Room with a View

DSC_0066EditedI just had to get to know the guy who’d put the two easy chairs on the beach by the fishing pangas in Playa Norte; talk about a room with a view! Turns out his name is Guillermo, and he’s the same guy you may have seen raking the beach and picking up trash, as he regularly does. He is thirty years old, lives with his parents about a block away, and comes to the beach every day to, in his words, “do God’s work, clean the beach, be in nature and enjoy life.” Sounds good to me!

Guillermo has a stand with several different rakes and brooms in it, ready for beach cleaning. He’s fashioned himself a Mexican flag, he has a cross in the sand “because he loves God,” and he’s made a sofa out of a heavy log he dragged into place. While I was there with him he got up several times to kick around an old soccer ball. He invited me to sit in the recliner and enjoy the view. He also has a second easy chair, located a bit of a distance away, that he pulls closer when he wants to visit with someone. Originally he had the extra chair right next to his, but “then you get guests you don’t enjoy visiting you,” he told me. Click on any photo to enlarge it or view a slideshow.

Guillermo says many of the fishermen don’t like him, because he urges them to keep the beach clean and to pick up their trash. Some of them clean their work areas, he says, but some don’t. “The ocean is their livelihood; you’d think they’d want to take care of it,” he tells me.

After my visit with Memo, I took a little stroll around the fishing pangas. The fishermen were scaling and fileting fish to take home with them for lunch, as most of them had already sold most of the day’s catch. I watched a couple of last boats come into shore, and the tourists enjoying feeding the birds. As usual, the pelicans were hanging around enjoying the fishermen’s scraps.

Just as I finished, Greg and Danny came with Danny’s new ADULT residente permanente card for the young man, a ballena for them and a New Mix for me. We sat on the edge of the seawall in the shade of a tree celebrating for an hour or so. The view, people watching and birding are so pleasant. If you’re looking for something to do late morning, I highly recommend pulling up a chair in Playa Norte.

About Dianne Hofner Saphiere

There are loads of talented people in this gorgeous world of ours. We all have a unique contribution to make, and if we collaborate, I am confident we have all the pieces we need to solve any problem we face. I have been an intercultural organizational effectiveness consultant since 1979, working primarily with for-profit multinational corporations. I lived and worked in Japan in the late 70s through the 80s, and currently live in and work from México, where with a wonderful partner we've raised a bicultural, global-minded son. I have worked with organizations and people from over 100 nations in my career. What's your story?

4 thoughts on “Room with a View

  1. Wow! Well, first of all, big congrats on getting the card!! Yay! Second of all….you rock my world! This is a great article, made even better with the photos!! What a blessing you are!! Thank you x 1000000!!!! Susana

  2. Well, I am so happy you wrote this article as I will take the time next winter to go and visit with Memo. He sounds like a man after my own heart. Thanks, Dianne

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