Growing up at Lake Chapala

by Kristina Morgan

Huele de Noche is an unassuming flowering plant that gives off a heady perfume that will fill an entire yard with its beauty at night. My daughter Maya thinks it looks like a weed. But that “weed” is one of the most beautiful flowers in our yard because of the sheer pleasure I have when I smell it at night. It even fills our house with the sweet smell. I admit that if you don’t recognize Huele de Noche for what it is that it is a little unexpected coming from such a modest flower.

Tonight, as we were leaving the house I stopped and showed my youngest daughter, Maya, the Huele de Noche plant and we both breathed in the scent of this surprising flower that may be small but packs quite a punch! We were leaving the yard and I was driving her to a dance where she was meeting her sister, Lily, and their friends.

As we were driving along, Maya and I chatted about whatever it is mothers and daughters chat about on the way to a dance. Time to be picked up, where she would meet Lily, etc.

Are you taking a risk by coming to Lake Chapala?

by Kristina Morgan

I had two very similar conversations this week. Both went something like ths:

“I’m old now. I can’t take risks like I did when I was younger. It’s very important to me that I feel secure and I really don’t like change. I have basically had the same life for the past 45 years and I’m comfortable as I am. I am intrigued by the idea of visiting Lake Chapala to see if I might like it there but I really can’t see myself taking a risk by moving there to a foreign country….even if I like it.”

Both of these conversations left me questioning what is it about change that to one person feels positive and empowering and to another feels dangerous and uncertain?

What are the benefits in taking a chance?

Fearless Aging at Lake Chapala: A Love Affair with Life

By Kristina Morgan

Fearless-Aging May 2009Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention to arrive safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: Wow!! What a ride!

Recently, I attended a seminar on Aging at Abbeyfield in Ajijic, a new assisted living home in the area that is affiliated with the Abbeyfield homes in the U.K. and around the world. At 38 years old I probably seemed like a pretty unlikely candidate to be attending a workshop on aging, but I am fond of saying I’m an eccentric old lady in training, and I wanted to find out why the elderly seem so different here at Lake Chapala than most of the elderly people I know from the U.S. My thoughts that the retirees here are different isn’t mine alone. Most everyone I know agrees.

The Lake Chapala Society: a Heroine’s Legacy

by Kristina Morgan

In order to tell you about the Lake Chapala Society (LCS), I must first tell you about Neill James, Ajijic’s “Fairy Godmother,” and the benefactress of the LCS, located in the heart of Ajijic, which is home to the largest expatriate society in the world.

She is a woman I would have dearly loved to know and so I hope I can convey just a bit of the spark that made her one of the most fascinating heroines I have ever had the pleasure to read about.

Neill James was a person after my own heart. Born on a cotton plantation in Mississippi, she was a well-educated woman who was a world-renowned travel writer. Briefly married and then divorced with no children, she became a fearless adventurer, fascinated by flying after she met Amelia Earheart.

Neill survived a disaster that brought her to Ajijic, which became, perhaps, the best thing that could have happened to her or Ajijic.

Jurassic Park: A Family Camping Adventure in Mexico

Before we came to Mexico I assumed that the entire country was either desert or coastal. Discovering Mexico’s diverse terrain—mountains, jungles, pines, plains and more—has been an absolute delight, and one of the things I love best about living at Lake Chapala is that this area is like the hub of a wagon wheel with many other fascinating and beautiful destinations just a few hours away: Colima, Guanajuato, Puerto Vallarta and Michoacán, to name a few.

Just recently my mom and dad suggested we go to the state of Colima, a few hours away, and check out a place they found on Google Earth with a waterfall. There are rivers and springs all over the place spilling beautiful waterfalls off the rocks.

We all piled in the car: my husband, Joel, and our three kids and Ruby the Great Road-Trip Dog. If you’ve traveled in close quarters before, you’ll know this was an adventure in itself. Let me just say that after an hour on the road, the kids weren’t the only ones saying, “Are we there yet?”!