Low Tide

November 22, 2019

“You must live life it’s very elementary forms. The Mexicans have a word for it: pura vida. It doesn’t mean just purity of life, but the raw, stark naked quality of life”

- Warner Herzog

“When I go running, I see Mexicans working hard”

- Canelo Alvarez

Our balcony at our Air BnB is located right at the mouth of the river where it meets the sea. It is a spectacular vantage point to take in the village and observe daily life here. The little harbor here is where a dozen or so water taxis and small fishing boats tie up for the night.

There used to be a small sand bar at the opening that formed a little beach. The last flood washed it out. It is starting to return and at low tide it covers 4/5 of the opening to the sea. There is a small channel by the concrete pier that allows the boats to get out, but even at high tide you can stand upright in it and cross.

About 100 yards up river there is a dilapidated concrete river crossing that is in poor repair. It is the main way to get to the other side of the river. From our vantage point many just ignore it. The river, especially at low tide is very shallow, about waist deep and clear just before it collides with the ocean. It seems several people just choose to wade across it to get to the other side. As long as you don’t mind getting wet it is quicker; it is a beach town and swim trunks and flip flops are the norm here.

Across the river is the small store where we purchase our supplies. Like many small markets here it is not designed for customer convenience. The room is poorly lit and the walkways are narrow and crowded. There seems to be no real plan for organization and products spill into the walk ways. And every time we have gone in, there are always hard working men unloading large sacks of supplies in the store and they compete for the narrow space with the shoppers. So many things coming in, you feel like they know about the coming apocalypse and you are not ready. Another man was painting the roof while you walked under him and every now in then your eye picked up the spark of an arc welder as a group of men were installing an elevator.

There is no real check out counter. You hand your items across a small desk to the clerk who ratings them up. Inevitably there is a large group of people hanging about the clerk chatting away and handing things to her as well, so the process can be slow. Almost always there is a young child who seems to be there to help and picks up all your items one at a time and hands them to the clerk proudly. If it wasn’t so crazy in the small area to check out, it would be rather sweet.

We kept it close to home today. Both of us were tired from the ‘invasion’ yesterday and there was laundry to do. We set out for a small walk at low tide. The beach had risen up again at the mouth of the river and you could see the bottom of the river in the shallow water. We took a brief walk along the coast before returning.

Here are some images from the hike.

That evening, we watched the action in the little harbor as the boasts came in for the evening. Thee was a menagerie of activity. School children out for the afternoon playing in the small waves. People with packages on their heads wading across the river. Boats spinning around the entrance and beaching themselves on the sandbar so they could be washed out. Wading about them in the water were men throwing out nets in the late afternoon trying to catch bait fish for tomorrow's run for Dorado, Red Snapper, and Pup Fish.

The men did not give up easily. You had the impression that dinner depended on their luck.

People work hard here. The only things that are loitering about are the pelicans.