Hector Lives!

There is a painting above my San Carlos, Mexico, studio door.  On first glance, I wondered whether I might paint over what was there and put one of my own up. Then one day John returned from a walk and said "Hector Vari's murals are all over Loma del Mar."

In the days to follow, I too noticed all the different beach, sea, and desert scenes throughout our little gated community.

Sure enough, upon inspection, Hector Vari's signature adorned the work. I began to wonder about this Hector Vari. Who is he? Does he live in San Carlos? Is he even alive? Our painting is dated 1987.

Part of the Hector Vari painting above the door of my studio.

One person invited me inside her place when she saw me photographing a mural outside. Senor Vari had painted scenes throughout their casita.

So my quest began to discover more about the artist that created so much art over the years in the two-hundred-resident community that we are now part of.  From an internet search, I found this information on the What's Up San Carlos website.

"While the desert landscape around San Carlos is beautiful, seeing the multitudes of murals throughout town painted by our very own Hector Vari makes the scenery even more spectacular.Hector’s hands are gnarled from arthritis from holding paint brushes for most of his life. He never had any formal art training and says that the best teacher was him practicing his drawing and painting in the streets as he was growing up. He did work at an art institute in Nogales for eleven years. His paint brushes are stiff from paint but he can certainly still create his magic with them. He paints with acrylic paint because it dries quickly and can be washed.

"If you wanted Hector to paint something for your wall or home, you can give him full creative ownership; you can tell him what you have in mind and let him run with it; or you can be even more specific. For our project, we told him what we didn’t want and then what we liked. He spent seven hours on our mural (the cacti painted around our glass blocks pictured above). It was awe-inspiring to watch him create another one of his masterpieces. He can paint anything from fruit, to landscapes, to people, to animals, to sealife, and in any size from entire walls to wall hangings.

"Hector Vari is 83 years young and has been in San Carlos for 33 years. He never married but was with the same woman for 48 years before she died of cancer four years ago. Together they produced seven children. Hector has numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren and will proudly show you their photos. Hector spends the winters in Mazatlan.

How to contact Senor Vari? "About the only way to track Hector down is to find him most days in front of Rosa’s Cantina after 10:00am painting canvases and other articles. Go see what he is currently working on, have a chat with him (his English is quite good), or pick him up for one of your very own ‘Hector Vari’s’."

A few days ago, John and I went to Rosa's Cantina for lunch. Sure enough there was a thin, older gentleman across the street. I approached the man that looked all of eighty plus years. In spotty Spanish on my part and limited English on his part, I thanked Senor Hector Vari for all his creations at Loma del Mar. He graciously accepted my words and said that the location where I had found him would be where he could be found in the future.

Knowing an artist of a place breaks down barriers of language and culture.  The need to create, to paint, to imagine unites us. For an instant, all seemed well in the world.

What is your experience when you come to know an artist from another part of the world?

Wealth or Triple Trailer Trash?

As of January 1, 2018, six weeks after arriving in San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico, John and I are officially TTT (Triple Trailer Trash). Yes, we now own three RVs. One (the Jazz) is permanently affixed with a sun room on our property at Surfside RV resort in Parksville, British Columbia, Canada.

The second trailer, (The Wanderer), we use to travel about North America. And the recent addition to our fleet, our third RV (Wanderer II), is our new winter home. This second Wanderer is a 28-foot travel trailer that is set up on our property at Loma del Mar Recreation Park (www.lomadelmarsancarlos.com) in San Carlos, Mexico, alongside a small casita.

Charlie and I walking at Loma del Mar,
Sonora, Mexico.  The community
where we now have our winter home.

Yes, over the holidays, John and I gave ourselves the gift of a permanent snowbird destination. We now have a summer home in Canada and a winter home in Mexico.

Our living space inside Wanderer II.

How did we come to this decision? We fell in love with San Carlos; its desert geography on the northeastern edge of the Sea of Cortez, its small friendly tourist atmosphere (similar to Parksville's), the warm winter climate, and the excitement of being in a new country with a different language. Creating a way of life in Mexico feels good.

Being part of an established snowbird park offers us an immediate community. People travel to Loma del Mar from all over North America. Utah, Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, Quebec, California, Wyoming to name a few places out of dozens.

The diversity in retirement ages at Loma del Mar ranges from people in their fifties to many in their eighties and nineties. The older folks are great inspirations! Active and adventuresome.

Now that we have a home base here, John and I have thrown ourselves into our Spanish lessons with increased gusto. We are committed to learning about this place and the people beyond the surface.

We spent the last ten days of 2017 making our little Mexican hacienda our own. John went through all the electrical, plumbing and gas systems and repaired problems. I cleaned and organized the interiors of Wanderer II and our little casita (that I'll use as my art studio). We tended to plants and spruced up and furnished the outdoor living space.

The studio (on left) and Wanderer II (on right) shot from the patio.

Wanderer II  on left and studio casita on right.

Charlie is enjoying the new place.  Inside the casita
that I'll use as my art studio.

I guess we're officially retired now, which translates to "ready to fully live". We're looking forward to at least a decade of snowbirding pending good health and barring unforeseen circumstances. For now, we have three months before we head back to our northern home in Parksville. Just set the studio up today and plan to get back to painting tomorrow. Funny...it strangely feels all just right!  Ahh! Deep breath.

New Year's Day hike in Nacapule Canyon minutes from
our new winter residence.

The pool and hot tub area at Loma del Mar.

If you have questions or comments, I welcome them. Just leave your message below and I'll answer. Thank's for reading along.

Real Time San Carlos

Hola! ¿Cómo estás?

The many ways to say “Hello. How are you?” in Spanish are all jumbled up in my head.

¿Cómo está usted?

¿Cómo estás?

¿Cómo estás hoy?

Buenas dias.

Buenos tardes.

Hola.

It seems simple enough. They are just a few basic words.

But departing from automatic speak when I greet someone ain't an easy feat. I must stop my usual response, think about what I want to say in Spanish, remember the person's name that I want to say “good day” to, think about whether its morning (dias) or afternoon (tardes), and get my Spanish phrases in mind before I speak. Then after successfully (or not) saying what I want to say, time to listen to and translate their response. Then the same thing all over again. Figure out what I want to say next. I don't have to tell you that it can be exhausting.

Beautiful decorations on homes next door to RV park.

House decoration at Tecalai next door 

John and I just finished our fourth Spanish lesson in two weeks. It's fun and frustrating. Fun because its a time to play language(s) games with the instructor, Carolina, and with the other students. Frustrating because I want to already say and understand so much more with the Mexican people I encounter each day in San Carlos.

Luckily you don't have to know the language in a foreign county to enjoy its sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures. And we experience plenty of all those each day.

Almost daily since arriving in this seaside town three weeks ago, I've walked from our campsite at Totonaka RV Park to the small development next door for a stroll with my dogs, Gingee and Charlie. The lusciously painted houses with their artsy doors and windows, the clean cobblestone streets, the brightly colored bougainvillea bushes, and the attractive clubhouse and pool area have fueled much fantasizing by me and John of having our own little winter getaway place there.

We're sorting through whether we want to return in winters to come.

The small homes at Tecalai are full of charm and character.

Each day, we find one more item that we thought was not to be found here in San Carlos. Yesterday it was our first trip to the farmacia (pharmacy) where we saw they have familiar cosmetics and toiletries, and medicines for everything we might need. We also discovered the little specialty grocer (Santa Rosa Mercado) where the shelves were stocked with items that make us gringos happy – a loaf of freshly baked sourdough bread, Quaker old fashioned oats, almond milk and more. Not only that, the owner goes to Tucson, Arizona regularly and will bring back items for you if they don't already have them in the store. That's service!

John exploring the artistry at Sagitario Arts and Crafts.

I have reached the point in our stay where I am ready to settle into some creative work with my painting, writing and videography. The challenge is that it's hard for me to focus in our little RV with John and the dogs continuously coming and going. So I began a search for artist studio space, at a reasonable rate. A space close enough to walk to would be great. I'm on the hunt! We will be here for another three months give or a take a week or two, so definitely worth the effort to find. 

Buenas noches and holiday wishes to everyone as you gear up for the month of celebrations.

Yummy Plant-based Dinner

Red Lentil Maranara Over Polenta and Spiraled Zucchini.
A completely plantbased vegan meal. 

I had several requests for this recipe after posting the picture on Facebook.  So here it is!

Red Lentil Maranara (for a 100% plant-based meal)

created by Chef John  (Inspired by The Happy Pear)

Makes approximately 3 quarts (or litres)

2 Tbs vegetable or olive oil

1 medium onion (diced)

4 cloves garlic (fine chopped)

1 green bell pepper (diced)

1 red bell pepper (diced)

2 – 12 oz. cans whole tomatoes and juice (chopped)

1 cup chopped kale

1 cup red lentils

1 cup vegetable broth

1 cup chopped mushrooms

3 Tbs tamari sauce (or soy sauce)

2 Tbs pure maple syrup

2 Tbs Italian seasoning

2 Tbs oregano

1 tsp paprika

salt to taste

(optional) 1/3 cup red wine

1. Brown onion, garlic in large sauce pan or Instant Pot.
2. Add chopped peppers to saute.
3. Add remainder of ingredients to pot, stir and adjust liquid to allow sauce to simmer.
4. Add more vegetable stock as needed during cooking.
5. Simmer until lentils are soft (we cooked for hours)
6. Serve over pasta, rice, polenta, potatoes or whatever the hell you want.
7. Serve with a chapped salad and citrus-based dressing.

Citrus-based Dressing

created by Chef Levonne

Juice of several small limes.

1 Tbs of olive oil

1 Tbs of vegan mayonnaise

pinch of chili powder

pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients well and pour over chopped jicama, fresh tomato, avocada salad up to 20 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Getting to Know You. Getting to Know All About You.

Boom dockers camp out near San Francisco Beach (for free if you don't know the meaning of boondock).

Our first week in San Carlos was filled with exploration and getting ourselves set up for maximum comfort. I was excited by all the newness, overwhelmed by securing matters of food, clothing, and shelter while dealing with language differences, but mostly soothed by the warm, sunny weather.

Within three days of our arrival, we shopped at the local grocery store, bought fresh fruits and vegetables from Freddy the veggie vendor right at Totonaka RV park where we camp, signed up for regular fresh drinking water delivery to our trailer, walked around Marina San Carlos and five-mile San Francisco beach (where several RVers boon-docked in their rigs), and met up with Mary Ann, our neighbor from Surfside (on Vancouver Island) at her Tecalai (a housing development) home next door. I also checked out Athleticlub San Carlos for yoga classes and Galeria Bellas Artes San Carlos for local art and artists.

What struck me most in those first three days was:

• the beauty of the area with its pointy, rocky hills and mountains, some of which sweep down to the ocean's shoreline,

John and the dogs take a walk at Algodones Beach.

A taco at home costs less than a dollar. Fresh tortilla made
 with vegetable oil, avocado, salsa, tomato, cilantro,
lettuce, pintos (cooked in slow cooker at home), and
a squeeze of lime served with Chilean wine
 ($7 U.S. per bottle). 

• the bountifulness of fruits and vegetables at amazingly low prices,

• the friendliness of the Mexican people,

• the abundance of things to do – walking, hiking, bicycling, kayaking, boating, making art, sightseeing, photography, learning Spanish, going out to eat, shopping, and relaxing by the pool or at our trailer,

• the beauty of the homes which can, by the way, be bought for relatively low prices, and

• the wealthy resorts marred by decaying, half constructed casualties of the 2008 Great Recession.

This beautiful little two-bedroom home with a "margarita deck on the roof"
 at Tecalai Development next door for less than U.S. $150,000.

Freddy stops by Totonaka RV on Tuesdays at 4:30 with a great
assortment of fresh fruits and veggies for sale. Easy shopping!

A pretty good beginning to our winter season!

San Carlos, Here We Are!

John, and I rolled into San Carlos (Sonora, Mexico) last Sunday evening. Our fifteen-year old GMC truck had towed the twenty-two-foot fifth-wheel trailer reliably for over nine hours from the border crossing at Nogales, Arizona. By the time we arrived at Totonaka RV, we were exhausted and exhilarated!

At one point along our drive, after hours of detours due to road construction work, I said "Maybe we should turn back." I meant it. My rationale was that I'd rather backtrack on the crappy highway we knew than continue to creep the remaining hours over humps and bumps, along shoulderless roads with slow traffic to a place we didn't know. We'd never been to San Carlos before. John kept driving southward.

My culture shock was apparent to me. The contrast between wealth and poverty in the towns along the way made my eyes bulge and my breathing tense. Mansions and modern-looking businesses in the midst of minimally kempt and roughly put-together homes. Huge piles of dirt or gravel on the edges of roadways, even in the middle of towns. Of course the dried grasses, saguaro cactus, and parched earth of the Sonora desert added to a sense of desperation.  Our time in Mexico decades earlier had not had the same culture-shock effect. But I was younger and more flexible back then! Years had made me more comfortable with the known.

All the warnings from Canadian and American family and friends, upon learning we wished to snowbird in Mexico, came rushing back to me. "Be careful." All indications were that North Americans perceived Mexico as a dangerous place. It didn't matter about all the mass shootings of innocents in the U.S. The Mexican intra-drug-world murders and kidnappings seemed much scarier to them.

Long ago I learned to register a warning of any type, then to try to understand it in its context. Mainstream news media have a way of making the little seem large in our minds, especially if a story triggers fear. Decades earlier, when we traveled in Mexico, we learned that many of the people we encountered believed America to be a most violence-loving society. What could we be without all those good old news reports?

I had my own concerns weighing heavily on my mind. Would John and I be able to maintain the plant-based, whole foods shift we'd made from meat and dairy consumption months earlier? Everyone with experience eating out in Mexico said "good luck" when I wondered if we'd find enough food free of animal parts to sustain us.

And of course there was the water issue. How sick could we get from consuming bad bacteria-laden water?

Would we be able to keep our dogs safe? How much unsavory debris would we have to make sure Charlie and Gingee avoided? How bad would the flea and tick problems be? Would they be stolen and sold?

After the friendly and gracious greetings from the Totonaka staff and other campers, we settled into our sweet little RV site. We safely fed and walked the dogs, made dinner with and took showers in clean water. As night approached, I found myself glad that we had not turned around and aborted our Mexico travels. The second half of Hwy 15 had not been as bad as the first half. And Totonaka, though a little rough around the edges, was pleasant and just happened to be filled with other British-Columbian license-plated RVs.

That first night, I slept peacefully even though in the middle of the night, Mexican music blanketed the park like a thick fog. Normally, I hated being awakened by noise at night. But there was genuinely something soothing about the thump thump thump of the music. When I'd had enough listening to it, I drifted back into a deep sleep.

A rough video of a rough drive from 

Nogales, Arizona to

San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico.