I’ve recently released two web sites that I’m quite proud of (links are below).

The first was for Florida Public Broadcasting Service, which is a non-profit company that represents public radio and public TV stations in Florida. It was their first web site, which meant there was lots to think about, we wanted to be sure the site’s structure could grow as the site matures.

The second of my recent releases was the Vista Imagery web site. Vista Imagery is a photography studio here in Cancun. This is a redesign of her original site and is designed to be more search engine friendly than her last site, which was a Flash site. There may still be some speed issues with this site, if you see slowness please report it to me. With that many photos it’s difficult to make sure the site is lightning fast.

• Florida Public Broadcasting Service
• Vista Imagery

Enjoy!

To get the chill of New-England-in-July out of my bones I headed up north to Isla Blanca within 18 hours of landing in Cancun last week. Isla Blanca is not actually an island but more of a skinny little mini-cape that curls around Laguna Chakmochuk, north of Punta Sam.

At some places in Isla Blanca there’s not much more than a hundred yards between the ocean and the lagoon. The lagoon is very shallow, and when you muck around in it the water is always really, really warm. The ocean-side has miles of white sandy beach with a bit of turtle grass seaweed thrown up on it by the waves. The water is that perfect Caribbean turquoise color.

Looking west from the beach at Isla Blanca, you can see Laguna Chakmochuk is just a few hundred yards away

We first fell in love with Isla Blanca 4 years ago, when we moved to Cancun. Back then the road was mostly unimproved, and there were just a few shacks and palapas up there. And I remember remarking the first time I was there that Mexico should preserve Isla Blanca as a National Park.

Our first time up there we saw all manner of water birds, I remember seeing several herons, and many, many pelicans, and the usual million frigate birds, and lots of other birds I can’t identify.

Looking north from the beach at Isla Blanca

But of course, why would they make a National Park out of it when they can sell it to developers instead? Silly me. Since I first laid eyes on Isla Blanca there’s been all kinds of development between Punta Sam and where the road ends at Isla Blanca. I’m not up to date on all of what’s happening there, but I know that an artificial lake was built up there, I saw them lining it with a massive square-mile rubber membrane. And I know they’ve built a golf course. And there’s at least one hotel going in up there, though I suspect it’s actually more than one. I should know more, but I’ve been so disgusted that Isla Blanca is not being preserved that I have deliberately tuned out news of it’s development.

I know, I suck, head in the sand and all that, clinging to my ignorance deliberately. But money rules here, and I just find it depressing the way Mexico allows it’s most beautiful places to get taken over by hotels. Once the hotels come in the herons will move out, and the Mexicans will be pushed aside and the only people who will enjoy the beauty of (what’s left of) Isla Blanca will be the tourists. And that’s not good enough for me, in fact it makes me sick.

Looking south from the beach at Isla Blanca

But, for now, there are still places in Isla Blanca where you, me, anybody, can go and enjoy a pristine powder sand beach and a seemingly endless view unbroken by hulking ugly hotels.

To get to Isla Blanca we took Bonampak Avenue north out of Cancun. And when, close to Punta Sam, we came to a big manicured glorieta (traffic circle) where there was a gate, we went 3/4 of the way around the circle and got on a road that runs just west of the gate. We took that road until we reached another traffic circle and this time made our way off the paved road onto a dirt road running next to a shack.

Sam the sandy man enjoying the beach at Isla Blanca

Once on this dirt road you simply follow the road until the very end. At the end of the road is a ramshackle “restaurant”, not that I would trust my stomach or health to that place, but people do eat there. We parked just south of the restaurant and then huffed it with all our stuff (cooler, beach chairs, umbrella, spy novels, dog) north up the beach another half a kilometer.

And that’s where we took the pictures I’ve posted here. There’s a bit of seaweed there. And sometimes there’s some garbage, but not much by un-hotel-groomed Mexican beach standards.

I don’t know how long Isla Blanca will remain open and accessible. Maybe some part of it will always be open to Mexican non-tourists. I hope so. But I won’t bet on it.

Google Earth image of Isla Blanca, the marker is just about where we took the photos

Before Hurricane Wilma hit the road to Isla Blanca went further north. Wilma appears to have destroyed the last half a mile of it or so. Better I say, for it’s lack helps preserve the beautiful wild place that still is Isla Blanca.

I warn you though, people HAVE discovered Isla Blanca. Our pictures were taken on Sunday, and you don’t see people in them only because we walked north, away from all the people. Down by the restaurant, where we parked, there were several hundred people enjoying the beach. I highly recommend visiting Isla Blanca during the week if you can. If you come mid-week you will see almost no one. Regardless, when you do come be sure to walk north, the farther north you go the more pristine Isla Blanca is.

I just got back last week from a trip to New England, I spent most of my days in Maine actually, pretty far north, near Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.

This trip was planned months ago, specifically it was planned when mom was turning 70 back in January. She wanted all of us to gather around her for that event, that big birthday event. But being the bad daughter I am I flat out refused to set foot in Maine in January. I told her I would gladly come in July, gladly, but January was out of the question.

My aunt (mom’s sister), who hails from points south as well, was very happy to back me up in my refusal to freeze my ass off in Maine in the winter, and so she quickly got excited about a July trip as well.

And so we did it, she and I. We flew to Boston, spent a night, and then drove 5 hours north the next day.

And I knew before I even got to Boston on the plane that I had badly mis-calculated which clothes I should bring. Socks, forgot about socks, forgot that people wear socks to keep their feet warm…plumb forgot. I did actually bring some socks, because I run, and I run in socks, so I had socks, I had just forgotten socks for heat’s sake.

And pants. I GREW UP in New Hampshire, I know the weather up there in New England. I went to college in Massachusetts (see, I can even spell it), I know what July is like up there. But pants, forgot about pants. I somehow thought that I would get by with a mini-shirt and a few pair of shorts. I did bring a pair of sweatpants, for running, and only because they were clean and my favorite shorts were dirty when I was packing. And I did bring ONE pair of jeans, a pair I wear about 7 times a year in Cancun. And I wore those jeans everyday that I was there, and when I wasn’t wearing those jeans I was wearing the sweatpants, even in BED!

And long-sleeve shirts, well, I DON’T OWN ANY! And so I didn’t accidentally bring any, despite myself. But I did bring 2 sweaters. And I tell you, I wore them and wore them and wore them. Man was I cold.

But I managed to survive by drinking generous amounts of hot green tea with honey, and running a lot. And of course it was great to be there, and see the family, and see the lovely land. Below are some photos I took which I liked:

Flowers from Mom’s crazy garden which needs some serious cutting back.

A Red Squirrel which was caught in a Have-A-Heart trap moments after this photo was taken and was then relocated across the river…only to be replaced by another Red Squirrel within an hour who was BETTER at raiding the bird feeder.

More flowers from Mom’s unruly flower garden.

This is one of my sister’s very fat and very cute cats.

This flower was grown by my bro-in-law, my sister’s husband, and for his birthday I gave him even more of these flowers.

Last week I had the pleasure of spending a few hours with the wonderful and fabulous choreographer Alison Chase. Alison was the founding director and “mother” of Pilobolus Dance Theater. If you’ve never heard of Pilobolus then you’ve missed something important and amazing in the world of dance (that’s what Google is for, right?).

Twenty years ago, when I was studying modern dance, my classmates and I were completely enamored by Pilobolus and we emulated them every chance we got.

Alison Chase is now working independently of Pilobolus Dance Theater, and seems to be pushing the boundaries of modern dance harder than ever. She showed me several videos of recent works and I can only say this: “be very jealous of me!”

You can get a taste of Alison’s work by downloading a Quicktime Video Sample of her recent choreography which resides on Alison’s temporary web site.

I am beginning development of Alison’s full web site now. And I’ll certainly post here when the site is finished; but don’t wait up, Alison is more of a perfectionist than I am, so this site could take a while to get right.