Author: doug

Welcome to this blog post that captures highlights from our 2025 Winter in Uaymitun!

This blog post will highlight the goings on as we settle in!

Traditions! Just what do we mean by a “Tradition”?

Merriam-Webster says that a tradition is an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior.

Every family has their own traditions that are most apparent during special family times. For us, Christmas includes our traditional Snowman Count, where all the grandkids (and now a great-granddaughter) hunt through our house and now our apartment counting how many Snowmen Nana has placed throughout!

When arriving back in Uaymitun each winter, there are certain traditions we try to keep! Whether it’s an actual tradition or not, before we leave home our thoughts naturally move through what we usually do upon our arrival:

• Wheels down at Mérida International Airport (MID)
• Make our way through Immigration & Customs, hopefully with all the luggage
• Meet up with Diego to get our car
• Drive around the Periferico and out the highway to Progreso
• Grab a few items from Bodega or Soriana
• Head out La Costera
• Arrive at Uaymarima
• Take a pic at the pool

Now one could argue that’s not a tradition, but it is what is ‘normal’ and what we look forward to! Once we’re settled in, other ‘traditions’ are also looked forward to:

• Opening our Storage Totes… like Christmas all over again
• First dip in the pool
• First dip in the Gulf
• First get togethers with friends and family
• Celebrating our Wedding Anniversary with Val & George

Traditions provide continuity, comfort and joy! So we’re all IN for continuing Traditions!

The day before Val & George are scheduled to arrive, we ambled down the beach to their beach house, Paraiso, to see how things were progressing there. We met Lourdes (aka LuLu) who is the owner of Paraiso!

We enjoyed a quiet morning at the house, before popping into Chicxulub to drop off laundry and pick up water from the Water House.

We relaxed a bit and continued the last of our unpacking while awaiting Val & George’s arrival. We hadn’t heard anything since their arrival in Mérida, but that turned out to be a phone problem. Finally, we heard a Toot! Toot! at our front door and they had made it safely!

Another great tradition is having dinner with Raymond and Paméla at La Carolina Loncheria… Salbutes, Panuchos and Empanadas!

Our dinner, with a Coke in an actual glass bottle, included “2 Empanadas Mixtas con Pavo y Queso, 1 Salbut con Pavo y 1 Tostada con Pavo” and cost us, with tip, MXN$ 150 or about CDN$ 11!

For those astute viewers, one might say “I’ve seen that pic before”… too true! Unfortunately, our waiter’s pics this time where not representative our good looking selves, so I substituted one from 2023!

January 8th, 2025… our 53rd Anniversary! We’ve been very fortunate to have been able to celebrate our anniversary here with Val & George! Once at Tecnohotel near San Bruno, once at Humo in Progreso and several times at Hacienda Xcanatún. This year we went to Elio al Mare in Progreso!

Another tradition is my morning chore… after my first cup of coffee on the patio, I head down to the beach!

That day, the caretaker next door had pulled in his nets and was cleaning his catch down at the beach!

Later in the morning, we headed into Mérida for some grocery shopping at Chedraui! We stopped in for a walkabout in the Liverpool Mall first.

We decided to have a light lunch at Chili’s in the Mall

After lunch, we went through the Circle of Death glorieta (refer to many previous posts for details) to the Chedraui Selecto grocery store. The entire front of the store has been renovated to provide more smaller stores as you enter the building.

The next day was bright, sunny and warm! It was the day of Elaine’s 1st appointment with Gaby in Chicxulub, with the traditional pic!

Last year, the town’s Catholic Church had been dismantled due to safety issues but this year the reconstruction is well underway.

Back at home, it was time for the traditional “Welcome Sharon” pic and a dip in the Gulf.

Later in the day, the “not as little” kitty, Gatito, came for a visit

And the finish to a great day… sunset on the beach!

Well, I think I’ll close out this Winter’s 2nd blog for now! The next one will highlight a trip to another traditional spot for lunch and joining good friends at another favourite spot!

Cheers!

Love to all,

-Doug and Elaine

Welcome to this blog post that captures highlights from our 2025 Winter in Uaymitun!

Welcome back to our 2025 Winter in Uaymitun blog!

We are glad to return to Uaymitun this winter after a very difficult year for our whole family. This blog is somewhat later that usual for my first entry, but we’re finding we need to take things very slowly. We hope a period of recuperation and spending time with friends and family will help us move forward!

Our journey began a little later than originally planned, however, after a brief visit with Kerry, Bryan and the boys in Wellesley, we arrived at the Cottage on Conestoga Lake to leave the vehicle for the winter.

As the snow streamers started coming off Lake Huron again, Don and Sharon drove us from the Cottage to Pearson Airport! Many thanks to their help in getting us to the airport hotel … we enjoyed some refreshments in Moxie’s restaurant in the hotel with them before they headed home.

After they left for home, we relaxed and had a great dinner at Moxie’s!

As usual, it was an early morning wakeup call… repack a few things… catch the shuttle and off to the airport.

Getting our luggage checked and getting through security was really good, as we took our bags to the Premier check-in and then used our Nexus! Much better than last year!

Since last year, the Terminal 3 windows have been frosted so you can’t get a good view of the ramps or planes… so I included a pic from last year!

We were delayed about 1/2 hour for de-icing and then we were off!

Our flight landed without terror like last year, but about 1/2 later than scheduled. A Miami plane had just arrived before us so the Immigration line was quite long and the 2nd agent looked at his watch and said “Adios”… so both planes were handled by 1 agent!

Then, remembering the debacle from last year, we waited and waited and waited for our bags to come out. They came out infrequently and with out any rhyme nor reason of order. We finally had 3 of 4 but no 4th bag… until Elaine found it in a bunch of other bags minus its luggage strap!

In any case we took our bags, made it safely through Customs and met up with Diego to get our car! He was very happy to see us again and, as usual, helped load up the car with our luggage.

After a stop at Soriana in Progreso to pick up a few items for the house, we arrived in our Winter Home!

Miguel assisted in getting our bags upstairs for unpacking and brought out our storage totes which we put away last spring. He was a great help as always!

Once we had done a bit of unpacking and retrieving some items from our totes, we had Gourmet meal of Grilled Cheese and Ham Sandwiches!

By the time we were ready to sit and relax for a bit, the Norté winds had picked up, so we enjoyed a Cappuccino Maya on our “front” porch!

This is what we’d been waiting for, for a long time! Morning coffee on the patio!

A tradition I try to keep up each year… my first dip in the pool; January 3rd!

It’s also wonderful to be able to spend most of our time outside!

One of my annual chores is to go up on the roof and check out the “gas” tank level and I always take the opportunity for a bird’s eye view of our pool area!

Later that day, we made our first trip into Progreso to pick up a few specific items and check out the changes from the previous season!

We ambled down Calle 80 towards the Malecón and stopped into Barlevento’s for a beverage and a light lunch (Quesadilla de Pollo)!

One of the biggest changes since last year is the new Chedraui store in Progreso Centro. It might be handy for people, but it sure changes the ambiance of the street!

After our rest, we did go to for a walk through the store and did pick up a few items.

The next day, it was time for a Costco run to get the necessities… Kirkland Toilet Paper, (no) Kirkland Paper Towels, Kirkland wine, Kirkland Irish Cream and various frozen items unavailable elsewhere! Oh, and some of the mini donuts!

On our way home, we had to stop and take a pic of the newest fast food addition to the Mérida landscape!

Part of settling back into our Winter home is the restart some traditions…

Well, I think I’ll close out this Winter’s 1st blog for now! The next one will highlight reunions with family and friends and another special day for us!

Cheers!

Love to all,

-Doug and Elaine

Welcome to this blog post that captures highlights from our 2024 Winter in Uaymitun!

One of our goals for our final few days at the beach house was to pack up our totes for storage much earlier than other years! Well we did it!

Miguel helped us store our ‘stuff’ away until next winter!

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That gave us a sense of calm to allow us go for one last dinner at our fav, Elio al Mare that evening!

With every visit, we promise ourselves to branch out to other menu items… but as usual, we enjoyed our favs… Chicken Parmesan and Fettuccini “Modo Mio”!

It has come very quickly, but our final day at the beach house has arrived! A day of some relaxation and final packing of our suitcases to head into Mérida!

One last gorgeous sunset on our Uaymitun beach!

Once again, we’re very thankful for Miguel and Maria who take care of our beach house each year! It’s hard to believe they’ve been here for the last 9 years! We always take a goodbye picture when we leave, but as the boys, Jesus and Mauricio, would be at school tomorrow, we grabbed them that evening!

Moving day! Well, as in moving from the Beach House to our hotel, Luz en Yucatán in Mérida!

We enjoyed our final morning coffees on the patio!

After dropping off the car at the Yucatan Vacations office in the Fiesta Americana hotel, Luis drove us to our hotel in Centro!

After checking in and getting settled in our favourite room, El Tulipan, we ventured out into the heat and walked over to Santa Lucia Parque. We had decided to have a light lunch of a Margarita Pizza at La Tratto, and it didn’t disappoint!

We had seen the construction work being done on Calle 60 earlier, when we came into Centro with Betty and Joanne. That work has now made its way to the intersection of Calle 60 and Calle 55… our street!

That evening, we went for dinner at La Chaya Maya… just a block away!

After dinner we went for a stroll through “our” park, Santa Lucia Parque!

After picking up a couple of Cappuccinos at the Bengala Cafe on Calle 60, we relaxed back at the Luz en Yucatán!

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A welcome addition to the services available at the Luz en Yucatán is their included breakfast! It was nice to be able to just walk down from our room for brekkie!

We managed to cross an item that has long been on our bucket list of things to do while in Mérida… to tour La Quinta Montes Molina house on the Paseo de Montejo! From their website…

“With eclectic architecture with a neoclassical tendency, La Quinta Montes Molina is a representative construction of the Porfiriato era and the great henequen boom in Yucatán. As it has always been a living house, it preserves furniture from the different periods through which it has passed, and in it we can find many details that help us better understand the customs of the houses of the families of ancestry from Mérida at the beginning of the century XX.”

We grabbed an Uber which dropped us off in front of the house…

Just like Downton Abbey… that was the “Upstairs”… the following is the “Downstairs”!

Upon leaving through the requisite Gift Shop, we took a few pics of the grounds!

Upon leaving La Quinta Montes Molina, we went for a stroll down the Paseo de Montejo!

By lunch the heat was really rising, so we Uber’d back to the Luz and enjoyed some time in the pool!

As the evening was promising to be temperate, we decided to take the opportunity to dine at Amaro one last time this season!

After a wonderful dinner, we went for walkabout through the Gran Plaza!

Sunday and Monday were very, very hot! Some places registered temperatures in the low 40’s C… including Mérida! Sunday morning was cool enough that we went for a quick walk down Calle 60 towards the Gran Plaza.

We paused at the side of the Teatro José Peón Contreras to see if we could see any progress in the restoration after last year’s fire! Nothing to really see, however, in the pictures below (while a little hard to tell from these pics) the ceiling in the left picture is untouched, while on the right the smoke and fire damage is evident!

We’ve frequently walked by Iglesia de Jesus the doors were never open… until today!

I was getting too hot to be outside at all, even in the Pool! We pulled a “Bob & Pat” and Uber’d up to Altabrisa Mall for a Lupper at another favourite place!

Monday was our last full day in Mérida at the Luz en Yucatan! After another great breakfast, our morning was spent repacking for our trip home.

We had such a great time with Julie and Curtis this season, we were very happy they were able to come into Mérida from Chelem to have dinner with us!

We decided to go to La Tratto in Santa Lucia Parque as it was close and there’s air conditioning… and great food!

On the way back to the Luz, we needed to navigate through the construction and wet concrete at the intersection of Calle 60 and 55!

Tuesday morning arrived early as I awoke shortly after 6AM… I sauntered down the hall to grab a couple of early morning coffee. I came back to our small patio overlooking the pool to relax with my coffee! I glanced at my Inbox… only to see a lovely message from WestJet!

We talked with the hotel concierge to reschedule our ride to the airport and then stressfully had to wait all morning for further updates… like cancellation!

Finally, my App showed the plane had left the gate in Toronto, so we quickly rearranged our ride to the Mérida airport! As usual, a cab ride from Centro to the airport certainly got the blood flowing!!!

Fortunately, the Inbound place departed earlier than the delayed time and arrived earlier than expected by a few minutes… and then it arrived!!!

We think the flight crew were under the gun to get us back to Toronto before Midnight as we flew at 40,000′ to shorten the time home! We arrived around midnight, cleared Customs & Immigration quickly, grabbed our luggage and caught the shuttle back to our airport hotel.

The next morning, Don & Sharon picked us up from the hotel and took us back to Kitchener.

After lunch, we visited with Elaine’s Mom at the lodge and then out to Kerry & Bryan’s in Wellesley.

After a short visit, we headed to Sarnia… arriving back home around 5:30.

Kristy and Andy were waiting for us in our apartment! Lots of hugs and then a great supper next door at the Grind!

Then it was time to unpack a little and enjoy being home!

Well, now I’ll close out this Winter’s 12th and final blog! We hope you’ve enjoyed our posts this season! Winter in Uaymitun 2025 is 9 months away!

Cheers!

Love to all,

-Doug and Elaine

Welcome to this blog post that captures highlights from our 2024 Winter in Uaymitun!

We have been back home now for a week! But, due to circumstances beyond my control, as described below, this penultimate blog post has been delayed!

This blog post will highlight a rather different ending to Dave & Deb’s stay as well some memories of our last days in the Winter of 2024!

The Monday of that week was a great beach day!

Tuesday was another relax day and a great “Lupper” at Hermana República!

Unfortunately, Tuesday night and Wednesday, neither Dave nor Deb were feeling very well. By Wednesday evening, they managed to have an omelet for dinner but not much more.

Then, it was my turn… and quite a turn it was!!!

Towards the end of the evening, I told Elaine that I felt quite exhausted and went to bed early! Then 1:30 rolled around and I was not well… that was my first bout of dry heaves! And again at 5:30! I told Elaine around 6:30 that I was sick… too sick to drive Dave & Deb to the airport!

Our friends and family rallied to our support to pivot to “Plan B”!

Dave & Jeanette volunteered to drive Dave & Deb to the airport! Julie & Curt drove to Uaymitun with some meds and electrolytes as by that time I was dry heaving every 1/2 hour.

Late in the afternoon, Dave went into Chicxulub to the pharmacy and brought back some MX gravol. A couple of doses of that finally brought an end to my nausea! That was Thursday.

Friday, I stayed in bed and with constant support and urging from Elaine managed to drink some water and electrolytes. It has taken much longer than I had hoped to feel better!

So enough about that… onto some nicer topics!

The following Monday, we awoke to a very unusual sight!

We asked Miguel and Wilbert about it and they both said it wasn’t a typical local type of boat but looked more like a Cuban design! We’ll have to see if someone salvages it!

That morning we went into Progreso to pay for our car rental and visit with Sylvia and Diego. We also did a little walkabout…

As I’ve said before in this year’s posts… the whole area is undergoing rapid change and growth. Unfortunately, the days of Progreso being a quiet small beach city are behind us. The same is quickly becoming true for Chicxulub and Telchac Puerto… as this recent billboard highlights!

A few quiet days later, we had one of those magical evenings!

We’ve enjoyed a number of nights of playing 5 Crowns with friends, Dave & Jeanette this winter! Before our last card night, we introduced them to Pizza Paradiso in San Bruno!

As our time to leave the beach drew closer, we tried to slow things down and just enjoy “being”!

The next evening was more of the same!

The next day had some very threatening weather that seems to pass over us… until it didn’t!!!

We haven’t gone to Doña Mary this year as much as in past years, but we did pick up one last order of Pechuga Parmesana (Chicken Parm)!

It was another Él Norté day, so we relaxed on the front porch!

The next day we had our final haircuts with Gaby in Chicxulub! The annual Semana Santa fair was being set up in the square!

Well, I think I’ll close out this Winter’s 11th and penultimate blog for now! The next one will highlight our final days at the Beach and our days in Mérida!

Cheers!

Love to all,

-Doug and Elaine

Welcome to this blog post that captures highlights from our 2024 Winter in Uaymitun!

This blog post will highlight the surprise birthday party for Curt and other stuff!

A little while ago, I saw an advertisement for a new inside Go Kart track at the Altavista Mall. During an early trip there, we didn’t find it… but with considerable efforts to actually walk further through the Mall, we did!

While the ladies browsed the shops, Dave and I watched to see what the scoop was! “Let’s do it!”

After signing up for our 15 lap Turismo, we got suited up with head sock and helmet, listened to a instructor and got into our carts!

15 bone jarring and bumpy laps later…

Once we had recovered from our race, we all went to PF Chang’s!

The next day, we went for a drive up to Telchac Puerto!

After lunch, we drove up to San Crisanto just to see what’s new! On our way, we saw this place… never seen before, but has been there awhile!

The following morning, lots of bird activity on the beach, so I went to check it out! The valedor next door had been out fishing and caught a dozen yellow snappers!

Patience rewarded!

Now for the main attraction! Curtis’ surprise 60th birthday party! We were very happy to host the party at our place!

It was a great spread of food and was enjoyed by all!

It was a great beach, pool, food, family and friends day… topped off with a great sunset!

Well, I think I’ll close out this Winter’s 10th blog for now! The next one will highlight a different ending to Dave and Deb’s week!

Cheers!

Love to all,

-Doug and Elaine

Welcome to this blog post that captures highlights from our 2024 Winter in Uaymitun!

This blog post will highlight the arrival of longtime friends and frequent guests here, Dave & Deb and, as Ed Sullivan said those many years ago… “The Beatles!”

We had a quiet week between Betty and Joanne leaving and Dave & Deb arriving!

Although the plane arrived early, Dave and Deb were delayed quite a while due to their baggage cart breaking down!

After a quick trip from the airport out to the beach… they settled in!

For supper the next night, we went up the coast to Pizza Paradiso!

That was followed by a quiet day at the beach and another great sunset!

The next night we hit one of their “bucket list” restaurants for their visit!

It’s always nice to take time out to just go on a walkabout in our village, Chicxulub!

That evening it was a night at the Viejo Bar with the Beatles tribute band “Now and Then”!

It was great to spend time with Matt & Terri again! “Now and Then” were a great band and a good time was had by all!

A few pictures from some everyday kinda stuff…

We continued to bounce between a hot, humid day and a couple of cooler windy Él Norté days. The NE winds eventually brought a few unwelcome guests to the beach.

We had a quick trip into Costco in Mérida for a few provisions.

The next day was one of the “good” days…

The next day we went up to the Chelem market!

While us manly men rested with a Breakfast Burrito, the ladies went off shopping at the various artisans!

One of the highlights of this winter was the opportunity to spend an afternoon and evening with Panchita and family. She and her kids looked after us for the 2013, 14 and 15 seasons before she had to relinquish the role. We try to spend time with her each winter!

Well, I think I’ll close out this Winter’s 9th blog for now! The next one will highlight a surprise birthday party! Shhhhhhh!

Cheers!

Love to all,

-Doug and Elaine

Welcome to this blog post that captures highlights from our 2024 Winter in Uaymitun!

This blog post will highlight the finale of Betty and Joanne’s visit and a few more things!

To start, a different perspective of the beautiful sunsets!

One of our favourite places for a special dinner is Hacienda Xcanatún, so that’s where we headed for Betty and Joanne’s last evening!

We went for a tour of the grounds before dinner! Some things haven’t changed… maintaining the beauty and history of the place. However, time marches on and the new owners have built a whole new section of the grounds with a large numbers of condo and rental units with a new pool etc.

We much prefer the original grounds!

It was a wonderful visit but as always did come to an end!

The next day, we popped up to Telchac Puerto for a Lupper at La Picuda with Dave and Carolyn!

After our Lupper, we dropped into Chicxulub for a walkabout!

Just another day in Uaymitun!

We found out from Dave and Jeanette the next day that the helicopter was out looking for a small craft that had gone missing the day before! Good news, they were found without injury the next day!

Julie and Curtis bought brother Kevin and Kelly over for a beach/pool day! Unfortunately, the cool and strong NE winds precluded that, so we had a driveway visit and Burger Barbeque! For those of you who remember my foiled attempts from last year can be assured that it worked this time!

A few more pics to round out this blog!

Well, I think I’ll close out this Winter’s 8th blog for now! The next one will highlight new visitors!

Cheers!

Love to all,

-Doug and Elaine

Welcome to this blog post that captures highlights from our 2024 Winter in Uaymitun!

This blog post will highlight our visits to see some of the sights in the area! This post is a bit longer than other, as I try to catch up! 🙂

Here’s a few odds and sods of pics!

Another very memorable moment when the sun was brightly shining and the heat was rising…

We had another outing up to Chelem to the “Natural Thangs” Artesan Market, as Elaine was picking up the sundress she had ordered!

After a delicious Breakfast Burrito… we headed back for a visit with Julie and Curtis!

It is so nice to have them close by!

I took advantage of the visit to try out their La-Z-Boy chair!

Near the end of their stay, I took Betty and Joanne for a short walkabout on the Malecón!

We chose a day when the temperature was a bit cooler and went for a visit to our favourite places, Hacienda Yaxcopoil! It’s usually a yearly event for us!

“Hacienda Yaxcopoil was once considered one of the most important rural estates in the Yucatan due to its size and magnificence. It covered about 22,000 acres of land at the time of its greatest splendor, operating first as a cattle ranch and later as a henequen plantation. Over time, due to continuous political, social and economic changes, the estate has been reduced to less than 3% of its original size.”

Here’s a few pics of the exterior of the building and grounds!

The interior of the main residence is beautiful!

Some pics from the private chapel…

Last year I was able to have a brief chat with Señor Solis, who was painting the Maya room and about to start on another room.

We went for a walk over the factory works…

It’s always nice to have a sit down by the paddock before leaving!

On our way home, we took a spin through Uman, but it was still crowded with Carnaval happenings, so we’ll have to go back for a walk-about.

We stopped at our favourite pub, Hermana República for Lupper!

Delicious meals for all!

Well, I think I’ll close out this Winter’s 7th blog for now! The next one will highlight a dinner out in a special place !

Cheers!

Love to all,

-Doug and Elaine

Welcome to this blog post that captures highlights from our 2024 Winter in Uaymitun!

This blog post will highlight the slight wind storm we had, as well as some much nicer events!

Before we talk about windy stuff, here’s some pics to catch up on things happening at the beach before the arrival of Betty and Joanne!

And now to the windy bits! We had been watching the forecast for a few days… the weather man at Meteorología Yucatán was predicting very strong winds across the Yucatán.

True to his word, which can be uncommon amongst his worldwide counterparts, the winds arrived early on the morning of Feb 5th!

Fortunately for us here, the winds didn’t bring any rain and were from the NW so we were able to sit on our patio and watch them blow and blow!

Raymond and Pamela arrived for a visit that afternoon, so we ventured down to the beach! By that time the considerable waves had crested the hightide line and the top of our dune. By the time it was done the waves had pushed almost to our tree line!

During the course of the storm, the waves pushed about a foot of sand up onto the top of the dune!

All in all, we were very fortunate… others along the beach front weren’t! Gaby sent us this video from not that far away down the beach!

The afternoon of the day after the storm, we made an excursion into Mérida! We left the car in the lot behind Santa Lucia Park and enjoyed a walkabout!

It’s a short walk from Santa Lucia to the Luz en Yucatán, our favourite boutique hotel in Mérida, so we took them for a visit!

After a tour, we headed to Centro!

So… a little aside on 3 days of dining issues! On the day of the wind storm, Monday, we were all ready for a jaunt up the coast to Pizza Paradiso… only to find out it was closed on Mondays! We changed plans and had dinner at home!

The day trip to Mérida was the next day, Tuesday, so we planned on going to La Tratto in Santa Lucia park. We had taken Bob & Betty there in 2016 and Betty wanted to go again! It was open when we had walked through the park, but upon our return for supper it had closed at 5PM! Pivoting, we walked back to Centro and had a great dinner at Amaro!

And then the next day we planned a lunch/supper or lupper at La Picuda in Telchac Puerto! When we arrived, it was closed! So we jumped to another Plan B and went to TecnoHotel!

But, back to our Mérida trip and dinner at Amaro…

For several years, each visit to Amaro included Cafe Maya prepared by our favourite waiter, Victor!

As I mentioned, we went on an outing up to Telchac Puerto to enjoy the offerings at La Picuda!

On our way back home, we stopped at Puente del Telchac over the raceway (with every tide) between the lagoon and the port.

Having been denied a Lupper at La Picuda, we decided to stop in at the TecnoHotel restaurant.

Rumour has it that someone, who will remain nameless, Betty, may have fed Luna a few chicken scraps with her fork! Still awaiting the Instant Replay to confirm!

Well, I think I’ll close out this Winter’s 6th blog for now! The next one will highlight visits to Chelem and Hacienda Yaxcopoil !

Cheers!

Love to all,

-Doug and Elaine