Froggy's was fun, and the pizza was very good, as usual. In the course of the party, Russell convinced me that I should sign on for tomorrow's boat trip out to a nearby island. Dolphins, he said, practically jump onto the deck, and there are whales as far as the eye can see! Robin had his doubts about my going along, because it's apparently an eight-hour return trip with no chance to get off the boat, and he knows my stomach. I was feeling a little frightened at the prospect, but I'm getting old, you know, and I notice that I'm feeling skittish about doing some things that used to be no problem. I decided this was a chance to push back that "frightened little old lady" moment a bit farther. "I'm in," I said.

This morning, Robin and I cycled to the estuary. I had read something on one of my discussion boards that kept coming back to me during the cycle ride. A poster wrote about trying to expand/improve his meditation experience. He said he had become very adept at following his breath, but he wanted to hone his awareness of other things around him as well. I sympathized. There is so much going on when I'm sitting on the beach - the crash of waves on the shore; the rattle of pebbles shed by the retreating waves; the cries of gulls and pelicans; the sun shining on my eyelids; the mist hovering on the mountains; dolphins cavorting offshore; dogs frolicking in the sand; the strong, salty smell of the air. It's hard to take it all in. That's why I sit and follow my breath for a few minutes - so that I can come to all that splendour in a state of calm.

So as I cycled to the estuary this morning, I was thinking about all that, and it made for a lovely ride. That was just as well, because we didn't hang around at the beach very long. Suddenly, after all this relaxation, we have a very busy social calendar. Today, Russell was to come over and bring us some Dramamine - just in case. Tomorrow, the boat trip. Then, tomorrow evening, the U of A Chorus concert. Friday is the Fish Fry at Tecalai (the park next door). Saturday is the Carne Asada Fiesta at the local school, another Rotary Club fundraiser. Monday, I think, is the joint birthday party for Jeane and Chantal; and Tuesday is Chantal's actual birthday, when we will all go out to dinner. Four days after that, we head home. So little time.

Today, Russell did come over, but he came to tell us that those in the know were predicting nine-foot waves tomorrow. "I'm out," I said. Robin laughed. "Nobody's going!" So we have the day off, to rest up for the evening concert.

Meanwhile, somebody ran into one of the power/water columns here in the park (the ones to which we hook up our rvs) this afternoon, so our water supply has been shut off while repairs are effected (I hope). I'm glad we have a full tank of water. We don't know whether these events are connected or not, but suddenly there are cockroaches everywhere! They're all over the park. Somebody said they've come up from the sewer. Somebody else said some of them are two inches long. I haven't seen them, as I figured the inside of my rv was looking pretty good. Robin says maybe somebody poured something into the sewer that spooked them. We've shut off the grey and black water valves at the outside, lest some of the escapees decide to escape via our plumbing. Now I understand how "La Cucaracha" came to occupy such a prominent place in Mexican folk music.