Saturday, November 22, 2008

The end of the world

We are all in the fourth week of November and the weather north of the Mexican border is cold with rain and snow now.
Chasing retired people in their RV’s from Canada and the USA to the South to spend the days in the nice and warm weather of Mexico.

But this year they haven’t come in the numbers as was usual.

A favourite location for winterbird RV’ers is the dry riverbed of Los Frailes in Mexico.
For years and years approximately a hundred trailers and motorhomes would be spending the winter there.
But now only a handful have arrived.

The same for the only trailer park in La Paz.
“La Casa Blanca”.
Yesterday there were four motorhomes, two trailers and two tents.
While other years in November it could be hard to find a free space in the trailer park able to handle over a hundred RV’s.

Friend Esther who runs the B&B “The Blue Angel” in La Paz explained that she was having almost no guests.
And was hoping that the Xmas season would bring better times.

This is recession away from any illusion and showing its depths.
Affecting people in many ways.

But Bill was affected in a different way.
He is from Canada and a retired Yamaha mechanic.
Travelling with his American wife in a beautiful Class C Dodge motor home with a Mercedes diesel engine.
Almost immediately after the Fuso Szulc arrived at the trailer park “La Casa Blanca”, Bill approached for a chat.
And soon he was talking about what happened to him.

His wife had fallen and had cracked her skull.
She was now in coma in a hospital bed of the clinic on the other side of the road.

Bill was rather lost and pushed out of the long time usual patterns of his life.
Finding himself somewhere where he didn’t know how to manage life.

Fortunately his wife had a good health insurance.
And was going to be evacuated with a private jet to a hospital in the USA.
Leaving Bill in his motor home behind.

His reality of years is an illusion now.
A memory only.

So are the times when credit seemed limitless.
And travelling a permanent option when gas prices were still affordable.
When there was no fear for the future.

However, it must be realized that everything that happens in life, is for the good of us.
Bill, the Canadian Yamaha mechanic, could have a new and interesting time in his life without the permanent presence of his wife.
The recession hurts but also offers new opportunities for those who are able to see and embrace them.

One can say:
“I lost everything”.
Or one can say:
“I lost everything to be free and open now to receive new opportunities”.

No matter what, Bill’s life and ours continue.
Wives, husbands and the recession can be the end of the world.
But there is always a new world waiting.




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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dutchman, some times I think you are just one toke over the line, but the last few days I think you have been several tokes over the line

Rojo

Anonymous said...

Barn's burnt down....now i can see the moon.

Mizuta Masahide

Anonymous said...

The Last two days have been my favorite posts,
Robert

Anonymous said...

When the western world complains of recession I think of india. Hundreds of millions have never had proper food!! So it is all subjective.

Raj from Bombay

Anonymous said...

Ever since i met Michel in India I have been readng his blog. Very interesting and not easy to do. I am a writer and I know that getting the juices to flow everyday requires discipline. Every day has to be dfferent and interesting, and he lives in the wilderness most of the time. So it can be more difficult.

About the recession I feel that after a year all will be well and then there will be boom times and then again, after a few years, there will be another recession. It's all a part of the game of life and economics. It is all media hype. Papers have to sell. There is an up and there is a down. So what????

About politics, it doesn't matter much if Obama is in power. or anyone is in power. America's military policies will have to continue. Let Obama relax a bit and let America be bombed again, and watch the fun. The very same people who wanted him in power will now ask for his head.

Unfortunately, some sections of the world believe in bombs and violence and terrorism. They have missed out the very essence of life which is love and brotherhood. One needs to be spiritual and not religious. Both are poles apart. But fanatics thrive where ignorance, poverty and illiteracy exists. The world changes all the time, every second, and one has to adapt. You can't bomb the world just because you can't adapt and feel left out. Unfortunately, again, a bullet will have to be answered with a bullet. Maybe, many bullets. Like a chronic disease terrorism will have to be removed from the soil before it buds.

Look at India and the subcontinent. Every month we have bomb blasts, sometimes for weeks on end. Thousands have died in Kashmir, thousands die all the time all over India and Pakistan, even as I write this, to senseless bombs and bullets detonated by people who don't even know why they are doing it.

Bush made America secure. There has been no incident after 9/11. Let Obama take his foot off the pedal and watch what happens. India is the best example. The foot has never been on the pedal and the world knows what is happening. India is the world's easiset target for even a child terrorist; the world's largest burial ground. Look at the price India is paying for doing nothing because vote banks in an illiterate democracy can't be interfered with!!

It is a classic case of weak laws and weak intention to curb terrorism.

Maybe, the American people should realise the good life they enjoy, most of all the security that terrorism on their soil will not be tolerated.

Life is to love and be fulfilled and not for killing and murdering innocent people. What an act of cowardice!!

So Michel, my friend, why not write more on love and beauty and art and all the fabulous women who maked the world happen!!

Rajendar Menen, Bombay, India.

Kathy said...

Thanks for the earworm Rojo...