First of the year feria, peace, tranquility, and ideal weather

I went to the "feria" (similar to a mobile outdoor mall consisting of about 500 farmer's markets, jewelry stores, clothes stores, toy stores, craft stores, and just about anything you can think of) on the second day of this new year. The feria is set up and taken down in a nearby plaza every Saturday. The day was as absolutely gorgeous as the first day of the year was.

Everywhere I go I detect a totally different atmosphere. It can only be due to the fact that the vast majority of people (probably more than a million) are now on vacation for the next month. The feria was very crowded, as usual. The difference was that all of a sudden the vast majority of people looked like tourists to me. I see very few people I would be comfortable asking for directions because they do not look like they live here. Nearly every person who passes me I expect to be speaking a foreign language rather than Spanish.  I continue to be wrong in my expectations.

Kristie, Chris, and Kaori have walked these very aisles with us.

Play Station 2 games are quite inexpensive here and there are lots of kiosks, like this one, full of PS2 games to be had for $5 or less.

There is always someone selling puppies. At least this week they were in a cage rather than a box or running loose, so I didn't have to stop and pet them.  They are still very, very cute and they always make me miss our dog, Lancelot.

 These are a couple of the local recyclers which sort out the recyclables from the dumpsters. Their cart is registered with the city and you see these carts frequently every day as they make their routes checking all the dumpsters on their assigned route. Somehow it just seems wrong that people who make their living from dumpster-diving are licensed to do so by the city.  These boys were working with their father who just stepped away from the cart.

To match the weather, the ocean (river) was a timid body of water barely daring to lap at the shore, and when it did it seemed to apologize and not to stir for quite a while after each such "mishap".

Even more quiet were the streets, as you can see by looking at our street which rarely has more than one or two open parking spots.  Suddenly there are parking spots everywhere all over the city.  This is due to the fact that people are on vacation and are visiting family or have moved out for a month to a summer rented home near the beach or possibly in the interior. Every inch of beach is public property so it is accessible from anywhere. No fences, no homes, nothing bars the way between the coast highway/street and the soft, white sandy beaches, so if you can find a place to rent within a few blocks of the beach, you have guaranteed and unimpeded beach access.  I like that!