I am listening to the debut record from the Punch Brothers with headphones on (something I have meant to do for more than a year) while I watch the full moon rise over the ocean.

As the ocean breeze blows in through the screened-off wall of our dining room I am thinking that that the view is right on par with this great music. Actually, both are competing for my attention.
The minute changes like cloud cover or reflection on the water are equaling the squeal of Chris Thile’s mandolin strings or the beautiful bass parts that I so often overlook.
This is my first “Mexiblog” and I forgot to mention anything about this vast country so far. Where do I start? Tequila has been a constant but only like a subtle spice in our soup of life (that is a bit corny eh?) I guess I mean that we have been drinking lots but never yet had too much.

This brings me to the part of this trip that is both special and challenging; parenting. I just can’t do my job as a parent if I drank the amount of tequila (and beer for that matter) that I would like to. Maybe that is part of the gift they give us? This ability to “keep it all together” has also allowed us to get up very early each morning and enjoy the whole day in the beauty of our ocean-front-yard.

Wow; Noam Pikelny really is a great banjo player. (and since we are keeping score; the clouds are no longer covering the almost full moon)

Today was like most days since we arrived at this remote beach house near Xcalak. I got a good couple hours of banjo practice in and then snorkeled with Julie and the boys. Later I got about an hour of fiddle practicing in too but really I wanted to tell you about the snorkeling.

It took a couple days but now I am loving it. Today I realized that if I really relaxed and listened to my breathing (I like to pretend I am a fish!) I can float and watch fish go by and be happier than I could even imagine.

When you go a long time without listening to music with headphones (and I don’t mean earbuds!) you forget how great it can be. This is giving me greater insight to a record I have heard 100 times before.

As the moon rises the moonlight on the ocean is reaching out towards me and has almost made it to the shore. (will it come in the dining room?)

After we BBQed some burgers and dogs I played some Nerf football on the beach with the boys. I thought they were going to explode they loved it so much. I dragged them in before the mosquitoes (yes they have those here too) came out but we finished the night off early with a good game of Scrabble and I finally won.

Which brings us right here. One person is asleep, while two others read in bed. I too look forward to some reading time in bed as I found a copy of The Road. A very dark book about a father and son and the end of the world. I found it here on the bookshelf.

Sleeping has been quite weird. We often go to bed quite early. As a matter of fact, writing this blog post is the first real evening activity I have had in the last week. There is a constant roar from the distant waves breaking further North on the ocean and some dogs that bark a lot. The temperature seems to change every day as well as by the hour throughout the night.

Any bad nights of sleep we have had are balanced out by the almost-mandatory siesta around 2 or 3pm the next day.

The moon has a beautiful haze (I used that word in Scrabble tonight) now behind it and the Punch Brothers have moved on to another part in Chris Thile’s beautiful suite; The Blind Leaving the Blind.

We are not in Toronto any more…