Open Miguel

Monday morning took a while to pick up any momentum. Our energy was a little off and PJ was feeling a little down. Around mid afternoon, we motivated ourselves to head down to the beach and turn things around. It’s amazing the restorative effect salt water can have on your spirit. We splashed around for a while trying to catch some small waves, but they kept threatening to deposit us directly on the sand.

I grabbed my goggles and went for a swim down the beach until I pulled even with Mark and Laura’s house. Then I did a wide looping u-turn and headed back. The current must have been with me on the way back because the return trip was much easier than the first leg of my lap. PJ followed a while on her boogie board and was waiting to intercept me on the way back.

We rinsed off and I sautéed up the shrimp I bought from Rodrigo yesterday. Garlic, mushrooms and butter. Served them up with white rice, slice tomatos and avocado. We ate on the sky deck while watching people arriving for tonight’s final open mike session of the season. I thought last week’s hootenanny was the final hurrah, but Miguel has added this one more.

The open mike was well attended and lots of people got up and gave it their all. The highlights for me was the vegetable vendor’s son doing Mi Rancho Grande on a ukulele, Mark and Laura’s rendition of an Argentine tune and the guy with the woody golf cart’s country version of Walk on the Wild Side. The crowd all joined in when the colored girls go “doo, doo, doot, doo, doo, doo, doo, doot.”

Every person who wants to participate gets to do three songs.  At the end of the open mike, Juan gets up on his electric piano with rhythm beats and plays songs everybody can dance to. We stayed late and danced with the crowd having a blast shaking a leg with the new friends we’ve come to know in our short stay so far. Went to bed late and slept peacefully. The fireworks celebration week is officially over and Cali wishes to extend her appreciation for the quiet nights.