On top of that, we had two uncharacteristic warm water spells, one the beginning of January and one the beginning of February.  Not Maui warm, or even Santa Barbara warm, but good enough that I could get some serious swimming in.  I have never swum here as much as I have this year.  I usually leave that to Andy Caz and Emilio Grande, who can brave the cold water much better than I.   These warm water spells would suddenly come, and then each day gradually get colder.  Over a few weeks, you’d swim and say to yourself “It’s a little colder today but I can still do this”.  And the next day would be a little colder still, and you would say to yourself, as you swam, “I can still do this’, until eventually you had to say ‘I can’t do this’ and go back to days of reading your book.  But those ‘warmer’ water spells helped get me out of my Maui frame of mind, and I was able to brave the cold swims to the balsa (the offshore raft) much earlier this year than other years.  (Late note: It’s official.  The third warm water spell is here).

There was another phenomena associated with the warmer water.  Every other year I have been here, when the water turns a little warmer, the bay fills with jellyfish.  When you’re in the water during those periods, you always have to keep an eye out for one of those guys floating on the surface.  This year though, even with the warmer water, we had almost no jellyfish (just a couple in December).  Very unusual.

Off the coast of Santa Barbara, we have whales much of the year: Greys close to shore December through April, and Humpbacks and Blues off the islands July through September or so.  In Maui, the Humpbacks are in abundance, starting in November and lasting until April.  Maalaea Bay, the bay our condo is on, is the one used for birthing, and the whale breaching ‘shows’ from our picnic tables can be spectacular.  Unfortunately, we are never in Maui then; it’s the high season on the islands, for the ‘snowbirds’ flock in from Canada, and we choose not to go when Maui is at its most crowded. Sometimes we pick up the early whale arrivals when we are on Maui in November, and once, when we went in April, we were blessed with many late departees, but we haven’t been there in the prime whale months in a long time.

Zapallar is not a whale haven.  Last year, Maria and I spotted our first whale ever.  In yet another phenomena this year, there has been a plethora of whales just off the shore.  Early February, when staying with Fernando and Sharon at their home on the Mar Bravo here (around the corner from Zapallar bay), we had our morning coffee watching a whale in the distance spouting and breaking the surface.  And now, this week, the whales have become a regular sight, even watching them spout from the beach.  Unique.  A couple of days ago, when hiking from the Cemetery to Zapallar on the rocks, I was treated to whales off shore the whole 2 hour scramble.  We have never seen whales like this here.  They are probably working their way from birthing in Mexico to feeding in Antarctica.  They undoubtedly do this every year, but for some reason unknown to us locals, they are traveling south much closer to shore this year.  We are enjoying it while we can.  Twenty years ago or so, blue whales appeared in the Santa Barbara Channel.  No one knows why, but they come every year since then.  Similarly, I am hopeful this season of whales along the coast here in Zapallar becomes a regular occurrence.

What kind of whales are they?  From my experience as a naturalist working on whale watching boats off Santa Barbara, I would have guessed that these are grey whales, from their appearance and behavior.  Contradictorily, in a web search, there is no mention of grey whales being a possibility off the coast of Chile.  The species they mention are blue, sei, fin, and humpback.  These are definitely not the humongous Blues; they are too small.  I would be surprised if they were humpbacks, for we have seen no breaching, or even tail fins, which one would expect with the active humpbacks.  I have no experience with fin or sei whales.

Our days at the beach have only been limited by our involvement in projects around the house.  This year, we had to do something about finishing our decks.  They have never been sloped for water drainage, and, being just concrete, the winter water would just sit on a couple of them until it soaked through the concrete and caused some damage within the house.  We had to take care of this before more widespread problems occurred.

We went through our usual task of finding our maestro that we liked and could depend on, Gonzalo.  He was a leftover from our house contractor’s crew who did so much good work for us to ‘finish’ our house.  Gonzalo is not from this area, and moves around a lot, so each year when we want to use him, we have to trace him down through either his family or the old contractor.  We make this effort because once you find someone here that is trustworthy, reliable, skilled, and reasonably priced, you hold onto him.  This year though we couldn’t locate him.  Faced with the dilemma of finding someone else, we got a recommendation from friends.  Luckily, we scored again.  Juan Pablo turned out to be a great guy, all those things like trustworthy, reliable, skilled, and reasonably priced, plus entertaining, and, over the last 2 months, he has become a good friend.  Imagine hiring a maestro who, in addition to all the good work, brings presents of vegetables, old wines he has stored, baskets for the deck, plants for the garden.  He has gone searching for rocks with us on the nearby beaches and shared asados and pisco sours with us on the decks.  This week he showed up with some cordero (lamb) for a barbeque.  We were very fortunate to find someone to fill Gonzalo’s shoes, someone local, and an all-around good guy.

As for the work, we got quite a bit done for not a huge amount of money.  We started with the basis that we had to finish the decks.  Juan Pablo pointed out that if we wanted some furniture ‘en obra’ (in place, in concrete) on one deck, we should do that before we tiled that deck.  That done, he pointed out that we should also put in the metal staircase to our roof deck before we tile that deck as well.   That done, and once we could get to the roof deck, he pointed out that the peeling paint on the tin roof should be redone before the roof started to really oxidize and we had greater problems.  All those things got accomplished, and then we were able to tile our decks.  And the final project, finished this week, was to build a proper entrance to the house, with steps in the right places and planter boxes so we can get permanent plants in the ground and growing.

In all the projects, we worked closely with Juan Pablo and hence reduced beach days (don’t pity us for we certainly got plenty in).  We worked very well together, and despite not speaking the same language, and because of the input and ideas I had while doing these projects with him, Juan Pablo insists I could make a lot of money if I stayed here and worked with him.  I don’t think that is going to happen, but I do enjoy the involvement in design and construction.

So what did we get done?  Our ‘breakfast’ deck has a table and bench built in concrete, as well as a quincho (BBQ).  It’s become out regular lunch spot.  The metal staircase to the Pisco deck (the roof deck) has a railing that matches the Cali Lilies of our front deck’s railings, and that Pisco deck is now in use for sunset swills.  The main deck is lined with rocks that Maria has collected over the years from nearby Cachagua Beach, plus some we had to go en mass to collect in order to have enough to finish.  The entrance to the house is now much more attractive, and we can now make it lush with plants as we were able to do successfully on our bedroom terrace.  We built screening for our bedroom windows so Maria no longer has to worry about people coming to our house being able to peer into our bedroom as they go to the front door.

A couple weeks ago, on a Tuesday, a film crew was observed around Zapallar, filming on the beach and other scenic spots.  It turns out it was a crew from a Canadian HGTV program, “Live Here, Buy This”.  This show has a premise of picking a family somewhere in in the world, and then showing them alternative places they could live.  Each alternate place has a 15 minute presentation on the local, and then showcases a house there for another 15 minutes.  This film crew had been filming for 9 months around the world, in places like Croatia, Italy, Costa Rica, Thailand, and were finishing their filming for the upcoming fall season in Argentina and Chile.

They were all set up to film their Zapallar showcase house on Thursday, but on Wednesday, the people withdrew their offer to use their home.  The producers in Canada were desperate to find a house in one day, and had actually lined up a house in  Algarroba, 2 hours south, that they were going to film and pawn off as being in Zapallar.  In the scramble Wednesday to find something actually in Zapallar, they ran across my rental ad on VRBO and contacted me about filming my house.  There was a flurry of e-mails and calls.  I tried to tell them that my house was not one of those big mansions on the front row of the bay, but a small house in the poor section of Zapallar, but they liked the website pictures and needed to identify their filming spot immediately, and I finally agreed that they could film the house the next day.  It happened so fast though that I couldn’t coordinate with Maria, who was down sunning/jabbering on the beach. I actually got in trouble; when she came home, all I heard was “YOU DID WHAT???”. Lucky for me, it worked out. We got $500 US, but I certainly didn’t do it for the money but for the experience.

We were quite in awe of the activity of an 8 person crew and the large cameras taking over our house.  They filmed from 9:30 until 4:00, only breaking briefly for lunch.  In the morning, their host and a hired realtor went to go through the house filming, and re-filming, with audio tracks.  No sound could be made by us, which turned out to be pretty difficult.  Maria wasn’t about to leave the house to a bunch of strangers, so she insisted on hanging around, and as a result had to be silent all morning.  (My wife… silent!) The afternoon filming was easier, as they went around the house filming that which would be spliced in under the audio recorded in the morning.  As the day turned out, it was fun, and an experience.  The Canadians were all good guys, and interesting since they had been filming around the world.  It was fun for me to have a large group of English speakers handing around the house.  They loved the house; it is unique, and I imagine the light within our house would be great for the camera.  Since they have been filming exquisite houses around the world, it was good to hear how much they liked our home.  And we finished our decks just in time for the filming. Now they are back to Canada, editing down the films into shows.  The 6-7 hours of filming they did around our house will be edited down to about 15 minutes.  The series I think begins broadcasting in July, with the Zapallar piece probably airing in September.  Watch for it on your local cable HGTV network.

I don’t want to get back into the whole ‘Randy doesn’t speak Spanish’ thing again, but I will offer this.  This actually was the first year I didn’t want to come to Chile.  It just seemed too soon to face again the frustrations of my lack of linguistic skills. I had no energy to deal with another 4 months of  “You don’t speak Spanish yet?”, “You just don’t want to learn!”, “You’re just lazy!”.  There are people that we see like once every 10 years, on the beach or around town, who, after chatting with Maria, turn to me and our only interaction is them saying “And you don’t speak Spanish yet?”  But I came, and it has actually worked out.  Early on, I just decided I wasn’t going to learn Spanish.  No amount of Rosetta Stone or Pimsler was going to do it.  Lo and behold, having made that realization, this year became much better, much more relaxed.  Not this constant feeling I have to study, have to concentrate.  Ah-h-h!  I still get all those comments, but… so what.  And having our own house here, my own haven, is a salvation.  I have more often this year told Maria to go to dinners by herself; it works out much better for me to stay home and also much better for those others who don’t then have to deal with English or translations.  And actually, it is now only 3 weeks before we go back, and I have yet to get those feelings I have every year of having reached my limit of being in a place I don’t speak the language.  I have readily accepted failure and am contently moving on.

As I said, 3 more weeks in Chile, and then off to Santa Barbara and points as yet to be determined.  We had our house in SB rented for a year, which meant that we had 4 months to stay elsewhere until we got our house back in July.  Unfortunately though, our renter lost her Santa Barbara contract, and therefore we are getting the house back the day we return.  Good to have the house back, bad to lose out on the rent.   So now the only thing that would be better than finding another renter would be to finally sell the house.  I’m not holding my breath.  As for California, we have been kept informed about how great the winter weather has been, but now I am reading about snow on the coastal mountains.  I’ll be enjoying the beach here, and the ‘warm’ water, as long as I can…

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Beach time

The beach in February

The beach in March

Beach contemplation

Zapallar vista

Sunset

Sunset

Pisco time at the Cesar

Zapallar temporarily not completely sunny

Chilean salute from Maria, Luis Emilio, and Catucho

We visited a museum on the miner rescue

Maria and Claudia in the garden

Maria decorates our walls by framing parejos from Hawaii and Thailand

Maria and our maestro Juan Pablo

The main terrace tiled and with Cachagua stone border

The main terrace at night

The breakfast deck with new table/bench in obra and quincho (BBQ)

New stairway to heaven, well actually to the pisco deck

Vista from the pisco deck

Garden stairway and planters

Privacy screen for our bedroom

HGTV crew filming

Cordero asado on the BBQ

Ceviche... Yum!

Meanwhile, we alit in Santiago and have been settled in Chile now for a little over a month; I should say in Zapallar, for we only spent a couple initial days in Santiago; getting our car insurance, the car smogged, etc.  We had a week in Zapallar to get ready before Andy, Laura, and Camila showed up for the holidays.  I should say Andy, Laura, Camila, and Laura’s family, for Laura’s 2 brothers and 1 sister, their spouses, plus mass quantities of kids also showed (I think 22 were at Christmas dinner).  That first week before they showed up, the weather was horrible, almost raining in the mornings (water dripping off the patio furniture) and the clouds/fog intense all day.  Only a couple 2 hour periods of sun in that week.  We were a little concerned, for the beach is much better in the sun and there was one year back when Andy and family got no sun until the last day they were here.

No need for concern.  The day they began drifting into town, the clouds disappeared and we didn’t see another until they all left.  Totally sunny days; Zapallar at its finest. Andy, Laura and Camila stayed in the house with us (all the others rented their own places), but we didn’t see too much of them that week Laura’s family was around.  Understandably, this is Laura’s time to catch up with her family, since she’s the only one not living in Chile or Argentina.  When they all left Zapallar, content with many good days at the beach, we had a few days with Andy et al before they headed down south to Laura’s sister’s new house in Pucon before they had to head back to Santa Barbara.  We got an added bonus day with Andy in Zapallar between Laura and Camila’s plane leaving and his leaving.  It was a good one, and Andy’s choice to go to Zapallar for that one day rather than spend it in Santiago turned out to be an excellent choice.

We have had more cloudy days in January, but on the whole, the weather has been very good.  When you are here for an extended period, those cloudy days are even a relief.  You get to do something else rather than go to the beach with your lotion and book.  If it is sunny, one always feels one has to go to the beach, for on the coast, you never know if the weather pattern will change and you will be praying for that sun.

One exceptional thing this year, so far, has been the water temperature.  The Humbolt Current is usually so cold here, but this year, the water temp has been much more tolerable.  We had 4 days last week where the temp has been as warm (less cold) as I have ever experienced it.  Usually it takes me until probably February to get out of my Maui frame of mind and brave the water regularly.  The last 10 days or so, though, I have been able to get in some swimming that is usually reserved for the hardiest of swimmers here.  This water, with is waves and clarity, is so much fun, and with it being warmer, I can partake more than my mind and body usually allows me.  The second amazing thing besides the water temp has been the complete absence of jellyfish.  Usually when we get warmer water, it is accompanied by jellyfish, which makes it necessary to keep alert and on the watch when swimming so as not to get stung.  So it’s been very unusual: warm H2O and no jellyfish

Chile has, as usual, its share of environmental events.  We get the odd earthquake now and then; we had a close 5.1 the other day that shook the beach pretty good.  The Puyehue volcano that erupted in June (that you all probably read about) is still erupting.  It continues to cause havoc in the resort areas of the Argentine south as well as in the south of Chile.  We have friends in Lago Ranco where we have stayed many times.  Their reports of what is going on there is so sad; ash everywhere preventing the growth of vegetation, mass fields of pumice floating on the lake surface, etc.  No one has any idea when the volcano will stop erupting.  In addition, this year, more than any I remember, Chile is experiencing a rash of fires within their national parks and forests.  There’s always something happening in Chile.

I guess I could give you an update on our phone saga.  We came to Chile with our iPhone still locked (to AT&T) and got varying opinions on whether the new iPhone 4s could be unlocked.  We decided not to pursue that, for Chile really hasn’t made the switch to wide-spread iPhone use yet.  They predominantly use BlackBerrys, and we had the one Janet gave us with us, and unlocked, so we upgraded our phone plan to include data.  We were in bliss with the BB compared to our dumb phone we have used every year before.  And we felt so mainstream, just like having the iPhone in the US.  Alas, that bliss lasted only a few weeks, as Maria lost the phone.  It was gone in a very small window of time, essentially leaving the golf course and driving directly home.  Our best guess is that it was left on the roof of the car as we departed the golf course.  Much looking resulted in no success, and hence we are back to our dumb phone.  We could have got a new, free BB, but it required a 2 year plan that could not be suspended for the 8 months each year we are not in Chile; not very cost-effective.  Anyone have an old BB in a drawer somewhere?  I know Janet doesn’t anymore

Also in the technology world, we got DirecTV when we got here.  Maria wanted it, I didn’t, but I relented because I realized I could see football this year.  I always miss the end of the season and the playoffs while in Chile this time of the year.  I have been able to catch some 49ers games here with ESPN and a limited FOX network.  Fox though was not carrying the 49ers-Saints playoff game on that channel, so the day of the game I got on the phone with DirecTV and signed up for an added Fox Sports package (for $14/month) that did carry the game.  So I was able to see it (Thank God, or somebody), but it was in Spanish (ESPN shows their AFC games in English).  Therefore, I watched the game on my new Fox Sports channel, and listened to the broadcast on SF radio station KNBR on my computer.  I am so thankful, for it was truly one of the memorable games in 49er history.  An amazing, amazing game from a team that has let me down plenty over the last 15 years.  The last 4 minutes were the best football can be.  The side benefit to having DirecTV is that for the first time in 15 years I can watch the news, in English, although I am stuck with only CNN and Fox News, not my two favorites by far.

Well, the holidays are over and the visitors are gone.  Besides waiting for the 49er-Giant game this weekend, it’s time to start thinking about what house projects we can get done while we are here the next 3 months…

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The first week here we would wake up to dripping furniture and deck railings

While Emilio and Andrea were graduating...

we were sending our best wishes

Camila and Laura arrive in Zapallar...

as well as the rest of Laura's family

Camila braved the waves and cold

The obilgatory Santa picture

Camila got her balloons...

and so did Andy

Merry Christmas from the beach

Christmas morning at the house

Pisco sour at the Cesar

The final setting sun of 2011

The New Year toast

I borrowed this great picture from Todd

Our last picture with the BlackBerry

Chileans love their lunches

A batch of ready homemade Machas A La Parmesana

The 5.1 quake on Jan 10 was close

Dancin can be done at lunchtime too...

with a beautiful setting

We just spent close to 3 months on Maui.  I have a feeling that all my previous reports from Maui have been much like this:  The weather is perfect; shorts and maybe a T-shirt at 11:00 at night; Santa Barbara and Zapallar have that marine layer which makes warm nights a rarity in those places.  The ocean is a perfect temperature, allowing you to stay in the water as long as you want.  The water time is extensive, either snorkeling, bodysurfing, swimming distances, or just sitting out there soaking it all in.   Aquatic life teems in the ocean, an abundance of tropical colored fish, green sea turtles, spotted eagle rays, eels.  The scenery, with the blue, blue ocean, green lush mountainsides and expanses of sugar cane fields, and the white puffy clouds, is always a sensory experience for the eyes.  The sunsets are consistently gorgeous.  And even when it might be cloudy, everything is so vividly distinct.  I know I have said all these things repetitively, but it’s all true.  I love being in Maui.

Maui Na Ka Oi!

This year’s trip was characterized by not many big wave days.  What that meant was the water was unusually clear and the snorkeling was great.  Very few days of watching the tourists wipe-out on waves at Big Beach.  Other than the usual hedonistic life of water activities and golf, we spent our time with little chores in the condo; installing wi-fi and a DVR, changing out shower heads, repairing a little flood damage sustained in the winter, getting new cushions for the sofa bed, etc.

We were there for our 10^th wedding anniversary.  To celebrate, we took a day trip to Lanai.  We don’t make that trip too often, so it was a real treat.  The ferry boat leaves Lahaina harbor, so you get the vista of Lahaina from the water as you’re leaving.  Part of the treat was just being on the water, the flying fish leading the way to the island of Lanai.  Once there, you take a 10 minute walk from the ferry dock through the palm trees and end up on one of the most scenic of beaches (we just missed an hour show by Spinnaker Dolphins). No golf on their great courses this time.  No trip to the fancy Koele Lodge on top of the mountain.  We didn’t spend the night.  We just beached it.  We did take a break for a pool-side lunch at the adjacent Manele Hotel, but lounged on the beach, with not many other people present, until it was time to head back to the ferry and on to Lahaina.  A quick dinner sitting at the bar at Bubba Gump’s, and our anniversary was complete.

Halloween traditionally has been a big event in Lahaina, getting a reputation as the Mardi Gras of the Pacific.  Front Street was closed down all evening and one would parade up and down in the street gawking at all the unique costumes.  It was a gay time for tourists and locals, and a profitable time for the Front Street businesses.  Four, five years ago the locals Hawaiians decided a large celebration vilifying Satan was not in accordance with Hawaiian tradition, and succeeded in getting Front Street to remain open to traffic.  This put a damper on events, and, although the costumes continued to appear, the night was uncomfortable as the people kept trying to push the limits of walking in the street and the policemen spent their time constantly getting the crowds back onto the sidewalk.   This year though, the locals and businesses succeeded in getting the street blocked to traffic again, promising to control both the more obscene costumes and the obvious drunkenness.  We returned to the street and the gaiety was back.

Janet and Paul came to visit us from Santa Barbara.  Paul’s first real trip to Maui, and we showed him a good time in the short time he was here.  They were fortunate enough be here on Halloween, so we all partook in the festivities together.  After Paul left, Janet had to take a business trip to Oahu before going back to CA.  Maria decided to go with her, so the girls had 3-4 days in Waikiki solo.  As I understand it, they had a good time .  Maria hitched a ride back to Maui with our friend Ron, whose cleaning company has a plane for Ron’s use to travel between the islands coordinating jobs.  He always goes to Oahu on Fridays, so Maria was able to schedule a return trip with him.  We would probably try to hitchhike with Ron more often, except he always leaves Maui early in the morning (we don’t get up early) and he usually has to squeeze us in between the toilet paper and the Clorox.

During our stay we continued our technological advancement.  While there, the new iPhone 4s was introduced by Apple.  We decided to make the iPhone plunge.  Instead of the long, overnight lines of the mainland, on Maui I was able to go at 7:00 am, an hour before the AT&T store opened, and be the 30^th person in line.  Hence, I was the 30^th person on Maui to get the new iPhone.  I quickly found that there is no comparison between the iPhone and the BlackBerry, so many more apps, so easy to use.  It is obvious when we return to a longer stay in the US of A that I am going to have to upgrade to a 2 iPhone family.  While I still don’t need to be talking on the phone much, the phone is so much more these days than just a ‘phone’.

We made it back to California just in time for Thanksgiving.  Instead of making the trip up to Nevada City to spend the holiday with my family, we decided this year to head back to Santa Barbara.  As it turned out, it was a lot of fun.  Most of the Casanuevas were there.  Emilio was there from college in Boulder, Colorado.  Luis Emilio and Roberto were down from Seattle.  Joaquin from San Francisco.  Santiago and Tanya from Bend, Oregon, and even bringing along Ava; it was Ava’s first trip to Santa Barbara with Santiago.  I have to mention that an integral part of this group are Joaquin Mallmann and his girl Angelie (Joaquin is a mate of Emilio chico).  There were of course Andy, Laura, Will, and Camila.  Throw in Randy and Maria, who arrived from SF just before dinner was served, and it was quite a group.

We had a pre-Thanksgiving turkey at Andy’s, since the boys were headed the next day, actual Thanksgiving Day, to Janet’s for dinner.  After mass quantities of Pisco, and then mass quantities of food, we gathered around the campfire in the backyard and even took time out for a piñata.  Of course, the night was finished off with the required dancing.  The Casanuevas know how to party, and this one was epic.  Not to lose momentum, we had a post-Thanksgiving dinner at Angelie’s parent’s house.  Not to be repetitive, but this night was mass quantities of Pisco and tequila, then mass quantities of food, ending with mass quantities of dancing.  Angelie’s family got a good introduction to the Casanueva Way.

Then it was a week or so of business; dentists, physicals, eye exams, haircuts.  We had to get into our stuff in the Trout Club to repack our suitcases, getting rid of the Maui clothes and replacing them with the Chile clothes.  When we left for Hawaii, we had rented our house for a year.  Part of the rental agreement was that we could have access to our storage room periodically to swap out wardrobes.  Off course, not having our house necessitated staying with friends when we were there those 2 weeks (thanks go to Ale and Niko, and Ted and Mary Anne).  We are now off for 4 months in Chile, but when we return, it will still be 4 months until we get our house back.  I’m sure we can figure out something to do.  A word of warning: we consider you all fair game for a visit

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Maui Na Ka Oi

So many beautiful scenes on the island

Lots of ocean

Sunset at the condo

Sunset along the Lahaina road

Waves off the condo

Waves ever present

Wave fun

Our Anivarsary- September 15, 2001

Lanai has one of the beautiful beaches

I love palm tree shots

Run from that wave!

Taking a nap

After lunch at the Manele Hotel on Lanai

Halloween in Lahaina

Halloween in Lahaina

Maria hitched a ride from Ron

Late night sushi and kareoke at Sansei

Hamachi sashimi

A little time for golf

Friends to golf with

Friends to snorkel with

Friends to Happy Hour with

Friends to visit

Friends to cruise art galleries with

Or you can stroll Front Street on your own

Santa Barbara was beautiful at Thanksgiving time

Maria helping with dinner

The pre-Thanksgiving crowd

Camila

Post-Thanksgiving dancing warm-up

Post-Thanksgiving dancing

More post-Thanksgiving dancing

We had some good times in Santa Barbara after we showed up from Chile in April.  They included:  Being just in time for Maria’s granddaughter Camila’s 12^th birthday party on one of the local beaches.  Having Andy and Camila up to the Trout Club creek one afternoon.  The creek is special, even though it is cold and gets very few hours of sun a day.  There are pools to play in, it runs all year long and stays clear, and there is private access to Trout Club residents.  We also had Maria’s other granddaughter, 7-year-old Ava, up to the house one afternoon; it was her first visit there since she was very young.  The celebration of Maria’s birthday was done with a big party at the house, giving us a chance to see many friends that we don’t get to see often these days.

Randy’s niece Cassandra graduated from college in June.  Although we did not attend the very rainy graduation ceremony (Randy’s usually doesn’t do graduation ceremonies!), we went up to the Bay Area for the celebration party at my sister’s house.  My family was there in force, and Andy and his crew came up from Santa Barbara.  A good celebration for my niece..

From the Bay Area celebration, we took a trip to Oregon to see Santiago and Ava.  We could have stayed a couple more days in the SF and seen a great U2 concert, but Maria was too anxious (read that as obsessed) to see her granddaughter.  The 9-10 hour drive up there was nowhere near as exciting as the last trip we took in snow and rain last November.

While up there, I took a day to myself and went up into the mountains around Mt Bachelor to fly-fish.  It was a very beautiful sunny day amongst the snow-covered fields.  The roads had just opened, with snow 10 feet high on some sides of the road, so there were very few people up there.  I got to the headwaters of the famous Deschutes River to fish and did catch-and- release a few trout.  At one point, though, I did have an experience that I left me with a sense of how old I am getting.  During the normal course of fishing, I snapped my fly off the line.  One then has to put a new fly on the leader.  Well!  Here I am, by the side of some remote stream, spending 10-15 minutes trying to thread the leader through the eye of the fly’s hook.  With my glasses on.  With my glasses off.  It didn’t matter.  I had the toughest time getting that thin, friggin leader through that small, friggin eyelet.  When I finally finished that chore, I said to myself “Man.  You haven’t gone fly-fishing in a long, long time! You use to have much better eyesight. ”

It was a fantastic time to be in the mountains, the prime of spring time.  Water was flowing in all the rivers.  Trees and flowers were budding.  Gorgeous!!!  On the way home, we traversed down the backside of the Sierras with my intent to go to Yosemite or the Eastern Sierras to languish in this beauty.  Unfortunately, it was Maria’s intent to drive straight back to Santa Barbara for a friend’s birthday party.  I relented and we drove straight back.  I believe I learned a lesson.  Rather than miss out on things like the U2 concert or an undoubtedly beautiful time in the Sierras, I have to choose, at judicious moments, to put Maria on a bus, let her do her thing and I do mine.  It would have been much better in these cases, at least for me.

Tobias and his wife Raven came from India for a visit in July/August.  On his trips to America, Tobias lines up some gigs to do with his old bands and belly dance groups, earn a little bit of money, which he then lives off in India the rest of the year.  This year, in addition, he and Raven wanted to have a couple wedding receptions, one on the West Coast for Tobias’ family and friends and one on the East Coast for Raven’s family.  We traveled from SB up to the Bay Area to meet them at the airport and hold the reception there.  Most of my family was in attendance as well as Raven’s aunt and uncle, plus lots of Tobias’ friends whom do not get to see him much now that he is based in India.  Raven’s mom Kimberly even journeyed from New York.  I thought the whole event came off well, a simple ceremony followed by a potluck brunch.  On the way back to Santa Barbara, Maria and I took the coast highway.  We lucked out with a beautifully sunny day; the ocean was deep blue, the hills exploding with the color of wildflowers, and the elephant seals were basking on the beaches in the sun.

We saw little of Tobias and Raven after that first week.  They first went up into the Sierras to attend a week-long music camp Tobias tries to get to whenever possible.  Tobias took a road trip with his band Elemeno throughout California, including a stop to play in Soho in Santa Barbara.  He followed that by going to the East Coast to spend some time with Raven’s family, and finished up his stay by going to Mexico City for a belly dance and workshop gig.  Then back to Mysore, India.

Between his music camp and Elemeno tour, to get some more time together, Tobias, Raven, Maria and I took a trip up to Oregon.  While Maria went to Bend and Raven stayed in Portland, Tobias and I took a few days to camp and tour around the Mt Hood recreational area.  I hadn’t spent a lot of time in that area of Oregon before, and was pleasantly surprised how much open space is near a city as big as Portland.  It seems like there are a hundred campgrounds with an hour or two of town.  We stayed riverside in Green Canyon Campground along the Salmon River, hiked into wispy Ramona Falls, and explored the Columbia River Gorge.  After dropping Tobias back in Portland with Raven, I spent another couple days squeezing in 2  lakeside hikes (Trillium Lake and Clear Lake) and 2 white water rafting trips, one on the wild White Salmon River and another on the more sedate Deschutes River.  All of us met back up at Santiago’s in Bend and made the trip back to Santa Barbara.

Our last little side trip from Santa Barbara was a quick trip to Calabasas and Malibu for a wedding of the daughter of Lynda, my friend since college.  It was a fun time.  We stayed in a hotel in Calabasas, along with a group of girls (I really should say women) that are friends since those college days, and with my high school friend Grant.  This is a group that doesn’t get together very often, and it is usually when Lynda has invited us all to stay at one of her houses (she very good at keeping us all together).  In this case it was for her daughter’s wedding, which was held in the seaside Malibu estate of the actress Jane Seymour and director James Keach.  Very posh event and everyone had to dress to the nines.  I have a problem with that since, if I own any ‘dress’ clothes still, they are buried in some box somewhere.  Friend Cali in Santa Barbara came to the rescue.  Cali works at the SB City College drama department, and between Cali and Maria, they put together an ensemble for me from the pool of clothes they have for plays.  Shoes and socks were supplemented from Cali’s husband Peter’s wardrobe.  Maria looked her usual stunning self at the party, but I might have gotten more compliments, at least from the people that know me, that haven’t seen me dressed like that much over the years.  I let some time pass before I related my friends the quite humorous story of where my wardrobe came from.

We did have a life-changing experience just before we left for our next trip, Maui.  I may have a good laptop, and we always have a decent camera, but phones have never been high on my priority list.  We used dumb phones, perfectly good enough for Maria to make and get her calls.  The last one we had was handed down to us from Tobias.  That all changed when Janet gave us her BlackBerry which she had replaced with an iPhone.  Finally getting a data plan, and using texting, was a life changing experience.  We entered the world of phone access to the internet, and there were some downloaded apps that were fun.  The best feature by far was a networking app Beluga that the family used to keep everyone up-to-date on what everyone was doing, as well as sending pictures of them doing it, or drinking it, or eating it.  I ‘pooh-poohed’ the idea of ever using the phone to look at emails and such.  That notion probably lasted 4 days at the most, as we soon became hooked at seeing emails ‘on the fly’.  The result of this was that the phone was no longer just Maria’s thing, but a resource that we shared.

It was a good stay in California, but as I said, it’s now off the Maui…

(NOTE: to go to the next picture, click on the larger pic)

The girls at Camila's birthday

Maria's birthday party

Niece Cassandra's graduation ceremony

The graduate

Cass, the graduate, and Laura

Ava

Fly fishing the upper Deschutes

Mt Bachelor

Steelhead Falls near Santiago's ranch

Andy and Camila visit the Trout Club creek

The family on my birthday chowing down Chinese food

Tobias, Raven, Kimberly cruising Fisherman's Wharf

The newlyweds Tobias and Raven

Tobias' family- Grandma Bette, Aunt Cindy/Uncle Carl, Cousin Cass, Aunt Heather/Cousin Brittany

Big Sur coast

The beautiful Big Sur coast

Elephant seals are always present along the coast highway

Ava's first visit to the Trout Club since birth

Camila and Ava

Green Canyon Campground with Tobias on the slopes of Mt Hood

Ramona Falls

Mt Hood vista from town of Hood River

Mt Hood from Trillium Lake

Santi's scenic trampoline along Crooked River

Maria, Santi, Tobias, Raven

Tobias with Elemeno playing in Santa Barbara

Malibu wedding

Wedding ensembles

Some of the UCSB girls with Grant and Maria

Of all the places I have been in the world, Zapallar has the best waves on a consistent basis.  While cold as heck, the waves in the bay are often great for bodysurfing.  Regardless, the beauty and sound they provide when you are on the beach is special.  And when the waves are big, it is an endless thrill watching the brave-hearted rising up the front of the waves, or taking a miscalculated tumble.  And around the point at Mar Bravo, the energy and the force of the water is unique.   The sets crashing against the rocks are magnificent.  This month, we have been having so many ‘big’ days, and one can sit out there forever watching the display.  About a week ago we had one of those very special days when the waves were enormous.  I don’t know if it was because the moon was so close to the earth, but  it was one of the best days ever, with waves crashing easily 50 feet into the air.  I am so sorry I didn’t have my camera with me to document it.

One special thing about March is the light.  Everything is so vivid and colorful.  I do remember Santa Barbara being like that sometimes in September and October, and have fond memories of when I use to backpack in the Sierras during that time the year of how fantastic it was at 9000-10000 feet on clear, crisp days, the sun rising or  setting over the granite peaks.  The sun now in Zapallar is setting in the bay, instead of around the point at Mar Bravo.  This leaves the entire beach, and the Cesar restaurant, with sun all day, rather than the shadows taking over on the right in the afternoon as it is during the summer.  And the colors, of the water, the sky, off the hillsides, are a sensual treat.

For the first time ever, we saw a whale off the coast here.

No report from Chile is complete without a mention of earthquakes.  A few weeks ago, we had 2 days of rockn’ and a rollin’ here in Zapallar with five earthquakes in that span.  The first was 5.3, and our solid brick and concrete house shook for 20-30 seconds.  The others were all around 5.1 or so.  These numbers do not sound so significant for what has been happening in this country, but what made them unique to us was that they we so close.  All were centered with 10-12 miles of Zapallar, between here and La Ligua.  The closest was just up the coast 3 miles or so.  Each  gave us a serious jolt and sent Maria scurrying for the doors.  The last was amazing.  We were laying on the beach and the whole beach suddenly shook with a hard jolt.   The resulting echo off the surrounding mountainsides was what was really amazing.  Quite a ‘crack’.

I did take a quick trip to Mendoza, Argentina, by myself.  I flew over on LAN and took a TurBus back the next day.  This satisfied 2 needs of mine.  First, it reset the expiration date of all my LAN miles to a full 3 years.  Secondly, it restarted my 90-day tourist visa to get me through the whole 4 months.  The views of the Andes were spectacular. On the flight over, the Aconcagua, the third tallest mountain in the world at 6959 meters, towered in the early morning light over the rest of the peaks.  And the drive back goes over a very steep pass at Portillo.  In Mendoza, I walked, and walked, and walked.  I was not too impresssed with the town, although the trees over the streets were beautiful.  At night, as I wondered through the parks and viewed the artesenia faires, I got a better feeling for the town.  Although the wine center of Argentina, I didn’t want to take a tour bus out into the countryside.  I could take the bus back whenever I wanted, but the delicious steak and wonderful milanesas could not keep me more than a day.

We are off to Santa Barbara on Tuesday.  Of course, I am in my usual state of being  ready, completely ready, to get back to an English speaking environment, but we are going to miss being in this house, which is so comfortable for us.  And leaving Zapallar itself now, with the weather and the waves and the fantastic light, is not  thing you joyfully leave.  We have lots of friends here, and have enjoyed them during the last 4 months, but we look  forward to seeing our family and friends back in the USA.  As Al Jolson sang, “California here I come…”.

The beach always involves conversations

And sometimes going into the water

Often these days include reading a good beach novel

Or just lying in the sun

With the good weather, the beach can crowd on weekends

There's still time for walking

The waves at the rock central to Zapallar beach

and over the rock

The beach waves are beautiful

and very beautiful

A small day at Mar Bravo

And when it is feeling its oats

But on the good days...

The vistas of Zapallar...

The house is taking shape

Maria is using her parejos from Hawaii...

and Thailand to decorate

The spider (tree root) is always watching

And the garden continues to grow and flower

And there are always the sunsets from the house

Golfing has not been happening much either, for Maria has a problem with her thumb that she has been nursing.  Without the beach and without golf, much time has been spent working around the house and walking.  Almost weekly, I hike to Cachagua from Zapallar, and sometimes back again.

We did take a day trip up to the quartz mine in Tilama, a loop starting up the coast and then returning inland over and through the mountains.  While the mine has been bought and closed, so you can no longer search for your own quartzes, there are a couple guys there selling all sorts in roadside stands.  Very beautiful, and we added quite a few different types of quartz to our collection.  The drive back itself was surreal.  There we a couple of old one-lane bridges that started us off, but the highlight for me was the antiquated tunnels, one lane holes through the mountains.  One was especially unique.  It had to be at least a kilometer long, one-lane and dirt, water dripping off the sides pooling on the ‘road’.  It was perfectly straight, so as you entered the pitch dark, in the very distance you saw a small pin-point of light, the  other end which slowly grew bigger as you traversed the tunnel.  There were no traffic controls on this tunnel, and since you could not pass in it, you just had to look for headlights to make sure that no one was already coming from the other direction before you  entered.  I loved it, Maria was terrified, but we survived this very unique passage.

We rented our house out a couple times, and ended up with very nice couples.  We only rent the house to couples, so we can lock our bedroom and we don’t have to pack everything.  They are travelers from overseas, so no children, no parties; very easy, on us and on the house.  The first time, to a couple from Denmark, we went to Santiago so Maria could take care of family business and then to Gaucarhue just south of Santiago to spend a few days with our friends Victor and Claudia.  The second rental was to a couple from New Jersey.  That time, we decided to take a trip to the south of Chile, to the land of lakes and volcanoes.

The rest of Chile has different weather than the coast.  Santiago is always hot, but who wants to spend his time in the City.  The weather patterns of the south are days of rain followed by days of sunshine.  When it rains, it generally pours.  When it is  sunny, it is very, very nice.  We went  ‘down under’ for 10 days, and had only 2 tolerable days of rain.

The south is a whole different basket than the beach.  Because of the periodic rains, everything is so very green.  The rivers and lakes are full.  Waterfalls are spectacular.  The air is super clean.  The vistas are beautiful.  Throughout the south, a snow covered volcano is usually always in view, towering behind a green field or over a crystal blue lake.  It is magnificent.  The main problem with going to the south is it is so far away.  We ‘meandered’ down to Puerto Varas, 1000 kilometers (600 miles) south of Santiago.  Lots of driving.  The one other problem in going to the south in the middle of February is that everyone else does too.  So, long drive, crowds, expensive high season rates, but one does it because it is so magnificent.  And one enjoys it immensely.

We started by staying a few days with Victor and Claudia on their farm.  Subsequently, as we went south, we tried to hit our friends when their houses were not packed with others.  We stayed a couple days with Heinz and Alice outside Temuco, whom we always have a good time with.  We caught them just after they  partied for 10 days with their families, so we all mostly chilled by the river or pool, and of course engaged in the tradition of eating.  Temuco is always a picturesque area, what with the central artesian market and the Mapoche Indians traveling miles to and from town in their horse drawn carts.

After that, we traveled to Lago Ranco to spend a night with Ximena  after her house cleared out a little.  That coincided with Valentine’s Day, which both Maria and I had  overlooked, but Ximena, Antonia, et al were prepared for a nice asado for lunch and a dinner decorated with red.  It was a quick overnight stay, but with very good friends.

The next stop continuing south was Puerto Varas, which is a cute little town (well a cute growing town) that we have always liked.  It bills itself as the center for tourism of  the south; that’s probably true because there are so many beautiful places you  can easily get to from there.  It is on a lake with the volcano Orsono majestically sitting on the far side.  We rendezvoused with Claudia and Victor, and over the next few days, shared some meals, stayed a night in their hotel which was new and luxurious, and took a day trip that included driving up the side of the volcano, hiking to a waterfall, and taking a launch around Lago Todos Los  Santos.  Maria and I took an afternoon to go into Puerto Montt to wander the feria de artesania; my wife loves shopping in the craft fairs, even in the pouring rain. We lunched in the Angelmo seafood district, a hundred little restaurants selling every imaginable fish and  shellfish, particularly king crab which comes from the area.

The time came for us to pay our dues; the long, long drive home.  For sanity, we broke the 600 mile drive back into 2 days, stopping in Los Angeles at a nice little hotel we had found and a delicious steak dinner.

On the way down, we decided to head out to the coast and visit some of the areas that we had been to in 2006 before they had been devastated by the earthquake and tsunami last year (Feb 27th).  Our first stop was in Pelluhue.  The 100 houses and buildings within 100 yards of the coast were gone, except for one house that was thrown intact on top of another.  I found out later that they were going to shore up this house, sloping floors and all, and turn it into a tsunami memorial museum.  Good idea.

We next stopped in Dichato, a town on a bay near Concepcion, kind of a poor  people’s Zapallar.  It unfortunately was near the epicenter of the quake, and smashed head-on by the tsunami.  As we dropped down towards the beach, we were  amazed and confused at all the people on the streets of the hillsides.  And when we got to the beach, there were very few people around and not a soul on the beach itself.  Strange for such a pretty day, until a policeman informed us that a 6.9 earthquake had just happened a half hour before, and that everyone had been evacuated to the hillsides in fear of another tsunami.  We had felt nothing in  the car driving.  So what had been a packed beach 1/2 hour before was now totally deserted. Although Maria was nervous, we spent some time walking there, just us and all those policemen and firemen.  They didn’t shoo us away, so I guess it had been enough time since the evacuation that they were no longer concerned about a tsunami.  The people though were in no hurry to come down from the hillsides,

Dichato itself had much more extensive damage from the tsunami.  The town was flat by the seaside, and it appeared the tsunami wiped out most of everything for about  400-500 yards to the base of the closest hillside.  I don’t know how many hundreds or thousands of people are sheltered in ‘villages’ of small wooden huts on the hillsides.  It is going to be a long recovery for that town.  I thought originally of staying in Dichato or even Concepcion for the night, but with that earthquake that day, Maria would hear none of that.  We headed inland, drove 3 more hours late into the night, and finally ended up finding the nice little hotel in unspectacular Los Angeles.  We were greeted there with another significant earthquake (in the 5’s), and in fact, over the next 4 days, had lots of aftershocks, with at least one 6+ each day.  Last year, after the earthquakes, everyone was on edge at least throughout March and April when we were here.  You could visually see that this series of aftershocks put everyone back in the nervous state of mind.  And they expect the aftershocks from last year quake to go on for 4-5 more years.

Most of the towns we went through in that area still showed significant signs of earthquake damage: Talca, Cauquenes, Pelluhue, Dichato, Concepcion, Los Angeles.  We had heard last year that Heinz and Alice’s house in Temuco had lots  of damage, but they had completed most of their repairs; a new roof, replacing  (leveling) many of the floors, and new, dual-paned windows to replace the shattered glass.  Getting to their house was confusing, for the county bridge over the river had fallen.  Taking a new temporary bridge disoriented me, but we eventually found their farm.  It turns out that the 25 minute drive to their house from Temuco was an hour and a half detour for 6 months after the quake until that temporary bridge was erected.  With kids going to school, they had to move  into town until the new bridge was in.  Besides the devastation of last year’s earthquake, there are still other continuing sagas in Chile.  For those of you who didn’t hear at the time, a volcano in the south erupted in May of 2008, forcing 8,000 residents to evacuate from the town of Chaiten  (We had visited Chaiten in 2001).  The  volcano had not erupted in 9,400 years.   “As clouds of toxic ash and dust towered into the sky, they ionised the air, generating an  explosive electrical storm. Colossal forks of lightning sparked around the noxious plume as it spewed from the volcano’s crater, creating an image of raw,  terrifying energy – as if the air itself were ablaze”.  What was not destroyed by ash was later damaged by devastating floods.  Last week, the southern part of that city finally got electricity restored, nearly 3 years after the eruption; those residents that finally returned have survived on generators and car batteries since then.   Potable water, sewage, and sanitation are expected soon.  I am sure they are not holding their breath for those things to happen.  (For some amazing pictures of the eruption, Google ‘Chaiten volcano eruption’)

Well, those 4 days of aftershocks have subsided, so Maria is sleeping more peacefully.  Now if only these clouds would take a hike…

We have gotten some sunny days in Zapallar

and some waves

The making of bricks on the way south

A fine old hacienda in Gaucarhue- the quake left it no longer livable

A typical building in Talca still qith quake damage

The bay of Dichato- the beach was packed 1/2 hour ago, but not one person now beacuse of the quake

Dichato

Dichato

Dichato

Dichato

Heinz and Alice's home outside Temuco

A bridge to Heinz' lost a year ago, being weaken by the quake

The current Mapoche mode of travel (notice the rut in the road for the horses)

Ximena's view at Lago ranco

Ximena's beautiful chestnut tree

Hydrangeas abound in the south during summer

Orsono volcano from Frutillar

Orsono volcano from the road

Feria artesania in Puerto Montt

Dressed for the weather

Dressed for the weather

The falls

Victor taking in the sights

Extremely ready for a boat ride

The Chaiten volcano eruption in 2008

Lightening storm accompanying the eruption

I had to  replace the flooring in my kitchen, and soon expanded the project to include  kitchen cabinets.  I replaced the cabinets myself with a selection from Home Depot.  The project  was complicated by the fact that I have no tools in Hawaii.  I essentially demolished the kitchen with a  hammer and a screwdriver.  Then a friend  of mine Pakie came to the rescue with mass quantities of tools which made the  installation of the cabinets and modification of walls doable (He had the  audacity to borrow back a skill saw one day J).  All told, the remodel was good; I added much more storage and counter space,  and good under-cabinet lighting.

The floor came next.   I was going to do it myself, with laminated flooring, when the shit hit  the fan.  My knee all of a sudden had an  excruciating pain just above the left knee.   (A much milder pain had arisen after biking in Yosemite  a month or two before).  I think it occurred  just because I stubbed my toe on a table leg.   Go figure.  By the evening, it  took me 10 painful minutes to walk 15 feet from the living room to bed.  I really haven’t had that much pain ever  before.  4 days of lots of Advil and   football and the knee progressively got better and hasn’t bothered me one iota  since.

There was no way though at that point I was going to get down on my  knees to do flooring, so I hired a ‘professional’.  Because of that, we switched from laminated  flooring to tile, and did the hallway as well as the kitchen.  One week of appliances in the living room,  plus some judicious painting, and voila, a much nicer kitchen.

When not pounding nails, I was in the water.  This year there were few big wave days on Maui, so the snorkeling was good and the body surfing was  limited.  I also got into swimming a mile  or two 3-4 times a week.  It was so much  fun, since the water was predominantly calm and clear.  I swan with my snorkel and fins, and as I  swan, a big green turtle would go by in the opposite direction, or an eagle ray,  or the barracuda that’s lives off Kaanapali.   There was the ever present coral and brightly colored fish on the  bottom.  I miss that swimming time so  much.

Maria had a less restful time.  When I went to Maui, she went to Chile to see her mom for 3 weeks before heading  herself to Maui.  At 97-years-old, Lola had become bedridden  and pretty unaware, and Maria spent long hours just sitting at her beside.  She left Chile not knowing if she would see  her mom again, but was comfortable with the time she had spent with Lola.

Lola unfortunately did pass away 2 weeks after Maria had  arrived in Maui, on a Tuesday.  We had to scramble trying to get Maria from  Maui to Chile  before the funeral on Thursday.  (In Chile, they do  not preserve the body and the funeral has to happen within days.)  We succeeded in getting her a series of flights, and  although they were not the best connections, she got there in time, just as  her brother arrived from NY.  Friend  Ximena did a yeoman’s job of getting arrangements done before the siblings  arrived.  Lola was laid out in the coffin  at the house in the dining room, surrounded by pictures and flowers.  The funeral itself was a beautiful experience  for Maria.  A gathering of friends in the  Italian-looking church at the ceremony, a musician playing a final tango for  Maria and her mom, and then a sealing of the crypt, resting Lola with her  husband Santiago,  who passed away 40 years ago or so.  And  then there was the remembrance party back at the house, with empanadas and  piscos galore.  It really was a big  support for Maria to have such good friends around.  Maria returned  to Maui  for the last 3-4 weeks.

I didn’t go to Chile with Maria for the funeral.  There were the logistical problems of money and having my kitchen torn apart, plus not having built up an inner reserve to tackle Spanish so soon again.  But of just as much in my mind was that this would be an opportunity  (although in unfortunate circumstances) for Maria and her brother Federico to spent some quality time together alone for the first time in over 40 years or so.  Without his wife.  Without her husband.  Without their mom.  And it turned out that way, many hours around the house they grew up in.  Of course they had to deal with the problems of settling the estate, and insuring the house could keep running for brother Jimmy, but they did in fact get important  time together, the 3 of them.  That was one of the positive things to come out of this.             Back to Maui, there is one feeling, sensation I would like to share with you.  Everything  always seems so vivid, so clear.  Even on the cloudy days, everything has clarity to  it.  The sky, the clouds, the mountains, the water.  Sunsets are beautiful (I  wouldn’t know about the sunrises ).   This year, with little wave action, the water was particularly clear.

I had two of my best snorkeling sightings this year.  One was an eel.  He was on the bottom about 15 feet below me.  Unlike the usual case where the eel  will pop into a hole and you might just see his head, he was out in the middle of no-mans-land.  He was aware of me, and  would somewhat coil on the bottom and open his mouth in a threat (poor imitation of a rattlesnake!).  He’d try to find shelter, but couldn’t find anything close that would conceal him and make him comfortable.  After following him around for 15 minutes, I left him in peace.

The other was my best Maui shark sighting ever.  I was snorkeling along, fairly close to shore, when 7-8 feet below me was a 4-5 foot shark resting on the sandy bottom.  It was a  white-tip reef shark, which are generally harmless.  After recovering from the initial shock, I  hovered above him for 10-15 minutes, hoping he would awaken and start swimming.  That not happening, I decided to go to shore to offer to Maria to go see it (I knew she wouldn’t).   When I got about 30 yards away, I decided to swim back to make sure I could find it again.  Just as I arrive back, the shark ‘got up’, and started swimming around me.  Yes, deep down I knew he was harmless, and this was what I had been waiting to see, but when I suddenly had a big shark swimming around me, you can’t help but think about Jaws.  He and I eventually got our fill of each other and slowly drifted apart.  When I got to shore and was describing it to Maria, a young boy was getting out of the water, telling his mom he had seen a shark.  She was  doubting his story, until I came by and validated it for him.  She swam out to find it but couldn’t.  Neither could I 10 minutes later.  On a later trip to the Maui Ocean Center (aquarium), I was told by a naturalist that the white-tip reef shark is the only Hawaiian shark that will sleep on the bottom like that.

We left Maui with the usual feelings of not being ready to go (one is never ready to go, whether you have been there 2 weeks or 3 months).  Maria had been back and forth to Chile,  so she rightly felt she had not spent enough time there, but even being there 3 months straight, I had no desire to leave.  The weather’s great.  The golf’s  good.  But oh, the water.  I miss it so.

The 2 weeks in Santa Barbara before we had to get on another plane for our yearly summer (southern hemisphere) trip to Chile was too short a time to prevent rush and chaos.  Unpacking and repacking, gardening, visiting with family and friends, and trying to get the Santa Barbara house  rented.   We even squeezed in a freezing cold trip to Bend to see Santi, Ava, Emilio, Tanja, et al.   Quite a change; basking in the sun in Maui, and 2 days later driving in a blizzard in Oregon.   Thank God that Carl loaned me jackets, socks, wool cap, and boots, the things I had fail to take with me to Hawaii.   We also made the trip to Nevada City for Thanksgiving with my family.  All the Urbans were there except Tobias (who is in India),  but I had brought my future daughter-in law, Raven.  She came to California for a week to meet Tobias’ father and mother.   I have to add that Tobias has made a very good choice.  The layover California was just too short.  Ultimately, we did get on the plane to Chile in early December, and we will be here till the beginning of April.

This year’s trip to Chile is a little different.  We have our good friends Ted and Mary Anne with us for this first month, and their daughter Jess and boyfriend Chase for the last two weeks of that.  It has been fun, welcoming them to our house, sharing friends and meals, partaking of Chilean food and drink, getting to know Zapallar.  They have taken some overnight excursions, to Victor and Claudia’s farm south of Santiago, to Valparaiso, and to Portillo in the Andes.  But they have loved relaxing and reading, in  the house and on the beach.  And the walking.  And that eating and drinking.   Pisco sours galore.  Pastel de choclo, confrio frito, machas a la parmisan, camerones al pip pil, empanadas.  Even a completo or 2.

The weather could have been better.  The first week, Ted  and Mary  Anne had sun (after it had been a horribly foggy November), but the beach was uncharacteristically windy.  Then we had 2 weeks of clouds, with the sun only appearing an hour here or 2 hours there.  The last 2-3 days have shown some sign of improving, but they all leave for the States in a couple days.  At least it was sunny for a few hours on Christmas Eve for the swimming to gather the balloons Santa delivers.  The weather has been cloudy, but the water has been on warm side (well, on the not so cold side).  But oh do I still miss the water in Maui.

Like I said, our friends leave in a couple days.  Maria and I have 3 more months to wait out  the sun.  We have our house rented a little, and will use the time for Maria’s estate business in Santiago and a few excursions, probably to the South.   I still have the constant struggle being in a Spanish environment, but at least I have my own home now to retreat to.

Honolua Bay

Honolua Bay

Maui sunsets

Snorkeling views

West Maui rainbow

Reformated condo

Beautiful morning from the lanai

Maria's mom Lola

Lola

Lola resting in the house dining room

The funeral chapel

Maria, Ava, Emilio, Santi at a vegan pre-Thanksgiving

This is not Maui driving

Raven and Randy on the Yuba River

Cassandra, Brittany and Maria doing what they do best

Zapallar

Ted, Mary Anne and Maria on the rambla

Jess and Chase got their balloons

Hey girl, get out of my way...

The weather has been absolutely the best this year.  It definitely has been my best summer, and I  have even had someone who grew up here say this has been the best summer ever for  them as well.  Through February, we had  so, so much sun, and the water remained relatively warm.  After the earthquake, we had a few weeks of  overcast weather, but since then we have had 2-3 days sun alternating with 2-3  days overcast.  The sunsets have been incredible as well. Winter is definitely coming  on though.  The days are shorter and the  time has changed, so it is now getting dark at 6ish.  When the sun starts setting, it starts  getting cold.  We have definitely been  cozying up to fires in the evenings.

In April, we have had some big wave days, both in the bay  and definitely around the corner.   Nothing more beautiful than a bright, sunny day with huge waves crashing  on the large granite rocks at Mar Bravo.   The bay was a lake for a few weeks after the earthquake, but it is back  to its normal mode: inviting though bloody cold waves.  Maria and I have still got a lot of beach  time in during April, and the serenade of the waves is always soothing.  Many times now in April we have had a beautiful  day on the beach with the number of people there being just a handful, and  sometimes no one else at all.

Maria and I have done a lot of walking here in Zapallar.  Many times each I have taken the 2 hour walk  from here to neighboring Cachagua and the hour walk from the Cemetary back to  Zapallar.  Each  is along the ocean and beautiful.  Both  Maria and I regularly walk 1-2 hours around the town of Zapallar and its bay.  We never tire of it.  Maria hss gotten in a lot of walks with her  girlfriends as well.

We haven’t taken many excursions.  Once down to our friend’s Victor and  Claudia’s farm an hour south of Santiago.  We have such a good time with them, mostly  laying around the pool in the sun and eating.   We did move around in the neighboring villages composed of old, incredible adobe houses. We also took a 4-5 day trip north to Pisco Elqui,  La Serena, and Punta Del Choros.  Elqui is a valley nestled into the Andes that is  beautiful, with the barren Andes diving into  the lush green valleys filled with grapes, with another old classic adobe village. This use to be the center of growing pisco grapes, but now is switching  to the more lucrative exported table grape.   It was good to visit our friend Ximena there again.  Punta del Choros is a small coastal town  hidden along the coast, the gateway to a marine national park that has an  abundance of marine life.  Though we  missed out on the boat ride to the islands because our trip was interrupted by  an evacuation because of a possible tsunami, we had a good time there and had  some good seafood.  We’ll have to go  back.

I also took a couple day trip to Valpariso to stay with our  friend Juan Carlos; Maria was in Santiago  and didn’t go.  The occasion there was  that a fleet of tall sailing ships from 11 different countries was there as a  week long celebration of Latin America’s Bi-Centenial; they got independence  from Spain  in 1810.  It was magnificent to see all  these ships together.  I missed the days  when they sailed in and sailed out, which were awesome, but it was still  interesting.  I had such a time walking  around Valpariso with Juan Carlos  for 2 days.  I hadn’t walked around the  city that much previously, and with JC it was so fun and educational.  He was full of information.  Valpariso is like San Francisco in the aspect of being on the  hillsides along the ocean, and we rode lots of funiculars up and down the  hills.  The views are great, especially  with all the tall ships tied up down along the pier.

I cannot possibly relate how much we have enjoyed our  house.  It is so different having a home  here instead of renting, or scavenging for a stay with friends.  Since Maria has gone every week to Santiago  to see her mom, I have spent a lot of time here by myself, and have treasured  each moment.  We really enjoy the house,  everyone else enjoys the house, and it couldn’t be better.  We have entertained a lot.  The house stays at a comfortable temperature  most of the time because of its thermal mass and dual-paned windows.  When it does get colder at nights now, a  simple fire in the fireplace toasts things right up.  Most of our projects have been in the  garden.  We were able to get our maestro  here for a couple of days doing a handful of small projects for us.  I cannot tell you how many times my wife has  just stood in the house and said how much she loves it.  We will both miss it when we leave.

Like I said, Maria has gone to Santiago  every week, and I have mostly stayed here.   People are always going back and forth between Santiago  and Zapallar (about 2 hours).  Every week Maria has hitched a ride there with one  person and back with another.  I think in  the last 5 months, probably 15 rides each way, I don’t think she has ridden  with the same person twice yet.  It has  been a good opportunity for her to spend some extended time with various  people, many good friends and many others just casual aquaintances.  It has been one plus for Maria in having to  leave Zapallar each week.

Maria’s mom is 96 years old, and time is wearing on  her.  Maria has been great spending time  with her each week.  We had a setback in  the end of March though.  Lola had a  paralysis down her right side; as far as I can conclude they are not calling it  a stroke.  It left her incapable of  walking, using a hand, and talking well.   It left Lola is a difficult place, for she could no longer go upstairs  to where her bathroom and clothes were.   Fortunately, she started using the maid’s toilet downstairs, but it was  necessary to give her sponge baths instead of her daily bath.  Someone had to be hired to stay with Lola at  night so she wouldn’t fall getting out of bed.   Maria went a month thinking ‘This is it”.  The doctor originally said she would recover  from this, but later recanted, saying at 96, nothing is guaranteed.  Others related to us how something like this  happened to their parents and, although some never recovered, they lived years  longer without speaking and in a wheelchair.   Lola did progressively get better though.  She got use of her arm and leg fairly  quickly, although she till could not go up the stairs.  Her speech became less slurred.

We were to have left Chile  for Santa Barbara  on April 8th, but there was no way that Maria could leave her  mom.  It looked like I would have to go  back, for when I leave for 4 planned months, everything that needs to be get  done is set up for when I go back.  I  ended up staying to lend whatever support I could to the situation, mostly to  Maria, at the expense of causing an overdue tax return, a few unpaid bills, and  regular appoints like dentist and doctor that had to be canceled.  I am glad I delayed going back, but now I  have to.  I have a plane ticket for May 5th.  In fact, Maria has a return ticket then as  well.  She is only able to leave  (psychologically) because last week when we went to Santiago,  fortunately Lola had seemed to be recovered to almost the point she was 2  months ago.  She is getting around the  house, even up and down the stairs.  Hopefully  things don’t change.

As an aside, we came here this year on American  Airlines.  The price difference between  them and LAN, our airline of choice, was jus too great.  We don’t really like American (it use to be  great), but they have been good to us.   With a doctor’s note about Lola’s condition, we were able to return to  the US  whenever we wanted with no additional cost (a open return, just like the old  days).  When we went in last week to book  the return tickets for the 5th, American had no seats for that day,  and apologized that they would have to put us on LAN, another One World  carrier.  Sometimes things just work out  right.             Someone asked me the other day what I will miss most when I  leave Chile.  My answer was being in a town where I walk to  the store or the beach, always meeting 2-3 people on the way that I stop and  chat with.

See some of you soon.

For those of you who missed my Earthquake  Updates, they can be found at:

http://www.piscolife.com/Travel%20Update%20pages/earthquake.html

Also, I was sent some photos pertaining to the earthquake  and resulting tsunami which I though was a good collection.  They are at:

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/02/earthquake_in_chile.html

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/03/chile_three_days_later.html

The beach in January

The beach in January

The beach in March/April

Our house is easy to spot on the pueblo hillside

Sunset from our house

Another sunset from the house

Sunset from the Copec

The waves at Mar Bravo

More waves at Mar Bravo

Zapallar (can you spot out house in the upper left-hand corner?)

The beach in summer

Xiemna;s house at Pisco Elqui

A guy selling in the south; we bought flyswatters

The tall ships in Valparaiso

More of the tall ships

Punta del Choros

Lola and Marta

Lola enjoying the sun in the backyard

— Written Friday, Mar 26, about 12:00 noon

This is a wrap-up for our Earthquake  editions.  The earthquakes are down to a  handful of 5’s a day, and the country is settling into the reality of the  magnitude of the devastation caused by the earthquakes and the tsunami.

Chile has had a  stable economy for a long time, the best in South America.  This is a financial disaster for this  country.  Not only do you have the  enormous cost of rebuilding, but you have the production loss that will go  hand-in-hand with that, plus a large number of unemployed that had been taking  care of themselves before all this.

1.2 million people have been affected by the damage that the  earthquake has left on the infrastructure.   56% of these people are still without drinking water because of broken  pipes and reservoirs.  Transportation of  goods and people are disrupted by major destroyed bridges and damaged roadways,  harbors and airports.  45% of schools in  the major earthquakes region suffered major or minor damage (21% in the Santiago  area).  62 hospitals need  reparation.  Prisons and courthouses  destroyed.  The government is initially  focusing on 3 main areas: reconstruction of main highways and bridges,  normalization of water delivery, and the rebuilding of the country’s many  industries that were destroyed or damaged.

The south was the center of the country’s steel industry and this  production has halted, just as you are going to have increased demand for steel  for building and tin for roofs.  Many  other industries have been destroyed; ceramic factories, cheese factories, etc.  The fishing industry in this part of the  country has been devastated.  And there  is Chile’s  produce industry, which you all see on the shelves wherever you live.  First there are the crops that are ready  (such as grapes) that are sitting in warehouses rotting because the ports are  closed.  The quake happened at the height  of the Chilean fresh fruit export season.   Then there are the crops in the fields or to be planted that do not have  a water supply any longer.  We are talking about some of Chile’s major  exports.  The copper industry, located mostly  in the north, has survived pretty well.

To pay for all of this will be difficult.  The country’s cash reserves, mostly built up  from copper royalties, will disappear.   They are talking about raising those royalties, but there is some  question if they can do this legally.   The low corporate taxes here have contributed to the good economy, but  now they are talking about raising them.   And they are going to have to borrow.   The economy will certainly look different here from now on.

Damage to buildings is considerable, but many speak of Chilean  construction with admiration.  Given the  violence of the quake, the consequences could have been much more severe  without their advanced systems of construction.   A sharp debate during reconstruction is bound to be about mud bricks;  houses built of adobe had much more destruction.  The problem will be from the environmental  side, for mud brick production is with the lowest emission of carbon in the  world, and many international agencies recommend their use for housing.  The debate over reconstruction materials  between vested interests is bound to be lively.

Two weeks ago, a power transformer blew up in the southern part of  the country, and a blackout resulted in 70% of the country.  Power was out for 2-3 hours.  It is amazing to me that one transformer can  blow and the whole country loses power.   It seems like a design flaw to me.   They say the earthquakes had no direct affect on the blackout, but have  left the power system in a fragile state.

The cell phone system broke down during the earthquake period, as  well as during the blackout.  This is  because cell systems are designed to be used at any one time by a certain  percentage of the population.  During  these crisis’s, the network gets saturated and is unable to provide  connections.

A few earthquakes stories before I wrap up this reporting section  of my life.

I told you of the telethon that raised money for emergency  shelters for people in the south.  They  immediately began delivery and construction of these to the hard hit  areas.  Incredibly, one mayor in a hard  hit area refused these houses, saying “the people of his town prefer to live in  their tents than be giving a humiliating solution”.  The outcry was deafening as the people he was  talking about saw winter coming and tents not really being preferable.  The mayor relented and asked for the houses  to be brought.  He said his initial  refusal was caused by his fear that the simple emergency homes would turn into  permanent residences, as has been the case after construction of many emergency  homes in the northern town of Tocopilla  following a 7.7 earthquake in 2007 that destroyed 3,000 homes.  Hundreds of people in that town still live in  the emergency housing or tents.

Victims of the tsunami are starting to sue the government for  their lack of issuing a clear warning of a possible tsunami, although the  government had received warning from the USA and other places.  The tsunami killed many more people than the  earthquakes, and many were a result of people returning to their homes after  initially seeking high ground.  I heard  reports that the tsunami was 20-30 minutes following the earthquake, and now  reports of one at 5:30, 2 hours after the quake.  In any case, the government had plenty of  time to issue a warning and save many lives.   This will be a black mark against the last days of President Bachelet’s  presidency, as well as her delay in calling out the military to preserve order.

Chile, like most  places in the world, was to change the clock by an hour.  They decided to postpone the change for 3  weeks until April 3rd, giving those areas of the south still without  electricity an extra hour of daylight at the end of the day.  This caused some confusion as cellphones and  laptops changed the time of the original date automatically.

A few stories about friends I have that were at a remote lake in  the south at the time of the earthquake.   They lost power and cell service, and transportation to the north was in  chaos.  One set of friends emotionally  had to leave immediately.  Airports were  closed and buses were not running.  In  their urgency to leave, they took a taxi the 1000 kilometers (600 miles) to Santiago,  taking 19 hours for the normal 10-hour trip.   It must have been some taxi bill (do they have meters that run that high  J).   Another friend and his family there waited days and days in the cold and  dark as long as they could, but finally decided to drive home.  Their problem (besides the damaged roadways)  was that a restriction had been put in place that one could only buy 5,000  pesos (US$10) of gas at each station.   Their trip consisted of stopping at every gas station (that had gas)  along the way, waiting in line, buying another 5,000 pesos of gas, and  continuing on to the next gas station.   That normally 10-hour trip took 24 hours.  (As a note, today the government-controlled  price of gas went up 12% in an effort to conserve gas)

This terminates my Earthquake  Edition series.  As with every update, there will be things I  think of in an hour that I say to myself that I should have included, but the  rapid events that have been happening seem to be ceasing and the reconstruction  process will now go on at a very slow pace.   Any further EE will mean that Chile is in more trouble than it is  now.

Fuerza Chile  !

— Written Thursday, Mar 11, 10:00pm

I thought I was done writing these bulletins, but here in Chile  we continue to rock and roll.  The world’s media is probably gone, but  here in Chile,  we are in perpetual motion…

Maria and I left Zapallar on Sunday for a trip north that we had planned  long before the earthquakes.  We are in and area about 200 miles north of  Zapallar.  We golfed in La Serena, went inland to stay with our friend  Ximena in Pisco Elqui (Valle De Elqui is where most of the pisco in Chile  is distilled), and went a little more north to Punta De Choros.  Punta De  Choros is a little collection of places on the coast, with three islands  offshore that are a National Reserve, because of the plethora of wildlife:  Chilean penguins, dolphins, sea otters, sea lions, and thousands of  birds.   This morning, we went down to the pier to get boat ride  around the 3 islands and see all that wildlife.

The whole boat excursion thing is handled by the local fishermen  (at least they use to fish).  Boats go out regularly, as soon as there are  12 people to fill the boat.  We, of course, took our time in the morning,  and by the time we got to the harbor, about 10:30 or 11:00, we had to wait  around, hoping for the 12 people to show who would allow us to go out.  We  had only 6, an hour into the wait.

All of a sudden, people were running through the wharf area  yelling “Head for the hills.  Tsunami warning”.  Apparently there had  been big earthquakes down south, and the Navy ordered a thousand miles of  coastline to evacuate.  Maria, of course, started to panic.  I clamed  her down, we fetched the car, and headed up to a good viewpoint of this little  town of Punta De Choros.   From there we watched for the big wave.  All the boats that were out at  the islands were heading to shore (some could be warned by cell phone, and they  in turn went to find others to warn).  If we had gotten onto one of the  boats, our trip would have been cut very short.

We perched there on the hill for a couple hours, watching for the  wave and listening to the radio in the car for what little info we could  get.  We heard earthquakes centered around Pichilemu, about 100 miles  south of Santiago,  400 south of us.  As I found out later, they had 3 quakes in 30 minutes of  size 6.9, 6.7, and 6.0 about noontime.  La Serena and Coquimbo, cities 70  miles south of us, were evacuated.  We had to wait, because the little  dirt roads we came on followed the coast for 15 miles, and any tsunami would  wipe out our exit.  We listened to the newscasters conjecturing “Should we  go to lunch, or should we wait for the wave”.  After those 2 hours,  everyone in the hills got enough nerve to go back down to town, probably  because it was lunchtime.  We went down too, had a good lunch (at a place  with a good view of the ocean), and then went back 70 miles to La Serena.   The tsunami never materialized, but because of late warnings a week and a half  ago, the authorities are being very careful.

In La Serena, we went back to the hotel we stayed in and liked  Sunday night.  As we got there, so did the owners.  They had been  evacuated by bullhorns and the police six hours before and were just returning,  still quite shaken (the hotel is a half block off the ocean).  We went  around town and 50% of the stores were still closed; we couldn’t get a car wash  because all the workers went to high ground and never returned.  We are  now in the hotel room and taking a breath, and a pisco.  We called Poly in  Zapallar.  It turns out that Zapallar was rocked by the quakes.  The  whole town was evacuated up to the pueblo, where our house is.  We are  headed there tomorrow.

Well, these events of today happened on the same day as the  government is “Changing Hands”, being officially turned over from the last  president Bachelet to the one elected in January, Pinera.  At the formal  turnover, with the whole country watching, the quakes hit (the 6.9 at the  epicenter was about a 6 at the ceremony).  You should have listened to the  radio commentary, as they described all these visiting dignitaries, coming to Chile  for an official event, being caught in an earthquake of big proportions.   They described the faces of these dignitaries looking skyward, as if praying,  as the official venue shook.  The ceremony was interrupted, “With all  tranquility, please leave the building”.  And out ran the presidents of Venezuala, Uruguay,  Paraguay, Columbia, Argentina.

So, today, this new president, who was elected on a platform of  change, is faced with an enormous economic problem unforeseen a few weeks  ago.   He is such an inspiration speaker, yet the programs that he  wanted to address, that he was excited to bring to his country, will there now  be any resources for them?  Sounds like a repeat to me of what happened to  the new American president.  I feel Barack has not been free to make the  tough decisions about what he really wanted to do, but instead has been drained  dealing with problems he inherited on inauguration.  I see the same thing  happening here today to Pinera.

Everyone,  everyone, around me in Chile  is on pins and needles, in such a state of anxiousness.  These earthquakes  are relentless now.  Even in a  country that lives with tremors as a reality, this has reached them all.   I bet that no pharmacy has any sleeping pills or anti-depressants.

In closing, I will say that I send my updates to my normal  distribution of 150 or so people.  With the events now, many of these  people have been sending off my reports to people they know concerned around  the world.  I have received thanks from many people I did not know I would  reach.  I appreciate those thanks and am grateful I can provide all of you  some experiences of what is happening now in Chile.

The new president has just concluded his acceptance speech.