Spring arrives in Maz

I've been reading some blogs that chronicle the slow arrival of spring across the US and Canada (Steven's postings at The Golden Fish are memorable).  But it never occurred to me that there would be a spring here in Mazatlan.  Silly me!  Over the past few days it has arrived.

We've been noticing some trees beginning to flower over the past couple of weeks. The winter flowers like the bougainvillea and poinsettias are on the wane but there are new flowers blooming, even in the vacant lots.

The winds and clouds have blown away and the air has become soft and fragrant.  I can smell the green things growing and the salt tang from the ocean.  When our friends were here it was kind of cool, but now it's really warming up.  At night we sleep under a light cotton throw and by noon it's hot enough that a swim in the ocean beckons, and an afternoon siesta begins to make sense.  But it's the evenings that are really different.  Last night when we walked down to the beach we noticed that everyone was outside enjoying the warm, still evening. 

Kids were playing volleyball in the neighbourhood park,

people sitting on their patios, walking and chatting in the street, children playing in the surf and everyone (not just tourists) walking along the beach.  Even the sandpipers seemed to linger.

The sun put on a lovely show for us, sinking gradually into the sea.  The air was still and the ocean is warming up.

It's really lovely here.  We have only a few more days to enjoy it though, as we're heading north next Friday.