Rural Ramblings with Ruta: November 2011

November 30, 2011

Take Time to Tell a loved one that you love them...

Thanksgiving 2009

We will miss you...... I have enjoyed the time I was able to share with you. You taught me so much and I always looked up to you. You touched so many other lives and you are a wonderful woman.

Death is nothing at all,
I have only slipped into the next room
I am I and you are you
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by my old familiar name,
Speak to me in the easy way which you always used
Put no difference in your tone,
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was,
Let it be spoken without effect, without the trace of shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was, there is unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near,
Just around the corner.
All is well. Nothing is lost.

ABC Wednesday- T...is for Tulum

Was our vacation only three weeks ago?
It seems as though so much has happened in the last few weeks...

Tulum was one of the last cities inhabited and built by the Mayans, it was at its height between the 13th and 15th centuries and managed to survive about 70 years after the Spanish began occupying Mexico.

The Tulum archaeological site is relatively small compared to nearby Chichen Itza. It is popular for the picturesque view of the Caribbean and its proximity to Cancun.

Tulum had access to both land and sea trade routes, making it an important trade hub. Tulum had an estimated population of 1,000 to 1,600 inhabitants. Old World diseases brought by the Spanish settlers appear to have been the cause of its demise.

http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.com/

November 22, 2011

ABC Wednesday - S

I got back from vacation just over a week ago. One stop was Stingray City in the Cayman Islands. Stingray City is a series of shallow sandbars in the North Sound of Grand Cayman.

Many years ago local fishermen stopped in this area to clean their daily catch. The unwanted fish parts were thrown into the water which attracted Stingrays to the area. As the fishermen would arrive the Stingrays would gather waiting for their free meal. The Stingrays began to associate the sound of a boat engine with food. Eventually it was realized that the stingrays could be fed by hand. The area became a tourist attraction and is now the most popular tourist attraction in the Cayman Islands.

It is not dangerous if you are calm and listen to your guide. Most cases of people being stung by stingrays occur when someone accidentally steps on one in shallow water. Stingrays are defensive and are not intentionally aggressive.