a beautiful day in the neighborhood

I need to make a change.

For the past couple months I have been starting my day by catching up on posts in Facebook. It is a bad habit. I come away from the process feeling sad and no better-informed.

Yes. I do recognize the irony in that statement since most of my readers seem to read the Facebook edition of Mexpatriate. But, there it is.

Today I made a deal with myself. Rather than start the day by reading Facebook, I would go out for a walk. It was a good idea.

I have mentioned before that tourists are starting to make their way back to these little fishing villages by the sea. Most seem to be either day-trippers or weekenders. But they are here.

To some people on Facebook, they are nothing more than dangerous, marauding hordes of Goths bringing their viral death to our pristine shores. This morning, all I saw were small knots of families walking on our malecon on a particularly pretty morning. Hardly the stuff of the next Tarantino film.

Sun. Soft breeze. The scent of the sea. Children swimming on the remnant of our once-grand beach. A far better composition than anything Facebook offers.

People move to Mexico for a lot of reasons. But I have discovered each day brings its own reason for why I moved here.

If you are in Mexico, turn off Facebook and go outside -- even if it is only to your patio. Life is far too short to spend it in the clutches of fear.

And if you do venture outside the confines of your wall, you will enjoy what the day has to offer. There is plenty of social distancing space and you can always disguise yourself as Billy the Kid.