Greetings Friends! Every day I wake up and celebrate the opportunity to learn another lesson about living in a pleasant climate in the natural world. This is a good time to check in with my friends with an update as we reach the end of the solar year, a time of ancient traditional gatherings. This year the winter solstice includes a special show which my neighbors and I will enjoy together.

Weather - The patterns here have been unusual. Last winter the cold lasted for months, and this year the cold weather started early in November. You may laugh, but 50F is cold when you are conditioned to heat and humidity most of the year. Today was in the 60-78 range, so I am happy enough. The hurricane season brought a few near misses, but we had good luck again. My dogs have been happy with these conditions. They have it made as long as we have our morning walks and I keep the persistent flea population under control.

Community - The region has been a good choice in a way. The Riviera Maya is Mexico's primary tourism cash cow, so it has lots of growth and federal support, and the heart of Playa del Carmen is a half hour drive from my village. The second WalMart just opened only ten minutes from here, but I mostly buy from small local tiendas and avoid the global corporate beast as much as possible. We have the pleasant green environment with easy access to all the modern conveniences. Here in Pueblo SacBe the snowbirds are back together with the usual cast of characters. There are many dear friends here, Mexicans from all walks of life, as well as an assortment of transplants like myself, with a common theme of living off the grid in the rural inland trees, but near the beaches and nightlife for diversions. A great example is Otam Yoga Shala where my neighbors just finished hosting their last sold out event of the year. One theme we continue to use as a model is the Transition Town plan. The heart of it is resilience and a localization focus. Of course we have a long way to go.

Garden - The trees on my lot have grown quite a bit since I started here, adding shade to the terraced garden beds. So that space is now being planted with lettuce and other shade tolerant plants, and I am expanding the garden into some new sunny clearings. The new area is very rocky, so I am looking at forms of container or square foot gardening there. I am also working with neighbors on research toward using aquaponics (more complex and energy dependent) and chickens (simpler and more temperature tolerant) to fertilize the gardens. I have been taking a real interest in simple primitive tools that can be enhanced a little with a bit of new technology.

Family - I haven't seen much of my family lately but thanks to Skype I check in sometimes on my ten month old grandson. Here is a slideshow of my family visiting grandma for thanksgiving in Oakland, Oregon.

Business - First I want to thank those who chose to do business with me this year or helped to keep the finances in survivable shape. The alternative energy and construction businesses have been victims of the global problems you are probably quite aware of. Cash is not flowing here in Mexico either. Because I believe strongly in the alternative energy solution, I have been keeping my focus and learning from my experiences - this month I am learning about better options for well water pumping. I am also focusing on my strengths. A weak spot for businesses in this part of the world is the high rent. I own my land and partly finished house, which is zoned mixed use (commercial and residential), and is rent free. So my effort now is toward using this space for gardening and a small bakery and restaurant. I have been developing a business plan and the finished brick wood-fired oven has been producing quite satisfying pizza and bread a few times a month. Now I am working toward enough resources to commercialize it.

Tools and Technology - Things don't last as long here. It is often dusty, hot, and humid. So my computers died. I rebuilt my older desktop PC, but it is power-hungry, and with less sun in the winter for solar power, I have less time online. When I fix the efficient laptop I will have more time to stay in touch. My '93 Toyota pickup has been the perfect choice for the rural life, but it has been down a lot this year too. I am nearly finished giving it a new lease on life with a cylinder head rebuild, but for now I am using my bicycle, the local bus, and a little help from my friends.

Ok, now it is your turn. It would be great to hear how you are doing, and even better to see you for a visit here. So check in soon!

Hasta la proxima,
Bill Barton