Under the Sea, and Full of Thanks
Happy Thanksgiving to all of my fellow Canadians out there! A number of fine restaurants in town are offering traditional turkey feasts; you can check VallartaCalendar.com for a comprehensive list. Enjoy the food and company, and give thanks for our remarkable abundance of all things necessary to life —the biggest and most important thing we have in Vallarta: love.
That was on full display at La Catrina Cantina last Friday night when Edward Lucker and Pamala Sheppard celebrated their birthdays with a costume party – and a contest. The winner was no surprise to me. The uber-gifted designer, Neothy Lavender, who favors intricate corset tops with miles of cording paired with curvy trousers made of pattable fabric. All the costumes reflected the ‘Under the Sea Theme’, but Lavender’s was outstanding.
Pamala and husband John prepared all the food and the desserts. Exquisite and gooey brownies made a sweet end to the homemade Mexican favorites.
The entertainment kicked off with Tonny Kenneth, who shared his stage with some of Vallarta’s finest voices, including Gloria Fiona and Mitchell Rivadeneyra, singing some of Pam’s favorite songs.
At 8 pm, Nacho Granados‘ weekly show began. This Argentine can sing anything; his range is expansive and his voice is powerful – think Tom Jones and you’ll have it in a nutshell. And he is fun, gregarious, and the sharpest host in the city.
Happy Birthdays to Pamala Sheppard and Edward Lucker again; thank you for inviting me to share your special day with you.
On Saturday, I wandered around standing puddles of rainwater on the Isla Cuale to stock up on my weekly herbal remedies at Ricardo Mazcal’s Saturday Market. This amazing man has kept me alive for more than a decade with his tinctures and potions that reflect his lifetime study of natural ancestral ways of preventing and treating illnesses. Now in his 80s, I would match his energy levels against anybody in their 40s.
His fascinating story about returning to Mexico, leaving his high-powered, stressful job in the US, to deal with stage-four prostate cancer. He returned to Nayarit and began translating his great-grandmother’s journals from Nahuatl into Spanish, while also treating and curing himself. Here he is, fifty years after a terminal diagnosis with six months to get his affairs in order, getting stronger with every passing year.
Ricardo writes weekly for Vallarta Mirror, and I urge him to write more about his successes with his clients. He hesitates because he doesn’t feel comfortable writing about himself. I will keep pushing, however, because the public deserves to know precisely the incredible benefits of herbal medicine, which is often considered only as a last resort.
The key, of course, is prevention and building a strong immune system to ward off disease. Failing that, however, there is help out there, naturally. Ricardo Mazcal is living, shining proof of the wisdom that comes from using specific endemic plants in Mexico. I am so grateful to him, especially on this Thanksgiving Day, for how much he has helped me over the years.