Photo by prozac1@ freedigitalphotos.com

What is there to do here? Don’t you get bored?
By Darryl Silva

I don’t know about you, but two of the most asked questions asked of me once people visit San Felipe are: “What do you do here? Don’t you get bored?” I suppose that at first blush it may seem like there is nothing to take up your days and nights. I must admit that at first I might stumble a bit trying my best to explain my daily schedule. So I started making some mental notes of what my average day was all about.

What I found was illuminating! Especially to me. It was not what I had expected. You see, in my other life, just like many of you, I was burning the candle at both ends. If there was a wick, it was being burned. Not until I learned how to decelerate did I have a better understanding of what life was all about.
Almost everyday I accumulate several hours sitting on my front shaded porch just watching. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed snooping on Mother Nature as she carries out her daily routine.

The more mature of us might remember a day when we would actually entertain ourselves. Long sticks might be swords. The shorter ones may be guns, knives or even a tractor or truck. Imagination was our life force. We were encouraged to use our gift of imagination to keep ourselves busy. There were no malls or huge multi screen theatres. No Game lounges. The Disney Channel had not yet been conceived. There was no need. We created our own world of happiness. Superman was my hero. To this day, I think he could take all The Teenage Ninja Turtles and make a good soup out of them!

I will share a silly little story about what I used to do for fun while living in a tiny town in southwestern Az. I was probably around nine or ten years old. We were a farming family so going to town meant loading us up for the long five mile trip to Joyce’s General Store. The same store by the way that many years later I would meet my wife Vickie. Anyway, one day after school I noticed that these big ugly looking birds seemed to circle around and around slowly getting closer and closer to their prey. The prey of course was dead! The more I learned about these buzzards the more intrigued I became. Then one day it came to me. Maybe if I would lie down silently in the middle of the sandy desert they would think I was dead. Maybe, just maybe they would come close enough for me to get a good look at them. Well one thing led to another.

One day I decided that in order to be more convincing I should be in a very unnatural position. A very post life looking position. Okay, I was a young stupid kid. It worked well. Not because of the positioning of my body, but because of the planning and patience I had put into this project. One would land maybe twenty yards away. Then another would venture closer. Suddenly I would jump up yelling and screaming! I can still feel the delight in watching those huge birds run away and then take flight. But just like a moth to a flame twenty feet became ten feet, then five. One day I decided I would wait until they pecked at my feet. The plan worked well except they were less interested in my Keds and more interested in my John Deere cap. How was I to know that one big bird had made an end run for the leaping Deere! Suddenly I felt the peck, peck, peck, at my head. Jumping up I was always astounded at just how close I was able to make them come. I kept thinking “be brave Darryl, be brave Darryl, now jump up and yell! Oh my goodness, the whole bunch of maybe fifteen or twenty would fly away screeching, as they would fly straight up. They fell for it every time! My excitement was hard to contain. In just a few short years, this would no longer pass for much needed excitement. But, that is another story for another day.

Now, when I sit outside on my patio and look straight east I can see the landing area for a hawk that I have named Humphrey. Yep, Humphrey the Hawk. Has a nice ring to it. Our house happens to be right in the middle of Humphrey’s hunting area. I watch him as he spreads those long graceful wings and puts air under them. He is so graceful as he catches the warm air currents and then suddenly dives straight down on some unsuspecting critter. Sometimes I do feel sorry for the target, but it is the whole circle of life thing I suppose. Sometimes he flies over our home when the sun is just right. The shadow he creates could be mistaken for a small plane. He glides, circles, climbs and dives with so little effort. It is beautiful to watch.

Then of course, there are what I call our welfare birds. They come to eat the food I put out for them without any thought about where it might come from. The White Winged Dove will not eat with the Mourning Dove. The Finch will not eat with the Cactus Wren. And so on and so on. It is amazing to watch the dynamics of all this beautiful nature going on all around us. All of this happens everyday whether we see it or not. Ms. Nature really does not care. They are doing their own thing out of necessity. All pretty much fend for their own survival. Well, except for the welfare birdies. I have learned so much about nature and the animals and plants living in it. To me they seem to be living in perfect balanced harmony.

My point here is that when someone asks me what there is to do, what they are really saying: “Is there somewhere we can go where we can pay someone to entertain us and make us happy”. These people mean no disrespect or harm. They are just like many of us may have been when we first came here. We had lost touch with the beauty of simply being who we really are. Some may have lost the ability to enjoy and identify with nature in its simplest and most basic form. It is a symbiotic relationship that one has to cultivate. There is a difference between being alone and being lonely. Many individuals can be in a room full of people and still feel the loneliness surrounding them. Others are blessed with a gift. The gift of being alone surrounded by nature while enjoying their own company. I think I was born with this ability but somehow lost it in my quest for success and happiness as described in my old world. It was a season of my life where this mentality was expected and did serve me well. Now however, I find myself in a new simpler slower season. I must say I have warmed up to it quite nicely. I enjoy simple!

Now when I go to the old country I find myself sometimes feeling overwhelmed by the energies of a huge mall, a Super Walmart or bumper to bumper traffic. I don’t miss that part of my old life. Wicks and candles were intended to shed light in a dark room, not to light up your inner being. Your soul.
By paying someone else to take on that responsibility, we are giving part of our God given blessings away to someone that cares not about us as long as they get their fees paid in full.

Yes, it is wonderful to go share time with your family at Disneyland or other entertainment venues. I love it! I love to see the expressions on little faces when their favorite character comes into view. But there is also something pretty special about your ten year old grandchild telling you that the favorite part of their whole vacation was a nature walk to learn about cacti. Or simply feeding the birds. Long after the memories of that ride they love so much at their favorite amusement park is forgotten, the simple experience of feeding the birds will remain a permanent part of their being. It will become part of our legacy. And in turn theirs as well. Let that special time spent together with loved ones light up your world. Let that be your gift to your loved ones from Our Little Village.

They will never forget the time spent with you in Our Special Little Village by the Sea.

Have you ever noticed the surprise that some people express when they suddenly realize that it is hot? It is summer! It is the desert for goodness sakes! What did they expect? Pine trees and snow flurries? I for one don’t mind the heat. Maybe it is because for years we lived in the Central Valley of Ca. Believe me, it is not cool there either. Oh yes they say “but it’s such a dry heat!” Give me a break! Anything over one hundred degrees is just plain hot! Put your head in an oven. That’s a dry heat too! By the way, how was the fog last year? A dry fog I’m sure!

My favorite part of summer is the fact that we get our little fishing village back. You know the one we all fell in love with. Those of us that have been here for a number of years have watched with excitement as more and more people recognize that this is a pretty nice place to visit. Maybe even a good place for an extended vacation. Some may plan to retire in this little piece of paradise.

As this trend has continued and evolved we have enjoyed many positives. We have also seen the not so great underbelly of this growth. It seems that many visitors have the attitude that this is Mexico and I’m an American. Their perception is that they can do whatever they feel like doing without impunity! Thus, the term “Ugly American” is reinforced.

I love being able to walk down The Malecón in relative quiet. Maybe hearing the sounds of a small Mexican Band singing folk songs that have been performed just like this for generations. Looking over the Sea Wall as Fishermen bring in their catch of the day. Perhaps a small child trying to sell trinkets. A family walking down the sidewalk together and actually talking to each other. I suppose this is our version albeit a healthier version of The Malls of which we are all so familiar.

Many of these hard working Fishermen have worked the Sea all their life! A certain feeling of tranquility, respect and community is evident. It is what we had at one time in the old country. You remember when a neighbor would be there to help even before you had a chance to ask. They are there and willing to help because they know you would be there if they were in need. This same feeling is alive and well right here among many of our fulltime American and Canadian residents. The mentality is that we are all in this together. This is a concept that in many cases is sorely missing in that life we left behind.

As the ship of progress slowly makes its way into our harbor, our life, we should make certain it is a vessel we want to board. We all should take interest in the direction our ship is sailing. Progress for the sake of change is not always prudent. Change for the sake of progress is not always warranted.
You know the old saying. Be careful for what you wish. You might just get it. This has never been so true. I guess my point is that I do love my little Village. The Village I fell in love with so many years ago. Progress and growth is inevitable but how we get there will set the tone and the mood of our lives for a long while. I hope that someday my grandkids will look with pride at San Felipe, their home and have good reason to love as we do Our Little Village by the Sea

Hi Everyone! I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Darryl. Well at least that is my name in the “old country”. Here south of the border I go by my Mexican name Dario de Baja. Dario to my friends. That would be you. I will be writing a column for this site from time to time. It will deal with things about my life in San Felipe and Baja in general. Most of what I write comes from personal experience or from my perceptions of life here in our little Village of San Felipe.You should not look for any negative rants or raving about any particular subject. I will never take anyone, anything or single out a particular business to task. I will leave that to others that feel that that is their calling.

 

I want this to be stories and experiences that are for the most part positive. Perhaps even humorous to some. My goal is to put a little smile on your face. As if you needed a reason to smile. I mean look at where we live for goodness sakes! I will at times attempt to point out the absurd by using absurdity. Please take it all for what it is intended; Entertainment. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

I do hope you enjoy the coming installments. If you enjoy reading them half as much as I enjoy sharing them with you then I will have accomplished my goal.

 

Look for coming articles soon! We’re all going to have a great time together!! Another reason our little fishing village by the sea is so special to us all.

 

Dario

By Darryl Silva

Does anyone else get tired of hearing and then answering this question? I mean come on people. We bring our grandkids down here to visit. Sometimes they stay for an extended period of time. We have never had a situation that would make us fearful for our safety or theirs.

Not so long ago I was visiting with some of my family back in the “Old Country”. I invited them to come down for a visit. You would have thought that I had suggested that they cut their arms and then jump into shark infested waters! Oh my gosh NO!! Haven’t you heard? Just yesterday on the news I heard there was a kidnapping in Mexico! Really? I asked. Where? Well, Mexico! Oh I see. I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for letting me know. After a bit it became, well, just too much! I countered back. Are these your kids? (I knew they were). Well whatever you do, don’t ever take them to Disneyland or Knotts Berry Farm! And for sure stay away from Universal Studios Tours. You do know that in Los Angeles just yesterday there were five murders! Who knows how many kidnappings might have occurred!

I started to walk away. But, for those of you who know me you know that I am just not wired that way. I started sharing some thoughts, going back, way back in our family history. Do you remember Grandpa Silva and Grandpa Leonardo? Do you remember the matter of fact stories they told us of where they came from? Both of those men at separate times came from The Azores Islands of Portugal. They sailed the Atlantic on ships used for Whaling! These men had no money to pay for their trip. Instead, they worked on these ships to earn enough money for passage. They were lowered into smaller boats and instructed to go get a whale. If they lost their lives who cared? There were plenty of Portuguese immigrants just begging to take their spot.

Upon arriving in The United States another problem! They spoke no English. These were the days when immigrants, especially poor non English speaking immigrants were not welcome. Both managed to make their way across the country by means of a note attached to the lapel of their only coat that indicated where they wanted to go. One went to Gustine, Ca. The other to a small town not too far away called Crows Landing. There they managed to make a life for themselves and finally after a year or so they sent for their families. These brave, steadfast men still had not met each other.

The point of my story is that you people have that same blood running through your veins. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves! When did you become such wimps? You have allowed yourselves to be afraid to travel in your air conditioned luxury cars with cell phones, XM radio and GPS devices. All because of some unnamed or unknown source told you how and what to think? I believe that if our Grandpas and Grandmothers would have listened to the cowards living among them our family would not enjoy the life we do today. What would your Grandpa’s think of you and your courage? Or perhaps I should say lack of courage! I told them that I personally think the most dangerous part of driving back to San Felipe is driving through the Los Angeles area. What is so ironic I explained is that many of those same ideas and ideals that drove our forefathers to the U.S. is now calling us to a new frontier. We have chosen to live our lives in an environment of greater tranquility and safety than we could enjoy in the old country.

Needless to say it was a very memorable day. Did I change any minds? Probably not. I know for a fact I made no points based on the delivery of my beliefs. But you know, that is just fine with me. I have decided that maybe the U.S. media might just be doing us all here in San Felipe a huge favor! We Americans that call San Felipe home are for the most part full of that spirit that drove my grandparents to a better life. It is that same pioneering spirit that makes us so unique even among other areas of Baja. If everyone starts to hear that this is the panacea we know it to be, we might just be very sorry. As it is, when I look northeast from my home and see that long line of vehicles coming south to share our bounty it sometimes saddens me. I begin thinking how things are changing a little at a time day by day. Besides, do you really want to bring all that crime and high energy to our little village by the sea? San Felipe is more a way of life than it is just a place on the map. Let us all try to keep it that way! Perhaps our kids and grandkids will thank us one day.

Thank you Patty Bell for sharing this great video from sanfelipeproductions.

Smile Madison

Our first week in San Felipe has flown by. Chuck and Larry have been busy adding electrical outlets to the shed/shop. Lynn has been unpacking and kicking back with a book. I have been attempting to put some work into my web sites. It seems I have diversified to the point of chaos so I am attempting to narrow my focus and work on one or two sites.

Yet is is easy to get distracted with new toys (Google Voice) and social interactions (Facebook) and I don’t seem to be making much progress on my ‘cash’ pages like SoWhereToFromHere and CheapLivingTips.

We have managed to stay in contact with video calls and chats on Skype. It is really great being able to see the baby (Madison) and chat with Jeremy online.

p.s. Note the new “Call Me” button on the right of this page.  It is a direct link to our Google Voice number which will ring us here in San Felipe (or on our cell phones when in the states).

Full credit for the music goes to Jenn Grant.