About a mile from the coastline and fairly close to us is Cenote Eden. Besides being absolutely beautiful and open to the sky, it is a habitat for an endemic species to the Yucatan, the Sailfin Molly, Poecilia velifera. Because of the proximity of the cenote to the ocean, the water is brackish (fresh and salt mixed). 
The male shows his large fin to attract the females in courtship. They have about 10-120 live offspring. Lively and fun to watch!
an African tribe, the Dogons, have cave wall drawings over 700 years old that contain the information of the importance of Sirius B. Recent astronomers were only able to validate its existence in 1862. So how did the Dogan’s get this knowledge so long ago? They told inquiring scientists that the cave drawings show a flying saucer coming out of the sky and landing on 3 legs, then it shows the beings in the ship making a big hole in the ground, filling it with water, jumping out of the ship into the water and coming up to the edge of the water. They looked very much like dolphins. They started communicating to the Dogons. They described where they came from and gave the Dogons this information. Outrageous?! I recommend the book…its about sacred geometry.
We should see a total eclipse of the Full Moon about 9:30 central time. Since our beach faces east, the moon rises over the sea here!...about 6:15 tonight...traditionally there is drumming and a fire. I hope to get a photo similar to this one!
Today I found a small sea turtle on the beach that was dead but still very fresh. Pobrecita! I was eager to identify what kind it was as there are several kinds here. This is a Green Sea Turtle (named that because of the green fat). Other signs of identity are the arrangement of the plates on the back.
Anyways decided to save the shell and so that required a dissection. Flor de Maria, trained in marine biology, performed the dissection while I did things like dispose of the entrails and keep the water clean.....no we didn't dump it in the pool....and I won't post the photos of the organs but it was very interesting....they have lungs and must come to the surface to breathe. Green turtles are carnivorous for their first year then are herbivorous.
First we drew the turtle in complete detail...and to scale...what a great way to learn! Now the shell is drying in the sun upside down with the help of a dusting of lye to speed up the process.
It was about a meter long..that's about 3.3 feet...I am living in the metric world and so am starting to think that way!! Not to mention I am hanging with some scientists and they all use the metric system! I learned it years ago in grade school when they told us we would be using that in the following years???? What happened?
Today we did Vinyasa yoga also known as "flow" yoga on the beach thanks to Kelli. She instructs us to move from one pose to the next on an inhale or exhale of breath.....very nice to be in the sand with the sea in front of you and the clouds above...thank goodness for those clouds when we get them....then a swim after it's done and everyone is ready to start the day!
We now have a new beach bar, good thing since our favorite place "Tuna's" closed down. Good friend Tom had this place built in front of his house....
I was there for the setting of the first corner post....now it's all finished....
one can get a massage from Paula, a drink from Sara
or just lounge in the sun and look out at that reef that is less than a half mile offshore. I have a special affection for this place as Tom's round house is the first place I stayed here in Puerto.
As you can see development is encroaching but its cool that a funky little beach bar can still happen!
a flat tire and out of nowhere appears a Mayan with a slingshot and a machete...he cut down all the vegetation so we could easily change the tire. Then he took us to a small ruin
We explored the cenote and underground wet/dry cave...which entailed swimming through water, climbing up on rocks, crawling on bellies, squeezing through passages, ducking the bats flying around, observing frogs and moths, all in the DARK I might add!!(I am certain there were snakes though we didnt see any) and it came out underneath the Mayan ruin!
My first spelunking adventure! We were careful to leave as few footprints as possible as this was a scout for Animal Planet to come film next week! I am hooked up!
The town of Valladolid is known for good shopping and this is a typical sight on the town plaza...these Mayan women selling their embroidery...the area is mostly known for its hammocks...I will be returning in a couple weeks with friends from the states to buy hammocks! I know a really small village north of here where all the women make the hammocks and you buy directly from them...fair trade practices!!
Road trip today......went across the Yucatan Peninsula visiting lots of Mayan villages and colonial towns....this is Izamal....recognized because the whole dang town 
is painted yellow!! Magical little place....you can see remnants of the pyramid that dominated the region at one time..that is until the Fransicans came and built a convent right on top of the pyramid!! Many of the stones in the convent were taken from the pyramids as well as to build the colonial buildings surrounding it. 
How is this for a handmade childs bicycle seat!
lowered down to the surface of the water....about 20 feet...a nice big cave that was great for swimming too....then with their lights and compass and LOTS of other gear they took off in the crevices of the underworld!! An hour and a half later they came up in another cenote.
Wow!! What an incredible day! 
consultant...therefore I will learn from the beginning of this project how the design fits into a structure and how it will actually be built. 
We had a great time!! KK and Melinda came to cheer her on and its their screams you can hear on the video! 
This is a big time rodeo, 112 years, World's Original Indoor Rodeo so it's an honor to ride here. There were lots of events like cowboy poets and musicians, roping, bull riding, and the normal rodeo things. 
We are in preparation (fixin to get ready to is the way you say it in Cajun world..HA!) to go to the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo as Bonnie has qualified for the barrel race. Laura trains and rides their horses daily so it's a team effort. Here is Charlie getting some new shoes from one of the top ferriers in these parts of Texas. More from Cowboy land later....this should be interesting!!
hmmmm....from Texas or is that New York Times Square?! We took the easy, laid back way of celebrating the New Year by watching that ball drop on television along with a BILLION other folks it was reported!! 
The ball is made of crystal triangles and truly beautiful....really it was neat to think about that many people watching the light show and we felt very lucky to be in our pajamas 
