Bing's Buzz

2012 CARNIVAL IN MÉRIDA, YUCATÁN, MEXICO

2012-02-21T17:33:00.000-08:00

Six days of parades hypes Mérida into a frenzied state of merriment that culminates with the beginning of Lent. The main boulevard lined with bleachers finds eager participants camped out overnight to secure a front row seat. Food and beverage venders keep the crowd well fed along with copious quantities of beer and soft drinks.

In the above collage, left; The parade route bleachers at dawn already filling with overnight campers, center; one of a dozen entertainment stages stacked high with mega speakers and a banner that proclaims; “The hottest Carnival in Mexico!” ; right; one of hundreds of street venders hawking juices and snacks.

The noise level of celebration sends trembling reverberations throughout the city and exuberant revelers put on exotic faces and provocative costumes.

Click here for a video and collage of more, “Faces of Carnival”.

eBooks—Free Books and Readers

2011-11-28T08:10:00.000-08:00

The 21^st century has ushered in the information age and certainly yielded a wondrous bonanza of publications, sound tracks and videos many of which are free along with all the computer programs you will need to make them usable on your digital devices.

Kindle for PC free from Amazon books http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_pc_mkt_lnd?docId=1000426311

Customers can check out a Kindle book online through a U.S. library and read it on the free Kindle for PC app.

Free eBook Collections

These books can be read on many devices and in many formats. There are over 2 million titles to choose from. Amazon provides a list of many good sources for eBooks.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/b/?node=2245146011

Adobe Digital Editions

http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions/

Free eBooks

Sample eBook library http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions/library/

Check out the Adobe Digital Editions Library, where you can browse and download free eBooks and digital magazines, including full-length novels and works of nonfiction. With a membership in a U.S. library, you can check out online many eBooks and read them in the Adobe Digital Editions reader.

Nook from Barnes and Noble

Download the Free NOOK app for PC. Over a million eBooks, newspapers, magazines, and thousands of free eBooks just a touch away.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/nook-for-pc/379002322/

Project Gutenberg has 36000 free eBooks for Kindle, Android, iPad, iPhone.

http://www.gutenberg.org/

iBooks; If you have an Apple device such as iPad or iPod, you may download through the iBook store many free books. (You MUST have their device.)

Calibre - eBook mangement

Calibre is a free and open source e-book library management application developed by users of e-books for users of e-books.

http://calibre-ebook.com/

Audio books - Free

You can download free audio books from these sites and listen via your computer or transfer to an mp3 device.

http://librivox.org/

http://www.archive.org/index.php

With a membership in a library in the U.S., you can borrow and download audio books.

My Books and Short Stories - Some are free

Click here.

Yucatán’s Magic – Mérida Side Trips: Treasures of Mayab

2011-10-02T15:49:00.000-07:00

Finally the book for traveling adventurers who want to see more than just trinket shops and crowded tourist traps has arrived:

Just launched — our new book, Yucatán’s Magic – Mérida Side Trips: Treasures of Mayab

–Built one stone at a time like the Mayan pyramids–

Over a quarter of a century of inspired exploration and recording of our travels in captioned photo stories has led my wife and me to compile an impressive collection of outings that are the foundation for this book, built one story at a time.

We present the best of the best after over twenty-five years; places, excursions, and outings. Each place we have visited we liked for different reasons; tranquility, history, view of village life, and connect with the Maya past and present, change of scenery and a look at a uniquely distinctive region.

Available for Kindle and in paperback.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005POWVU8
Available as an EPUB e-book, click here.
From Barnes & Nobles for Nook, click here.

Runs on fat

2011-10-01T15:08:00.000-07:00

It is curious that with the advent of the automobile and the airplane, the bicycle is still with us. Perhaps people like the world they can see from a bike, or the air they breathe when they're out on a bike. Or they like the bicycle's simplicity and the precision with which it is made. Or because they like the feeling of being able to hurtle through air one minute, and saunter through a park the next, without leaving behind clouds of choking exhaust, without leaving behind so much as a footstep. ~Gurdon S. Leete

Quintana Roo – The road from self-sufficiency

2011-08-03T18:46:00.000-07:00

On a recent two month trip Jane and I became acquainted with the shopping in Tulum.

At the “Pool” produce/vegetable market, we found all under one roof things we scour Mérida for with its one million population.

Our curiosities led us to this story.

This diesel monster truck deadheads without cargo from Tulum to the Valley of Mexico, a distance of 1,000 miles or 1,500 kilometers in 30 hours, burning over 2,000 liters of fuel and returning with 28 tons of produce. This trip is made twice weekly in the high tourist season and only supplies the needs of one customer.

At the time Quintana Roo became a state there were no food imports and the people were completely self sustaining…that was 37 years ago.

By an ironic and twisted fickle turn of fate the Maya of Quintana Roo, México staved off the Spanish for 400 plus years because of one man, Gonzalo Gurerrero.

Read his story…link. http://www.bicycleyucatan.com/gonzaloguerrerochetumal.html

The Maya of Quintana Roo remained independent and self-sustaining. Land belonged to those who worked it…it was simple. Not like their Mayan brethren in adjacent Yucatán under the oppressive jack-boot of the “hacenderos” or Spanish hacienda owners who took their land, plundered their spiritual heritage and impoverished them into servitude.

Quintana Roo was a pristine tropical paradise abounding in seafood, dense tropical jungles of exotic flora and fauna and scarcely any infrastructure…that was then.

October 8^th, 1974, this all changed forever when Quintana Roo became the 30^th state in México and the “federal land registry” established ownership with property perimeters. When Quintana Roo first became a state it was seldom visited, had nearly no paved roads and tourism was unheard of outside of the newly created resort town of Cancún. Besides being undeveloped it was a smugglers paradise for clandestine merchandise that strangely found its way into Mexico by night.

Now the land grab would begin in earnest.

Not until the 1970’s were highways built and Quintana Roo became recognized as one of the most beautiful resort areas in the world.

In 2011, just 37 years later, the pristine tropical forests have been stripped of their exotic timber; conch, lobster; reef fish and even the coral reef have been pillaged and plundered beyond restoration.

Infrastructure has arrived!

Airports, super highways, mega shopping malls, five star all-inclusive resorts, giant cruise ships queued up to disgorge thousands of visitors daily and land speculators, and hotel developers. Shopping plaza builders are bulldozing the jungle with no end in sight.

Today the state is no longer self sustaining and exports are nearly non-existent.

YUCATÁN PIRATES

2011-08-01T17:10:00.000-07:00

Piracy was the scourge of colonial Yucatán, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

From the beginning of Spanish occupation of America pirates ravaged their shipping. Gold looted from the Indigenous Americans being shipped back to Spain proved an irresistible treasure.

French and English kings encouraged and sanctioned these privateers, making contracts with them specifying the proportions of the spoils.

Buccaneers John Hawkins, Frances Drake, Henry Morgan, William Parker, Laurens de Graff, Henri de Gramond and Jean Lafitte made their names legendary.

Dzidzantún, Campeche, Tihosuco, Valladolid, and Bacalar were some of the towns that the pirates brazenly conquered and occupied. Many of the pirates took up residency with families on Yucatán’s desolate northern coast and along the Caribbean Sea. A story is told that Jean Lafitte is buried at the Gulf of Mexico coastal town of Dzilám de Bravo, Yucatán.

Speculation interspersed with myth and rumor spiced with unsubstantiated historical facts have made Jean Lafitte legendary. Here is a glimpse at some of those buccaneer stories that are floating around.

The pirates: Jean Lafitte (1776–1823) and his brother, Pierre.

On June 18, 1812, the United States, with little naval power declared war on Britain.

1812–Lafitte brothers purchased a schooner with plans to sail it as a privateer. Older brother, Pierre established himself in New Orleans, looking after their interests in the city. Jean Lafitte spent his time in nearby Barataria Island managing the business of outfitting privateers and smuggling.
1813–They received their first prize, a Spanish brig, which generated $18,000 in profits. The Lafitte’s gained a reputation for treating captive crew members well, and often gave the ships back.

They now sailed three ships, the largest privately owned buccaneer fleet on the coast.

Lafitte at Barataria Island held letters authorizing them to capture booty from various foreign countries.

The citizens of New Orleans were grateful to the Lafitte’s for providing them with luxuries.

The United States Navy did not have enough ships to attack Lafitte at Barataria Island. The government then charged Lafitte with "violation of the revenue law.

Pierre Lafitte, brother of Jean was arrested and jailed on charges of "having knowingly and wittingly aided and assisted, procured, commanded, counseled, and advised" persons to commit acts of piracy".

While Pierre was incarcerated, Jean continued to operate the smuggling business.

1814–Battle of New Orleans; U.S. General Andrew Jackson arrived in New Orleans December 1814. He discovered that the city had not taken protective actions, with only 1,000 unseasoned troops and two ships.

Great Britain dispatched an armada and 8,000 men to take Louisiana.

A British ship fired on a smuggling ship that was returning to Barataria Island owned by the Lafitte brothers.

The commander had been ordered to contact the "Commandant at Barataria Island". King George had offered the Baratarians British citizenship and land in the new British colonies of America if they promised to assist in the fight against the United States. If they refused the British Navy would destroy the Barataria Island base.

Lafitte was convinced that the United States would prevail in this war.

Andrew Jackson a Commander in New Orleans, had almost no men or ships. The governor was forced to free the imprisoned pirates (the "Hellish Banditi" as Jackson called them), because they were needed.
Privateer Jean and his brother Pierre guided the American forces through the marshland with 4,000 Tennesseans, Choctaw Indians, freed blacks, Creoles along with their pirates.

The British fleet reached the Mississippi River and Lafitte realized that the American line of defense was too small. The British began firing at the American lines, but were repulsed. Jackson singled out Jean and Pierre Lafitte for "exhibited courage and fidelity. Jackson requested clemency for the Lafitte brothers plus the men who had served under them.

After the Battle of New Orleans, where the British were defeated, President James Madison gave a pardon to Jean and Pierre Lafitte plus their pirates.
Lafitte’s returned to piracy. Pierre and Jean sailed to Texas and established a colony of privateers near Galveston, which he named Campeche. His ships operated from Galveston and flew the Mexican flag. Lafitte worried about a Spanish invasion, this was the time when Mexico won their independence from Spain. Lafitte created letters of privateer on behalf of his nonexistent new nation for all of the ships sailing from Galveston. These letters gave the ships permission to attack ships from all nations.
1818–The United States passed a law prohibiting the import of slaves into United States. That law had loopholes and gave permission to any ship to capture a slave ship. Newly imported slaves turned over to customs could be sold in the United States. Half the profits from the sale would go to persons turning them in. Lafitte worked with several smugglers, including Jim Bowie, to profit from the new law. Lafitte's men would hunt slave ships; smugglers would purchase these slaves for a low price, and send them to customs officials in Louisiana. The smuggler would purchase the slaves at auction and the smuggler would be given half of the purchase price. The smuggler was then the lawful owner of the slaves.
1821–Lafitte and the remainder of his men sailed from Galveston aboard three ships accompanied by his mulatto mistress and an infant son. Lafitte and his men took Spanish ships in the Gulf of Mexico, often returning to Galveston or the barrier islands near New Orleans to unload cargo or take on supplies. Louisiana demanded that the federal government halt smuggling and the number of active pirates began to decline.
1821–Lafitte's ship was ambushed as he attempted to ransom back a recent prize. In late April, Lafitte was captured after taking his first American ship. The American warship which captured Lafitte turned him over to the local authorities, who promptly released him.

Lafitte and other pirates operating in the area began targeting ships carrying legal goods to Cuba, angering Cuban officials. By the end of 1822, Cuba had banned all forms of piracy. Lafitte continued to patrol the shipping lanes around Cuba. In November 1822, he made news in the American press after escorting an American schooner through the pirate-strewn area and providing them with extra cannon balls and food.

June 1822–Lafitte approached officials in Colombia, that government was commissioning privateers into their new navy. Lafitte was granted a commission and a new ship, the 43-ton schooner, General Santander. Lafitte was now legally authorized to take Spanish ships.
1823–Lafitte was sailing off the town of Omoa near Puerto Cortéz in the Gulf of Honduras on his 43 ton armed Colombian schooner named General Santander. Omoa was the site of the largest Spanish fort in Central America. It protected the silver shipments from mines of Tegucigalpa to Spain.
Lafitte attempted to take two Spanish merchant ships. It was overcast and visibility was low that night and his misjudgment would prove fatal. The Spanish ships were actually heavily armed Spanish warships and they opened fire. Lafitte was wounded in the battle. He died by dawn and was buried at sea in the Gulf of Honduras. Two obituaries have been found for Lafitte: the Gaceta de Cartagena and the Gaceta de Colombia wrote that "the loss of this brave naval officer is moving". No American newspaper ever carried an obituary for him.

By 1825 piracy had been essentially eradicated in the Gulf of Mexico, and "the new world.

Ultimately the Spanish navy actively and vigorously hounded these privateers, destroyed their sanctuaries, shooting and hanging the freebooters. Deprived of their plunder many former pirates turned their efforts to smuggling and trading in exotic clandestine tropical woods.

For whatever it is worth, many of the costal towns of the Yucatán peninsula are said to be peopled with descendants of these pirates to this very day.

Speculation about how Jean Lafitte died;

He changed his name and disappeared.

He was killed by his own men after leaving Galveston.

He rescued Napoleon and they died in Louisiana.

Jean Lafitte was killed on his privateer ship General Santander, serving Columbia, in 1823, age 41, in the Gulf of Honduras. Lafitte encountered two disguised Spanish warships, was wounded, died and buried at sea.

Pierre died in 1821 in Mexico and was buried in the town of Dzilám de Bravo, Yucatán; a monument to Jean Lafitte is there today.

About 13 kilometers west of Dzilám de Bravo in a small cemetery a wooden grave marker was found with the inscription; Jean Lafitte. (Historians question the validity.) Pierre Lafitte, Jean’s brother, is known to be buried in that cemetery.

Jean’s marker, authentic or not was moved to the museum at Puerto Aventuras on the Caribbean coast at Akumal, Quintana, Roo, Mexico.

Excerpt from the “Diario de Yucatán newspaper, 9, July, 1960; “LA TUMBA DE JEAN LAFITTE”; Translated caption; Mister Luis H. González, representative of the club of Explorers and Sports Archeologists of México, (CEDAM) informed us that they will present a plaque on the 20^th of this month and dedicate it at the tomb of the pirate Jean Lafitte in the town of Dzilám de Bravo. The plaque will be dedicated by club founder and president Pablo Bush Romero, a prestigious hunter and sportsmen, in cooperation with The Caribbean Archeological and Exploring Society, The Middle American Archeological Society and the Yucatán Exploring Society, important archeological societies of the United States.

July 20, 1960, photo of dedication of plaque. From left: unknown, Mr. Cowen, Clara Cowen, Pablo Bush Romero, Luis González, Alma Reed and unknown. The above photo is courtesy of Luis H. González.

Luis González contributed the monument stone, which had been a González family grave marker. He engraved the back side with the Lafitte information that is now exposed.

NORWAY – LAND OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

2011-07-27T18:30:00.000-07:00

Norway, the utopian model of social conscience is a relatively small country blessed with an over abundance of energy resources.

They have enough hydro electric to satisfy the nation’s demand, ample quantities of petroleum whose exportation finances a standard of living unequaled anywhere on the planet, and unprecedented social assistance for one and all.

It is not enough!

A generation of Norwegians has gone through life in a bubble of unrealistic expectations and isolationism.

The ice cold slap in the face of reality has struck!

Is it time to play the blame game?

Or is it time to take stock of grim reality and clean up this bloody mess?

Consider this:

All extremism is evil…be it religious, political or racial.

Do not rush to judgment!

First go take a long look in the mirror and think your action through…then act. You must do something!

Make this world a better place.

It is your legacy in the home of the Peace Prize.

Tulum Photos

2011-07-11T18:01:00.000-07:00

Photos of our recent Tulum trip + our Mexican daughter, Grisel and her 3 sweet kids.

40 Days in Tulum

2011-06-22T15:05:00.000-07:00

We just completed 40 days in Tulum.
We left Mérida to escape the record high temperatures and smoky air contamination, and found what we were looking for.
What we like about Tulum; fresh clean air, world class swimming beaches, food that is an eating extravaganza, friendly easy going people, fun things to do, an interesting variety of side trips and big city public transportation in a small town. As my wife Jane says, "Tulum is a lovely place to visit, but a hard place to leave". We are not going home until we feel like it and we don’t feel like it!
Note; A breath of fresh air; The dry draught stricken season on the Yucatán peninsula that lasts from the end of November until the first of June is broken by the arrival of the hurricane time of year. Welcome rain replenishes water reserves, extinguishes agricultural fires, cools and cleans the air and germinates dormant seeds sending Yucatán into a glorious explosion of vibrant flowering greenery…the balance of nature is restored.

PLAYA Del CARMEN, A SIDE TRIP FROM TULUM

2011-06-02T07:42:00.000-07:00

Twenty-five years ago the sleepy little fishing village of Playa del Carmen had but one claim to fame. It was the ferry landing for Cozumel, 19 km. away in the Caribbean.
Today Playa has become a significant tourist destination with all varieties of accommodations ranging from five-star all inclusive to budget. A first time visitor may easily think that they are on Spain’s Costa del Sol.

By bus or colectivo taxi from Tulum, it is a forty-five minute ride on a four-lane highway with overpasses and access roads. No matter how you arrive you will arrive in the city center where all the action is.
The arch is the gateway to the Caribbean Sea where the ferry departs every hour.
Playa’s waterfront is lined with people friendly parks and tourist packed walking streets.

Warm crystal clear tropical waters and fresh clean trade winds are found here year-round.

Seagrape trees offer heavenly shade along the beachfront parks.

Fresh locally produced papaya, mango and watermelon are sliced into juicy treats by Mayan ladies beautifully clothed in their colorfully adorned hand stitched huipil dresses.

Even off-season tourists crowd the downtown walking streets everywhere. Hawkers eagerly attempt to sell dive trips, jungle safaris, archeological excursions, Panama hats, jewelry, and more tourist impulse items than you could possibly stuff in your luggage.
Restaurants offer up all classes of food from fine dining to the neighborhood cocina economica where you can get stuffed on authentic Mexican food at bargain prices.

Knickknacks are priced to sell and are a bargain compared to Cancun.
When you have had enough of this slice of paradise leaving town in any direction is easy. Colectivo taxis are great for short halls but the ADO bus terminal located downtown has frequent departures to all parts of Mexico and will even take you directly to the Cancun International Airport.

Playa is great but if you would like a hint of how beautiful it was twenty-five years ago, you will have to go to Tulum.

Playa del Carmen 1961, left, Pablo Bush Romero, Luis González

SMOKE

2011-05-17T08:48:00.000-07:00

This is a direct look at the sun over southern Mexico in burning season.

Mexico with its 115 million people is the second largest air polluter on earth.

The U.S. with 300 plus million people is burning 21 million barrels of oil every single day and mountainous quantities of coal and natural gas making it the undisputed leader in air contamination and degradation. This is not going to change, it will only get worse.

Is this so bad?

Not necessarily, it only depends on your prospective.

If you happen to be one of the unfortunates with respiratory problems like asthma it is positively devastating. If you are one of the minority persons that partake in active outdoor sports it is only annoying.

For the majority of the people who go through life in an ecologically blind bubble the smoke is not even a consideration.

The only upshot of excessive air contamination is global warming. Again the majority of the people are totally unconcerned and uninterested.

I find the situation frustrating in the extreme. My wife Jane suffers from asthma, we love active outdoor sports and we live in Mexico where air contamination is scandalously beyond dangerous. In the springtime, May and June it is positively terrible.

The smoke from agricultural burning is so bad that the sky is perpetually casting an eerie orange glow and at midday you can look directly at the sun that is just a dull orange object.

We had tried to escape.

The last place in Mexico with semi-clean air is on the Caribbean Sea coast at Tulum and also the Island of Cozumel. It is great until the Trade Winds stop like they just did due to a pressure gradient weather system.

This situation is only lamentable to a few.

It is too late to do anything.

My advise; Hang on, make the best of it, and be happy for what you have.

A parting thought;

The people who smoke or burn trash don’t give a damn about their health, so, what makes you think that they would care about yours?

STAMP COLLECTING AND HOW I BECAME A HISTORIAN

2011-05-02T16:03:00.000-07:00

Back in the post WWII days of the 1940’s all of the neighborhood kids had some kind of collection. These were the days of shortages and rationing and frugality was how you got along back then.

When things wore out, you did without or repaired it.

Postage stamps were popular but matchbook covers were abundant and free for the picking up. Nearly everybody smoked back in those days and it was the time before you could flick your Bic…so, matchbooks were everywhere.

The matchbooks were fun and abundant but soon I found out about the fascinating stories that were behind postage stamps.

I became hooked on stamp collecting.

Through my own experience I found that postage stamp collecting proved to be interesting, entertaining and broadened my education. I learned the names and facts about all the presidents, historical events, fascinating information about legendary personalities and all. Some stamps commemorated and chronicled with their colorful and artistically designed depictions intriguing cultural incidents. A new captivating world was about to open for me.

My challenge became where to find the stamps.

I remember rummaging through the storeroom of my dad’s drug store and cutting off postage stamps from all of the shipping cartons. I tore stamps from all of the discarded envelopes at his business plus I asked all of the family and friends to save their stamps for me.

Carefully I soaked the stamps free and pressed them flat and dry between the pages of the phone book.

An old Indian man that my dad took a liking to and hired as a handyman gave me a little ring notebook that he had carefully glued full of postage stamps from all over the world including many from Russia. I was thrilled at that treasure but always felt sorry for the old gentleman with his trembling hands.

His gift inspired me to dream of those distant lands and far away places where strange and interesting people lived. Some stamps had curious depictions of foreign leaders like Joe Stalin and Adolph Hitler, so my stamp collection brought the rest of the world a little closer to me.

After my initial interest was perked by that gift from the old Indian man I bought a stamp catalogue for 25¢ from H. E. Harris Co. This illustrated little publication was many things. First and foremost it documented and officially numbered each and every postage stamp ever issued by the United States government. In addition historical significance was described along with the date of printing.

The catalogue listed all the stamps for sale, new and used and offered a number of collector related items.

My first order was for a United States postage stamp map that included a few stamps for $1.00. That map was wonderful. Each state had a place for its own commemorative stamp. All the national parks likewise had places for mounting their appropriate stamp. The border was for stamps of the presidents and famous Americans.

One day while riding my bicycle home I passed behind the Superior State College and I spotted, quite by accident, there in the discarded rubbish was a huge colorful world map. I had to have it. When I got it home I discovered that it was pre-WWI and the countries and borders listed were terribly out of date. This actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it made me ink in the current borders, boundaries and names of countries and states…a real geography lesson. My next project was to mount it on pressed board and make a wooden frame for wall mounting. My frugal woodworking shop teacher, Mr. Whitney, was less than thrilled because of the amount of materials that my project required.

The map was nearly five feet long and three feet wide and I was thrilled!

You guessed it; the map was soon filled with postage stamps from all over the world. Part of my history lesson was a very colorful stamp set that depicted the flags of the thirteen overrun countries of WWII. The British Empire took on new proportions and the colonizers of African and Asia proudly touted their worldly possessions with colorful commemoratives.

You can see that the historical importance of those stamps perked my interest to read and study even more about those intriguing places and historical events of geographical significance.

This all broadened my historical horizons and perked my curiosity.

Book Review: WHAT IS AMERICA? By Ronald Wright,

2011-04-28T18:28:00.000-07:00

WHAT IS AMERICA? By Ronald Wright, author of Time Among the Maya.

In this book, Ronald Wright gives a concise comparative analysis of repetitive historical blunders. Glimpse into this must read compendium of timely thought with the following excerpts.

“For all its corruption, chaos and sclerosis, the Spanish Empire still holds the record as the longest-lived world-super power exactly three hundred years from conquest of Mexico to Mexican independence.”

“Nowadays, when individuals think that God is speaking to them, that they have been chosen for a greater purpose, that they are unquestionably right while everyone else is mistaken or evil, they are likely to be removed from society and treated for mental illness.”

” At what point does one group’s religious mission become a threat to other groups? It seems to me that the acid test for determining when a religious community had become a peril to itself and others is when it starts killing people on God’s orders.”

“The atrocities of medieval popes and kings had been committed under an overreaching theology formidable enough to persuade most people that Christ allowed his delegates on Earth to practice war, torture and ingeniously painful executions on His behalf. Protestants knew that was bunk, but were soon doing much the same themselves.”

“America’s wealth and freedom would build on the slaughter of one race and the enslavement of another.”

“In the thirty years after 1870, white Americans took and settled more land than they had in the previous three hundred.”

“The history of the United States is not a story of triumphant anti-imperial heretics. It is an account of the power of empire as a way of life, as a way of avoiding the fundamental challenge of creating a humane and equitable community or culture.”

“Our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in an artificially induced psychosis of war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear.”

“The supposed “rights” of capital trump those of sovereignty, ecology, labour-and future generations. The economy has become tyranny. Unless trade agreements include tough environmental and labour standards (as they do to some extant within the European Union), capital will always seek out the dirtiest river and the most exploitable human being.

The quest for easy money is as old as money itself. But it is hardly surprising that the delusion of endless growth and the denial of natural limits have taken their most virulent form in the United States-in the culture forged on the frontier. “The very essence of the frontier experience,” writes the naturalist Tim Flannery, “is to exploit [resources] as quickly as possible, then move on.

The world is less a home in which to live than a treasury to ransack, and the loot needn’t be shared out fairly or even used wisely, because there will always be more somewhere else.”

WHAT IS AMERICA?: Reviewed by John M. Grimsrud © 2011
What Is America?: A Short History of the New World Order
Time Among the Maya: Travels in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico

More exotic bicycles from the 1890’s to 2011

2011-04-21T15:30:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken seven years before Ford produced his first automobile in 1903.
The above photo was taken in 1896 in Superior, Wisconsin, at a studio on Conner’s Point then known as West Superior. Left is Christ “C.C.” Grimsrud b.1879, my grandfather. Next is Louis the (adopted stepson of Martin Grimsrud b.1862) and Hans Grimsrud b.1877 and the older brother of C.C. Grimsrud. Christ, Hans and Martin were all brothers born in Norway who immigrated to America before 1895.
The era was referred to as “the golden age of bicycles”. My grandfather Christ, on the left, had a Victor bicycle, the first with pneumatic tires that were glued onto lightweight wooden rims. Hundreds of firms were competing in this intense market of high demand where the typical bicycle was selling for $100.00.
The bicycle in the center is equipped with a carbide lamp, the same type used by miners.

Bicycles Today

Ootsmarsum, Netherlands attracts tourists from all across Europe and most arrive by bicycle. This is the heart of cycling along the German border where each town has its weekly market day and outdoor dining places line the quaint old time streets.

Ootmarsum, Netherlands; this bicycle shop has a steady flow of touring cyclers from all around Europe and many local accommodations are known as B & B’s, that is bed and bike hotels.

Jane admires a 16 inch British made folding bicycle. These interesting little bikes have evolved into serious transportation vehicles because they not only go fast and are terrific in traffic, but they fold quickly to take aboard trains, airplanes and even into your hotel or office.

Exotic? German Blitzkrieg, “lightning strike” Messerschmitt Luftwaffe flying machine with its locomotive sized air horn is engineered to make an outrageous statement.

The German mailman goes in sun and snow and doesn’t burn a drop of fuel.

Parked on ancient cobble stones this relic of the past milk delivery bicycle has enjoyed a long life of service in rural Georgsdorf, Germany and still rolls.

A city shopper trails a kiddy kart equipped for rain or shine on the quiet and clean streets of Nordhorn, Germany. It is hard to top this place for neat, clean and quiet.

Made in Germany, this alloy three speed folding bicycle comes complete with halogen running lights that activate automatically and run off from an internal generator. The amazing thing is that a tote bag for shipping on an airplane is included and all sells for 200€ or $260.00 U.S.D. This is the sale price at Aldi chain stores in Europe.

Pedal powered and ecologically friendly freight hauling neatly hits the streets of Germany. This man is keeping the country clean by recycling without burning a drop of fossil fuel.

A happy biker cruises the smooth paved bicycle path along one of the many canals of Nordhorn, Germany, on the latest Dahon alloy folding bike. Folding bicycles all across Europe have recently become very popular for commuters and campers like the man above who has his camper van rig parked at the city’s municipal camping place.

This is Yucatán, Mexico where these exotic bicycles are for the young.

20 inch tricycles make a scaled down shopping cart convenient for short trips. This is Yucatan, Mexico and the price tag is in pesos and equivalent of less than $200 US.

This flea-market is delivered and set up using only people powered tricycles or triciclo de carga.

This young man in the photo above went the extra mile to dazzle with glitter and glitz.

Eligio Chi Perez, pictured above, begins his day before sunup by riding his bicycle seven kilometers from his home in Colonia Bojorquez to the Diario de Yucatán office in downtown Mérida to pick up the newspapers to deliver.

Each day his delivery of 175 newspapers takes him as far north as the Grand Plaza area, eight kilometers from downtown.
Still smiling seventy-one year old Eligio has faithfully made his rounds for the past fifty-two years.
Amazingly he has only worn out two bicycles in the process and not burned a single drop of gasoline.
A special congratulations to one of Yucatán’s most ecologically friendly citizens, Eligio Chi Perez.

Ready to roll home when the work day is finished this home made tricycle converted to a fruit drink bar expands into a curbside business.

A portable welding shop hits the streets of Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico. These tricycle’s are pressed into service for everything from taxis to mini-restaurants.

Dr. Steven Fry is a trendsetter. CD rear reflectors, rubber chicken squeeze horn, angle-iron seat extension, rubber hose speed shifter and numerous other eccentric innovations make his bicycle at home in Mexico.

This bike started life as a conservative Schwinn but when Carlos *Cherli” Dzidz Chí got it, he has 'mexicanized' it with reflectors, ribbons and fancy do-dads. Now it is exotic.

Biking on the streets of Yucatán; one kid to steer, one for locomotion and a passenger aft. A device called a “diablo”, or devil is fastened to the axle shaft ends and is designed to stand on making extended passenger carrying capacity possible in the land where safety is an option.

Cross country in Yucatán on our Dahon folding bicycles - with our starting point far off in the distance of the Puuc hills, Jane and I halt on a hill top to collect our breath and hydrate.

For more on bicycling Yucatán, Mexico, and Europe check out our website at
www.bicycleyucatan.com

To read more about the golden age of bicycles, I recommend The Lost Cyclist by David V. Herlihy.

Global Warming

2011-04-15T18:11:00.000-07:00

"The solution to pollution is dilution or don’t be deluded into being polluted."

The Gulf Stream is an important part of global heat distribution.

Here is how its effects work;

Tropically heated water from the Caribbean is propelled north by the earth’s centrifugal force. The displacement of the cold Arctic Ocean ice melting into water also affected by centrifugal force is slung in the direction of the equator.

The cold arctic water is denser and the earth’s rotation naturally slings it south away from the polar region displacing the less dense warm tropical waters which then flow north.

Of course the cold melting ice water from the arctic follows the ocean bottom headed south and conversely the warmer tropically heated water follows on the surface headed north.

This whole interchange of Gulf Stream waters with its push-pull circulation helps distribute the earth’s heat.

Because of this interchange Northern Europe was much warmer than other places at the same latitude like Hudson’s Bay in northern Canada.

Because there is now almost no polar ice in the Arctic Ocean this process has been seriously diminished, trapping excess heat in the tropics.

The world is in for a roller-coaster ride of drastic climatic extremes.

An example, last year Northern Europe recorded record snow falls followed by a serious spring draught. Next a heat wave saw 104ºC in Frankfurt, followed by a violent wind storm with hurricane force winds that did enough damage that it took over two months to clear the debris. To top it off a September flood broke through levies and inundated vast areas doing serious damage.

It’s too late.

A footnote to history;

While the International Panel on Climate Change 2001 report predicted that the North polar ice cap would last to 2100 in spite of global warming caused by climate change, the dramatic reduction in the size of the ice cap during the northern summer of 2007 has led some scientists to estimate that there will be no ice at the North Pole by 2030 with devastating effects on the environment.^[3]
Other scientists such as Wieslaw Maslowski, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, estimate that there will be no summer ice by as soon as 2013. He argues that this projection is already too conservative as his dataset did not include the minima of 2005 and 2007.^[4]

ECOLOGICAL LIVING AT IT’S PRICELESS BEST

2011-03-30T19:45:00.000-07:00

Twenty years ago my wife Jane and I designed and built a sanctuary home with an environmentally friendly canopy jungle garden.

The payback of living in harmony with nature is more than just economical. Our electrical bill averages less than $100.00 pesos or $10.00 USD a month and we enjoy a salubriously lovely ambiance year round.

In winter solar heats our home and Jacuzzi water. In summer thermo siphon keeps our home cool and well water refreshes us several times a day in our Jacuzzi where we luxuriate with coffee and audio books enjoying our splendid jungle garden view.

We invite you to take a narrated tour of our eco- friendly-home and jungle garden by clicking this link;

http://www.bicycleyucatan.com/ecolivingyucatan.html
Another view with captioned photos;
http://www.bicycleyucatan.com/ecologyconcepthouse.html

Flowers of our garden, in Mérida, Yucatán

2011-03-16T18:28:00.000-07:00

Visit naturalist Jim Conrad's nature web site: http://www.backyardnature.net/yucatan

1421, The Year China Discovered the World by Gavin Menzies

2011-03-15T18:39:00.000-07:00

Book review

1421 chronicles the ebb and flow of the Great Ming Chinese dynasties when Emperor Zuh Di launched a great treasure fleet that advanced forth with navigational aids and knowledge. Using a magnetic compass and highly developed celestial reckoning they explored the world incorporating latitude and longitude to chart their way, something it would take the Europeans centuries to do.

Being a sailor, navigator, adventurer, historian, geographer, researcher and author, I can only salute the monumental effort and doggedly dedicated exertion that Gavin Menzies put forth.

His historically documented detective work unveiling incontrovertible evidence of astonishing voyages will certainly demand a rewrite of history. This book could only have been accomplished by a navigator and person of his military discipline.

Reading between the lines is a dangerous place to look for the truth. Be aware of the disclaimers the author uses.

A recent look back at Chinese history of purges under Chairman Mao gives this story credibility. Five Stars!

Author of Travels of Dursmirg, John M. Grimsrud

IZAMAL, YUCATÁN, TO KANTUNIL WITH VISITS TO CUAUHTÉMOC, SUDZAL AND XANABA BY BIKE AND BUS 2011

2011-03-14T18:07:00.000-07:00

One of the all time best one-day Yucatán get-away excursions we have found.
This is an easy and pleasurable trip if you take advantage of a tail-wind and cold front. We are down-wing sailors. (With a northerly wind start from Izamal. Contrarily with a southerly wind begin your trip from the other end at Kantunil.)
To maximize the pleasure of this adventure we recommend taking the Centro bus that departs at 6:45 AM from their terminal on Calle 65 two blocks east of the main market, adjacent to and east of the Casa de Pueblo.
There are faster ways to get to Izamal but this quiet back road route, though slow, is a pleasant look at Yucatán that most tourist miss.
Our bus route took us east first to Tixkokob, famous for hammock makers, while the early morning shoppers were still packing the quaint colonial streets.
Being a local bus we were steadily acquiring more and more passengers heading to the remote villages that lay ahead. As we passed our next town of Cacalchén the road narrowed perceptibly and each of the upcoming towns in turn grew smaller and smaller heading to Bokobá. Tekantó, Tixcochó, Teya, and Tepekán, were all typical quiet quaint Mayan villages where many of the homes were palapa thatched huts commingled with the remnants of colonial era haciendas. At rural Tepekán we made our final turn and headed into Izamal on a road as straight as a die and we knew that this roadway had to be a remnant of an ancient Maya sacbe road built countless centuries before.

As tourist end destinations go Izamal is one of Yucatán’s finest and well worth a day or two of your time to explore and get to know. READ MORE

Click on map to enlarge.

Faces of Carnival - Mérida, Yucatán - 2011

2011-03-08T14:33:00.000-08:00

To view the rest of John's Carnival photos, click here.

DR. SIMI'S MEDICAL CLINIC IN MÉRIDA - 2011

2011-02-25T18:37:00.000-08:00

A new concept in medical treatment has come to Mérida, Yucatán. They started as just a discount pharmacy featuring house branded medicines at rock bottom prices and have evolved into an efficient friendly and complete health center. This business is found in Mexico and through Central America.

With no glitter and glitz the Dr. Simi professional clinical staff cheerfully expedites the client’s needs at the door.

Knowledgeable and competent employees rapidly process incoming clients.
Blood work and other screening is specifically targeted to the patients needs with no pressure to do unneeded testing.
Bone density, electrocardiograms and ultrasound scans are but a few of the services rendered here.
A medical exam is $35.00. You can have a simple blood test, your blood pressure tested or even your ears cleaned. You only pay for what you need.
The procedures offered are extensive and the service faster than anywhere we have ever seen.

No hidden charges. The price for your medical exam is 35 pecos or about $3.00 US dollars.

Here is Jane a happy customer of the Dr. Simi Clinic with their promotional clown.
Jane was very satisfied with the all her analyses and the doctor’s professional exam.
This clinic is located in Mérida’s center on the corner of calle 54 y 65.
You will however need to speak Spanish.

2010 OLD YEAR EFFIGY BURNING / 2011 DANZA de la CABEZA de COCHINO AND PRE-PARTY IN MÉRIDA, YUCATÁN, MEXICO

2011-01-27T18:20:00.000-08:00

A Mérida tradition that goes far back in time, perhaps, predating the conquistadors. In the neighborhood of Emiliano Zapata Norte nearly ever street corner torches an effigy similar to the one you see above that is cram- packed with pyrotechnics and then doused with gasoline to insure a spectacular ear splitting spectacle. Related link: Video of burning the man of the old year

New Year’s Day the traditional Mayan celebration begins early with roast pig and tacos known as cochinita and festive dancing followed by a parade through the neighborhood. This is a family event that consistently brings the ancient customs of the Maya to the present day.

Live music with a tinny bouncing beat makes the rhythm march to a cadence perfect for the jarana, traditionally danced here in Yucatán where the beautiful ladies are colorfully adorned and the gentlemen wear a simple white as snow garb.

Three generations of Mayan tradition lives on here and is alive and well.
These are the long-established time honored customs carries on to this day with pride and pleasure.

Related links:
Video of Danza de la Cabeza de Cochino
Blog with more photos of same group in 2008

BICYCLE IMPOUND IN MÉRIDA 2011

2011-01-22T14:44:00.000-08:00

So, how does your bicycle wind up here?
If you leave your bike unlocked in a public place it is fair game for confiscation. Even locked your bike can meet this fate if blocking a sidewalk, impeding a public access or locked to a park bench. The police carry bolt cutters and are quick to pitch your property in their truck and be gone.

More than 350 confiscated bicycles have piled up in the cities impound yet unclaimed.

The manager in charge Miguel and I, John Grimsrud confer about the status of the bicycles, tri-cycles and assorted hand carts that have been accumulating and as yet not claimed.
Miguel states that in order to reclaim your bicycle you must present the original factura or bill of sale along with positive personal identification.
Miguel was very accommodating and friendly.
There is a charge for reclaiming your bicycle and you might even be obligated to pay a multa or fine depending upon the circumstances of the confiscation.

At the entrance to the impound yard Jane and Miguel.

Located in the city center on the corner of Calle 48 and 57 this unimposing municipal building is the office for the impound yard where motor vehicles are also stored.

ESSAY; MAMPOSTERIA CONSTRUCTION IN MÉRIDA;

2011-01-03T17:39:00.000-08:00

In a natural progression of things that evolve out of necessity and the availability of materials colonial dwellings were built.
With only lime stone rock and wood, mamposteria, (stacked stone) buildings were the only option.
The method is simple;
Lime stone rock abundantly found in Yucatán is stacked; the spaces between the rocks were chinked with smaller stones and then just plastered over. A finishing coat of plaster not always used was optional.
There is no reinforcement in this type of construction. The stone used is soft, absorbent and porous and the plaster-cement consists of lime stone aggregate, “cal”, quicklime, and a stingy amount of cement.
This flimsy cement concoction is never wet cured to enhance its small amount of structural integrity.
The crumbly cement is not cohesive when dry and soft when wet, (from the bottom of the footings to the wall tops all is the same).
If not disturbed these walls could conceivably last for centuries.
The roof, another matter, is a simple procedure;
(Vigas, “rafters” and bovedillas, “filler material”) go to make up the roof and are only plastered over.
Vigas are merely support joists just placed upon the wall-tops and not fastened down in any way. In this case logs were used as the vigas. In more elaborate structures the vigas were actually hewn.
These vigas were placed and spaced at regular intervals parallel on the wall top to be part of the roof. (There are no fastenings.)
Next stones, bovedillas, were placed between these vigas in order to fill the open spaces. Then smaller and smaller stones were placed until a surface that could be plastered was ready.
The roof was plastered inside and out and that was it.
This type of construction when complete can give the appearance of enduring strength.
Make no mistake about it, in time even the best of these mamposteria structures will succumb to the forces of gravity and Mother Nature.
If the wooden vigas, rafters, are allowed to become damp in any way, (a leaking tinaco, roof-top water holding tank or a stopped up scupper) these wooden vigas will quickly decompose into compost. Even the hardest of woods in this tropical climate will not endure when wet.
The result will be an avalanche of deadly rock that will come pouring down.
These buildings do well in the dry season, but the absorptive porosity of lime stone acts like a sponge to draw up and hold moisture.

These structures in downtown Mérida are typical mamposteria construction and as you can see for yourself gravity and Mother Nature have done the inevitable.

This might look like a total loss to you but this mamposteria structure is still a habitation with electric service.
As amazing as it might seem a building like this one may soon have a new roof, plaster and paint job and be put on the market at yuppie-come-lately rip-off prices for the next unsuspecting exuberant and eager discoverer of Mérida.
This is just a natural progression of things that evolve here in the land of buyer-be-ware.
Note; a friend who is an architect bought one of these mamposteria dwellings to restore and discovered that the seller had glued paper over the rotted off vigas and painted them.
© John M. Grimsrud 2011

WHEN ASSETS BECOME A LIABILITY

2010-12-21T15:54:00.000-08:00

Youthful dreams and aspirations whet your appetite for the unlimited acquisition of material things and buying something shiny for Christmas becomes irresistible because heaping more worldly positions on your pile is justified as asset building.

In your twilight years after you have played with your toys and time has removed their glittery luster those youthful assets become burdensome liabilities.

Dentistry as good as it gets in Mérida, Yucatán - Dr. Rudy Mendez Santos

2010-12-03T16:49:00.000-08:00

Besides being smiling, jovial and gentle, Dr. Rudy Mendez Santos practices painless dentistry and never sells his patients anything they do not need.

This is my testimonial after living in Mérida for twenty-five years and having a wide variety of dental experiences, some good, some bad and some so slow it became unbearable.

My wife Jane and I have stuck with Dr. Rudy for the past fifteen years mainly because he is simply the very best. He has a wide range of specialist associates that he refers his patients to like Dr. Gabriel Alvarado* an endodontics specialist or root-canal guy who is also an instructor at the Yucatán dental school.

Dr. Rudy’s office is easy to get to, with plenty of parking and it is also bicycle friendly…you may see him Sunday mornings biking with his children on the Bici-ruta.

Office:
Calle 15 No. 131 Depto. 2
Between Calles 26 and 28
Col. Itzimná
Tel. 926-24-52
If you are driving north on Paseo de Montejo, cross the railroad tracks, pass the Pemex gasoline station, go one block and turn right, (east) at the motorcycle place on Calle 15 and you are almost there. The office is in a corner building on the north side, (left heading east).

Dr. Rudy speaks English, is punctual and expects his customers to be.
He is so easy going that I catch myself falling asleep while he works.
I am the smiling guy and contented customer in the dental chair.
©2010 John M. Grimsrud

*Dr. Gabriel Alvarado Cárdenas
Exclusively endodontics (root canal treatment)
Calle 54 No. 455B between Calles 51 and 53
Col. Centro, Mérida
Tel. 924-7289 and 928-6215

AIR BERLIN STORY OR A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

2010-11-25T18:43:00.000-08:00

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Recent financial set-backs have made my wife and I frugal shoppers.

We flew from our home in Yucatán to Minnesota, laid over two weeks there and then flew on to Europe with one stop in Iceland.

The first leg of that trip on Sun Country and then Icelandair gave us a lasting impression of corner cutting with cramped conditions, no food, and we had to beg for water.

We concluded from this that if companies cheated their customers to this extent, what else had they cost-cut?

After two and an half months of bicycling in Germany and Netherlands we found reasonable return tickets from Düsseldorf to Cancun on Air Berlin and we became happy travelers again.

Air Berlin actually put joy back into air travel.

Attentive friendly stewardesses cheerfully saw to our every need. Newspapers, magazines and sweets were freely offered upon our boarding.

Well timed and pleasantly adequate meals with wine were included along with fruit juices, soft drinks, coffee, tea and water at any time.

Disembarking was made better and memorably pleasant when all passengers were presented steaming hot scented towels to sooth away travel fatigue…we were pleased!

So, a big thank you to Air Berlin for making the sky’s friendlier.

Your happy customers,

John and Jane, authors of www.bicycleyucatan.com

TULUM REVISITED 2010

2010-11-19T17:50:00.000-08:00

Tulum has been an intersection of transport and commerce for countless centuries dating back to the ancient Chontal Maya with huge sea-going trade canoes that frequented these pristine waters.

Caribbean waters of Riviera Maya south of the Tulum temple ruins.
Excerpt from the book; FINAL REPORT AND THE MAYA by Michel D. Coe, page 206.

“Yucatán was the greatest producer of salt in Mesoamerica. The beds extended along the coast from Campeche, along the lagoons on the north side of the peninsula, and over to Isla Mujeres on the east.
The great majority of goods traveled by sea since the roads were but poor trails and cargos heavy. The kind of commerce was cornered by the Chontal Maya, or Putun, such good seafarers that Thompson called them “the Phoenicians of Middle America.” Their route skirted the coast from the Aztec port of trade in Campeche, Xicallanco, around the peninsula and down to Nito near Lake Izabal, where their great canoes put into exchange goods with the island Maya…
It was this trade that linked Mexico and the Maya, for they had much to exchange- especially cacao and feathers of tropical birds for copper tools and ornaments- and it was probably the smooth business operators conducted by the Chontal that spared the Maya from the Aztec onslaught that had overwhelmed less cooperative peoples in Mesoamerica.”

Tulum remained an active trading port when the Maya of northern Yucatán’s classic period collapsed due to an unprecedented two-hundred fifty year drought that commenced in the year 800 AD.

The Chontal Maya continued their sea-going trade transporting salt from northern Yucatán to the still active Mayan centers of Lamanai, Tikal and Calakmul in the dense canopy jungle far to the south. They also carried on sea-going trade to as far away as Veracruz, Cuba, Florida and Central America.

Tulum offered a port of refuge on the Caribbean coast behind the second longest coral reef in the world. Entry to the protection behind that coral reef was ingeniously provided by a range marker that when lined up made a safe passage through the narrow break in the reef possible. The most astonishing thing of all was that these Maya even made their range marker useable by night by placing a fire behind a window that lined up perfectly with the safe passage through the break in the reef.
    This area was well developed with infrastructure that included a straight paved sacbe road to the Mayan temple town of Cobá and a straight manmade navigable canal nearly ten kilometers long to the temple town of Muyil which lies some twenty kilometers south of Tulum. The canal is fully functional to this day.
     In 1975 the Territory of Quintana Roo became a state, but was seldom visited, had nearly no paved roads and tourism was unheard of outside of the newly created resort town of Cancún. Besides being undeveloped it was a smugglers paradise for clandestine merchandise that strangely found its way into Mexico by night.
    One boast of Tulum today is that they still do not have a jail.
    Though the Riviera Maya has been discovered now by world travelers there are still some extremely affordable options for visiting Tulum.

   For less that $10.00 USD or $120.00 pesos a day, the Hostel Lobo Inn Tulum gives bed and breakfast with so much free stuff thrown in it seems impossible to believe. Free internet, TV, air conditioning, drinking water, open kitchen, security lockers, free bicycle use, swimming pool and an unbeatable location; Located across from the Tulum Ruins entrance and an ADO scheduled bus stop with quiet paved bike paths and trails along the Caribbean coast and into downtown shopping.    Camping and motor scooter rentals are also available.

Jane at Hostel Lobo Inn Tulum where bikers and back packers gather.

The patio and pool area where coconuts and travelers hang out.

   Here I am with the happy, helpful and friendly management team of Hostel Lobo who make Caribbean vacations affordable and fun. Julio center and Manual on right are setting the standard for inexpensive tropical vacations…perhaps the best deal in all of Mexico.
Hostel Lobo Inn Tulum
Carretera Federal Chetumal-Cancún
bedbikeandbreakfastulum@hotmail.com
Tel. 984-8712190 or cel. 984-1067933

   The best deal on a studio apartment available on a weekly and monthly basis in downtown Tulum is at Bin Wayak Apartments where amazingly everything works and all is maintained in pristine condition. New, modern studio apartments have kitchenettes and wireless internet included. Convenient shopping is a short walk away in a quiet and pleasant neighborhood.
Bin Wayak
Calle Jupiter between Sol y Murcurio streets next to the Lavanderia Burbujas
Centro Zona Maya, Tulum, Q. Roo tel. 984 7459966
www.binwayak.com

Fresh Caribbean air and quiet tranquility plus a super location for shopping, dining and the ADO bus terminal are an easy walk away.

Bicycle friendly with easy access to the beaches, shopping and a variety of interesting dining spots that have a laid-back Caribbean flavor featuring fresh sea food are reachable on quiet back streets and paved bike paths

Owner, developer and hospitality chief of Bin Wayak studio apartments, Tirso Monxón Ambrossi makes a wonderful place even better with his perpetually jovial disposition that invites your return.

You will not need air-conditioning here with huge screened opening windows that let in the trade-wind tropical fresh air.

Convenient bicycle parking and tranquil patios where year-round temperatures hover in a salubrious comfortable range that allows the warm trade-winds to make life easy and un-rushed are sure to beckon your return to Tulum.

Today transport and commerce connects the Riviera Maya and Tulum to the rest of the world by paved highway but the pristine Caribbean waters and fresh trade-wind breezes remain.
More Tulum information, visit our website: www.bicycleyucatan.com/tulum

www.mapatulum.net

©2010 John M. Grimsrud

A GERMAN STORY OR IT’S THE EXTREMISTS

2010-11-17T18:49:00.000-08:00

Inspired by our friend Karin

This is a special story about a whole generation of patriotic, well educated, well intentioned people who did their very best following their trusted political leaders.
I first became acquainted with Karin quite by accident. Some years ago while my wife Jane and I were shopping in a small grocery store in the border town of Nordhorn, Germany, Karin overheard us speaking English and was curious.
Several days later as Jane and I were cycling along one of Nordhorn’s many lovely canal side bicycle paths Karin spotted us and struck up a conversation.
She was inquisitive.
This was not a tourist area and besides it was totally off-season in early spring before the trees began to bud.
Who were we with our strange outfits?
Where did we come from? Mexico?
Why had we chosen unknown Nordhorn?
What were we doing?
We answered many questions but Karin wanted to know more.
She invited us to her home for dinner and to get to know her family…we accepted.
Over the years on our numerous yearly sojourns to bicycle Europe while we escaped Yucatán’s spring and summer heat we became well acquainted and good friends with Karin’s family. They are all avid cyclers and eager to share their history, culture and culinary traditions.
Karin told us this story;
Back in the late 1930’s while Germany was still struggling out of the devastating post WWI depression a charismatic and forceful leader stepped forward with dazzling visions of the “Aryan Super Race” and the Thousand Year Reich.
The desperately impoverished populace found here exactly what they needed.
Where this absolute ruler with his Nazi political machine took Germany and the rest of the planet in the next twelve years became a HELL the likes of which the world had never seen before. The Thousand Year Reich collapsed in a monumental blood bath in twelve years and the world is still licking its wounds.
Karin helped us put a human face on this insane debacle.
Karin’s young father, not twenty years old at the time, was conscripted, a gun put in his hands and marched off to Poland to save the world and the “Super Race”.
He marched on to the Russian front and was not heard of even after the War had ended.
Given up for dead like thousands of other young Germans that went to the Russian front, his family lost all hope.
Two years after the War, a cadaverous unwashed penniless person dressed in filthy rags stumbled into Nordhorn.
Nobody knew him.
Driven by basic instincts of survival he snatched bread from a bakery and found his way home after his nine year ordeal. His condition was so deplorable his own mother didn’t recognize him.
Karin’s father was to be shipped off to Siberia but a compassionate doctor instead put him on a different train back to Germany and he survived living to this day.
After all is said and done one very important piece of wisdom has emerged.
“Never follow an extremist, be he political or religious”.
Karin’s father paid dearly for that hard earned philosophy.
What a lamentable shame it is that the rest of humankind has not ever learned from history and may be doomed because of their apathy.

Karin and her ninety year old survivor father.

FALL STORM AT THE SUPERIOR, WISCONSIN INLET November, 1968

2010-11-02T15:00:00.000-07:00

FALL STORM AT THE SUPERIOR, WISCONSIN INLET November, 1968

The Superior, Wisconsin/Minnesota Point inlet and lighthouse pictured in calm weather;
Note; the following short story goes with this photo because of its geographical location.
It is a common occurrence to have at least one very violent storm in this season on Lake Superior but this one was exceptional.

Jane and I along with my father, who was living with us at the time, drove out late this Sunday afternoon onto a narrow finger of land known as Wisconsin Point.
We went to see just what the raging lake would be like whipped into a frenzy by almost one-hundred mile per hour winds.
While we parked our car the wind sent shudders of blasting sand mixed with icy pelting spray that coupled to make a deafening roar.
The sight was beyond our belief while we watched the sixty foot tall lighthouse tower on the east jetty completely buried in crashing seas.
There were four people trapped inside the lighthouse structure and several days would pass before they could leave their imprisonment.
The approach to that lighthouse had been constructed of huge boulders the size of small houses and those mammoth waves crashing into and over them actually scattered the rocks about like so many pebbles on the beach.
If this sounds bad you will not believe the sickening horror we felt as the next chain of events unfolded.
There we saw out on the lake and headed into port was an eight-hundred foot great lakes iron ore freighter with the full brunt of that savage storm sweeping it along on a path of no return. As large and as powerful as this ship was it was no match for the killer storm.
With the wind on their stern it would be utterly impossible for the crew to turn their ship into the wind and their fate was sealed. They had no other choice but to run the inlet.
What we witnessed next made our hearts nearly stop. We held our breaths and watched a super huge wave break under the stern lifting this mighty ship and sending it into a broach position which then turned it beam to the sea.
The power and force unleashed here took all control out of the hands of the crew. Their fate rested with Mother Nature while the ship washed out of control sideways.
In the blink of an eye it was over. The massive vessel had gone surfing sideways through the outer and inner jetties and then into the safety of the harbor.
For those aboard that got to stair the Grim Reaper squarely in the eye that blink of the eye must have felt like an eternity.
After witnessing this assume event Jane and I still went on and ventured out there onto Lake Superior to confront the mighty Gitchi Gami big sea waters.
In 1972 Jane and I set sail away from Superior, Wisconsin aboard our home designed and built 46 foot sailing vessel Dursmirg. We crossed the Great Lakes, Erie Barge Canal and Hudson River to New York where we turned south to begin many years of ambitious adventures
We have written and published the four volume story of that escapade entitled, Travels of Dursmirg.

MÉRIDA'S MAGNETISM

2010-10-25T17:59:00.000-07:00

MÉRIDA’S MAGNETISM

When you ask foreigners who now live in Mérida what attracted them to Mérida and why they stayed, you will get a wide range of answers. They fell in love with the colonial city, they had always dreamed of living in a foreign land, they felt safe, the people are friendly and make you feel welcome, and the winters are warm.

You might meet someone who says moving to Mérida was the biggest mistake they ever made; they hate everything, the heat, the bugs, the people, the food. When you hear this, remember that there are people who can be miserable anywhere. As the sign said on the entrance to the Magic Theater in Hermann Hesse’s novel Steppenwolf, “Not for everybody.”

Living in Mérida, Yucatán, is a good decision for many people. The U.S. embassy in Mexico City estimates that there are more than 600,000 Americans living in Mexico. An estimated 300,000 Canadians live in Mexico, at least part-time. Mérida has expats from all around the world.

Listen to the voices of foreigners who came to Mérida, and they will tell you why they stayed.

Connie Burk says:

“After six years of living in Belize in a remote, rainforest setting, my husband, Jerry, and I were ready for a change. After living near and working with quite poor Maya villagers, and always being perceived by them as being very rich, we were looking for a situation where we could "blend in" with a vibrant middle class in Mexico. We already knew and loved Mérida from many years of traveling, and we thought we'd try a taste of city life. The colonial architecture, especially with its tall walls enclosing the gardens, was especially enticing for me because I tend to deal with hot weather by removing most of my clothing at home! Now, we're in the middle of the city, but our garden is very private. We're very happy here.”

Debbie Moore says:

“I came to Mérida by accident. On a prospective buying trip to Majahual, I happened to meet Mitch Keenen and asked him where he lived. His answer: Mérida. Mérida? Back then Mérida was a place no one had even heard about. I was already committed to life on the Mayan Riviera. My curiosity aroused I started checking the real estate sites for Mérida.

Once I saw those broken down colonials I was hooked. After 3 years of looking at and dreaming about Mérida, I finally made the trip. I bought my house in 3 days.

What I love about Mérida is that Mérida is like kissing a toad and finding a prince.

Like most first time visitors to Mérida, my first impression was of a city in general decay. However, the more time you spend here the more wonderful “layers” you discover and the less old paint you see.

Yes, the wonderful old colonials are often in ruins but the amazing transformations that people create are wondrous. Every home is completely different, unique, and creative. It is always a treat to visit one no matter how modest. Even the non colonial homes of Mérida are interesting.

The city offers everything you could want from culture to shopping to excellent medical service. After living in Playa del Carmen for 3 years, Mérida is more like living in the US as far as amenities go.

Mérida offers a true Yucateco experience to anyone seeking it. From exploring the ruins to participating in the holidays and festivals, a person can totally immerse themselves in this rich and colorful culture.

We also have a large, varied, and interesting expat community. There are a number of charitable groups and some “fun” organizations too. Life here is never lacking for social interaction if that is what you like.

However, after a number of years here, the thing that still amazes me most are the people.

The Yucatecos are, for the most part, a quiet and gentle people; therefore the city exudes a quiet energy, a sense of tranquility and well being that is lacking in most places today. Life here is so CALM and PEACEFUL and JOYFUL, unlike life in the rest of North America these days.

Every day I sit in my garden here in Mérida, hear the church bells, and count my blessings.

I ask myself “How did I pull this off?”

Coming to Mérida is one of the best things I have ever done in my lif

Tom Kuhn says:

“Why? We had traveled for a couple of decades within the borders of many Latin American countries. Most of our travels were taking place in México as it was a comfortable fit for us. A friend that lives in Mérida invited us to visit. We found Mérida to be a wonderful city, culturally diverse, very friendly people, minimum crime, and superb medical care in all fields. Mérida is close to the Gulf and the Caribbean and that makes it simple to get our ocean fix when we need/want one. In addition it has an international airport which makes traveling very easy.”

Mary Anne and Allan Dunlop say:

"We were initially looking for a warm and easily accessible destination to escape Canadian winters. From the many options we finally chose Mérida for its culture and its people. Do not come here if you want to simply export your own culture to a warmer climate. Come here to find a rich history and incredibly diverse people - French architecture, Spanish colonial influences, the amazing Mayan ruins and people. The hospitals are excellent (doctors still do house calls) and it is safe to walk any street at night. Restaurants range from Ritzy to modest (you must try the cocinas economicas) and entertainment from the Symphony to dancing in the street. We love it here."

©2010 John M. Grimsrud

In Search of the "Old Country"

2010-10-18T18:51:00.000-07:00

Written by John M. (Bing) Grimsrud

In many ways, it seems like a very long time ago and in many ways, it was.
I still have an indelible mental image of Grandpa Christ, “C.C.” Grimsrud, leaning back in his big gray stuffed easy chair after dinner with a far-off look in his eyes as he spoke of the “Old Country”.
The “Old Country”?
My young interest was perked and my curiosity was stirred as my mind searched for answers.
Where was this “Old Country”?
What was this “Old Country”?
Who lived in this “Old Country”?
Though the questions went unanswered, they remained alive and my curiosity haunted my dreams throughout my life.
By and by Grandpa passed away but that seed of curiosity he planted continued to live on in my mind until one day when I was a middle-aged person I just had to find out about the “Old Country”.
How ironic it all is now looking back over those years. As I write these words, I realize that I am now at the age of 70, older than Grandpa Christ was when he perked my curiosity back in the early 1940s with his talk about the “Old Country”.
My first trip to the “Old Country” happened back in 1983. I had the time and money so all I lacked were the contacts.
A second cousin of mine named Dee Braverman had contacted me in her search for Grimsrud family information while researching the family tree. I was surprised how very little I actually knew about the family history. However, in corresponding with Dee, she put me in contact with the Grimsruds in the “Old Country”.
Next I sent off a letter to Kari Hoven, who I had met when she visited in America and spent one year in 1948 with Grimsrud relatives in the Superior, Wisconsin area.
Kari turned out to be the very best person to correspond with because of her incredible aptitude to recall names, people, places and dates, plus she has an incredibly exuberant enthusiasm. (I was amazed at the family resemblance that Kari had to my father…they could have been twins.)
It turned out that Kari remembered me, my parents and every detail of her visit to America, (the “New Country”), in vivid details. She still had a photo of my little brother and me from her 1948 visit.
My wife Jane and I spent six weeks in Norway in 1983 and got to hear countless stories told by my relatives who Kari made sure we had the opportunity to meet. We were with different group’s morning, noon and night, every day and the quantity of coffee and open-faced Norwegian sandwiches we consumed was unfathomable. We took notes, kept a logbook and took photos of nearly everyone we met and their homes.
The ocean and the distance that separated the “Old Country” and the New Country in those days after Grandpa Christ left were more than enormous. Consider this, I was the very first of all of my grandfather’s direct descendants to make a trip back to the “Old Country”. Grandpa Christ left in 1896 and it wasn’t until 1983 that I set foot upon the rock bound coast of Norway, the “Old Country”.

This photo was taken seven years before Henry Ford produced his first automobile in 1903. It was a transitionary time between horse and the industrial age of steam power.
The above photo was taken in 1896 in Superior, Wisconsin, at a studio on Conner’s Point then known as West Superior. Left is Christ “C.C.” Grimsrud b.1879, my grandfather. Next is Louis the (adopted stepson of Martin Grimsrud b.1862) and Hans Grimsrud b.1877 and the older brother of C.C. Grimsrud. Christ, Hans and Martin were all brothers born in Norway who immigrated to America before 1895.
The era was referred to as “the golden age of bicycles”. My grandfather Christ, on the left, had a Victor bicycle, the first with pneumatic tires that were glued onto lightweight wooden rims. Hundreds of firms were competing in this intense market of high demand where the typical bicycle was selling for $100.00.
The bicycle in the center is equipped with a carbide lamp, the same type used by miners.
Inspirations and motivations that drove my Norwegian ancestors to take that leap into the strange new world leaving behind family, friends, home and inheritance were many and individual.
In the history of humankind this immigration was an unprecedented phenomena and nothing quite like it had ever happened before. Previously the human condition was a victim of their geography. But now the option of escape flung open a new door of opportunity.
Dazzling stories of limitless fertile lands across the sea in far off America, free for the taking, lit up the imaginations of the young Scandinavians who had never even remotely dared to dream such a dream before. Their Viking spirit had come alive.
These were the first days of the industrial revolution when the might of steam power opened new horizons and lifted the burden from men’s shoulders and sped them across oceans and continents. The world would never be the same again.
The American frontier of those years was anything but a utopian environment. A violent civil war exploded in 1861 and the next year the American government offered every immigrant 160 acres of surveyed land while the native Indians were massacring the new settlers in Minnesota and the Dakota Territory. These were not good times for America and in 1879, the year my grandfather was born in Norway, a great economic depression struck America.
As an added incentive to immigrate, Sweden began in 1860 to enact policies toward Norway restricting their sovereignty that caused enough political strife to ultimately dissolve their union and in 1905 Norway was declared an independent kingdom.
In spite of the many horrible hardships these new immigrants would face in their new country, they kept coming in larger and larger numbers year after year. At the same time the Dakota Territory embarked on a land boom that would last from 1879 until 1920. The convergence of these extraordinary circumstances captivated an entire generation caught in the crosshairs of time.
Here I can speak for my family because they were part of this monumental and irreversible happening that sent a nation’s eager and daring young people to a far off land saying a permanent goodbye to family, friends and home.
The stories were many and the reasons for leaving were underscored with powerful motivating forces that in the end would result in a torrent of immigration that would ultimately find more Norwegians in Minnesota than in Norway.
Some of the stories ended in brilliant successes built on hard work and determination others fizzled away on bad land farms but the good stories and the bad all held fascinating human interest of a time in human history like none other and my family was a part of it all.
Here is an observation and quote from George Grimsrud of Janesville, Wisconsin. “Norwegians are tough, they live a long time, and there isn't much land [in Norway].”
In addition to the fact that there isn’t much land in Norway that is productive enough to support a family, the reality is that in a family of thirteen children like my grandfather’s, only one would inherit the farm. The rest would have to do the best they were able and the incentive to depart became a very powerful and motivating force.
Martin Grimsrud, born December 2, 1862 on the Grimsrud farm at Skoger, Norway, was the second child and first son of thirteen so he was, according to the custom of the time, the one to inherit the farm.
We can only guess now what inspired and drove Martin to leave the certainty and security of his home to make a totally new beginning in a strange and far off land that held out only one promise, and that was opportunity. Well, he wasn’t the only one to leave but he gave up more than most. Martin was driven beyond the distant horizon by the spark of his Viking ancestry.
To those that picked up the challenge and executed their dreams their fate was all but sealed. Like leaping from a tall building, at the moment it might have seemed like the right thing to do but once air-borne, no matter how strong the pangs of remorse might have been, the outcome was hopelessly irreversible.
So it would be with these Viking spirited immigrants chasing their dreams across the oceans to America’s wild and unsettled frontiers.
Martin was not the first Grimsrud of our family to immigrate to America. An uncle of Martin, Anders Grimsrud, born in 1839 and the fourth child of Peder Christophersen (Grimsrud) and his mother Anne Beathe Andersdatter Skot of Dalen immigrated to America in 1869 along with his wife Karen Antonette Christonsdatter Grytebakke.
Evidently Anders had a powerful influence on his nephew Martin who then came to Atwater, Minnesota, in America and then became established and went on to assist many of his 12 brothers and sisters to immigrate to America. Martin first settled in Minnesota in Dane County and next in Pope County. He later moved on to Superior, Wisconsin where he married Randi Hoff.

Above, the first grocery store in Superior, Wisconsin, located on Conner’s Point and built by Martin Grimsrud, my grandfather’s oldest brother. The store was featured on page 29 in the publication Eye of the Northwest by Frank A. Flower, printed in 1889.
My grandfather, Christ C.C. Grimsrud the tenth child of those thirteen, owes his opportunities in America to his older brother Martin who not only helped him to immigrate but taught him the meat market business and even helped him to go into his own private business.
Martin Grimsrud was one of the success stories. He had a dynamic life, was a successful businessman, became active in the local government and had a good family.

©2010 John M. Grimsrud

To read more about the golden age of bicycles, I recommend The Lost Cyclist by David V. Herlihy.

GERMANY, GREEN AND CLEAN - PART 1

2010-09-14T03:12:00.000-07:00

GERMANY, GREEN AND CLEAN - Leading the world and on the cutting edge in solar, wind and recycling technologies.

Still fully functional after more than two centuries of dependable, clean and non-polluting production, this 1802 grain mill in northern Germany combines hydro with wind power, cleanly powering Germany from its beginning.
Germany may not have been the first to initiate these green and environmentally clean power sources but on the eve of the industrial revolution they were there to lead in innovation. An example is the mill pictured above where two sources of power are tapped so either wind or water will keep production dependable.
In the above photo, John and Jane Grimsrud enjoy the world’s best bicycling with their novel Dahon folding bicycles that fit perfectly with Germany’s extensive well marked paved bicycle paths. Buses, trains, airplanes and even the ferry boats are bicycle friendly here.
Bicycles are a way of life here, children ride to school, and adults go to work and shopping, tourist’s vacation cross country staying at bed and bike hotels. This goes on year round in sun or snow.

Germany, besides having excellent bike route maps and smooth paved trails that are clearly marked with information signs like the one above, has set a world standard. These information signs are literally loaded with facts. Even the small red and green tabs above, 9, 10, V, and the petroleum pump indicate special bicycle tour routes that are designated on biking maps available at book stores and tourist offices.

From left, natural gas pump, wind farm and paved bicycle path; clean and green.

Germany has gone all-out to make your bicycling experience world class. This is one of thousands of covered bicycle shelters that are conveniently placed, meticulously clean and well equipped with tables and benches. Note the plate glass picture windows and barred off parking place for bikers only…no cars.

This historic canal dates from the 1870’s and was built by the muscle of man and beast. Connecting to the textile center of Nordhorn, this Ems-Vechte Canal heads east and links with the Dortmund Ems Canal that was built in 1899.
The busy and sill active Dortmund Ems Canal connects the German industrial heartland with the North Sea Port of Emden. Most of these interconnected canals that crisscross Europe have lovely bicycle paths with numerous covered shelters and plenty of accommodations.
The monumental effort required to complete this European canal system must rank with the wonders of the world for human engineering and effort.
Initially the canal traffic was moved by beasts of burden plodding along a tow path, next steam engines did the work.
Nordhorn is still a city of canals but its heavy industry no longer exists. Now this beautiful canal is silent except for the birds that have made it their seasonal home.
This incredibly beautiful hardwood forest that flanks the border is now quietly enjoyed by bicyclers. They glide silently beneath the towering shade trees on the bike paths stopping along the way at the numerous covered picnic tables like the one you see above.

Here in downtown Nordhorn this neatly dressed lady is doing her shopping by bicycle with her young child comfortably riding in the attached kiddy cart. Notice the cleanliness of the brick street.
Another interesting thing in most of Europe is that all school children are given unrestricted free public transportation. They do however prefer their bicycles.

Even the dependable German postal service that delivers rain or shine is ecologically friendly with these specially equipped bicycles.
This photo is taken at a grocery store where you can see that bicycling clients have top parking priority.
Also in the above photos notice the cleanliness that is the German standard.

In the balance of things ecological bicycling is as close to an equilibrium with nature as you can get. Here in Europe, bicycling to school, work, shopping, and recreation, is an every day part of life. Pictured above, the red part of the pavement is reserved for bicyclers only. Motor traffic can use the bicycle area but must give up total right-of-way. This system works well in the country where there are narrow roads and little traffic. (Border town of Denekamp, NL)

The bicycle lanes are clearly designated. Because the gasoline and diesel fuel prices are nearly double that of the US, there is a noticeable lack of motorized traffic and a heavy reliance on bicycles. (Border town of Denekamp, NL)

Six percent of Germany’s power requirements are met with wind that is cleanly and quietly harnessed. (Here wind generated electric power enters the grid.)

Enercon the German company that designs, manufactures, and installs these non-smoking colossal wind generators that make life here cleaner and better has an impressive track record. In the past ten years they have more than quadrupled the clean electrical power they are providing, and are on track to meet their goal of supplying twenty-five percent of Germany’s electrical power requirements with wind alone.
In the above photo you can get a perspective of the size of these wind powered generators when compared to Jane on her bicycle.

This is a close-up of the sign at this Enercon wind generating station at Bimolten, Germany, near Nordhorn. This facility of fourteen generators produces the electrical energy necessary to power 14,000 four person households. Here in north Germany the homes are truly total electric…they even have electric powered windows and awnings…this is a push-button world.

North Germany is at nearly 53 degrees north latitude, about the same latitude as southern Hudson’s Bay in Canada. Photovoltaic or solar electrical generation has more than come of age here. They top the world in solar generation and have a goal of producing twenty-five percent of their needs.
Solen Energy Company at nearby Meppen, Germany, is the manufacturer, distributor, and installer of nearly all of these photovoltaic panels, but BP, Shell Oil and Sharp Electronics have also been major players in this green revolution. The above private home is a good example of how the people with government incentives have made a positive impact in leading the world in clean living.

Solar electrical generation is everywhere in Germany. Private homes, government buildings like the one above, industrial facilities and even farms are all getting involved.

This two-hundred meter long pig farming facility has been fitted with enough solar generating panels to provide the power to take care of the needs of at least twelve private homes.
In the back-ground is a wind farm also cleanly producing more electrical power.
Believe it or not, but Nordhorn, Germany, even has a solar powered excursion boat that gives canal tours.
Here at these northern latitudes solar heated water systems in homes are very common and becoming more popular all the time.

Nothing goes to waste here in Germany. Propane, butane, methane, and other gases that are by-products of petroleum and farm product production are separated and used to heat, generate, and propel. Clean, quiet, and efficient, the above auto proudly advertises the fact that it is going far with earth-gas.

Taking bio-energy another step further, this vibrant field of sunflowers is being cultivated to provide the component required to make enough heat energy through gasification to warm the large complex of buildings at Frenswegen Kloster near Nordhorn, Germany.

This is part of the building complex to be heated by the above sunflower field.

Again Germany takes the lead when it comes to re-cycling. The people are responsible for disposal of their own glass garbage. Homeowners dutifully remove corks and caps from their glass containers and according to color, green, clear, and brown, deposit them in containers like the ones you see above found in neighborhoods and at shopping places. The grocery stores have places for used disposal of batteries, corks, and even all merchandise packaging…this is the law.
Most all grocery stores also have automated bottle returns for bottles with deposit. You put your bottles in one at a time, they are scanned, and when you are done, press a button and the machine then prints out an itemized credit slip that you turn in at the check-out. The American Woman’s Club of Cologne (Köln) has done an outstanding job of chronicling Germany’s world class recycling program, click this link: http://www.howtogermany.com/pages/recycling.html

Different colored refuge containers for sorted garbage are collected on specified days.
Compostable garden material is not picked up and must be taken to the municipal disposal center. The upside of this is that the city then does the complete composting process and homeowners are welcome to then pick up as much fully composted material as they want at no charge. In other words, the city composts, stores and makes available as much as you want when you want it.

This is garbage pick up day in Germany. Notice that the canisters are precisely parked exactly on the curb line. This is something that the Germans take special pride in…precision!
The plastic bags with draw-strings are for recyclable plastics disposal and are given out free of charge at the grocery stores.
Many public park benches and tables are made from re-cycled plastic, from the unwanted garbage to something beautiful and useful.

This 1600’s vintage water driven mill at the little town of Lage near Nordhorn is still fully functional and in service to this day cleanly operating without burning a single drop of fossil fuel. Germany is a tough act to follow.
READ: Part 2, Germany Clean and Green - Compost and Recycling

GERMANY, GREEN AND CLEAN-COMPOST AND RECYCLING PART 2

2010-09-14T01:07:00.000-07:00

Germany is leading the world in user friendly recycling. They make it simple and rewarding at the same time. Educated citizenry know the gratifying results of making their world a utopian green zone.

Nordhorn, Germany, a town of about 50,000, has three free to all composting/recycling centers managed and operated by the municipality. It is the responsibility of all the citizens to deliver their sorted vegetation material here. The reward and benefit is apparent everywhere here. Above; easy access to all the mulch you care to carry away and a dumpster for discarded metal are convenient.

More recycled gardening essentials are free for the taking with no restrictions on quantity; chipped wood and fully composted dirt ready to keep Germany naturally green and clean are in abundance.

User friendly community services like this rich composted dirt are a part of life here.

Here is another testimonial to a community that strives for a better life through community involved land management. Unwanted cement and ceramic is kept out of the regular garbage thus making the job of recycling easier. It is dutifully disposed of here and will ultimately find a good community use.

Tilman Stürmer, a Nordhorn resident, is one of the model citizens who helps make this facility into a perpetuating balance of nature and the world better. All do their part here.

This is a fine example of how rewarding the German recycling program is. Look in the background at the towering mountain of already composted vegetation that will soon be incorporated into a greener world made better by this German initiative.
The rest of the planet will have to run to catch up with Germany’s lead in environmentally friendly clean living.
Click the links below to see what can be done elsewhere and what John and Jane Grimsrud have done in lives that are almost as green as it gets. Their “drag and drop” composting and ecologically friendly home are easy and economical.

http://www.bicycleyucatan.com/ecolivingyucatan.html

http://ecolivingyucatan.blogspot.com/2009/09/drag-and-drop-composting.html

READ: Germany, Clean and Green, Part 1

EXOTIC BICYCLES

2010-08-30T01:42:00.000-07:00

They evolved over the years to meet our changing needs.

Leaving Netherlands along the Amelo-Nordhorn Canal and entering Germany on the paved bicycle path known as the “Grenz route” or border route we enjoy the friendly open borders of the Euro-zone.My wife Jane and I have been bicycling together for over forty year’s extensively in North America and all across Europe.
After all these years we have found that our most pleasure is in exploring on quiet paved roads. The slower we go the more fun we seem to have.
Having said that, we now own twelve different bicycles and they serve a variety of our needs.
This motley amalgamation or collection of cycles has filled the gap in our amusement, entertainment, and shopping requirements. After all these years we still roll along on our oldest machines that we refer to as our exotic bicycles.
For the past ten years we have not owned any motor vehicles and all of our travels are either by bicycle and public transport.
Jane’s sister said; “how can you possibly live without a car?” Well, I assure you that not only can we live without a car but our standard of living has actually been richly enhanced without one.
A word about our exotic bicycles; Jane over forty years ago purchased a used 27 x 1 1/4 inch Swedish go-fast bike as her second. At the time it was the most spirited bike I had ever ridden.

Not being racers or speed freaks, modifications began to evolve. For comfort Jane got new handle bars and a springy seat. For shopping and touring, a carrier rack was installed. Then alloy crank, wheels, and shifters became upgrades. Before our Rhine River trip up to Switzerland, new mountain compatible sprockets were installed. After our cross Europe trip through East Germany and into Poland where we broke twenty spokes on the cobble stoned streets, I replaced all of the spokes with Mexican industrial heavy duty. That was the end of the problem.
A computer, drink holders, and front rack for straddle bags or panniers were added to made cross-country tours even better.
My bicycle is a total make over; the only original parts are the front fork and handlebars that I inverted.
I originally started with a frame that was a tad too big. Forty years ago I was a lot more nimble and couldn’t resist the super-light all alloy bicycle. As the years went by that over sized frame began to be a problem. One day at a bicycle shop in Netherlands I purchased a smaller French frame and went home to our camper, swapped out all the parts and the net result was a frame size that I could handle.
For serious cross-country and shopping, fore and aft luggage racks fitted with packs and panniers made our bikes like little pack animals. A map holder and my personally designed “save my ass” bike seat came next. I designed the seat to save my sex life and protect my kidneys using light duty springs and special high density padding. A compass and two drink holders finished the innovations.
Our exotic bicycles are heavy but roll extremely well.
My bike innovations made me think back to a story my grandfather told to me;
One day when I was in his repair shop he held up a well worn little hammer and exclaimed; “this hammer has been in the family a long time, it has had seven handles and two new heads.”
That sounds a lot like my exotic bicycle.

Ten years ago I was 60 years old and many times made 120 kilometer days.
Now I am 70 years old and 40-50 kilometer days are enough…it must be global warming?
We still see people spending mega-bucks on ultra-light bikes and then strapping or bolting on so many extras that they are as heavy as discount store clunkers.

A brief history of our exotic bicycles.
Both were purchased second hand in Florida where we lived in five different locations over a period of twenty-two years. We even took them on a five month long junket aboard our commercial shrimp trawler Secotan where they were stowed in the fore-peak.
Next they were transported on carrying racks aboard our camper van and traveled everywhere across the US from Florida to the Pacific Northwest and from California to the state of Maine.
I still remember biking down Las Vegas Boulevard and pulling into the Mirage where the valet parked our bikes.
In Canada we biked the islands of British Columbia and across to the Maritime Provinces in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.
We eventually had a home in Brownsville, Texas and biked the border towns there. Next the bikes came to Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico.
Sixteen years ago we loaded the bikes aboard a commercial freighter along with our camper van and headed for Rotterdam, Netherlands. In Europe we have bicycled with our exotic bicycles from Norway and Sweden to Spain and Portugal. From Western Europe to Poland and every centimeter of the Rhine River from the North Sea all the way up to the Swiss Alps in Switzerland at the rivers headwaters and everything in between.

In Netherlands outside the old town of Ootmarsum where numerous well maintained bicycle paths meander through stately forests and past medieval castles…picnic tables abound. It is a bikers paradise.

Biking the sparsely populated Dortmund-Ems Canal region near Emsbüren. Quiet paved roads and immaculately clean bicycle shelters make Germany as good as it gets. We are still rolling on our exotic bicycles and they don’t owe us much.

FOR OPENERS!

2010-08-05T02:19:00.001-07:00

For openers; I have been seriously afflicted with this writing affliction for a number of years and appear to have a severe addiction.

It all started when my wife Jane and I spent four months in Europe a number of years ago.

Norway was my inspiration and six intense weeks there opened my eyes to an intriguing family link reflecting Viking origins.

My first attempts to chronicle my family history were painfully pathetic…but I was determined and persistent.

I finally turned out a winner entitled; In Search of the Old Country. This short story was ultimately published in Norway in that language.

Over the years I did a number of short stories and with practice I began posting some of them on the website that my wife Jane and I created.

With prompting from family and friends I was persuaded to write the adventure travel story about the dreamboat that Jane and I designed, built and sailed away to live aboard for fifteen years.

This story became four volumes, and a few months ago the first three of the four volumes of Travels of Dursmirg became reality and were published. They have all received five star reviews and are available through Amazon books accessed from our web site; www.bicycleyucatan.com

That website was like a pyramid built one stone at a time. The website has now mushroomed into dozens of topics with hundreds of links pertaining, in the most part, to our adventures of bicycling and living in Yucatán.

I have more topics to cover and things to say.

The “Bing”, my nick-name, buzz blogspot has been hatched and will build like another pyramid, one stone at a time.

BICYCLING FINNMARK IN EXTREME NORTHERN NORWAY

2010-08-05T02:11:00.000-07:00

    At 69 degrees north latitude deep within the Arctic Circle where the borders of Suomi Finland, and the Russian tundra converge just off the road to Nordkapp, (North Cape) this curious adventure begins.
    Here is the land of the midnight sun, Midnattsol, where inquisitive adventurers journey north from May until July to the northernmost point in Europe on Norway’s rockbound coast of the Arctic Ocean to witness days with no sunset.
    This is the land of the Lapps, Norway’s dogsled and reindeer people, who have adapted and evolved to thrive in this frigid forlorn terrain of arctic isolation.

In this rare photo these Lapps are fully dressed in their decorative native attire for a wedding celebration. (photo by Trygve Trondsen)

    My cousin Trygve Trondsen, a dentist, had worked and lived in this district for four years, bought a cabin and made lifelong friends. Now Trygve makes it a point to visit this outpost area at least two times a year.
    Nearly all of the year the Lapps travel by dog sled and even on occasion use their dogsled dogs to pull them about on skis. These huskies are specially trained dogs bred to the task.
    For a short time of the year the snow occasionally melts enough that the dogsleds become unusable.
    That problem has just been solved by enterprising Ole Bakkevold, a Laplander and close family friend to Trygve.
    The ingenious and natural solution would be to use bicycles towed by their Lapland sled dogs.

Yes here in the mountains of northern Norway in the province of Finnmark, the probability of running into trees is not a worry and finding a shady resting spot is not a priority concern either.

    In Trygve’s own words;
    “Yes, we employed the dogs for assistance upward and down the roads. At some places on the road we had to get off the bicycles because the road had been washed away for a little distance. I must admit that I was uncertain how this biking would end, but I was surprised that the dogs mostly kept a steady course. But I had to keep a close attention on my dogs”.
    Trygve noted that one of his dogs had a sudden tendency to run off when he spotted any water and that the other dog couldn’t resist chasing rodents.
    “My dog loves water so whenever there was a brook on the side of the road I had to watch up. The other dog has a nose for mice and that kind of creatures. So we had to be aware. But the dogs are used to follow a track; Ole is skiing with them.”
    “The dogs were tied to the bicycle by a flexible kind of rope. The rope goes in and out of a kind of box. Before we started I did not think that was a good way to do it, but Ole has experience. It worked very well. He trains his dogs in this way.

In the treeless mountains of Finnmark, Ole Bekkevold makes a campfire for the night.

Out of the mountains and down to the tree line to the end of the dog towing bicycle adventure where Trygve and Ole successfully survived but the dogs are spent.

This is the glacial pot-hole lake named Rehpi and the neighboring country of Finland can be seen beyond.

    Little Norway has but four and a half million residents, 100% are literate of which 73% of them are urban, leaving the rest of this expansive country sparsely populated.
    Norway’s extensive rockbound coast is highly indented with tens of thousands of islands interspersed with profoundly deep fjords. Most of the country is mountainous with high plateaus and only 25% forested.
    The abundance of hydroelectric power of which more than half is exported, and enormous oil reserves has produced one of the highest living standards in the world.
    In the area where Trygve was bicycling and a few kilometers west on one of the countless barrier islands in the municipality of Harstad, Troms, is the small town of Kasfjord where Trygve’s family originally came from. During the occupation in WWII the German battleship Tirpitz was stationed here, it was of the Bismarck class, the largest ever built in Europe and was finally sunk by the British in 1944.
    Norway is a land of contrasts from the midnight sun country in the far north where there are two months without a sunset to the city of Rjukan in the south central where the sun never shines. Rjukan pioneered in hydroelectricity, nuclear development and during WWII witnessed the German attempt to spirit off a key component for the A-bomb…heavy water. At least one book and a movie were produced about that epic wartime espionage event.

    A thank you to the Viking adventurers Ole Bakkevold and Trygve Trondsen, who provided us with a look into one of the most ecologically friendly countries on this planet earth, Norway, home of the Nobel Peace Prize!