Thursday, June 28, 2012

My Top Best Ways to Beat The Heat in Mérida







The heat and humidity can be challenging this time of year and it is important to know just how to beat it. This is especially true for those of us who are in town only sporadically and have not yet acclimated. With that thought in mind, I would like to share my favorite ways to cool down and remain at least relatively dry.


1. Sit all day at the computer with a floor fan no more than 3 feet away, pointed directly at you and turned to the high position.  It helps if there is also a ceiling fan directly overhead. If you have to have food, make sure it is cold -celery and carrot sticks with your favorite dip, a nice crisp salad with sliced cucumber. Hint: if you would like to rest your eyes for a few moments, move to the bedroom along with the floor fan, grab a couple of cool cucumber slices and place over your eyes. Relax and think of those cooler days.

    -this works equally well with reading, writing, or cross-stitching.

 Downside: you're stuck inside and not really enjoying the sights of this fabulous city.

2. Get in your car or call an air conditioned cab and head for the mall. Stay there for several hours, window shopping and sipping a cool drink. At least with this option you can kill two birds with one stone - staying cool and getting exercise by walking around the mall. Hint: Wear sensible shoes. When you return home, go back to number 1.

    -you could also try hopping from one air-conditioned restaurant or coffee shop to another, but be aware that staying too long in either of these establishments obligates you to spend money.

    Downside: see number 1.



3. Jump in the pool, if you are so fortunate as to have one, and stay there. Come out only for potty breaks (don't be tempted), grab a cool drink and slide back in. If your skin starts to look like a well-dried prune, recover only in a shady spot. If your space lacks a shady spot, sit on the edge of the pool with a cool drink in one hand and a large umbrella in the other.

    Downside: although more enjoyable than numbers 1 and 2, you're still not taking advantage of the sights (or sites).

4. This is the best and my favorite way to beat the heat. Get yourself down to La Michoacana on Calle 47 y 60, right next door to Comex and just across the street from Parque Santa Ana. It is a small, walk-in store selling cold drinks and frozen treats, but not just ho-hum treats. The frozen fruit bars are, in a word, divine. They come in a variety of tropical fruit flavors , my favorite being lime (I'm saying OMG here). Don't just buy one or two. Take a small, hand-held cooler and fill it up. Keep your freezer stocked with these frozen wonders and keep your cool.

   hint:  enjoy one on your walk back home or to your chosen destination.


Saturday, June 9, 2012

OpSail 2012

I wandered down to the riverfront with my camera late yesterday in hopes of capturing a few images of the Tall Ships that have arrived from all over the world to participate in OpSail 2012. This extravaganza happens once a decade or so and the ships spend a few days in each of several ports along the East Coast.  
Unfortunately, I missed the Parade of Sails when all of the Tall Ships display full sail from the Chesapeake Bay to the Elizabeth River and then by power on in to the harbor. I witnessed this in 2000 and it was quite a spectacle. There were so many people at the waterfront yesterday that I was unable to get any great photos of the ships. I could not find the Cuauhtemoc, a 270' Barque from Mexico, but will try to locate it on Sunday.  Here are a few pics of "parts" of the big boats and not so big boats.


El Arte Abstracto


Securing the sails





Bow of Tall Ship Juan Sebastian de Elcano -Spain


 Stern of Juan Sebastian de Elcano - 370'


Norwegian Monster  -the very top of HNoMS Thor Heyerdahl -Norway

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Art -messages of hope and loss

It is not always that art and sheer genius go hand in hand.

In the case of this artist and sculptor, his work is both visually stunning and environmentally sound.

From his website:

Jason deCaires Taylor is an internationally acclaimed eco-sculptor who creates underwater living sculptures, offering viewers mysterious, ephemeral encounters and fleeting glimmers of another world where art develops from the effects of nature on the efforts of man. His site-specific, permanent installations are designed to act as artificial reefs, attracting corals, increasing marine biomass and aggregating fish species, while crucially diverting tourists away from fragile natural reefs and thus providing space for natural rejuvenation. Subject to the abstract metamorphosis of the underwater environment, his works symbolize a striking symbiosis between man and nature, balancing messages of hope and loss.


His new installation at the The Museum of Underwater Modern Art, Mexico in Cancún (Museo Subacuático de Arte) can be seen by clicking on the link below.



http://www.underwatersculpture.com/index.asp