I don't hate Mondays. Especially in summer.

Mondays Rock! You can't imagine how little sleep we get on weekends here in summer between friends, family, fireworks and parked cars with really loud sound systems. The beach is the beach- anywhere. People go there to unwind and cool off- 24/7. It's hot in the interior of Mexico so Alonzos family is used to staying indoors (and taking siestas) during the hottest hours and then everyone moves outside to cool off and relax after dark. So that schedule took some getting used to. Even the youngest are up and active until midnight.

For most people Mondays suck- for me it's a day of peace and quiet. Well, as much quiet as you can have with the five labs, falcons and squawking birds. But there's no music blaring from bad car speakers, no kids screaming and yelling. No families trying to pitch their porta-potty tents (no Mexican family beach outing is completed without a tent, shovel and rolls of TP). Ah- the good life in the third world.

The high surf it still going strong and the tractors towing the beach rake machines are out cleaning the weekends trash from the sand. Every morning I put a pot of coffee on and head out the door to walk the dog pack on the beach. I feed the falcons, read the on-line versions of the newspaper, check my e-mail, take care of business. By 10am and a pot of Dunkin Donuts coffee later- I'm ready for breakfast and to move on with the day. Men and their rituals- but it's those true little luxuries we all work hard for.

You'd think this picture was a winter shot of a long deserted beach. But this is what a hot summer morning looks like here in Baja Norte. The previous nights high tide washes everything clean and a gray marine layer hangs over the coast until noon or so. Perfect for the sun-challenged like me. The marine layer gets pulled in towards the coast to replace all the hot air rising inland. It's 115 degrees just twenty miles inland today so all this cool moist air is rushing across the beach and through our house- ahhhhh . In SoCal (and Baja Norte) people head inland for hot sun and tanning. At the coast we call it May gray and June Gloom- but now it seems to last through July too. The sun generally burns through around noon will be going strong the rest of the day and directly inside at sunset. Who needs all that UV? :) It's all about mornings....