Saturday, October 22, 2011

sweat on the sand


It is hot in Melaque.


No.  That's not correct.  It should be hot in Melaque.  This is October.


Melaque has two seasons.  Hot and unbearably hot.


Hot runs from October through April.  Unbearably hot from May through September -- with moments of just hot when the rains arrive.


The calendar says the hot season should be here.  The arrival of northern short-term tourists underlines the expectation.  It is October and the voice of the Canadian is heard throughout the land.


But it is still unbearably hot.  As I draft this post, the temperature is 90 degrees.  The humidity is 70%.  There are enough drops of sweat on my reporter’s notepad to confuse it with a tween girl’s diary.


One of the benefits of our recent storm was a period of cool weather.  But the price for comfort was far too high.  I have already written about the flooding and the laundry project Christine initiated (laundress to the stars).  The reappearance of the sun has helped us get loads of laundry dry and back to their owners.  It appears that project is drawing to an end.

 
While picking up laundry, I noticed most of the homes had not yet been cleared of mud.  That got me to thinking of the neighbors of our new church palapa (which is looking more and more like a finished building).  They suffered some of the worst flooding -- at least, from the force of the water.


Tom, our summer pastor, and I decided to survey the neighbors to see if they needed any help cleaning out their homes.  Actually, Tom did the talking.  His Spanish and sensitivity for Mexican culture made him the obvious spokesman. 


It turned out that all of them had cleaned up their places and were back to normal.  Well, as normal as they could be with the loss of refrigerators and stoves.


We did discover, though, just how lightly balanced the Melaque economy is.  Most of the families had work.  But they could not work during the flood.  As a result, most of them were running short of food for their families.


Tom arranged to purchase food from a local wholesaler.  To get as many food bags as possible, he cut a couple of items off of the list.  The wholesaler volunteered to put the bags together for us -- and then donated the items that we had removed from our list.


That is Tom (at the top of this post) standing next to the Shiftless Escape with the bounty we were about to distribute.  I took the photograph near the food wholesaler warehouse.  But, If you look closely on the right, you will see a woman on a direct course to ask for one of the food bags.


Tom, Rosa (a Spanish-speaking member of our congregation), and I distributed a bag each to the neighbors of our church building.  The moment the truck showed up in the neighborhood, people were in the streets asking for bags.  But we requested them to return to their homes.  It was easier for us to be certain we had placed at least one bag at each home that way.


The laundry and food bag projects got me thinking about my dislike of hot weather.  For me, a perfect day is 55 degrees, overcast, with a nice light drizzle.  But I can tolerate a lot when it comes to the weather.


And then I felt rather petty when I remembered my neighbors.  They had lost almost everything when their homes were flooded.  But they accepted the fact that the flood was over and they now needed to return to their lives.  All they needed was a bit of food to get on with it.


Between laundry deliveries today, I stopped for lunch at Señor Froy’s -- one of my favorite beach restaurants.  Froy lost part of his palapa in the wind storm.  But it is fixed, and he is back in operation.


As I sat there looking at his new roof and the cleaned-up beach, I realized just how nice it is to simply sit and enjoy this beautiful part of Mexico.


And weather is not going to get in my way of doing that.



25 comments:

Marilyn said...

The ocean looks gorgeous and the beach spic n' span, good job to all.  Similarly, good job on the heartfelt food distribution project.
The year 'round heat?  You can have it!  I'll take a bit of Americana/Gringolandia as a trade off for the perfect weather of Lake Chapala.  BTW, that Gringolandia is very easy to avoid if you live outside of it!  Not to mention the luxury of being able to dash over there for the occasional Greek, Thai, Egyptian, or Japanese dinner treat.We have our trade-offs, mine is not to awake in a pool of sweat in the morning or to have to hover about a room heater for 10 weeks every year.  Works for me.

tancho said...

" For me, a perfect day is 55 degrees, overcast, with a nice light drizzle." Ok.....but you must have the beach?  Sounds like you will never make up your mind and put down some roots somewhere.

Patz is a warm 75 now, dropping down to a chilly 45 last night, we are heading towards a freezing 36 degrees on Monday, with only a high of 66. 

Nice to see your pastor and church actually doing something to help the locals. Too much of the time, there is more talk than action, you and your congregation and pastor, as well as the wholesaler should be commended!

Sounds like life will be back to normal pretty quick.  Thanks for your updates.

Mary Lou Halbach said...

Steve, I think it is marvelous that you are doing so much for so many, and not just materially.  Spiritual support can move mountains and your love is saving many from despair.  God bless you.  I am humbled.

Mary Lou

Babsofsanmiguel said...

Wanna rent MY house in SMA for a few months.?  Let's talk..........

Steve Cotton said...

OK.  Email?

Steve Cotton said...

We do what we can. There is always so much more to do. And, like everyone in the world, my neighbors would simply like steady jobs to feed their families. And many of them want to be able to save up enough to be part of Mexico's growing middle class. A group that is from 40-60% of Mexico's families.

Steve Cotton said...

OK. I am conflicted by weather. But I did not come here for weather -- unlike some people. The draw here is the beauty of the water.

One thing that drew me to this congregation was its community-mindedness. The very thing that drew me to the Salvation Army.

Steve Cotton said...

I felt the same way about San Miguel -- great culture and food in a small community. But the desert is something that has never attracted me. I guess it just shows that we all sacrifice something for where we live. Paradise is a myth with which we often delude ourselves when reality falls short of our expectations.

Mcotton said...

I thank God for your tender heart and caring for those in need.  Thank God for you and your pastor and others that care and do good works.

Steve Cotton said...

To serve is to pray.

Jonna said...

Good work, all of you.  I admire your involvement and service to your community, you fit in well here in Mexico.  We will miss you at the blogger's conference but there will be other times.  

Steve Cotton said...

I was hoping to spend a month driving over -- seeing several archaeological sites on the way.  But I can do that in the near future.

Babsofsanmiguel said...

Yes, email

Laurie Matherne said...

What a beautiful picture of the cleaned up beach! As far as your weather concerns, I can affirm that I prefer living in a bit cooler climes. I spent most of my life in New Orleans or nearby. Deadening heat in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico is worth it to catch fish and enjoy the ocean but most days it's just too hot in that part of the world. For me, it's been a joy to live in a more moderate mountain climate where beaches are never far away. 

NWexican said...

You are missed in Oregon and YOUR perfect weather is almost always at our beautiful water sides... Trade ya, I will just need about 4 years of your state service.

Steve Cotton said...

Tomorrow a group of volunteers will take on the task of getting the rest of the beach cleaned up in Melaque.  Another opportunity for me to give back to the community.

Steve Cotton said...

Four years will go by just like that.  Of course, "that" can seem like an eternity.

Eric Chaffee said...

Steve,

The lesson of the flood, in Genesis 6-9, is that there is rescue right where we might be tempted to see retribution. And the promise that the flood will never come again in chapter 9 is not about water, but about floods of fear and despair and overwhelming thoughts of abandonment.

God bless you for being part of that rescue.

~eric. 

Eric Chaffee said...

Steve,

The lesson of the flood, in Genesis 6-9, is that there is rescue right where we might be tempted to see retribution. And the promise that the flood will never come again in chapter 9 is not about water, but about floods of fear and despair and overwhelming thoughts of abandonment.

God bless you for being part of that rescue.

~eric. 

Eric Chaffee said...

Steve,

The lesson of the flood, in Genesis 6-9, is that there is rescue right where we might be tempted to see retribution. And the promise that the flood will never come again in chapter 9 is not about water, but about floods of fear and despair and overwhelming thoughts of abandonment.

God bless you for being part of that rescue.

~eric. 

Steve Cotton said...

Thank you.

Steve Cotton said...

Or maybe just 50% humidity.

Stephanie Hunt said...

No one knows the heart of a person better than their mother.  God bless Steve for all his caring and assistance to those in need, and God bless you, Marilyn, for being the wonderful mother that instilled so much of the values that define him.  I'm so proud to call him friend.  

Kathy said...

we have been coming to Melaque for 6 years now, this will be our 7 th, and we love it there, the people the town everything.  Your information on this tragedy is excellent and very inspiring.  Thanx again

Steve Cotton said...

Thanks. Of course, it is a tale that will run for another few years, I am certain.