When Americans think of Mexico, often it’s a pleasant fantasy about lying on a beach somewhere, maybe Puerto Vallarta or Cancun. There may be a margarita somewhere in the picture, but hey you can have margaritas up north too! I think the essential parts of this popular daydream are the sun and the water.

A couple of days ago, I just happened to have an experience that will probably remain a high point for me of this sort of thing. It didn’t even happen on a beach, but in our own yard, here by Lake Chapala. The weather lately has been heavenly. We are nearing the end of the rainy season, and we’ve been experiencing a delicious blend of cloudy, cool, or even rainy days and sunny days with the highs in the low 80s or so. Often Kelly checks the weather for where we came from in Colorado, and reports on how cold it will be that night. It’s been below freezing a lot there already. Gloat.

We usually enjoy a dip in our pool in the late afternoon. A couple of days ago, Kelly went back inside after his swim. I wasn’t ready to get out yet — I wanted to do more water aerobics, so I waved my limbs around energetically for a good while longer. What a perfect day it was. The water was 84 degrees, and I wondered how much longer our solar water heater on the roof of our house would boost the natural heating of the sun on the water. Usually there are several months during the winter when the water gets downright brisk, and we don’t swim. So I was grateful that it was still so nice. The sun was shining on the pool, and the air was warm too.

Reluctant to go inside, I stood up in the shallow kiddie part of the pool and began doing my Wild Goose Qigong, ancient Chinese movements not unlike the better know Tai Chi. Gradually there came over me a sense of tranquility, of being connected with everything around me. My stretches done, I slipped back into the water and decided to do a sort of meditation. I closed my eyes, let my breathing get slower, and enjoyed looking at the turquoises and golden tones I was seeing through my eyelids. I became quieter and quieter but not sleepy at all. Briefly I had a moment when “I” didn’t even seem to be there. If you have ever had this experience, you know how sweet this can be.

Eventually, I toweled off and went inside. The peacefulness lingered.