Greetings Friends!

Sometimes we need a significant event to motivate real contemplation and communication with friends. For me it was this.

My best friend died this week.
Seven years ago, shortly after I arrived in Mexico, Balam became an important part of my life as fierce guardian and best friend. My little buddy had a character unusual in a way that balanced with my own. In our time together here in the natural world we shared the good energy daily. Today, I write this with mixed emotions - profound sadness for the loss of him, and profound happiness for the joy we shared and the good energy he has left with me. Of course my view of this is unique, but those who have known him know what I mean. Here is a little pictorial history of my friend.

So I have been thinking about things that really matter - perception, awareness, honesty, compassion, right action, right inaction, friendship, giving . . .

These thoughts led me again to a place where I need to go more often.
The Noble Eightfold Path

Here is another thing that matters a lot. I keep coming back to it, so I thought I would pass it along to you.
You Can't Kill a Planet and Live on It Too

So now, back to the Jungle Update.

Weather - The patterns here have been more normal this year. After a very dry winter, the rain in June came in on schedule and brought the jungle back to life. It is amazingly green now. Next step is to wait and see how the hurricane season treats us.

Community - This year has been a challenge for the neighbors here. As it sometimes happens in a community, a couple of my neighbors have become very fear based and as a result, their psychopathic behavior has resulted in many real problems. The upside of this is that the majority of the neighbors have responded by pulling together and have started working on better cooperation. The developer of the project is also making a lot of progress and it looks like we will have property titles and a legal home owners association this year.

Garden - My attempts at growing edibles in the older shady areas of my garden have not been productive, so the next experiment in that part is with an assortment of flowers. Maybe they will like the shade better. My veggies in the temporary sunny area have been fantastic. I have been eating well all year by adding the various produce to my kitchen ingredients. Next step is to buy the necessary items to start a container garden on the front part of my lot. The idea is to use self-watering buckets under hoop house shade structures. I really love the plan, so I hope there will be news on it next time.

Business - In my last update I mentioned my effort toward developing a small bakery and restaurant. Progress has been slow due to low cashflow but, now that I have a bit of pension income each month, I am almost ready to start opening in stealth mode with friends helping, and friends as customers one or two days a week for pizza and bread. If demand is good, I will try to get it ready for city permits and call it a real business. Wish me luck!

So now it is your turn. This is the part where I plead with you to hear how you are doing so I can get a check on how things really are in El Norte. I can't depend on the media you know. So please check in soon!

Hasta la proxima,
Bill Barton