Es peligroso

 I get that question all the time. And yes it is dangerous .

We're calling it Black Thursday here, the day they arrested Chapo's son in Culican and the government was so scared of revenge that they shut the city of Mazatlan down....period....no buses no open stores no nothin . Granted there were a few cars set on fire and of course up the road where the shoot out was 29 people were killed but here in Maz it was just weirder that it was scary . Now ten days later life is normal but with just a few more of the military convoys and helicopter fly overs that are a show of force that we're all used....so if you want to know the number one danger here it's this, by far .

Now you're saying " what the hell is that " ?......it's concrete of course . I was taught that you mixed in a wheel barrel but here in Mexico any flat surface will do. It's mixed and the repairs are made and then this gets left so that unwary walkers can catch a toe, vault forward and walla....a trip to Marina hospital for a broken hip. You can't imagine how many people get hurt walking in Mexico , happens routinely.

So a veteran ( like myself who has tripped many a time but was blessed with 9 lives and only taken off layers of skin ) learns to scan ahead so you see whats coming, you know , keep your head down and don't Barney Google to much. Then there's the uniformity issue like this :

Then the there's the to narrow to get through on the busiest narrow street issue :

Years ago one of friends was scoping out the local personalities when he did a Carl Wallenda off of one these....They are every where , our poor buddy face planted and looked like a 82 year old UFC fighter.

So my advice is simple...if you see an elephant on a garage door don't keep walking as you take in the wonder of it ...STOP....check it out, take your pic and then scan ahead and continue , you'll be just fine in this peligroso environment .

The next big danger in Mazatlan , Sinaloa Mexico is the food...and I'm not talking about getting the tourista or the Imodium diner  because all you have to do with that is don't eat from anybody that doesn't have business . The busy places turn over the food so it's always fresh and soooo good, that's the problem.

There I am eating the red Jalisco style Menudo that is traditionally served on Sundays as  a hang over cure. It is just so clean and tasty, the tripe in it has a texture you will come to like and it hydrates in the most wonderfully flavorful way . So what's the problem ???? well the food is so good that without discipline you can gain the Mazatlan kilo's that I used to. I'd go in the gym 3 months before our winter in Mexico and work my butt off to lose 10 pounds just so I could put them back on starting with our first night in Mazatlan when we go to F.I.S.H. and have Clam Chowder with an Oyster Poo Boy and the largest drat beer ever sold to man....How's about these Coconut Shrimp at El Mimmen ?

And hows about authentic Sinaloa style potato taco's at El Tunnel . They're served with the veggies over and not in and then you have a wonderful consommé sauce to pour over....it'll make a Bull Dog break his chain.

And of course part of the eating to much problem is the part where it's so affordable. If you love good Mexican food like we do it's impossible to spend more than twenty bucks for the two of us....tonight we're going to Taco's Martin for the Lengua ( tongue ) tacos that I like and the Vampiro's El Pastor that MP likes .

FISHING REPORT

Well I've over done it which is something I'm good at and am just now getting over a pinched nerve in my neck that took me out of the game for a while....But we've had a shift change here at Team X and things are getting exciting, many Corvina and Robalo to be caught and then there's this.....my buddy Steve with a really noble Toro, the kinda fish that can jerk the guts right of your reel .

So I'll end this Mile 14 edition with a song . I wish you all could be here to hear it person cause I know I said I wanted to be out there more...So I'm on the hunt for a place to welcome me and my three chord country  sometimes in the key of C . This time of year I've always entertained here in our building but the vibe has changed and it bothers me...I'd never want to be responsible for any hurt feelings with other musicians and for me in this stage of my life if things bother me I ain't doing them. I've been an outsider my whole life and I guess I still am . Period .  So if any of you Mazatlan friends need a picker call me at BR 549.....Hope you like the song, I didn't think I could hit the highs like Charlie Starr does but.....

 

And in the Sunset of

 our lives we become to see.....hehe...just kiddin ya . But ya gotta admit that's a hell of a lead in . Every sunset we kinda joke through it like I've joked through most of my life and every now and then I'm effected by what I can't control and what I have trouble dealing with like everybody else. Well this New Years edition of Mile 14,398 south ain't gonna be that , although I've certainly had enough of that in 2022 that I could fill some serious columns , this is about going forward - there's only one direction and only one speed and you all know that .

New Years day furnished us with this perfect Naval Assist as I call it. We all watched the new owner of the Patricia Belle push towards the harbor and many of us said " do you suppose it and the sunset will collide "?  and it did.....we're off to a great start in 2023 . Do you suppose the skipper knows the power of the sunseta and times it for us ?  If he does, he's a brilliant wonderful guy that I gotta be friends with, if he doesn't, we all thank you anyway.

I got this sunseta just last night. Me and MPeasy like the new so we often go elsewhere for sunset and last night we were on the malecon 4 miles from home.  There's a certain energy that you just don't get on our beach, maybe it's the demographics, we have an aging community and downtown is about kids, families and romancers....like us. Then it's a short one more mile up to Taco's Martin which is by the far the best we've ever come across and we've become regulars , thank you Duane Curtis for helping us find the best tacoqueria  in Mazatlan....MP loves the El Pastor type and me, well I like the Lengua which is slow cooked tender and perfectly spiced tongue. The condiment are delivered to you table unlike some places that have a condiment bar....we're kinda health conscious . So a ballenon of couse Pacifico the official fuel of Mazatlan 2 vampiros el pastor , 2 tacos Lengua , 2 charro beans come to 250 pesos, 13 bucks of american lettuce. OH, I forgot about the wonderful roasted onions.

On the New Year we did what we call our ' up and over ' hike. We take the green bus to the end of the line and then walk up and over the big hill and enter downtown from the south....you that follow mile 14 have seen this many times....this time it was different, strangely. Usually I'm not a big fan of graffiti although I do find it interesting . I kinda consider graffiti to be like gossip, you really don't need it but it can also be good. In fact I wrote a song about gossip when I was told by a person I'd never met that they had heard I was crazy in love with MP so I guess this is the viewing message of that....it was everywhere.

Here's a pic of the type of terrain that this message was resounding from. I don't know if just one person did it all or if it is a movement....in any case thanks to who ever you are and if you did this all alone I gotta meet you and be friends...did I say that once before today ?,,,,mmm. 

I guess the theme of the day has turned to love so here's a pic of MP and Slah , two of the most interesting people I've been able to call friends. We're hoping to get Slah and his wife Maria to visit us in the USA where we can shower them with new experiences and the beauty of my new home State.

Back before my guide season I used to make a list of goals on a chalk board in my gear shed. Most of them were about making $$$$ and keeping me on a steady course . Well, we're past those standards so I hate to call them resolutions but here's  10 things that are my focus for 2023....

1. Health : finally I WILL make 185 pounds . I've been working hard and am now stable ( weight wise that is ) at 190 .  Once I hit my goal and stay there I 'll set a new one . I absolutely have to avoid the Knee problem's that everybody in my family has endured.

2. Walleyes : I gotta learn how the heck to catch these babies as predictably as I used to salmon. I wanna catch and have 20 pounds of fillets so I can have a party and deep fat fry for all my neighbors and all my new friends .

3. New friends : in order to feed em ya gotta make em .

4. Music : after a lifetime I like my sound and I know that it 'stands up ' as we musicians say. I enjoy entertaining, after all it's been my whole life one way or another so I hope to be out there more. 

5. Gin : I quit buying it about a month ago. I've always wanted to be good at things but being good at Gin ain't really something to hang your hat on . I realized that it was making me kinda sleepy sooooo as my friend Dan once said "  we need a life of balance " .

6. Fun and travel....I know it sounds selfish and maybe it is, I don't care . But happiness works this way , make yourself  happy first and then the world will come along . Happiness is a tree and I'm the trunk.

7: Cheap shot coming : gotta write more. when I'm dead and gone I want people to say " man that guy could say the same damn simple thing in 458 different ways .

8 : Happy new year to everybody, we love ya all.....

9 : gotta go fishing again with Ty Tobias....miss ya buddy.

10: 💜💛💚💙💗💜💛💚💙💗💜💛💚💙💗

wew, got all ten, I was a little worried for a while.