Maryann's Musings

  My father is a Lord of the Rings nerd (and proud of it). So is my older brother, Tristan. Naturally, I had to read the series once I could pick up chapter books. It's a powerful story, and has beautiful characters and places.   But in the realm of fantasy literature, there also exists the Harry Potter series. The books are a big deal; both as controversial pieces of writing and a wonderfully put together tale. For twelve years I wasn't allowed to read them. If it wasn't for two friends that I have, my whole life would be Harry Potter free (blame Jackson). I would happily stay the LOTR geek that my family knows, and life goes on. But no, that is not what happened.   The moment I read the first page of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's  Stone , I was ensnared. And obsessed. The innocence of the child characters, and the happy realm of Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, the Ministry of Magic, and Hogsmeade was (and for me, still continues to be) captiva...

  Mexico was new territory. I have been to many countries in my limited lifetime (my family jokingly says we have visited the airports of a lot of countries, but never been "in" the the actual country). Okay, I get that it is a tourist island and is only a romanticized version of the real thing. But for the first time, it was definitely a taste; a little piece of the whole picture.   I take first impressions seriously (not too seriously, I hope), and in that respect Cozumel did not disappoint. The water was what I first noticed. We arrived in the morning, but we were so busy grabbing all of our necessities that I never took time to really look at it.  It was the clearest, cleanest, bluest, most water-like looking water I have ever seen. If only our bottled water looked like that!   Even though a cruise ship had just unleashed on the little island, it was not too crowded (after we made it out of a little tunnel they herded us all through)....