HERE WE GO AGAIN: A WEEK OF SCUBA DIVING IN COZUMEL

It is dirty work

but somebody has to do it. Bright and early tomorrow morning, Mary and I fly out of Chicago for a week of scuba diving in Cozumel. Of course, we'll have to have pazole at the tin-roofed shanty two blocks from our room at Hotel Pepita in downtown San Miguel; on the way back to our room from a meal of pazole, no doubt for dessert we'll have one of "the best beef tacos on the island" at Johnnie Bravo's little stand halfway back. And, yes, we'll find "the best fish tacos on the island" at another little stand on the way to the grocery store, though what I always order is "the best fish torta on the island." And I hope the Miss Dollar cantina is still operating; Miss Dollar has terrific food at great prices and hasn't been discovered yet by the typical visitor to the island.

Friends who have recently returned from Cozumel say it is "hot and humid" down there. Imagine. Yep, it's dirty work, but somebody has to do it.

We'll be home on May 16th. Our attack cats and house-tenders know their responsibilities, so the homefront will be well cared for. And when you stop to visit at The Middlewesterner, you can expect to read "Lines" and "Morning Drive Journal" and "Saturday's Poem" as usual. "Notes from the Vagabond Journal" will resume after we return.

Oh, I can almost taste it, my everyday-after-dinner-treat from the little shop on the way to the square: pineapple mixed with chili powder and frozen on a stick. Mmm-mmm. I'm not kidding: it's good. I may not want to get on the plane to come home.

Adios, amigos!

Comments

[MB]

Rough luck, Tom! Que le vaya bien!

[Tom Montag]

Hi, MB. Yep, I smile just thinking about how rough we're going to have it. I'm sure I'll find some way to keep myself hydrated....

[Dave]

Yep, better see the coral while we still have some. Bon voyage!

[Tom Montag]

Hi, Dave--Hurricane Wilma was not kind to the reefs of Cozumel. It looks as if there is a couple of inches on ash on everything, even at 80 feet below the surface, as if the corals are being smothered by sand and debris. Here and there you see some signs of recovery, and if your examine a coralhead from below rather than above you can see some color. But at the moment things look pretty dim, literally. To say nothing of what the rising temperature of ocean water is going to do to the reefs, as I think you're making reference to. Life is a great pulsing drive, but individual lives are fragile....