BajaNomad - Osprey - George Bergin

Osprey - George Bergin

vjfamily - 8-11-2018 at 03:15 PM

George Bergin, known on this forum as Osprey passed away in his sleep early this morning. Many La Ribera friends visited in the last week to say goodbye. He went downhill very fast over the last 3 weeks. George was comfortable & passed quietly in his sleep. Life changed drastically in early January when Lynda, his wife unexpectedly passed away. George and Lynda loved their life in the Baja, first camping, fishing and then in the mid 90's settling in their casa in La Ribera. George and Lynda will be missed.
Joanna

Sent from my iPad

volcano - 8-11-2018 at 03:17 PM

oh.......glad he felt the love here on this forum in the last few weeks....he was told what he and his writing meant to us...

Russ - 8-11-2018 at 03:18 PM

Happy trails my Nomad friend we will miss you greatly.

willardguy - 8-11-2018 at 03:19 PM

RIP amigo

ehall - 8-11-2018 at 03:23 PM

Going to miss his stories. Rest in peace

BornFisher - 8-11-2018 at 03:32 PM

Very sad news. Damn.
RIP Osprey

Paco Facullo - 8-11-2018 at 03:40 PM

Wasn't fortunate enough to ever meet this great Man and Baja legend ,
May he rest in peace forever more....

fishbuck - 8-11-2018 at 03:48 PM

Will miss him.

David K - 8-11-2018 at 03:53 PM

A wonderful human, I was honored to know him. Adios, Jorge... see you down the trail, amigo!

AKgringo - 8-11-2018 at 04:08 PM

I am so sorry to hear this, he is one of the Nomads that I looked forward to meeting someday.

George had such a talent for creating vivid images with an economy of words, and that talent will be missed!

Natalie Ann - 8-11-2018 at 04:09 PM

Blessed to have known George, sad to lose him.
Rest In Peace, amigo.
I hope he will write stories about heaven that I can enjoy once I am there, too.

Nena

shari - 8-11-2018 at 04:13 PM

DEP fellow Baja lover...may your spirit be free to swim with the dolphins and soar with the Ospreys!

bajabuddha - 8-11-2018 at 04:15 PM

A gentle soul with an imagination deeper and wider than the Sea of Cortez.

DEP.

Loretana - 8-11-2018 at 04:21 PM

Such a talented and creative writer!

DEP, Sir.

fishbuck - 8-11-2018 at 04:23 PM

Quote: Originally posted by shari

DEP fellow Baja lover...may your spirit be free to swim with the dolphins and soar with the Ospreys!

Amen!

woody with a view - 8-11-2018 at 04:26 PM

We had a good email exchange a couple of weeks ago. He was such a cool guy. I’ve got a three ring binder with most of his stories that he posted here as well as a bunch he’d send me asking for feed back. I told him I’d be reading them under my favorite salt pine in BdeLA last weekend. He got a kick out of that visual. He lived a good, long life! We should all be so lucky.

[Edited on 8-11-2018 by woody with a view]

DianaT - 8-11-2018 at 04:56 PM

He was such a talented writer; so very talented. May he rest in peace having left behind stories that so many loved.

Skipjack Joe - 8-11-2018 at 05:24 PM

I'm so glad he posted a few stories here before he passed away.

Somehow I like to think it helped him, gave him a sense of purpose, and a feeling that people cared for him.

I think writing meant a lot to him.

MMc - 8-11-2018 at 05:26 PM

The world will be a lesser place without him. I too have a binder of his work, I love reading it.
The world needs more people like him.

woody with a view - 8-11-2018 at 07:01 PM

I already miss him dearly! Sipping cold brew in his honor at the moment. Our last exchange from July 16 which I’ll never delete! I love you, man!

“More for your binder. I would love some small comments to let me know I wrote these for a reason. If you don't send them, now and then, I will remember and invite hungry herds of feral hogs to share your garden.

Jorge”

willardguy - 8-11-2018 at 07:13 PM

we didn't see eye to eye on everything...but who does?

Baja Adjustments (from Osprey)

The U.S. Marine Corp has it right �Adapt and Improvise�. I knew when I quit my job at age 58 and left the U.S. to retire in Baja Sur there would have to be a lot of adjustments and I better just get use to changes, roll with the punches. I was ready for most of the culture changes I would face but I didn�t give a thought about growing old down here --- just couldn�t see that far ahead.

Now I�m 76 years old and the old age thing is bringing with it another round of adjustments.

Here�s an incomplete list of adjustments, like tectonic plates jerking to relieve the unbelievable pressure of continental drift.

� Booze
Always a martini man so I was disappointed to see my favorites down here were either not available or priced out of my range � Tanquerey, an arm, Beefeaters, a leg, Steinhager, unavailable. So I went for Oso Negro until our savings ran out, then dropped to Paloma at $2 bucks a liter by the case.

� Boat
Never had a boat in my life but a bargain panga came along and I had to learn how to launch and haul from our sand beach with no ramp using whatever vehicle could do the job. Only had to get help from another vehicle one time and I made it work for almost 15 years till I gave the boat, motor and trailer to one of my neighbors.

� Food
I love spicy hot Mexican food of all kinds but when I developed an enlarged spleen (about the size of a small boombox) the spices had to go. I miss my Chile Verde so bad I have nightmares.

� Music
I love all kinds of music (except rap and hip hop) and when we got television it came with Sirius and some other great CDs and I filled the patio every day with hits from the 50s and 60s. Now, in my old Fogy stage you might hear a lot of salsa, jukebox gold, jazz and, now and then, classical tunes as you come through my gate.

� Never Ending Projects
When we first arrived here we did a lot of improvements around the house/lot by ourselves (we laid down 1800 pavers on 3 patios), painted the house 2 or 3 times. Now I only tackle the light weight tasks of plumbing repair and such; odd jobs I now leave to one of many younger Mexicans who will work for very little money and who have natural talent for making things work. My steady stream of refescos and a good solid lunch brings them back again and again when things start to fall and crumble around this old place.

� Exercise
I have found many reasons not to exercise; too hot, too cold, too windy, got up too late, sandfleas are out. About every 10 days or so I used to take 4 empty garrafones to the water sellers, pack full ones in my rig, schlep them all up the drive as a form of exercise. When my back just wouldn�t let me pick em up anymore, I made a deal to have em delivered and carried up to the bodega. Just a buck or 2 more and my back is on the mend.

� Fishing
I�ve grown accustomed to letting my boat guy, Leonardo, do all the heavy lifting when we fish. When a big fish strikes the lure he hands me the rod and waits to see just how energetic I feel that particular day. When I�ve invited guests, especially those who are fishing rookies I can afford to be generous and let them fight the big ones. The more we fish together, the more action I get, the more willing I am to fight the fish to the boat. He makes it all easy by keeping the boat perfectly positioned till we can get the big brutes close to capture or release.

� Long in the Tooth
I haven�t taken care of my teeth to make them last over 70 years so as they go bad I�m now having to have them yanked out one at a time. I have yet to ask my wife to change her grocery shopping list but that day may surely come. Right now I�m able to handle the ice cream, jello and Yogurt but I have to have the dogs chew my steaks and chops for me. They are like big shaggy cormorants � I put a tight rope around their throats so they won�t swallow anything.

� Movies
We get HBO and a couple other movie channels down here now. I can�t watch the Teen movies or the vampire stuff so I�m forced to watch, again and again, my old standards like Will Penney or My Cousin Vinny. At my age they might as well be new releases even though I�ve seen them scores of times � I�m always pleased if I can remember a scene or a line or part of the plot.

� Young gringo visitors
On my patio or at c-cktail parties around the village I occasionally meet young visitors: sons, daughters, grandkids visiting their retired folks here. Over time I have discovered that we can never learn from each other --- my fault for being separated by miles and years from their worlds. I cut attempts at communication short by giving them advice.

�Don�t hang with old people. Old people will drag you down, put you in a sour, old people mood with their talk about broken hips and hives and arrhythmia, estate planning, market trends.

Second, and most important piece of advice I can give, �Don�t take advice from an old cracker like me.�

[Edited on 12-27-2012 by Osprey]

[Edited on 8-12-2018 by willardguy]

woody with a view - 8-11-2018 at 07:36 PM

azucena - 8-11-2018 at 10:16 PM

Osprey is flying with his Ospreys and his true loves and spirit.

He will continue to fly with us all.

DanO - 8-12-2018 at 07:31 AM

He left us with a great gift of his intuitive and inspirational writing. We are all the better for it. Thank you, George.

Santiago - 8-12-2018 at 08:24 AM

20 years ago a close friend of SWMBO passed away. We were shocked when over 200 people came to her funeral. Every single person who spoke, us included, all said the they were her best friend. She cultivated friends.
While never meeting George, I have a feeling he was one of those people as well. I too have the emails saved, stories printed and in a binder.

Do you remember his account of how he treated the seller of his casa? The agree-to price was $25k dollars. However, the papers were drawn up, executed by all parties in pesos. No one caught it until it was time to pay. He could have cheated the lady, leaving her no recourse but he knew the real deal and paid her the agreed price. I know more than a few folks who would not, and brag about for years.

I loved his belief that only a fool would retire to Baja and own painting equipment of any kind.

pauldavidmena - 8-12-2018 at 08:35 AM

My wife and I had the privilege of meeting George and Lynda about 3 1/2 years ago, and we maintained a regular email correspondence right up until late July. In addition to his talent for the written word, he had a deep, unshakable love for La Ribera and its people, both the locals and the expats.

While his life changed dramatically after Lynda's unexpected death, he approached it with stoicism and gratitude. He made provisions for his own care, for the upkeep of his house and for an orderly transition of his possessions when he passed. He was more than ready, but selfish friends like me kept holding out for just one more story.

DEP Jorge.

rhintransit - 8-12-2018 at 08:46 AM

Farewell to a beloved Nomad. His stories will live on in our hearts.

BajaTed - 8-12-2018 at 09:08 AM

Words do matter and can do amazing things, Thank You Osprey

rts551 - 8-12-2018 at 09:16 AM

DEP George. He was a talented story teller. especially about some of the characters he met...including some gringos..... always with humor.....and a wonderful person to sit down and talk to. His messages the last couple of months were shorter and shorter. But I always will remember him in good spirits....

Later in his years I used to hear my father talk to friends about those that recently passed on...I often wondered why....now I know.

Cancamo - 8-12-2018 at 11:01 AM

When Leonardo's panga was stolen off the beach, George gave him his boat and trailer which is in use today. He was kind and will be missed by the Minjares and Gonzales family. Que descansa en paz hermano.

BajaBlanca - 8-12-2018 at 03:36 PM

I bet George did so many things for his amigos that we will never know about. He truly unequivocably loved this country with a passion.

Have fun in the next world - DEP - and thanks for sharing your plants with me every time we visited you!

CaboMagic - 8-12-2018 at 08:22 PM

Saddened to find the post was about his passing ..

Rest in Peace and thank you for your contributions to enhance the experience of life.

Thanks to all those who eloquently eulogized a man so deserving of the words spoken/written.

Respects from Tommy & Lori

memorial candle.jpg - 10kB

ELINVESTIG8R - 8-13-2018 at 07:14 AM

[Edited on 8-13-2018 by ELINVESTIG8R]

Udo - 8-13-2018 at 08:26 AM

DEP my great hermano.

I will really miss him.

pauldavidmena - 8-22-2018 at 07:20 AM

I was looking for some memories of George online and found this short story on the MexConnect website. He will be missed.

David K - 8-22-2018 at 07:22 AM

Quote: Originally posted by pauldavidmena

I was looking for some memories of George online and found this short story on the MexConnect website. He will be missed.

Thank you!

pauldavidmena - 8-22-2018 at 07:29 AM

You're welcome. The pleasure is mine in that I'm finding treasure I wasn't aware existed. I thought I had read everything George wrote, but clearly I was wrong! Here is another.

watizname - 8-22-2018 at 07:57 AM

A great storyteller. Like a lot of us he would send his stories to me for comment some times. I never met the man personally but felt I knew him in some small way. He will be missed. DEP Señor.

BigBearRider - 8-22-2018 at 08:31 AM

I always enjoyed reading his stories. He was a very talented writer. Thanks for posting some I hadn't read.

DEP.

Skipjack Joe - 8-22-2018 at 09:07 AM

Quote: Originally posted by pauldavidmena

I was looking for some memories of George online and found this short story on the MexConnect website. He will be missed.

He always said he wanted a critique of his stories but I think he just wanted them read. He got some satisfaction knowing his stories were read. Perhaps even now.

What if Nomads created a section that was a collection of Osprey's stories? One post per story.

It might be a nice addition to this website. And it may please George as well.

pauldavidmena - 8-22-2018 at 04:51 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Skipjack Joe

I like this idea. I only knew George for a few years, but I truly believe that while he would have scoffed at anyone making much of a fuss about his stories, he would have taken pleasure in knowing that people were reading them.

volcano - 8-23-2018 at 07:18 AM

I had wanted to post my favorite by Osprey, but cannot find it.......a short interlude about a walk on the beach...it was beautiful and surreal....one of those days where the boundary between water, sky and reality are blurred......did anyone see him down there on the beach, was he really there?

Does anyone have a copy?

pascuale - 10-6-2018 at 06:43 PM

What a great man Jorge was. Im going to miss him.

woody with a view - 10-7-2018 at 06:22 AM

You can say that again!

David K - 10-19-2018 at 12:04 PM

Today is Osprey's birthday... I hope he is having a wonderful afterlife and creating many stories to tell his fellow angels!

BajaBlanca - 10-19-2018 at 04:06 PM

Happy birthday Jorge !!

Bruce R Leech - 10-20-2018 at 11:02 AM

RIP Osprey

gueribo - 10-20-2018 at 01:50 PM

Happy birthday, Osprey.

pauldavidmena - 10-20-2018 at 02:54 PM

I miss complaining to Jorge about the New England weather. His reply would always be an excellent short story. I miss those even more.

Skipjack Joe - 10-21-2018 at 10:15 AM

My favorite Osprey story. It’s an interplay of rain and sound, the music of the two.

Rain

With five, count em� five average days of rain per year (3.5 inches) in my little village I have a reason to note just how it feels, how it sounds.

The range of the sounds is astounding because there are so many kinds of rain, so many objects for the drops to hit. Rain sounds are different at your place than they are at mine. We have different gardens, roofs, shades, patios.

My personal rains, the ones at my house, hit the palm thatch roof of my living room and patio. They pelt the papayas, the arbol de fuego, the big pistachios, the royal platano de jardin. They beat upon the adokin, the pavers that are my front drive, dirt yard, dirt street, the fountain in my small garden. Each surface produces a slightly different sound, the slant, speed and volume of the rain differs from storm to storm, changes minute by minute.

The rare summer showers that slowly creep down from the canyons in August begin with a hissing sound, barely audible at first because the droplets are so small, dewlike, just barely visible. Then, as the clouds darken, the drops grow larger they begin to play their distinctive beat around the place. It is a most welcome symphony. The big leaves of the garden banana plant resonate under the pressure of the large drops while the fronds of thatch of the patio roof disperse each drop, soften what could be a harsh pelting sound to almost a murmur.

As the huge anvil of water in the main part of the rainstorm becomes a dark dome above our village, the rain increases. The drops grow huge and fall with great force to make a mixing of all the sounds that preceded it, built up in volume to become another more powerful and furious white noise.

Perhaps my favorite sounds come just as the last drops fall and things begin to make rhythms as they drip. The dripping from the thatch hanging down around the patio becomes a rough pattern, each droplet having its own place in the scale, the distance to the dirt marking the tone, the cadence with more order and finally less sound. Then, when I'm sure I've heard the very last drop, a lonely silence falls upon the place. For the next few hours the new kind of unholy stillness quite sops up, dries out my short lived joy, nature�s rhythm section in the tropics. This is a very thirsty part of the world where every drop brings or renews life to something important � the sound, the rhythm and movement is a bonus and I never want to miss it as it is all soaked up in what seems like just the blink of an eye.

This passerby, this welcome stroller is in no way related to the killing deluges that can spell destruction and sorrow for those who cannot or will not step aside.

volcano - 10-21-2018 at 03:04 PM

thank you for posting this

Osprey

schwlind - 10-23-2018 at 10:54 AM

I never knew or met the man, but do remember his postings.

I just learned of his passing, and reading the many posts from people, some like me who never met him, but enjoyed his words, feel a profound sense of loss.

Rest easy Osprey... you are soaring with angels now!

God bless and keep your loved ones..

Linda Vaughn

Quote: Originally posted by ELINVESTIG8R

[Edited on 8-13-2018 by ELINVESTIG8R]

imlost - 10-23-2018 at 12:05 PM

Skipjack Joe,
That post made my day.
I cannot help but to notice a comparison... We're very much here like the summer desert rain - our time here is brief and wonderful. I want to experience every drop, as I believe the author did.

Osprey

schwlind - 10-23-2018 at 12:28 PM

I never knew or met the man, but do remember his postings.

I just learned of his passing, and reading the many posts from people, some like me who never met him, but enjoyed his words, feel a profound sense of loss.

Rest easy Osprey... you are soaring with angels now!

God bless and keep your loved ones..

Linda Vaughn

Quote: Originally posted by ELINVESTIG8R

[Edited on 8-13-2018 by ELINVESTIG8R]

Skipjack Joe - 10-23-2018 at 08:59 PM

Quote: Originally posted by imlost

Skipjack Joe,
That post made my day.
I cannot help but to notice a comparison... We're very much here like the summer desert rain - our time here is brief and wonderful. I want to experience every drop, as I believe the author did.

I never thought of it that way but it’s a great comparison. I like it. Thanks for posting it.