Dreaming of Dragons

“ If the sky could dream, it would dream of dragons.” – Ilona Andrews, Fate’s Edge

The longer, warmer days of Summer have finally arrived – I’ve swept the concrete balcony floor, brushed off the top of the weathered wooden table and brought out that comfortable blue camp chair. So far this warm week, I’ve enjoyed breakfast out on the balcony sipping that first cup of fragrant black tea while watching the many float planes coming and going over the lagoon. Tonight I’m out on the balcony with a glass of dark red Chilean wine, watching the sun’s rays softly painting the forest in a hazy glow, there are happy birds chirping in their green bowers and the sky is so clear I can see a jet with it’s pure white contrails heading north-west over the mountains. Going where, I have no idea, the lovely stillness that I’ve carved out for myself allows me to lazily contemplate it’s flight path and wonder over it’s occupants.

These early days of Summer are burning bright and I’m ever mindful of how quickly they might slip through my fingers; taking the time to walk through the cool forest to pop the last salmonberries and the now sweet huckleberries into my mouth has become a weekly ritual. As I walked through the forest this past Monday, I heard for the first time this season, the call of a raven – there was a pair of them high up in a cedar tree being pestered by some crows and as one of them flew overhead, the shadow created by it’s large wingspan reminded me of dragon wings. Lately, I’ve been dreaming of dragons – I always thought that an animal spirit that might manifest in my life would come in the form of the aforementioned raven, a beautiful wild wolf or the majestic bear. This totem arose in the form of dark poetry, it’s words carrying the scent of smoke and blood; in the reading of those words I became aware of what felt like dragon wings unfurling, anticipating awkward flight. This animal spirit has arisen just as I’m about to begin my fifth year as a cancer survivor, her message: it’s time to lay down my arms, walk away from fear and take back my life – time to embrace this exquisite Summer, luxuriate in those endless rituals we take for granted as children and simply be. I can feel my dragon shifting and stirring under my skin as I write these words, she is as familiar to me as my own self and I cannot believe that she is here, my very own animal spirit and that’s why I find myself dreaming of dragons this particular Summer.

Dragon fire on the beach at sunset in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Card Note to Huguette: June 28, 1993

Hola, Huguette! Here is another terrace to dream about – we sure had a lot of fun last Saturday night on our city terrace (a lovely Italian restaurant named “Settebello’s” on Robson St.)!

It is always magical to walk on the Malecon at night in Puerto Vallarta. 

Journal Entry: December 26, 1999

This is our last day in Guanajuato, Mexico, we are sitting in the sun at the Jardin Union on a green bench underneath the Indian laurel trees. We had breakfast outside at the “Hotel Posada Santa Fe”,  we’ve had our last three breakfasts there. The food and service is very good. We just finished talking to a nice gentleman from South Carolina, U.S.A. who has retired to Guanajuato. He happily shared his unique glimpse of this charming city. I cannot get enough of this colonial atmosphere, everywhere I look I see a picture to take – we ended up spending a small part of our morning taking inside and outside shots of “Teatro Juarez” ( the local theatre).

There are many Mexican tourists here in Guanajuato and a few of us from Canada, the U.K., the U.S.A., Germany, etc. We all seem to run into each other all over this small city. There is a couple from the U.K. whom we met on the bus from Guadalajara, we’ve run into them once or twice and had some conversation. They travel to Morelia next.

Some images I don’t want to forget: the beautiful hummingbirds flitting through the flowers at the hotel we are staying at, the hotel “Socavon”, the single orange tree with fruit at the base near one of the paths to “El Pipila”, a huge statue that looms over the city – so that at any angle one looks, you can see this statue – above a church, or a roof line and in between the old buildings. It sometimes surprises you!

This afternoon we will be buying some fruit and pastries for our early bus ride (8 am) to Guadalajara and then back to Puerto Vallarta – we will be travelling for about 9 hours before we reach our Mexican home, our apartment in Puerto Vallarta! Adios.

Another magical walk at night, this time on the grounds of the Gran Bahia Coba near Tulum, Mexico.