Mahalo!

Still soul-stunned every day on the beach---sunseasandsurf. Great waves for surfers, great waves for boogieboarder (I'm still usually the only one out there in the short stuff).

Now-- add in a daily party at Ilianet's restaurant. (Jojo and Katrina, you may recall Josh and Katya from that first year here at the Little Salty Place, camping in the jungle by the river). Josh is getting married to a beautiful and vibrant young woman, and all of their two families are here (swineflu be damned) and ALSO, Josh invited Katya and her beau to come over from Maui. There are guys skilled on guitars singing all the 60s songs every afternoon and it all spills over into the night every night. The wedding is on SaturdayMay 9, full moonish. Come on down, there's always room on the sand.

Point of gossip: most all of us regulars here have moved on down to Ilianets, since Guero is lord at Lourdes'. Even our delightful friend -- who happens to be a Vietvet whom no one can push around -- has had it with the man who is just spoiling for a big fight. All is Aloha'spirit down the beach.

Point of delight: my little love, Luis, is now one happyhappy child with beaming sparkling eyes, confident of himself and of his place in the village. Playful, responsible (as in cleans up after himself, putting his toys away when he is done) yet boyishly prankish. He delights me.... comes RUNNING up our driveway calling to me and if I don't pick him up and swing him around, covering him in kisses, he will stand in front of me and remind me puckishly. He'll disobey me just so he can get picked up and tickled back into line. He remembers and learns quickly and understands all spoken language, and has a much bigger vocabulary than his one word, "Ya!" (meaning "There!) that he had our last visit. But he is far from fluent as a speaker. He has his OWN words for things and they seem to be consistently used...

Point of description: our humble casita is lusciously surrounded with flowering bushes from bougainvillea to copa de oro to roses to "margaritas" of many colors. And the mango trees are bent to the ground with ripening fruit. All of our other fruit trees (self-sprouted from spit seeds by folks such as Peter and Jojo and Katrina and Melissa and the like) are growing rapidly and well.

Point of impatience: Robert has had it with this town trip and wants to pile back into the car and get back to being stunned in the surf and the sun, so what to say...

All is well, more than well, so comfortable are we with our village friends and the kids and the beach and all.... Closing for now. Sayonara as one village friend always says.