because she refused to run half a block for the bus. They missed the bus. Why didn't you run? She angrily asked. Her Mexican friend said, Why run? Another one will be by in an hour.

An hour to most Americans and an hour to most Mexicans is very different. What is another hour to wait for the bus? You can relax and enjoy the sunshine. I like this photo with the family playing jump rope by the side of the road while they are waiting for people to come and buy their wares. The man smiled at me when he saw I was taking his picture. No pressure. Just enjoying his family while he was also doing his job. Family first; job second. I love that philosophy.  So maybe I should forget about my own life's shortened available time and just enjoy what is left of it.