(Dracaena angolensis) Family: AsparagaceaeAlso known as: Bow String Hemp, Cylindrical Snake Plant, Elephant’s Toothpick, Skyline Spear, Sansevieria, and Spear SansevieriaOrigin: AngolaWritten about further in The Civilized Jungle, Volume I and The Medicinal Jungle, Volume I“With only the slightest imagination, both its most common name and that of Elephant’s Toothpick...
A few days ago, I felt moved to sit down near a coconut stand and “be,” and in my ‘being’ I get to observe life around me – to witness with equanimity.
I often get a clear feeling that I am supposed to be where I am being directed, and...
I’m not sure if there is a better time to walk around town than in the morning after a light rain. The air is fresh, the streets are clean, and people are all smiles. And this rain is long overdue. It was a dry year with too many fires.
I’m...
by Edward Potocek Big things are happening for the Vallarta School for Girls. On July 2, 2025, the school officially broke ground on its brand-new campus—a huge step forward for an organization that’s changing lives one girl at a time.
Just weeks after securing final permits on May 29, the...
Inspired by Andy Borowitz.
I speak not as an outsider,but as a neighbor.
A witness.
A fellow human beingwhose heart beats across borders.
I’ve lived among you.
Raised children in your schools.
Walked your streets.
And still,I feel the tremble of a nation on the edge—and I cannot stay silent.
This is not about lines on a...
Recap: Good Morning, From Here, June 28 - July 04 Monday I love my friends in Vallarta. They are many and varied, and if I poke hard enough, I will find a connection with someone I have just met to a mutual friend or acquaintance way down a back...
by Zhander P’ng It’s my last Saturday morning in Puerto Vallarta. Not forever, not exactly—but long enough to feel the shift. I say “sort of for good” because I’ve learned nothing is ever final. Nothing is ever truly “for good.” But this moment—this leaving—carries a weight. A softness. A...
Alexandrian Laurel (Calophyllum inophyllum) Family: ClusiaceaeAlso known as: Alexandrian Laurel Balltree, Beach Calophyllum, Beach Touriga, Beauty Leaf, Borneo-Mahogany, Dilo Oil Tree, Indian Laurel, Indian Doomba Oil Tree, Indian-laurel, Laurelwood, Mastwood, Red Poon, Satin Touriga, and Tacamahac TreeOrigin: Tropical East Africa to eastern Polynesia“Laurel would be incomplete without the addition...
“I am St. Germain, keeper of the violet flame. You who are in physical form right now are making such tremendous progress there, and you are doing so many obstacles, so many pitfalls, so many roadblocks, that sometimes those of us in the nonphysical are simply astounded by you....
This morning, I walked down Boulevard Madrid to Calle Juarez. I was headed for desayuno at Lulu’s with plans for coffee at Puerto Café afterward. I almost made it, but was distracted by something shiny at a nearby small appliance repair shop. I struck up a conversation with the...
